"This is a mistake!" Rose screamed. "Silver would never start a rebellion!"
"So you admit you know this man?" Rhodri's face soured further.
"He is my brother, Your Majesty." The princess no longer cared for herself. If her relationship with the Guardian would help save him, then she was willing to go all-in. It took everything in her not to run to the silver-eyed man and remove his gag to see how he was being treated.
"You have never mentioned a brother before," Borit's mouth opened slightly in shock. "How in the world did you ever find this connection after all these years?"
"Well..." Rose hesitated.
The Commander jumped at the weakness. "Is it because he came to visit you and revealed himself?"
"It's not like that!" The princess stood up indignantly.
Borit turned his attention to the king. "I told you this was the thief who broke into the castle! But he did not come to steal an object. He came to steal the princess's heart."
"It isn't true!" Rose felt a cooling sensation around her neck. It was as if the small fairy on the chain was trying to keep her calm. She took a deep breath.
"Oh, what do you know about what the palace intruder sought?" Borit twisted the princess's words.
But Rose took the opening. "Your treacherous communications with King Willric."
Borit paused. He had not expected Rose to answer so definitively or forcefully. Rhodri's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "What does she mean, Commander?"
"I've no idea, Your Majesty. Do you have these communications of which you speak?" Borit opened his hands, ready to accept the evidence.
"I do not, but I know my brother does." Rose looked toward Silver apologetically. 'Am I doing the right thing?' she wanted to ask.
Silver gave a small nod. He had what the princess sought.
"Search him," the king ordered.
While holding him at the elbow with one hand, the left soldier tried to reach into the folds of the cloak and received a nasty shock. She glared at the Guardian and shoved him for his insolence.
"He is obviously lying, My Lord," she hissed as she shook out the pain.
"May I?" Rose asked humbly. "It is my understanding that the cloak is a bit protective."
Rose knew better than to ask that they untie Silver. But she needed the documents to prove her claim, and this seemed a good middle ground.
Rhodri thought for a moment. He grunted which Rose took as agreement. Before the king could speak, Rose stood and glided toward the prisoner and looked deep into his eyes.
He nodded again. Rose slowly pulled back the tenebrous fabric. Unlike the soldier, Rose received no protest from the cloak. In fact, it tingled against her fingers, welcoming her instead.
The Princess's arm disappeared in the darkness. She gasped lightly before her hand brushed up against papers. Intuitively, Rose grabbed at the object and pulled. The stack came out easily, surprising both the princess and the soldiers as it materialized from seemingly nothing.
The female soldier glared, tossing back her dark hair. "Cheap trick," she muttered under her breath.
Rose looked into the woman's blue eyes and narrowed her gaze. "It isn't a trick at all."
Turning around, the blonde brought the documents to her father. If the king looked concerned before, now he looked truly troubled.
For his part, Borit was trying to lengthen his back covertly from his seat.
"What do you make of this, Borit?" Rhodri looked up for a moment.
"I've no idea." The commander furrowed his brow. "May I see a page of what you are holding?"
Offering a sheet, Rhodri watched the Commander take the document to mull it over. "Hmm, and where did he say he found this?" Borit asked the princess.
"Ask Silver yourself." Rose countered. Arching her back, the princess returned to her seat.
"He would lie to us. I want to know what lies he told you." Borit turned the paper around and showed it to the other two. "Did he tell you what this nonsense even says. Or did he ask you to solve the mystery and help him?"
Rose opened her mouth and shut it. Silver had not been able to tell her the meaning, and he had asked for her help. "He was coming to the palace to tell me what it said. I am sure the Guardian of the Fates can translate it now."
"There is no translation for this gibberish." Borit chuckled. "Though it is excellent bait for an impressionable young girl. Get her to trust you, help you. Quite clever."
"It does have the royal seal of Lakyle," the king examined the seal from both sides before holding out the wax for Borit to see.
The Commander glanced at it briefly. "He must have stolen it off of the Lakyillian knight he falsely accused of raiding at the border. Sir Kent was gracious enough not to bring the matter before King Willric and will testify to the Guardian's treachery."
"I met Sir Kent! He was a wicked man." Rose pressed her lips together.
"Really? Was he short and had a bit of a limp?" Borit stroked his chin.
"No." The question caught the princess off guard.
"The real Sir Kent has been squirreled away in a prison for months under a false name which Silver gave the guards. Whoever the princess met must have been an actor. Did the Guardian miraculously save you from this 'Sir Kent'?"
That is exactly what had happened, but Rose remained silent. Borit took this for agreement.
"It must have been quite a production to be so believable, Your Highness. Do not feel badly for being fooled."
The princess did not like the feeling that everything she said--or didn't say-- was being turned on her. Borit was too smooth. His words overly honeyed.
Yet, part of her was beginning to wonder if he might be right. Rose fought the feeling, anchoring herself to the truth she knew.
The handsome Commander looked with mild approval at the prisoner. "I have to admire your commitment to the deception, Silver. Attaching yourself to the princess as family and then luring her out of the protection of the palace where only you can save her. Were you responsible for the attack at the inn as well. Did you get rid of her entourage so she would have to rely more heavily on you and your kindness?"
Silver's eyes flashed as he struggled against the bonds. He muttered through the gag incomprehensibly. It took the female soldier kicking at his knees to make him kneel for him to stop his fervent plea.
Rhodri scratched at his beard, processing both the information and the reactions of the three others in the room.
Borit dropped the page into his lap and folded his hands on top of it. "If this were your only crime, you would perhaps live, though you would spend your life in prison. I mean, who wouldn't want to be related to a princess?"
The commander let the question hang in the air, almost as if he were commending the Guardian on his effort. But then came the hammer. Borit clicked his tongue and shook his head sadly.
"Alas, your treachery did not stop there, did it? You had to ensnare the princess fully. So you added another layer to your deception..." After a nod from the king, Borit motioned to one of the soldiers.
"Bring in the second prisoner."