Emperor Cedric and his knights arrived at the palace late in the evening the next day.
They were met by an entourage of servants that were waiting for them, to bring their belongings into the palace. They bowed as Cedric got out of the carriage and and made his way toward the entrance of the castle.
Among those that were standing in the crowd was a young boy who stood out from the rest dressed in Royal attire. It was his seven year old son and the Crown Prince of Kajun, Aston.
Cedric stopped when he reached him. He looked down at his son and into his golden eyes which resembled his own eyes. Aston his hair was jet black, supple pale skin. Aston, following what he'd been taught, bowed once more and said "Your Majesty", very politely.
Cedric was impressed by how well Aston was learning Kajun royal etiquette. It wasn't too long ago that he would just run into arms whenever he came back from a work trip.
Cedric reached out his hand and held his cheek. He saw the look of desire in Aston's eyes and smiled. He could tell what Aston wanted to do.
Meanwhile, It took everything in his power not to just jump in his arms and hug him freely but he knew he would be scolded by his teacher who was watching from behind him. Then suddenly, Aston found himself being lifted up .
Cedric decided to ignore the etiquette and hug Aston. It had been almost 2 months since he'd last seen Aston and he was still so young. So why not?
"Hello, son."He whispered to him.
Aston was overwhelmed by emotions."Hi, dad." He said almost in tears as he put his arms around his father's shoulders and hugged him back. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Cedric replied as he continued to walk with Aston in his arms. into Cedrics's servants as well as Aston's servants following close behind.
"What were you up to this time?" He asked Cedric excitedly.
"Well I had a lot of paperwork to do..." he before he was interrupted.
"Did you and the knights use your swords in a battle?"
"Well.... yes" Cedric slowly answered recalling last night's events.
"Wow, it must have been amazing to watch!" It amused him how much Aston loved talking about swordfighting and knights. Aston continued to talk.
As he entered the castle and walked down the long entrance hallway. "... One day I'm gonna be strong knight just like you."
"I know we've just greeted each other, but I'm still busy with work." He explained to Aston.
The Prince looked visibly upset by this, he wanted to spend more time with his father. He was still young and didn't quite understand what all this royalty stuff meant. he just knew his father was a very important man and that he was often busy. "Okay." he responded digruntled.
"Im sure you were in the middle of a lesson." He pointed out to Aston as his etiquette teacher who was standing close behind stepped forward. I'll do my best to spend time with you soon, alright?"
" Yes, dad." Aston then saw the expression of the étiquette teacher then quickly corrected himself. " I mean yes, your majesty. "
His étiquette teacher then took him and Cedric watched as Aston and his servants walked away. Cedric wasn't happy about this either. He wanted to spend time with his son, however, he was far too busy. Now he was upset. One day he thought to himself, one day he'd have more time. He just had to take of this war.
He went towards his office and upon opening the door he was met with by a man who was hard at work at his desk. It was his secretary, Duke Samuel. Duke Samuel looked up to see who had entered and upon realizing who it is he immediately stood up and came forward.
"I greet his majesty the emperor." he formally greeted Cedric then bowed. Cedric went past him without saying a word and went towards his desk. Samual was surprised by the emperors lack of response and the violent aura that emanated from him.
Duke Samuel saw Sir Aaron come in, following behind the Emperor and gave him a concerned look. "Sir Aaron." he said in greeting. Then he mouthed the words 'whats with him?'
"Duke Samuel." Sir Aaron responded giving him a sympathetic look. Then mouthed. 'He's in a bad mood'.
Duke Samual scoffed at his response There was no way he could have known he was angry because he didn't have time to spend with his son.
Cedric checked the paperwork on the desk, whenever he left the castle Duke Samuel was the one to take care of his castle officework. "Anything to report? he asked Samuel as he briefly checked the papers.
" No, everything is running smoothly your majesty."
" Good, I'll go through your reports later."
I'm sure you've been informed of the situation at the border."
" Yes I have, your majesty." Cedric motioned for the two of them to take a seat in the seating area that faced his desk.
"There's no time to waste, we have to find out which territory was behind the attack."
"First of all we will have to quickly reinforce and increase security at the borders Commander prepare troops to send to each border post. Second of all We'll also need to question the captured leaders to see if they anything to do with the attack."
Aaron and Samuel nodded their heads in understanding.
"Now listen, this case isn't normal this rebel group was able to evade being seen by the guards up until the point they attacked. Which should have been impossible but they somehow mangaed to do it. I've been thinking about it all day and I can't make sense of it. The only way they could ha ve known that path in the sea would keep them safe was if they had seen it from themselves from the top of the wall.
Sir Aaron and Duke Samuels' eyes widened in surprised by what the emperor was alluding to.
"Are you suggesting that perhaps someone from Kajun told this rebel group?" Aaron asked.
"I'm not suggesting anything, just simply exploring different possibilities
" I want you two to be discrete about this, but I need you to investigate everyone who has ever been or worked on that sea border. The gaurds,knights, maintenance workers of the wall, everyone. Find out everything they have been up to for the last few months take note of anything suspicious, contact with strange persons, change in behaiviour etc. "
There was a moment of silence as Aaron and Samuel processed what the emperor was asking of them.
"I know its I'm asking you two to do.....however, it's all we have to work with for now. Get started on it whilst I go pay the dungeons a visit. See if there's to possibly narrrow down the list we'll have to go through."
Yes, your majesty the Sir Aaron and Duke Samuel accepted. They bowed before leaving the room. When they were a safe distance away from the emperors office Duke Samuel let out a sigh of frustration. "Why did this rebel attack have to happen now? I can't seem to catch a break. My wife and kids are sending letters of complaints to me almost everyday asking me when I'm coming home since I haven't seen them in almost 2 months. I can't imagine the amount of unpaid overtime we're going to work." Duke Samuel complained as they made their way the room of imperial records where they could start their investigation. "You know sometimes, I wish I was you Commander, younger, carefree, no children."
However, Sir Aaron was not listening to him and was instead deep in thought. Something was bothering him. "Do you.." He started slowly, "Do you really think one of our own would betray the empire?"
Duke Samuel was brought out of his complaining and looked at the commander who looked worried. "I don't know but it's a terrifying thought." He agreed.
Samuel thought about it, no matter how annoying Emperor Cedric could be, or how stressful the job could be he could never imagine betraying him. He trusted Cedric with his life. He knew Cedric would do the same despite his cold demeanor he cared for his citizens and wanted the best for his citizens.