Dor-Shey Da'at which meant Knowledge Seekers in the ancient language was an information guild that had ties to various organizations, including the Royal Family. Not only did they obtain and give information, they also sold various items through the shops that had connections to them.
Mikyle had opened the guild with the help of his father and Duke Aaronson without anyone else knowing. His father had been the one to suggest the idea since Mikyle had wanted to help his elder brother without revealing his true strength to the nobles, fearing that it could disrupt Nathaniel's ascension to the throne.
Lior motioned to a few knights, giving them explicit orders to guard Mikyle until he was safely in the Palace walls, even going so far as to order them to watch Mikyle to make sure he received treatment.
Mikyle wanted to shake his head but refrained from doing so, finding his brother's attitude more amusing than exasperating. Instead, he held up his hands after he sheathed his sword. "Fine. Fine, I'll go," he spoke calmly and agreeably to placate his brother's fluctuating emotions.
As the knights around them tended to the wounded attackers, securing them so that they could not escape, Mikyle and a few other guard knights made their way to the outer palace walls. A doctor came running to greet them as soon as they entered through the gate.
"I don't need treatment," Mikyle told the panicking man. "I was able to put out the flames before they touched my skin." That was a lie. The fireballs had struck him pretty good in the arm, causing his burning clothes to melt to his skin, but because of Mikyle's naturally enhanced healing capabilities, the burned skin had repaired itself.
"Please let me check, Your Highness." The doctor pulled away the burnt pieces of clothing to inspect the supposed wound, finding smooth, unmarred skin underneath.
"See, I'm fine."
"Yes, I see." The slightly pudgy man wiped away the sweat that had built up on his forehead. The man led Mikyle to a carriage that had been prepared for them.
The driver steered the carriage down the long road, heading to the Ruby Palace on Mikyle's orders. "Inform my family that I am fine," he ordered the doctor once he alighted from the carriage.
The pudgy man dabbed at his forehead with a handkerchief. "I will, Your Highness, but would it not be better to inform them yourself?"
"It would be, but I have something I need to take care of first."
Mikyle entered his palace and was instantly swarmed by the servants, each of them wearing worried expressions. Phillip, a man in his mid-twenties, pushed his way through the crowd. "Ah, Phillip. Follow me to the study."
He walked past the servants and headed for the stairs, making his way up to the second floor. His shoes clacked against the white-marbled floor as he made his way down the winding corridors.
"Should you not placate the servants, Sire?" Phillip asked from behind him.
"I'll do that after this. I need to prepare a few things before my mother and brothers rush over."
Mikyle entered the office on the second floor, right across from his chambers. He grabbed the stationary from inside one of the drawers and set to penning a letter to Henry Howell, the vice guild master and the face of Dor-Shey Da'at.
When Mikyle had finished writing his letter, he sealed it within an envelope. Pouring hot wax onto it, he pressed the Wax Seal Stamp onto it. The seal, not the private one given to him as a prince of the kingdom, but the one he used strictly for guild matters was of an open book with two feathered-fountain pens crossed like swords in front of the book. Scrawled in tiny letters was the name for the guild. "Give this to Henry," Mikyle advised Phillip.
Phillip Montgomery, as Mikyle's aide, was privileged in knowing Mikyle's most private secrets. The man had been assigned to Mikyle three years ago by the king as a way for Mikyle to run his guild without the need of doing it himself. Mainly, Phillip just needed to deliver Mikyle's instructions to Henry.
"Will do, Sire." Phillip pocketed the letter, planning on sending it out later at a more inconspicuous time.
Mikyle stood up from the desk, heading to his chambers. Before he could even enter, his mother came rushing up the winding staircase, a worried expression painting her face ghostly-white. Following behind her were Nathaniel, Lianna, and the Queen Regent.
"Kyle!" The Queen Consort ran up to him. Placing shaking hands on him, she started turning him left and right, checking him for visible wounds.
Mikyle kept himself from chuckling, knowing that would only make his mother feel worse. "Mother," he emphasized to get her attention, using a familiar term to address her instead of her title. "I am fine. The doctor has already checked on me."
"Brother," Nathaniel's expression was frosty, and his arms were crossed over his chest in an unusual manner unbefitting of him. "How could you put your life at risk like that? You should have escaped with Lianna."
"Lady Silva is still unable to teleport anyone with her, yes? Besides, I knew the knights were coming, that is why I dared to stay."
That situation wasn't even dangerous. I have faced far worse in the past, though that is something that they do not need to know about.
The Queen Regent placed a hand each on Nathaniel's and the Queen Consort's shoulder. "Enough. The boy says he is fine. As a prince, these types of situations will crop up every once in a while."
Mikyle glanced at his second mother-figure, taking in her calm demeanor. He had never strictly came out and asked her, but he had always suspected that the woman knew something about him, or at least about his true strength. He didn't believe that Duke Aaronson would have told her anything, so he could only assume that she had come up with a few guesses from observation.
The Queen Regent is actually a very smart woman, scarily so. She's also someone who can easily figure me out, if the books she had written about me were anything to go by.
Mikyle had known for a while that a few members of his family had taken up the strange hobby of writing about him and his nonexistent love life. The only one who had perfectly described his demeanor and had even accurately guessed the type of person he would be interested in, was none other than the Queen Regent.
"But," the Queen Regent continued, turning amused eyes on him. "To make sure he isn't the intended target of the attack, he will refrain from going to school tomorrow. You too, Miss Lianna."
Mikyle stiffened at her words. He wouldn't be able to get to see Adrien tomorrow.
The Queen Consort and Nathaniel both relaxed upon hearing those words.
"I think that's a fine idea," his mother said with a calmer smile on her face.
"I agree."
"I do not. Will we not be safe in the Academy's restricted walls? All we need to do is to increase the guards to and from," Mikyle freely offered his opinion, his voice unusually stern.
"No. No. Stay within your palace tomorrow," his mother spoke, her face finally regaining some of its color.
"I agree with Mikyle," Lianna offered, having a tacit understanding of where Mikyle's argument was coming from.
The Queen Regent narrowed her golden eyes on the two, her lips pierced in suspicion. "You two are awfully eager. Most young ones would relish being forced to stay home if it meant getting out of school."
Mikyle raised his hands in defeat. He knew that arguing anymore would draw unwanted suspicion. He didn't want his family to figure out his very tender relationship yet. He couldn't afford for his family to scare Adrien off before the two of them even had their first date.