216 What Are You Trying To Do?

Eskyl was not about to give up either. He gripped on to the handle of his sword tightly and lunged forward at Vyrena. 

-How foolish.- she thought to herself. 

Vyren could see all of his movements in a flash. 

With strength channelling through her hand, she swiped down his sword. Upon contact, it broke into two pieces and landed on the ground with a loud clang. Everyone gasped in shock. 

It was at this point, that the doors to the throne room burst open once more. A group of women, all dressed in light cloth armour swiftly entered the room. Some of them also came through the opened windows, swiftly surrounding everyone and protecting Sylvy. 

Grand Priestess Alfin entered the Throne Room and headed straight towards Sylvy. After politely bowing to her King, Alfin turned back to face Eskyl and his guards. 

"Do you care to explain what you're trying to do, Grand Advisor Eskyl?" Grand Priestess Alfin asked in a cold hard voice.

All of the people she brought with her did not carry any form of weapons that Vy could see. But judging from their stance and overall aura, there was something unique about all of them. 

When Eskyl did not answer, Alfin asked, "Are you trying to overthrow the King?"

"What if…" Before he could finish his sentence, Alfin knocked him out with one swift move. 

The best way to stem out a rebellion was to do so from the start. Eskyl fell to the ground with a thud. All the guards of the Flutterheart family threw down their weapons and surrendered. The Grand Priestess's subordinates carried out Eskyl's slumped body and escorted out all of the guards.

Once that was done, Sylvy addressed all of her remaining ministers. She apologised on behalf of her brother and his ambitions. She apologised for not being the King they deserved. She vowed to become better. 

While some of the ministers were still sceptical and worried, Sylvy held her ground. 

"My King, what about the alliance with the Mothyleks?" one of the ministers asked. 

"It will go on as planned. Leader Atlas and the elders are already on their way," Sylvy explained. 

After a few more issues were ironed out, Sylvy dismissed the court. She needed to address the issue of her brother's treason and she wished to do so in private. The ministers respected her decision to do so. 

Only the selected few of them were left in the Throne Room. The issue still remained, how were they going to deal with Eskyl and the guards he had brought with him? Under Papillion's Law, what he had done was treason. 

If Sylvy chose to, she could have him and everyone involved executed. But she was dealing with family, how could she execute her own brother? If she did, she would never hear the end of it from her mother. 

So, she turned to Vy instead, "What would you do, Vyrena?"

Vy pondered over the situation for a while before she replied, "I have given someone a second chance before. Only for it to cause issues down the road."

Sylvy frowned, "So I should stop it in its tracks?"

Vy shook her head, "I constantly ask myself how I could have done things differently, but honestly it's difficult to say how it would be different.

I think people deserve a chance to change, but kindness should not be overstepped."

Sylvy listened intently and formulated what she needed to do in her mind. She turned to the Grand Priestess and said, " Alfin, I would like all of them to be in the dungeon and await their punishment."

They had not caused her any physical harm, and Sylvy recognised her brother's abilities as a Grand Advisor. Over the years he had spent managing Papillion he had strategies and plans that benefited their people. 

If she ever wanted him to work for her again, she would need to give him something he wanted. But right now, she needed to focus on the task at hand as she was about to meet with Anja to sign the alliance treaty. With little time to get everything in order, she made haste. 

Vy and Lycster offered to help where they could. Tinee helped Sylvy to get ready back in her room. As per tradition, Sylvy was to appear before the Mothyleks in a different outfit. But with the little time they had left, there were things that could not be done. 

This made Sylvy extremely nervous. What if her subjects felt that her lack of respect for their own traditions was a disgrace? A mockery to their history?

"They can talk all they want, but you are the King," Vyrena reminded her, "You dictate, not them."

Sylvy gave her a smile, "You're right. I set the rules, but also uphold the traditions of my people."

Since the entire outfit would have taken too long to change into, Sylvy opted to change out her shoes and gloves to the ceremonial pieces. 

"Is everything prepared in the kitchens?" Sylvy asked Tinee. 

"Yes, my King. The food is being laid out in the Banquet Hall as we speak. As instructed, the guests would be brought there immediately upon arrival and you will meet them there."

With everything set up and under control, all that was left now was for the signing to go smoothly as planned. But unknown to them, Eskyl who had already awakened. With Torbuck's help, he managed to slip out from the watchful eye of the Grand Priestess's guards.

Instead of backing off, Eskyl wanted nothing more than to run back in to seek revenge for the humiliation he had suffered. Torbuck felt as if he had made a terrible choice. 

"You should just get out of here," Torbuck whispered hastily to his friends as he caught up to him. 

"Go back to Flutterheart Mansion and let things cool off first," Torbuck tried to provide him with some advice.