Chapter 268 - Wrapping Things Up

Wolstan acted quickly this time and twisted the Left Minister's arms and held them at his back while his face was pressed down against the floor.

The owner of the flying dagger emerged from the crowd. The people gasped when they saw a fine figure of a young military officer. The figure seemed to hold a high rank. The uniform belonged to the General of the military unit of Ishelon.

It was Ishelon that helped them. It was all thanks to their Crown Princess! If not, many lives could have been lost.

Another outstanding figure joined the Young General. Both of them kneeled before the King and Queen of Tissuria.

"Greetings, Your Majesties."

"Please rise, our young heroes," King Tarendino spoke with warmth.

Zander and Zenia stood up, and the soldiers took care of the Left Minister. Wolstan joined the soldiers to make sure that nothing would go wrong.

"Bring that traitor and his supporters to the dungeon," King Tarendino ordered, and the soldiers complied.

The spectators doubled as they looked at the Left Minister and his supporters being taken away. The Ninth Prince slipped from the scene without being detected. He had nowhere else to go but Luna Inn. He had decided to leave Tissuria with his band of assassins. His men should be able to protect him well. It was a good thing that he did not use them for the task.

King Tarendino turned to Zander once again and thanked him, "Commander Zander, we are truly grateful that you and your troop came to aide us," he looked at Zenia and added, "This young general beside you must be your Junior Commander."

Queen Mina tried to restrain herself from blurting out the truth. King Tarendino still had no idea what Zenia really looked like. The King did not see her face clearly the last time she visited the King in his chambers.

The King continued, "We are grateful to the Crown Princess that she agreed to the political marriage. We solemnly wish that she and the Crown Prince will stay together forever as husband and wife."

Vaughn kept watching from a distance and Zekiah accompanied him. Zenia told her younger brother to play his part well as the Crown Princess. He could only leave the scene when the Crown Prince moved his feet. 

Zander bowed to the King once more. "I can assure you, Your Majesty, that my sister will continue to fulfill her role as the wife of the Crown Prince. If you will excuse us, I still need to meet my sister."

"I hope you and your men will attend a banquet in two days. It is to show our gratitude for what you did today for the people of Tissuria."

"It would be our honor."

Zander and Zenia walked to where Vaughn and Zekiah were standing. The people began to disperse and everyone was glad that bloodshed had been prevented. Everyone thought that it was a bloodless war. Little did they know that the heroes of the war had killed and wounded hundreds of enemies. There were also casualties on their side, and it was fortunate that none of them had died. Perhaps, the enemies' negligence and overconfidence were also partly responsible for their demise.

The only people left in the Main Hall were the King and Queen, the Anisen siblings, Vaughn, and some palace workers. Vaughn grabbed Zenia's hand quickly while Zekiah and Zander went together ahead of them.

King Tarendino noticed it and frowned. Queen Mina saw it too and chuckled. She waited for her husband to ask something.

"Is that Junior Commander a woman? Does our son want her to be his concubine? I've been meaning to ask Commander Zander a while ago, but I thought it was impolite. That Junior Commander looks formidable as a soldier, and she is indeed beautiful."

Queen Mina could no longer hold it in and laughed out loud. The King was annoyed at her reaction and glared at her.

"My King, that Junior Commander is your daughter-in-law."

"What?! Who's the one by Vaughn's side? No wonder he did not seem so eager to see his wife. I thought they were fighting."

"The one who disguised as Zenzen should be her younger brother Zekiah. Something must've happened that she changed the plan suddenly. I don't think Vaughn knew it."

King Tarendino grinned from ear to ear. "My daughter-in-law is so capable and beautiful. I should not believe the rumors again."

The King kept thinking that it would be good if the couple would have children now. He couldn't wait to see his beautiful and capable grandchildren.

* * * * *

A soldier from Prazia grabbed Odette's arm when she was about to enter the Main Palace. The soldier was together with some of the people of the Dark Magic Lord. Azer had already been caught earlier, and Wolstan told Vaughn's soldiers that they should keep him in the Palace of the Crown Prince. 

Roy and Jorick put a strong restraining spell on him to prevent him from escaping. On top of that, Duke Gordon calculated the best location to keep him. The place was devoid of sunshine. Even though he was a practitioner of dark magic, he felt stronger when he was near the shining orb. The sun was the closest source of his strength in the absence of the orb. Each cell in the dungeon had a tiny window. Azer occupied the cell that the sun would not reach regardless of the time of day.

The Left Minister and his supporters had been detained in the dungeon of the Main Palace, and the soldier feared that Princess Odette might get caught. Anyone affiliated with the Left Minister was arrested and thrown in the dungeon. King Odhran already feared that something like that might happen and decided to send some of his guards along with the secret soldiers. Their mission was to make sure to deliver Odette to Prazia safely in case something happened.

"Who are you?! Let me go!" Odette protested when she bit the hand of the man who grabbed and practically dragged her.

"There's no time to explain, Princess. We need to make sure that you will reach Prazia safe and sound. King Odhran tasked us to keep you safe."

"What do you mean by that? Why would King Odhran do that for me?"

The soldier simply looked at Odette and did not say a thing. Instead, he turned his attention to the three men of the Dark Magic Lord.

"Can you open the portal now? They might catch us."

"We are already doing it, Sir Malik."

In the next second, a portal opened in front of them. Odette wanted to escape from the man's grasp. She was more afraid to go through the portal.

Clip! Clop! Clip! Clop!

They heard the sounds of galloping horses. Sir Malik did not expect that someone would be able to follow them right away. In his estimate, there were four approaching horses.

"Hurry up!" The men of the Dark Magic Lord shouted.

"Princess Odette, be safe!"

Odette turned her head to look at their pursuers. The voice was familiar to her. It was Olvido! She wanted to go back, but Sir Malik did not allow her. Olvido knew that Sir Malik was taking Odette away from it all and keeping her safe.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sounds of clashing swords and galloping horses echoed in the air. Olvido was outnumbered, it was three against one. The swordsmen were above his league, but he kept slashing at them with all his might.

"Arrrgh!" Olvido shouted in anguish when he received the fifth slash of the enemy's sword.

He dropped to the ground. He saw the portal that Odette had entered was already closing. They were too late to stop it. He closed his eyes and breathed his last. If the swordsmen would look closely, they would see that there was a smile on Olvido's lips.

* * * * *

Vaughn and Zenia finally reached their home after having a meal at Royale Palace Inn together with Zander, Zekiah, and the rest of the men who helped out. Wolstan did not return from the Main Palace. Duke Gordon and the others were already taking care of things in the Palace of the Crown Prince. Lewis and Doctor Hugo were still busy treating the wounded.

Zenia immediately told her maids to prepare rooms for the guests. Verone and her maids were still sleeping. Redivo did not expect that the extra doses he gave would yield such effect. Verone's entire family was also arrested and got thrown in the dungeon of the Main Palace.

Everything was finally settled. Everyone was tired, but the old King did not return to the Palace of the Crown Prince. Vaughn was certain that King Tarendino had lots to discuss with the Old King. 

After being with Wolstan for so many days, Roy felt peaceful once more. He liked his room very much and fell asleep immediately knowing that Wolstan was not there to pester him. Jorick still shared a room with Richaem, who did not let his Big Brother go. Rodham asked if there was one with a side room for a servant like him. He could not bear to share a room with his master, and he refused to let the Young Duke sleep alone.

Zenia and Vaughn were finally ready to rest.

"Can you tell me what happened earlier? How come your brothers along with hundreds of Commander Zander's men are here?"

Zenia sighed and knew that it was going to be a long night. She could stay up a little bit more. She was not yet sleepy anyway.

"When you left this morning, I went to the training ground and gave the soldiers some last-minute instructions. I came back to our room to prepare when I heard a commotion in the training ground. I thought I was hallucinating when I heard Big Brother's voice so I hurried back to check it even though I knew that he couldn't be there. He got the whole battalion with him on the training ground and told me that Jorick teleported them. We discussed what we should do first. They already had an encounter with some of the Left Minister's men when they first teleported in the Principality of Ismund…"

Zenia had decided to tell Vaughn everything that transpired that day that he did not know of.