King Jared walked through the hallway in long strides. Soon, he was at the court's door, and the royal announcer was announcing his presence to the council and knights of the Namura kingdom. The king had a worried countenance, and he seemed to have aged in about a minute. He sat on his throne and waited to hear about the situation in Aradale. "My daughter?" He asked the squirrely looking messenger who stood in front of him with a letter from the King of Aradale. "Queen Arabella has broken her marriage chain and run away yesterday, Your Majesty. It took King Jared a considerable amount of time to assimilate what the messenger just told him. A week ago, he married his oldest daughter, Princess Arabella of Namura, to the most powerful King in Derkal nations. Now, a hungry-looking messenger was delivering the news that his beloved daughter had run away from her marriage, and her new husband had demanded that her head be brought back to him before Dawn tomorrow. King Jared looked exhausted. Even his council and knights couldn't come up with a solution. He was a father first, and even though Arabella brought shame to his kingdom and his noble name, she deserved to be punished, not killed. "Take a message to the king of Aradale, Messenger. Tell him that no harm shall befall my daughter. She should be returned to me, alive to be punished as I see fit." The messenger rummaged through his bag and brought out another letter with the king's seal. He moved forward and bowed to the King of Namura before he handed the letter to him. "I shall take my leave now, your majesty." King Jared ignored the messenger and tore the letter open. It seemed the Devil of Aradale anticipated his request and wrote a response accordingly. King Jared read the letter over and over again; it was a Short letter. KING JARED, YOUR DAUGHTER SHALL BE LEFT UNHARMED LIKE YOU REQUESTED, BUT THERE WILL NOW BE A GREATER CONSEQUENCE. BY DUSK TOMORROW, IF MY HONOR IS NOT RESTORED, NAMURA WILL BE NOTHING BUT A PILE OF ASHES. King Jared looked ashen in the face. Now, he wasn't only worried for his daughter, he was worried for his entire Kingdom. "Mobilize the King's Knights and Army, Sir Zadok. I want a watch guard positioned at every strategic part of this palace and on an outlook. And someone stop that Messenger from leaving!" Two knights rushed out to pursue the messenger, but the man was long gone. They came back empty-handed, not before they instructed two of the horsemen to locate and apprehend the messenger. The king was pacing when the two knights entered. "His Highness, the messenger, is quick on his feet and is beyond our castle now. I instructed two horsemen to locate and apprehend." Sir Ramsey spoke with his head bowed. "Go after him, yourself!" The king threw the cup placed on the table at Sirir Ramsey in anger. "If he gets word to King of Aradale, then we are going to War!" Gasps came from far corners of the king's court. Even though his knights looked unaffected by King Jared's revelation, the noblemen who made up the seven noble houses of Namura didn't quite achieve the same feat. No one could fault them for the apparent fear in their eyes. Derkal nation was divided into three Hemispheres, the Western hemisphere, the Northern hemisphere, nd the Eastern hemisphere. The Amuraa kingdom is just one of the seven Kingdoms that made up the Eastern hemisphere, and in no comparison to the King of Aradale, who was the only king to rule over an entire hemisphere. The King of Aradale wasn't just ruler over Aradale but over the entire Western hemisphere. Making him the most powerful and dangerous king in Derkal. If he says Namura would be a pile of ashes tomorrow, Namura would be a pile of ashes tomorrow. His army would crush the king's knights and loyal guards in a matter of minutes. It wouldn't be a fight, it would be a massacre. "Your highness, we can't go to war with Aradale!" Reuben Zane of the house of Zane spoke louder than he intended. "You think I don't know that!" The king stared out the window. "Sir Zadok, instruct two of our agilest knights to bring the duke to me. If anyone knows where my daughter is, it would be the idiot she was in love with. And for hell's sake, send plain clothes warriors to infiltrate the Western hemisphere as quietly as possible and find the princess of Namura and bring her back to me without as much as a speck of dirt on her. Go! Now!" Sir Zadok, the lead knight, left the king's court in a hurry. "What shall we do, my king? Going to war with Aradale is suicidal, and-" the nobleman was cut off by a knight. "But we shall fight to the death to protect our king and our kingdom, your highness. It was the right and brave thing to a y, but even King Jared knew it was nothing but a massacre waiting to happen. "Your loyalty is appreciated, O'Hare, but the council is right. If we wage war against the King of Aradale, we will lose and good people will die, ie" King Jared said and looked at his subject. "What shall we do then, your highness?" "Find a way to soothe the king of Aradale's bruised ego. Joshua!" The king yelled for a hal servant, and he appeared almost immediately. "Fetch me the princess!" "Y-your highness, the princess left Namura a weeagoag,o" Joshua stuttered a little bit. "Not Arabella, Fetch my other daughter, you imp!" The servant couldn't wait to leave the room. Joshua was in a hurry to find the second princess. Everyone knew the second princess was not in hchambersmbe;s, her maids had yelled that to Joshua when he had asked. "Where shall I find the second princess, Annabelle?" The second princess's maid looked at Joshua with an uneasy expression. It was like she didn't want to tell the king's servant where to find the second princess. "Where is she? The king requires her presence." "Check the forest, Joshua."