Sineater

The entire room looked at me.

It was like everyone was frozen in place as they tried to figure out what to do. While I had my sword on my back, I hadn’t drawn it, which was probably the only reason the guards hadn’t attacked me yet.

Arkun was the first one to regain his composure. The traitor was wearing a gaudy yellow suit with frills and medals, as well as a bejeweled sword.

“Who are you?” The regent motioned at the guards between us. “Arrest this man and his…” His white eyes widened as he recognized Starna. “Arrest them both!”

“The regent only speaks for the crown until they are of age.” I held up my hand. “I am Sectum Gravis Malus. The crown is mine by right.” I took a breath to steady my nerves. I rotated my hand to point at Arkun. “That man is a pretender to the throne who is holding my cousin hostage. HE is a traitor who bragged about killing the entire royal family before he killed my mother in front of me!”

There were a couple gasps, but most of the diplomats looked bored. It was enough to make the guards stop though. I walked in front of the stage. The Speaker of the Golden Senate was standing between them and had a hand firmly on Alessa’s arm. I had a feeling that the reason why she hadn’t tried to run or speak out was because of that grip.

“This miscreant has come in here to spoil my beloved’s special day and you hesitate because he spouts lies?” The veins were starting to show on Arkun’s forehead and neck. “ARREST HIM NOW!!!”

I left my sword in its scabbard. Drawing it at this point in time would only provoke the audience. While there were some guards who trained, there had been peace for over a hundred years. The most combat experience the guards got was the occasional pirate that they decided to chase. Anything else was a beast hunt. I’d cut my teeth on the open waters where fighting for my life was a common activity. I wasn’t concerned at all.

“You doubt who I am?” I stepped towards the stage to bypass the blade of the guard on my left. The two guards had taken out their swords to threaten me, not to use them. I shook my head as I pulled the sword out of his hand and let it drop to the floor. I kicked it away as I twisted and threw the guard at the Speaker and Regent. That also allowed me to pull Alessa away from the Speaker, though I noticed that his nails had left four trails of blood on her arm.

I took the scratches without thinking, leaking a little blood down my arm. I put myself between my cousin and the two important Elves. Getting between her and all the Elves was impossible as six more guards ran over to us to complete the circle.

“He’s kidnapping the princess again!” Arkun screamed while holding his nose. It looked like the speaker’s forehead had collided with it when I threw the guard at them. I couldn’t stop the smirk from parting my lips.

“He’s not kidnapping me. He’s PROTECTING me from you!” Alessa pointed at the pair of Elves that were still on stage. The unfortunate guard had been pushed onto the floor behind them. My cousin began eyeing the guards. “What my cousin said is right. You don’t take orders from him, you take orders from the crown. STAND DOWN!”

There was a lot of confusion and murmuring coming from the crowd. While they weren’t going to help me, it seemed that most of them were content to not offer any aid to the regent either. The Elf in a brown suit stepped out of the crowd. His colors marked him as the representative from the Agate Senate and his golden eyes told me he was a mage. Garm kept up with the Agate Senate, since they were earth users and tended to contest with the Dwarves over mining areas. His obsession with them allowed me to know that Lagrev Gratten was the only Agate Senator that was also a mage.

“He has obviously brainwashed her while she was kidnapped!” Senator Lagrev pointed his hand at me. “We have all heard about how the Princess is madly in love with Sir Arkun.”

“That’s not true! He’s my cousin! Prince Sect..!” Alessa was cut off as the floor under our feet began to give way.

Starna slid in between him and us with a barrier, but not before the floor cracked, sending us down into the room below.