Chapter 88: Chapter 88

The girl entered the study like a silent shadow, her graceful steps barely audible even when the study was silent, the room was nowhere near being small but her long and agile legs ate the distance in no time, coming to stand in front of the King and the princess.

Henry raised his eyebrow at the girl who, instead of bowing properly, with one of her legs in front of the other, her knees bent, her back arched and her head held low, only bowed her head, slightly, making her salute to the royals, which was to show respect and humility in front of them, lack the necessary obeisance and courtesy.

Nevertheless, he knew he couldn’t consider her act rude or plainly disrespectful, it was somehow neutral, combined with the haughtiness the girl carried, he couldn’t help but think she was someone of important status and hesitated to address her lack of manners.

He never cared much about the formalities before, but with all the things that happened in his absence, the invasion of the other kingdoms and the presumed downfall of the Yoren dynasty, he feared that the girl’s gesture was a reflection to those presumptions, for he had seen it in the eyes of the people when he walked into the castle, there was shock, surprise, but also disbelief and lack of faith, they were their to greet him, but it wasn’t out of love, but out of obligation.

He had lost the love and respect of people, Henry knew it, and the girl, if she war.sn’t someone of very high and important status, could be showing her disdain and disrespect to him.

The girl, or more like the woman, Henry thought while running his eyes on her length one more, taking in her strange appearance once more, not only her manners didn’t match the standards, but neither did her choice of clothes, for the woman, instead of wearing an appropriate gown for a lady of her age, which was a year or two less than Nara’s, chose to bury herself in completely black attire, knee length vest with a high collar that hid half of her neck, bare of any embroideries, pieces of jewelry, or decorations, nor even shiny buttons, tight pants of the same material, and knee-length leather boots, all black in black.

Not that her body needed many decorations, Henry thought, noticing how her attire showed her feminine body which was of medium height, thin with generous curves in all the right places, once which were enough to make any other man’s imagination work crazily to see what was beyond the plain black fabric, especially with the way she stood, tall and straight, like a proud pantheress.

She did look like one, he thought as he studied her more, as if her appearance wasn’t weird enough, the girl was matching it with a weirder haircut, her inky black silky hair was cut very short on the back, barely an inch from her scalp, not even hiding her neck, the fringe however was left long, reaching her chin as it descended across her face in a graceful shiny wave, hiding half of her face, and despite being weird, Henry couldn’t her but find an edgy beauty in her.

“Don’t just stand there! Come take a seat.” His sister melodious voice pilled him out of his thoughts, looking at her, he found her smiling brightly at the strange girl, giving the impression that she was so happy to see her, the girl was quick to oblige and took a seat across the table, both of them ignoring his questioning eyes.

Looking back at the girl, Henry barely stopped himself from gulping when his eyes met hers, and for a second he felt as if he was trapped in her gaze, it wasn’t the kind of flirt looks women of her age usually through his way, nor it was the shy look of those intimidated by his status, it wasn’t a look of enmity, nor of fear, it was just, lifeless.

Blinking his eyes, Henry reminded himself that the girl in front of his wasn’t a painting, she was alive, but her eyes looked dead, deprived of any emotion, they felt as if they were carved on stone, and decorated with rare Gems, for indeed, her eyes were the most beautiful pair of eyes he ever saw, with their unique pure color that reminded him of rain and sea, they were hauntingly beautiful, but also intimidating and, scary.

Unable to keep the eyes contact, Henry moved his eyes to take in the rest of her face, an oval one with soft cuts, pale smooth skin, button nose, and plump lips, the girl was a beauty indeed, but her beauty was scarred, and not just by her cold eyes only.

It was only when he focused on her face, on the half which was covered by her long thick fringe did he notice the deep horrifying scars her face carried, like grooves, four longitudinal lines that went from under her eye to her jaw, ruining her impeccable beauty.

“Brother…” hearing his sister calling him, an obvious awkwardness lacing her voice, Henry turned to her, more curious than before about the girl, only to be met with a tight-lipped smile, one that screamed ‘Stop ogling!’

“Allow me to introduce you, this is Dahlia, she is my personal, most trusted knightess and advisor!”

Henry’s eyes widened at his sister’s words before his eyes went back to look at the girl suspiciously, a knightess and an advisor? His eyes on her were hard, intense, cold, and full of reserved hostility, not caring if he was making her uncomfortable, which wasn’t the case as she stared back at him indifferently, her face still expressionless and her gaze unwavering, those eyes, so cold, colder than the enemies he had faced, he was sure that he didn’t meet her before, a girl like her wasn’t someone to easily forget, but at the same time, something about her eyes gave a strange faint impression of familiarity, the girl was also strangely calm, not just indifferent or unfazed, but calm, like a shadow cast on the side, in an abandoned dark corner and left to be.

“I don’t recall seeing her before.” She wasn’t a noble, now that he had seen her face, nor an acquaintance of his sister, she didn’t look like someone from a big family either as she lacked the appropriate mannerism, let alone the fact that she didn’t introduce herself nor her family name, something the aristocrats would do on every occasion to gain favor for themselves and their families.

"Of course, you don't, Dahlia only came to work in the castle a few months after you left, she was one of the few survivors from the other kingdoms’ attacks, and now she works for me, even though we are as close as friends, I still take advantage of her great skills.” Nara said proudly, her smile radiant as she talked highly about her ‘advisor / knightess in black/ friend’, Henry looked at the girl from the corner of his eyes, expecting some kind of reaction, maybe a gratitude for his sister's kind words, a happy proud smile or a humble denial, any reaction would be good, but the girl didn't move a muscle, her face remained expressionless and her eyes cold.

Creepy, Henry admitted.

"That is a very interesting background if I may say” that was low, Henry knew it but didn’t care “Care telling it once more, Miss Dahlia...?" Henry paused and waved his hand as if waiting for the girl to tell him her full name, even when she still didn’t give him a reason to hate her, yet, she still gave the wrong impression, she was strange and cold, nothing malice or evil about her, nonetheless, the way his sister talked about her and obviously trusted her, and then the vague story she told, it all made him suspect her more.

"It is Dahlia Black" Nara answered on the girl's behalf which gained her a raised annoyed brow from her brother which she answered with an awkward smile, asking him silently to drop the matter, at least for the time being, not wanting to upset his sister when it was their first meeting in two years, Henry didn't push it any further and decided to wait until they were alone to get his answers, And that brought him back to an earlier question he was asking himself, Why was this girl sitting with them anyway?

"The poor thing lost her family because of the Manrast army.” Nara said, hating the fact that she was reminding her friend with her tragic past but had no choice, her brother would keep on pushing the matter one way or another, and she needed him to trust her friend so they can all work together in solving the problems at hand “ As for how did she get the job, Well, she deserved it, Dahlia saved my life, not once nor twice, there have been countless attempts to kill me since you left, From other kingdoms, and even from our own kingdom's people whom we shared bread and salt with, As the last Yoren, some tried to kill me,  some tried to force me to marry them, some tried to force me to step off the thrones, but Dahlia was always there to save me, she stood by my side, advised and supported me, protected me, I don’t care if she didn't come from a wealthy family, she is a true loyal servant!" Henry was impressed by how fiercely his sister defended the strange girl, he was also glad that she had grown up to be such a strong and kind young lady, just like his mother, and just like his mother’s, he trusted her intuition for the time being and decided to give this Dahlia a chance, a small one with many eyes on her that is.

And with the matter of the strange girl pushed to the side, his mind was fully focused on the critical detail his sister had casually mentioned.

"What do you mean by ‘The last Yoren?!"

"Oh, Big brother" Nara sighed, her face adorning a grave expression..." It's been over two years, Mother and Father never came back nor sent us a word, and only a few months after you left, other kingdoms started attacking our borders, usurping our lands and enslaving our people, those whom they didn’t butcher at least, Nicholas runaway somehow, I still don’t know how but I am sure someone helped him, he wasn’t alone as some of the youngest priests ran away with him, and after a while, everyone thought you were dead..." Nara remembered the worst period of her life, when she was left alone with a kingdom to save from traitors and attacks, with no one to trust, no one to lean on, until the disfigured girl showed up.

Henry on the other hand was speechless, sorrow filling him up at the realization, they were probably dead, his parents, and his brother...

Nara placed her hand on his knee, squeezing it gently, she understood the pain he was feeling as it was the same she had to endure for two years, looking up at her, Henry was met with her glassy eyes and kind smile, telling him she was there for him, the only family he had left.

"Now tell me, Brother, what happened on your journey, what took you so long?" Nara asked hoping to divert her brother’s mind from the sad thoughts.

Henry told his sister about the war, the battles, the friends he made, and of course Rima, he missed her already, Nara didn't miss the light in her brother's eyes when he talked about the demoness, and just like he expected, his kind sister was happy for him, smiling warmly and looking excited while he briefed her about everything, making him almost forget about the third person in the room.

Was she mute?

"Oh brother, I can't wait to meet her, she sounds like a great person, and the best woman for you, I feel like friends already"

"You will, little sister, but first, we need to deal with these traitors, and kick them out of our lands, as for you, miss Dahlia, I'm eternally grateful for all you have done for my sister so far"

"It was my duty, Your Grace, you should not thank me"

So she wasn’t a mute!

"So, Big brother, what should we do first?"  Nara asked enthusiastically, her eyes shining like sapphires, with her brother back, she was finally able to step back and take a breath, without all the eyes and fingers on her.

"Your Grace, If I may suggest something", And again, the stone talked!! Curious to know what she had to say, Henry gave her a quick nod indicating he was listening.

"I'm sorry to say this but, while you were gone, so many people, the commons as well as the nobles had lost faith in their King, they did not understand the reasons you did what you had to do, which caused the kingdom to break on itself, I also understand that most of the soldiers were lost in the battlefield and sadly, this will not be in your favor, The people in Taghit kingdom will only resent you more for it, they will think that you have led their sons to their deaths while you came back unscratched, Other kingdoms will hear about it too, and won't hesitate to step further into our lands, all while some greedy lords will try to use the people's rage to take the throne or divide the kingdom, something they have already done before and were properly punished for, Therefore, I ask Your Grace to talk to your people first, explain everything to them, the reason behind this war, the victory you had achieved, the safety they can live in now, let them know the sacrifices you have done for them, Their faith in you will return".

"And what do you suggest about the foreign invasion?!" Henry was beyond impressed with the girl's long sight and ability to analyze, but of course he didn’t show it to her, she was still under inspection, nevertheless, he agreed with everything she said, for he had thought about such possibilities happening, they were not solely threatened from outside their borders but also from within, letting his curiosity take over, he wanted to test the girl's capabilities even more, and asked for her opinion on what to deal with the main problem, the invaders.

"Give them three days to retreat."

"What? Why?!" Nara looked at the two as if they had grown a second head, not understanding why would Dahlia give other kingdoms the chance to flee, not that they would flee, but establish a defense plan that would probably use hostages as human shields!

"I think I know why..."