"What is your role in this?" The wrinkled woman asked, crossing her old arms.
"I was employed under king Emrys for the birth of his bastard child," Diana answered gallantly.
I clenched my jaw at the last word. Bastard.
"Sakari Tartal gave birth to the king's daughter twenty years ago and a year after she fled with the child." She continued.
"The king gave my sister a special pendant of royal stone. A gift only gifted to the mistresses of the king." Sarvin added. My hand went to my neck where the green jade still was.
"Elora," he reached for me but I knew it was for the jade. I lifted my hands to the clasp at the base of my neck and took it off. Handing it over, I suddenly felt naked without it.
"As you can see for yourselves, this jade is authentic and of royal stone." He handed it to the nearest counsel man, who took a quick and surprised glance at it, before letting it be passed around.
"That is your evidence? A midwife and a two-decade-old necklace?" The counsel woman said snippily.
"And of course the treacherous actions of Edmund Hager." Sarvin's eyes turned to Aleron. "I believe your second in command can attest to the validity of this? He was, after all, in charge the day Edmund fled the palace with my sister."
Aleron's eyes ran to a guard at the door, who quickly exited before coming back with a man dressed in blue armour. His hair was grey and pushed back into a bun. The man's eyes were baggy but soft and his nose was slightly crooked. The rest of his features were rough and one could tell, time had shown him a few things.
"Elijah," Aleron's voice echoed through the room.
"Yes your grace," he gracefully responded, letting his head fall.
"Does the name Edmund Hager mean anything to you?"
Elijah's mature face lit up with surprise, "He was an old comrade, your grace. A traitor to the throne." He stuttered and I tried remaining calm.
My father, Edmund, had raised me even if he wasn't my real father. Listening to them speak ill of him, felt entirely wrong.
"And what exactly did this traitor do?" Aleron's questions remained calm, but I could tell he was not very amused. But I imagined having his party interrupted, and by Sarvin who had no shame, mustn't have fallen in his good graces.
"He fled with the king's mistress decades ago," Elijah spoke very nobly and I could tell he was trying to keep his own bias aside.
"Who was this mistress?"
Elijah's eyes wandered around the room until he spotted Sarvin.
"The Tartal sister." He finally said, compelling a low mumble from the council. It was only then Aleron began showing interest, his eyes lowering, speculating.
Then his face rose again to eye level, "Lord Sarvin your claims today have indeed had a level of concern but without concrete proof, other than word of mouth, this claim is dismissed."
"Your Grace, I understand, however, there is one final piece to all of this. It is what gave me the courage to bring forth this matter." Sarvin's hand slipped under his shawl and he pulled out an old letter, stamped with a red swan.
"The king knew Elora's claim to the throne would be weak without proof, so he gave this to me before he passed." He gracefully unfolded the letter, holding it up for the council to see.
I only managed to spot something written in ink and a signature accompanied by an unbroken red wax seal stamp.
Everyone's eyes widened and the woman on the council gasped out loud.
YOU ARE READING
My Darkening Ember
Adventure"This bounty is mine, Xander," He said. It was the first time I ever heard his name. Xander smirked, "Kill me first, then take her." He proposed arrogantly, a silver knife resting confidently in his hand. The man only nodded once as his hand slithe...
