Lucy Wickshire 190 Chapter twenty-two 11

"That is why you have remained in Juhntt all this while. Juhntt is Lady Wickshire's kingdom. Ancients would not dare make a move on the queen of Juhntt. Lady Wickshire predicted this long ago, do you think she speaks rubbish?" this silenced Lady Teel.

"After all, it is better for your daughter, who has not your skill in martial arts to be queen of a first rate kingdom; her rule over the Jade hand and the Teel family will be stronger."

"Lady Wickshire thinks far ahead." Lady Teel complimented, "But why? She does not seem to care much for Juhntt, it is as good as any place in her eyes. You don't expect me to believe that she allowed me entrance into the kingdom, because she believes I will make a good addition, do you?" Lady Teel sneered.

"Only she can answer that." Lord of Merve answered.

"Then what? What does my daughter get out of this? She is still queen. The king's only heir is a traitor."

"The lady has it all planned. Worry not, your daughter is queen. No matter who becomes king, the lady will make sure her title as dowager queen is stable." Lord Morge answered.

"She really does plan to the last detail, Lady Wickshire. Did she also plan His Majesty's death?" Queen Raine spoke for the first time.

"Why should she protect him? Like your mother said, Juhntt is as good as any other place. Besides, His Majesty made a deal with Lady Wickshire. She would not interfere with the ruling of the kingdom." Lord of Merve smiled.

"Then what has she been doing all this while?" Queen Raine scuffed.

"She only does things that benefit her. Lady Steinhouse's marriage, the last queen's death; everything was to her benefit." Lord Morge said.

"Worry not, Your Majesty, you will be taken care of." Lord of Merve said.

It did not take long to send the group away and have them settled in. While alone, Lord of Merve and Lord Morge sighed. The slight sweetness from the plantain could still be tasted from this few months old ciere, as it slid down Lord of Merve's throat. Just as he was about to relax, the door opened and Amie; Walter's sister, walked in. They glanced at each other briefly in confusion. Amie was a person they had never interacted with before. She taking the initiative to talk to them, was odd. They stood the moment she entered. She approached both of them with a frown, till she was standing right before lord of Merve; he was so tall, she had to look up at him. He was the one that came to their home and brought them to his residence.

"Where is he?" she asked, her soft voice made them paused for a second.

"Who?" Lord of Merve asked.

"My brother, where is he?" she asked. That voice again. Looking at her blank face, they could tell she was serious. But something about her voice made Lord of Merve unable to take her seriously.

"He is working." Lord of Merve answered.

"Doing what?" she asked.

"Worry not, he is fine." Lord of Merve said softly. He could swear her way of speaking was infectious.

"That is not what I asked." she frowned.

"I can not tell you where he is, because I don't know." Lord of Merve answered.

"Does he not take orders from you?" Amie asked.

"We? No. We are not qualified to give your brother orders." Lord of Merve answered.

"Who, then?"

"I can not tell you this." Lord of Merve looked away.

"So, we should all just do as you say? My family should trust our survival to people we don't know?" Amie asked coldly.

"You don't trust us?" Lord of Merve asked.

"Should I?" Amie countered.

"Yes. Yes, you should. Your brother has gone away and from what I hear, for a long time. Both of us are responsible for keeping you safe. You have seen us with him. How can you not trust us?" Lord of Merve asked.

"My brother just appears one morning and says he will be gone a while. He said nothing about you two. He only said to go to Lady Steinhouse if we need anything. Yet, I'm supposed to trust you? You came to our house and told us to leave and we did. That is as far as we can go." Amie countered. He could tell she was getting angry, so he lowered his voice another degree.

"I apologize, but, Lady Steinhouse has issues of her own. She had to leave. We brought your family here to protect you from the invasion. Is that not enough to trust us?" he asked. Lord Morge felt as though, he should just step out and let them sort it out. He felt as though he was intruding on something private.

"You tell us nothing. I know it is for our own safety, but Walter told us nothing as well. How can we know what in our lives is permanent? It's confusing to be pushed around all the time." Amie said. Their voices were now very low, they were practically whispering at each other. This made Lord Morge uncomfortable and somewhat amused.

"Tomorrow." Lord of Merve said.

"What happens tomorrow."

"Everything will be back to the way it was, tomorrow sun down." Lord of Merve promised.

Chapter end