The Royal Mark-Chapter 313: Be Yourself
"Whatever you are thinking don’t do it!" Arla said in full conviction.
Elsa laughed, trying to appear calm, "What are you talking about? What I plan to do is go to the Haraldsen’s Mansion and do research. Maybe there’s information there that we don’t know yet about Kurzen and its present king and the previous ones.
I want to send you in advance. I will go with my husband on his way to Vrenada. So you girls could go ahead before me so we could cover a lot. I will follow."
Elsa watched the three women think about what she said. She was informed before that Lexi’s ancestral mansion was near the border of both Vrenada and Kurzen. She could already feel the eyes of the guards that Hoven had assigned to her and there was no way that she could sneak out if she was in Blackhart to meet up with King Mordrak.
"I think that’s a good idea, since my brother and the rest are already in charge of the planning, we women could help them with information. I am sure my family has something we could use from our library," Lexi said.
"Alright, it’s a plan then. Pack your things while I inform the king of our plan. Please go ahead, I will just freshen up before I go back there," Elsa ordered and the three ladies went on their way. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Elsa quickly took a pen and paper and wrote down, "Tomorrow night, by the river, where Arcanis, Vrenada, and Kurzen meet."
She immediately went to the culverhouse and looked for the birdkeeper. "Which pigeon brought the purple and silver scroll earlier?" she asked the birdkeeper.
"The one with grey and white color, Your Majesty," answered the birdkeeper.
Elsa frowned and pressed her lips together upon seeing the number of pigeons inside. "But most of them have the same color."
The birdkeeper chuckled and said, "I’m sorry, you are right. I am distracted by the hatchlings, they are hungry and need to be fed. I apologize your Majesty."
Elsa smiled, it was just the perfect distraction that she needed, "It’s ok, I just want to check the bird to see if there was no curse cast on it. Show me which one I am looking for then you can go back to the hatchlings.
"It is the one in the yellow cage, My Queen," the birdkeeper replied.
"Thank you, please go back to the babies, they might die. I can manage on my own."
The birdkeeper bowed and went back to the pigeon hatchery.
Elsa looked around, making sure that there was no one else there but her. She took the pigeon and tied her message to the legs of the bird before setting it free. She then took another pigeon that looked very similar to the one that she set free and placed it in the yellow cage.
She then opened three more cages and let the birds fly away before she screamed.
"Ahh!"
The birdkeeper immediately went to her and asked in distress, "Your Majesty! Are you alright? What happened?"
"I am so sorry, I just wanted to hold the other birds because I find them pretty. But the white one bit me, I got startled and accidentally released it. I stepped back to catch it but in doing so I also accidentally elbowed off the other two cages and the birds flew away," Elsa lied and crossed her fingers behind her hoping that the birdkeeper would believe her.
The birdkeeper inspected which cages were opened and then smiled back at Elsa, "That’s ok, Your Majesty. Those birds will come back at sunset. They belong to Arcanis so they would not go far."
"Oh, I see, so I didn’t cause any harm right?" Elsa clarified.
"Definitely not, Your Majesty. In case those three do not come back that’s ok too. I could train new ones that we could send to other kingdoms so they could communicate with us," the birdkeeper assured her.
"Alright then, thank you. I will go now, thank you for your help," Elsa said but the birdkeeper stopped her.
"How about the curse, Your Majesty? You know, we are scared of curses after what happened last time. We don’t want to have another magic worm implanted into our bodies."
Elsa smiled awkwardly and praised herself inwardly for she acted well, making the birdkeeper believe her. She waved her hands and said, "D-Don’t worry about that. There’s no curse, rest assured it will not happen again."
The birdkeeper placed his hand on his chest before sighing, "Oh, thank God. You are truly a blessing to everyone in Arcanis, My Queen. Thank you for checking the birds and thinking of the welfare of the citizens."
Elsa didn’t know how long could she keep smiling when everything she told this person was a lie. Her cheeks were starting to hurt and she needed to get out of there before anyone would suspect her, "You are welcome. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go back to the castle and report to the King that everything is fine here. Thank you for taking care of the birds for the castle."
Elsa briskly went back to the castle but when she got to Chris’ old room she was no longer there. She looked everywhere and found him in Rocco’s nursery, sobbing in silence...
Her heart sank as she watched him hurriedly wipe his tears, not expecting his wife to catch him off guard.
"Hey, you are back... I heard you sent Arla and the others to the Haraldsen’s mansion to help us in gathering more information. I think it was a good idea since their library is older than the one we have he–"
Chris was taken aback when Elsa suddenly hugged her from behind while he was still wiping his tears and trying to compose himself.
"Let it out, Love. You don’t have to be strong in front of me. I am your partner in life and you are mine. You can be yourself when you’re with me, I will not judge..."
