Missing King

The guards Xilo had followed left their gear at a small booth nearby as another pair came to take their place. Xilo leaned against a pillar as he watched the entrance to this room. As long as he was able to get inside he didn't care how long he had to wait for someone to come. This was the best place for him to learn anything that he wanted. "Everyone in there are the people on top." There wasn't any reason for him to go anywhere else until he learned more. A few people entered the waiting room as he stayed there however none of them walked inside the Throne room. They all just sat on a bench and talked or left the room after some waiting.

"One of them will go in there, I know it."

With what happened today there should be a lot of people wanting to talk with the King. While most people in this castle didn't seem to care about the war a lot of people on the outside did. Lexia was one example of that, or at least he hoped she still was. That's why he was here to figure this stuff out, so that he knew how to forward. "I know she was Katrin's friend..." That wasn't enough anymore to give him peace of mind. Hearing the door rattle Xilo opened up one eye as he peeked at who was coming. "Probably another guard." Dressed in armour from head to toe Xilo closed his eyes, ignoring him. If it was just another guard there was no point in paying attention.

A few minutes later though Xilo heard a giant creaking sound as the set of doors in front of him opened up. Stumbling off the pillar he was leaning on, Xilo looked towards the Throne room and saw the person he assumed was a guard earlier walking inside. With the doors closing behind Xilo had to run straight for them. "That's what I get for assuming." As the doors got closer to shut Xilo scolded himself for not paying attention. If he didn't make it in this time he didn't have any idea how long he would have to wait for another person to show up and let him in.

With barely enough space to fit a human body left Xilo dived inside as a loud bang rattled his ears behind him. "I made it." Lying on the floor Xilo made sure no one had detected him as he stood up. "I'd probably already be dead." Anyone here could kill him in an instant if they caught a spy snooping around. Looking around the room Xilo saw an empty throne that confirmed the earlier rumours those guards talked about earlier. Surrounded by an assortment of men and women Xilo counted around sixteen of them. They all looked at the person who arrived and joined the small crowd in the centre of the room. Xilo recognized one couple there that Lexia had pointed out earlier.

"Them."

Those were the people that Lexia said was abusing this situation for profit and even potentially accelerating it. "Looks like this is the real discussion." The armoured man stepped up as he looked at the empty throne in question. One of the older men noticed and spoke up about Landal's absence. From what the older man said it looked like they didn't have any idea where he was as well and they had been waiting for his return. "How can he hide from all these people?" Xilo assumed most people would try to keep track of their own King for safety reasons or others. "Maybe I'm wrong." Shrugging his shoulders, Xilo didn't feel comfortable with all these strong people so close to him as he backed off to one of the far corners.

"I doubt it'll help but it'll make me feel better at least."

The further away he was from the better as long as he could still listen. He could also snoop around and see if he could find anything hidden in this room. From his memory Katrin had a room that she liked to lock herself away in so maybe Landal had something similar. Keeping track of some of the some of the things that everyone was talking about Xilo counted how many people were in this room. With 16 all sitting down and about 10 different guests that was everyone in plain sight. Xilo also spotted four other people in hiding watching over the room as well. That was pretty normal and perfectly fine with Xilo except there was one extra presence he detected outside. No one here seemed to mind the presence but Xilo wasn't sure why.

"He was hard for me to even detect."

That gave Xilo the feeling that it wasn't anyone invited here. "Is it Drahal's men?" That thought floated past his mind as everyone carried on with their discussion. Even without Landal here there were still some things that they could talk about. Like what everyone would be doing and how they would handle this situation in their own territory. Gliding across the wall Xilo looked for anything hidden in the walls. Making his way around to the throne and line of seats Xilo wasn't caught by anyone as his darkness kept him hidden from their vision. "Nothing." Xilo kind of hoped that he might have found a similar button like he did with Lexia's hidden entrance but came up with nothing.

"There's no way he left the Castle...."

Tapping his chin Xilo thought about it as he pulled out the strand of Lexia's hair he carried. He still needed it to return so he had to keep it with him without losing it. "What to do?" That was when a dull sound of pain entered his ears. It didn't come from any of the people in this room since no one reacted to it and it sounded too far away. "What was that?" He heard it again as he looked up at the small open window that was right next to him. "Is it coming from outside?" There was nothing out there except for that one presence that was nearby though. "Could they be one the one making that sound?" If that was the case why was someone alone in what sounded like pain.

"I guess it's worth checking out."

Stepping up the window, Xilo climbed on the desk nearby and jumped at the window. Grabbing the ledge with his hands he pulled himself up as he climbed through the window. Looking down it was a bit of a far drop but Xilo would manage. "I don't see anyone." With no one in sight still Xilo heard the pained groan much clearer than before. Shrugging his shoulders, Xilo took one last look back at the throne room and leaped out the window. Touching the ground Xilo was met with a face full of bushes that he pushed away. "There it is again." Xilo could practically hear it right next to him however he didn't see a single person.

"Where is it coming from then?"