The star-shaped blade

All the soldiers present got confused. Did something amiss happen to the new King Tisdale? Why did she scream, please save my son? Many thoughts were going on my mind. After the training got halted, I went back to my room. At this point, I completely forgot about my interrupted match with Roderick. My mind was, filled with several theories about the incident.

One hour later, Musif leren entered my room and said," Juan, there is an army meeting arranged in the main hall of the kingdom, and you are immediately required ."

'Warrior Leren, could you explain what is going on ?"

"King Tisdale might be in danger."

"What! How?"

" I am afraid we do not have much time just follow me to the hall." I followed him to the main hall on the first floor. Hundreds of soldiers were present when I entered. My father, John Swift, was standing on the stage with fear and aggression present on his face. I stood in the middle of the crowd along, with Roderick and some of his army friends.

"Alright warriors, the kingdom is under another threat. We need to be alert this time. We are not sure how serious this is but, King Tisdale found a star-shaped blade laying on his bed earlier this morning with the letters, "JFST" inscribed on it. It is similar to the blade found by his father, the day he died. There are already 70 soldiers securing King Tisdale's room from the inside and outside, but it is not sufficient. We will be guarding the entire castle. David, Ralph, and Bennet, you three will be securing entrance ground of the castle," said John, signalling towards three soldiers in the first row."

"Juan and Roderick you two will be securing the entrance hall of the castle," he said to us." In half an hour, we will evacuate the castle. I want you all to get prepared for the saviour of our new King," he added.

After the speech, he assigned positions to other soldiers. In the meantime, I went to Rupert's house to borrow his boots as mine were getting torn out. On my way to his hut, I noticed a peculiar pattern present near every hut's entry gate. There were tiny holes present on the ground near every hut. They were so minute in size that it was nearly impossible for a person to notice. I spotted the same hole near Rupert's hut.

"Hello, Juan, Is everything right? You look startled," he asked.

"Listen, Rupert, I am in a hurry, I need to borrow your boots."

"Okay man, come inside let's have some tea first."

"No, Rupert, you do not understand, King Tisdale is in danger, and the army has to protect him. Soon the castle would be evacuated, and the news will spread across the city. I want to borrow your boots because mine got torn out, during practice this morning and your boots fit me better than the castle boots."

"Okay, relax friend, Let me just clean the boots, and I will hand them to you." Within two minutes he handed me the boots. I then got on my horse and went back to the castle. As I reached the castle, it was starting to get evacuated. All the mistresses, ministers and servants were getting transferred to the camps near the borders of the kingdom for a night. In the meantime, the soldiers were taking their respective positions as assisted by my father. I went to the entrance hall where my position was.

"Thank god, you arrived I thought you got scared and ran away," Roderick who was standing next to me said laughingly.

" Come on man! this is not a time for jokes. The kingdom is under serious threat."

"That is where you lack, Juan, you got to learn to remain on your bright side on situations like this. Never let the darkness of the situation pull you down."

" Well, I get what you are trying to convey but remember I was the one to remain on my bright side in our last battle and nearly defeated you until the match got interrupted."

" You see Juan, there is a difference between nearly defeating someone and brutally defeating someone. If you know what I mean," he said smirkingly.

As our silly argument was going, my father entered the hall and said," Boys I assigned you both on this position because I believe the combination of your calmness and aggression can handle the situation perfectly when the enemy enters the entrance hall to get into the rooms."

" Yes, warrior John, we respect the role given to us," said Roderick." Precisely, I will be securing King Tisdale's room from outside the door along with Musif. Allow me to go back to my position otherwise, Queen Josephine will get angry."

" Is Queen Josephine staying?" I asked.

"Indeed, she and princess Lauren are staying in the next door to the King's. She believes she needs to be with his son during this time of vain and pray for him." He then left the hall and went towards King Tisdale's room present on the same floor.