Chapter 9

Today the sky was clear and calm as usual but the horses made a sound that morning to make it seem not in peace. It seems Alan and Leo stood by their horses ready for their mission but Alan had still not done his preparations. After he was done, he looked at the barn waiting for Alan to come out. Unfortunately, Alan took too long which made him ran out of patience. He racked-up his horse at the nearby tree. After that, he walked slowly to the barn. The door was open, from far away, Leo could see Alan but he can't see what Alan was doing to his horses.

"What are you doing?" He reprimands. Alan was surprised when someone spoke and startled him. "I'm preparing, sir." Alan answered his questions and showed to Leo what has he prepared. "What the…." He stopped his sentenced. He was surprised when he looked inside the saddle bags. "Move it, kids." Leo ordered. Alan made it move one step behind. After that, Leo started to throw things. "Sir, why are you throwing my stuff?" Alan was shocked at what Leo had done to him. "Tell me Alan, what is our mission?" Leo asked to check whether he understood their mission. "Our mission is to rescue Mrs. Morrison's family, sir." He answered.

"Then, tell me what is all this about?" Leo pointed to all of Alans' stuff including the one that he was holding now. "Those are for our protection; we don't know how many enemies that we will face." Alan answered. After that, he explained one by one about the item that he brought. "Please stop." Leo started to have a headache when he listened to Alan's tutorial. "This is not a lecture time." He massaged his head. "Listen, we don't need all these kinds of stuff." He helped Alan rearrange all the stuff. "If you bring all of this, it will slow us down." He continued. Alan just stood there holding the stuff that Leo brought out from his bag.

"We're not coming to take down all the enemies." Leo showed Alan a crossbow inside the bag and threw it down. "Are you running away from home?" Leo pointed at the few pieces of clothes, some food and herbs. Alan did not respond but just kept a listening ear. "Seriously?" Alan just kept smiling after he took a couple of explosive bombs. "And the last thing." He lifted up his head to Alan. But he did not understand what Leo meant. "You already emptied my bags, there is nothing left for me." Alan did not understand what Leo wanted from him. He just lifted up both of his hands to show that there is nothing more from him.

"Your armor." Leo touched Alan's shoulder after he saw him wearing the armor. It seemed like Leo wanted Alan to take it off immediately. "Sir, this is for defence from…" Alan's speech was cut down. "We are not in war, son." Leo's voice slowly faded away. "Is there anything that I can bring, sir?" Alan looked up to Leo's face. "Just a sword is enough." Leo left to go to his horse. "That's all sir?" He asked for confirmation. "Bringing too much may not spare you from your death, but it will expose you to death, because more items will only slow you down". Leo's words made Alan stumble a little.

"I want to teach you about this rescue mission." Leo placed his hand on Alan's shoulders. "We need to be lightweight; bringing heavy stuff might slow us down because the act of rescuing the hostages itself would have impeded our journey". He said. "Secondly, we need to keep low and act as normal people." Leo gave the bag to Alan that he had already rearranged. "Lastly, we need to avoid fighting the enemies, think about them and protect them from harm." Then the both of them got out from the barn together. Alan now clearly understood Leo's thoughts.

"Sir Leo." Will called. Lady Tiara was also there walking with him. "My lady." Leo bowed down to her to show her his respects. Tiara gave a sign to Will to signify the need for some privacy for the both of them. "Young master, let me help you." Will and Alan left both of them behind. "My lady, please forgive me if my plans have ignited your anger." Leo knew that Lady Tiara was still in a state of disagreement about his plans. "No, I'm not but I just wish that the both of you will be safe and sound." She said with a gentle voice.

"Do tell me about what promises you had made to me?" Tiara's questions made Leo a little shocked. He got a little confused but he just kept his calm to answer her question. "I'm Razeleo, I vowed that I will protect this family at all cost with my body and my soul and I shall not run away from my duty until death comes knocking." He made this oath to her. "I'm very grateful that you are willing to serve for me." Emily kneeled towards Leo. "I'm very thankful that you have trust for me." He looked up to Tiara.

"I want my son live no matter what because he's is your first priority, I don't care about the mission but you must keep him alive, remember that." She gave a death stare to him. "Yes, my lady." Leo was startled to see such eerie eyes. "I will protect him until the end of my life." Leo gave his trustworthy words. "He will be in your care." Tiara cautiously gave her permission to Leo. After that, Leo left her behind to begin their journey. Tiara watched them go from a distance without moving an inch.

"Sir Leo." Will called. "Lady Tiara gave this to you." Will gave a small package to Leo. After he opened it, he was shocked. "This is too much for me to accept." Leo tried to refuse it but he still held it in his hands. "This is worthy for you to use it for him." Will encouraged him to accept it. "When at the end of one's rope, use it." Will continued. "I will use it carefully." He answered. He jumped up on his horse leaving Will and rode the horse with Alan. "Are you prepared?" Leo asked. Alan just nodded his head as a reply to Leo.

After a few hours passed, three men came to Lady Tiara's house. They stopped their horses so abruptly that the horses neighed sharply at the house gates. After that, one of the men got off from his horse. "I am the royal guards of King Francis; I request to see Lady Tiara urgently." He introduced himself and stated his request. The guards then hurriedly informed the message to Lady Tiara. At the same time Will was at the front door, listening to some commotion at the gates. Will ordered the guards to open the gates to let them in and then he proceeded to welcome those men inside.

"Where is Lady Tiara?" One of the royal guards asked desperately. "Rest assured, she will come at any moment." Alan responded. After that, the door was opened. When they saw her step out of the house, they got down from their horses and kneeled to her. "Lady Tiara, our King wishes to hand this to you." The royal guards handed her a letter. "You have been summoned to the high court and we need to escort you there." Said one of the royal guards of King Francis. Tiara opened the letter; she seemed to be in a state of calmness. "The high court's hearing will commence in three days." Tiara responded. "Two days ago, we received the information that Duke Peter Gregor was found dead." He explained. Tiara silently made sense of the situation. Without wasting time, she started her preparations.

"Will, my preparations." She ordered. "Eliza, show our guest some hospitality" She called upon her maid. Her maid bowed down and guided those men. "I apologize my lady, we are in a hurry." The royal guards rejected her invitations. "You all must have exhausted yourselves and in dire need for some rest." She insisted. "Please understands that a lady needs some preparations." They looked at each other for agreement. "Thank you for your kindness, my lady." They decided to spare a little time to accept her hospitality. "Please be my guest." She smiled. They then followed her maid to the guest room.

"Isn't it too much of a rush, my lady?" Will spoke. He kept making the preparations for her. "We can't disobey him and there was a murder case among the nobles, we need to do something." Tiara said. She changed her clothes at the changing room. "But I know why he called me in such urgency." She explained. "What about Duke Ruddy, surely he must put blame on you?" Will questioned. "I don't care, I just need to ignore him, and the most important thing is we need to catch the murderer who is still at large." She said.

Will gave Lady Tiara the preparations needed. Without realizing, he gave her an unpleasant face. Suddenly she held his shoulder. "Sometimes our plan does not give us the results we were expecting for." "The world full is of surprises but I still love it." She comforted him. "Indeed." Will then started to smile. The worry in his heart was gone. After the preparations were done, they left the room.

After she finished her preparations, she walked to the guest room. "Are all of you guys done?" She asked. "Yes, my lady." The royal guards answered. After that, she got into her carriage. "My lady, do you need some guards to accompany you?" Will asked her. "No need, just stay as they are." She responded. Will nodded his head and got off the carriage. When all the preparations were done, they started their journey leaving the house.