Reasons for War

Lady Lystra calmly took a deep breath as she considered the queen's question.

Not knowing how to answer Her Majesty's question she decided to ask one in return.

"Your Majesty is certain, there could be no other reasons as to why Weiss soldiers would attack a defenseless village?"

"I am quite certain, Lady Lystra, Weiss may have contributed to its share of evils but from what I know, our attacks have mostly been in defense of what is rightfully ours, so this particular attack puzzles me. I also suspect I will not find a clear cut answer as to why that village in particular was attacked but someone must have had a reason, someone with enough power to convince my father or the general to deploy soldiers to that region."

"So you claim that in these wars Weiss has moral grounds that support its attacks in Rubicund?"

"For the most part, yes, Lady Lystra," replied Queen Elesha.

"Which is why I will ask you again."

"Just how many people were privy to the fact that the king was courting you in that period of time."

"That is hard for me to answer, Your Majesty, I'd say almost all of Rubicund was aware of it. The King is not exactly discreet about such matters, if I may state so."

"Were you the only woman he was having relations with at that time?"

"It's there I'm going to have to correct you, he never did have relations with me, even though I was under the assumption that it was him, because I was having relations with his brother. As to who he could have been with, there is a lady that comes to mind, I'm not sure if you have heard of Lady Clara Fischer from the Kingdom of Blau. She and the king have been quite close."

"I see, Lady Lystra since you come from the Village of Dahlia, what can Weiss do as a form of recompense for it?"

"I suppose it would help Your Majesty if you were to compensate the loss in gold," Lady Lystra replied rather bluntly.

"Will you help me see to it?"

"Of course, Your Majesty, I shall help as best as I can. We are family now."

"Indeed, thank you," replied Queen Elesha.

The next day, the records came from the Kingdom of Weiss and as promised Elios, King Hans and Queen Elesha scrutinized them thoroughly. As suspected, Queen Elesha found that the reason that the Village of Dahlia was destroyed was because it stated it harboured Rubicund men who had slaughtered a village in Weiss. Yet it showed no evidence that the men it harboured were captured and killed.

She received another letter from Mrs.Weber which shed more light on the matter. Mrs.Weber had reported that Lady Clara's uncle Sir Rupert Murdoch was an advisor at Weiss court. To confirm her suspicions she wrote to General Maxwell to confirm who had authorized the dispatch of soldiers to the Village of Dahlia. In three days she received her answer and was hardly surprised. The letter stated that the soldiers had been dispatched by her father under the advice of Sir Rupert Murdoch.

All the pieces came together and now for the final piece to complete the picture in her mind she needed to confront Lady Clara and find out her reason for wanting the village of Dahlia attacked. She was absolutely sure that it was out of jealousy of Lady Lystra that the village was attacked. She sat behind her desk and wrote an invitation for tea to Lady Clara.

As the invitation was being sent out by a messenger, Queen Elesha contemplated on how she should discuss this matter with her husband. This was still all speculation and she didn't have any hard evidence to suggest that Lady Clara was behind it. All she had were her suspicions and they were not enough to convict a lady at court. She would have to tell him tonight, she hoped he would visit her chambers and if he didn't she would visit his.

Night soon befell them all, Queen Elesha dressed in her night gown after spending an hour soaking herself in the bathtub and layering her skin with spices and perfumes. She got into bed and waited hoping the King would knock on her door. She blew out most of the candles in her room but kept a few oil lamps burning so she had just enough light to see. A knock was heard and she got up and opened her room door to find King Hans staring at her.

"Elesha, couldn't sleep without me?"

"I was actually just falling asleep when you knocked."

"Very well then since you don't need me tonight I shall take my leave."

"No! I need you," she said grasping his arm and dragging him into her chambers. She quickly shut the door behind them.

"Desperate are we?" He teased smiling at her tenderly.

"If you want me to be, I will be," she said looking up at him and blinking innocently.

He laughed and wrapped her in his arms before guiding her to bed. He got in next to her and as his head hit the pillow, he turned to look at her and asked.

"What's on your mind?"

"I wanted to talk to you about, Lady Clara." Queen Elesha said without hesitation.

"I see, am I in trouble?"

"Not you but she is," replied Queen Elesha.

"Really how?" asked King Hans staring at her intently.

She quickly explained it all to him from the beginning and mentioned the letters she received. Once she had finished she looked up at him trying to read his emotions which she could not decipher as he looked very calm.

"Elesha, I don't think Clara is capable of such cruelty," he said this gently taking her hand.

"I think it's best if you dropped it," he said before turning around to blow out the lamp on his side of the bed.

"I can't Hans, I've invited her and Lady Lystra to tea, where I plan on confronting her."

"What if she is innocent and you have nothing on her?"

"I do have something on her, if I happen to be wrong I will apologize and look elsewhere but I can't ignore the fact that her uncle is my father's advisor and surely she must have had some involvement in it."

"Alright, confront her if you must, but will you do with her if you find her guilty?"

"I will send her far away from here, it would be better if she returned permanently to Blau and stayed there. She would no longer be welcomed at court."

"That seems fair, very well do what you must, you have my support."

"Thank you, darling" she whispered kissing her husband on the forehead.

"Anything to keep you safe, love" he whispered back, hugging her throughout the night.