The Prince's Theory

The entire city of Combination was quiet. The busy streets were now empty. Everyone closed their shops for the day. Most people were going to the city hall where Master Jackenzie's farewell was being held. The entire Inland had received the terrible news. The royals from the other cities and towns, who knew the master, were coming. Southernere is a big plot of land surrounded by the ocean, and two small islands in the south. Due to the far distance between Combination and the farthest city in The Inlands, the royals of that city will take about a day to reach. Arstar is the farthest city. The king of Arstar would need about twenty-two hours of travel by horse carriage. So Arstar only sent a letter to pay their respects. A raven reached the castle six hours later.

However, the gathering has already started an hour after the battle. The city hall has already been filled with rows and rows of chairs. Majority of the people who came were citizens and students of the academy. The masters sat in the second row while the first was reserved for the royals. King Henry has brought his family since the start of the gathering. Queen Dorothy and Prince Edward sat in the front row on the right of the centre aisle, occupying the second and third seats from the edge. Henry was busy communicating with the masters or greeting his citizens. He was indeed a very friendly king. Everyone knows him. Literally knows him. He is always welcoming anyone into the castle. They don't have to sneak in the gardens just to get a view of the beautiful interior. Because every month, King Henry would plan a ceremony and invite everyone in the city. Everyone looks up to him like a model friend.

About an hour after the gathering had started, the royals of White Shore arrived. White Shore is a small town towards the northeast of Combination. In fact, it is a town fully under the orders of Combination that it does not have a king but only a lord to protect. A lord chosen by the king of Combination years ago and the roll has been passed on to their descendants since then. The lady is King Henry's half sister. So they're all a big family actually. Lord Adam arrived with his wife Lady Matilda. She was pregnant for about four months now. Her shape was obvious to tell. The two families greeted one another. The ladies pulled into a hug, beginning with the right, then the left, and back to the right again. Their beautiful long scarves moved with their movements. The ladies in Southernere generally cover every part of their body, except for their hands and face. They cover their modesty. So you could say, every lady has long dresses and scarves over their heads. The animals are in their normal selves, not wearing any fancy clothes. They don't have to, their fur or feathers or any other kinds of skin is enough to cover them. Except for some like the royal horses who have armour on them.

'How's my growing nephew? How are you?' Lady Matilda said, bending down a little to hug her eight year old nephew. Prince Edward hugged her.

'I'm great. Bobby taught me a new trick with a sword!' Edward said excitedly.

'He did?' Matilda replied, entertaining him. 'Why don't you tell me more later, I'm staying at your castle for the week!'

'Really?' Edward's eyes were filled with excitement.

'Alright let's go sit down' Queen Dorothy said, smiling the whole time.

Soon the royals from the city of Barenge arrived and they greeted one another again. The royals of Barenge are Dorothy's family. The king and queen are her parents, and Princess Darleen is her younger sister. Their ages are quite far apart for being the only children in the family. Darleen's twenty-five whereas her sister is ten years older. Princess Darleen was overly excited to see her nephew that she forgot she was at a farewell. She just loves to see children. And she gets very excited especially when the child is related to her.

The event started. Master Jenny went up the stage on behalf of Master Widow who was supposed to go up because she was the assistant head of the academy. Jackenzie's body lay in a casket on a stone table at the centre of the stage. Jenny greeted the royals, individually, and then everyone and proceeded with the royal speech which she invited King Henry on stage.

'We are gathered here today, because of our own will to pay the highest amount of respect for the passing of our grand master. A son, a friend, a soldier, a husband, a father, and a master. And he's legacy will continue to provide assistance to all of Inland. We wish this farewell to you as a reminder for us as well, that we will be in your place one day. And your spirit will always stay with us' King Henry said. The whole hall was very quiet. Master Jenny proceeded back up as Henry went to take his seat beside the prince. Prince Edward was a bright young boy. He may be eight but he understood whatever his father had just said. In fact, he was multitasking, listening while looking around at all the other guests. Everyone behind him thought that he was just being a normal kid when he kneeled on his chair and peaked at everyone behind. But he was listening. Edward looked at all their faces that were filled with tears. Edward has a special gift. He has the ability to read people through their facial expressions. He's not right all the time, but most of the time he is. And to him, many people were faking. They were not crying out of genuine sadness for the loss. But they were just trying to show that they care. Edward was sad. How could he not be, Master Jackenzie was one of his personal mentors. Edward doesn't go to the academy like the other kids. He learns what they learn but his lessons are at the castle. Masters Jackenzie, Mousy, and Kitty will come to the palace taking turns, teaching him whatever magical subjects appropriate for his age. Other mentors like Bobby, is Edward's personal teacher for swordfighting. The prince is very close to Master Jackenzie, even not during lessons, Jackenzie spent quite an amount of time with him. Edward was like his own son. Lillain is Jackenzie's only daughter. And she too is very close to Edward. She was like a big sister to him. Because almost every time Jackenzie went to the castle, Lillain would follow and play along with Edward and his friends. Since he doesn't leave the castle much, Edward has not many friends. In fact, the only human friends he has are those who frequently visited the castle, and they are his masters and Lillain. So he would proudly call the castle staff as his friends as well. It makes him happy to have people around him that he would call friends even though sometimes some of the workers at the castle are new and he had never met before. But he does have real friends though, animal friends from the small forest, Combination Woods, just beside the castle grounds. Captain, and Bale, are two chipmunks, and Oliver, a cat. And they always play together with Lillain all around the castle and the gardens. However, Edward wasn't feeling like crying. And he wouldn't fake something just to show others. He was sad, but if he's not in the mood to cry, why force?

His eyes moved to the second row on the other side. Master Widow was the first person that caught his eyes. Lillain was sitting beside her, crying and wiping her tears. Master Widow was doing the same. But Edward saw something that surprised him a little. Lillain was crying for real, she wasn't faking. She was really sad. But Master Widow was not. She was faking. Edward squinted a little, trying to read her more.

'Edward, how long do you want to look at everyone behind you?' Queen Dorothy's voice entered Edward's ears. The prince turned immediately, losing his focus on Widow. But he kept on thinking, why the mother of the dead master was faking her tears? He bent again, looking past his father to see the second row. Master Widow was not there anymore. He looked behind again. Widow was walking down the aisle and she exited the hall. After the speech that seemed to take ages for Edward, he got up and rushed to Lillain's row as his parents were already busy communicating with the other royal guests. Lillain was still crying. He stopped in his tracks. Took a few steps back. He thought, maybe he should give Lillain some space for the time being. He looked around, Masters, Mousy and Kitty were standing together at one side of the hall. Edward ran to them.

'Master Mousy! Master Kitty!' Edward called as he came closer.

'Hey Eddie!' Mousy said, opening her arms to accept the hug given. Mousy is a tough and fierce character, but she was very much loved by the prince. She was very supportive of him and always listened to him even when he was speaking plain nonsense. Kitty on the other hand is very quiet. It may get awkward when a random person has nothing to talk about and Kitty's just standing there looking at everything around him.

'I have something to share' Edward said.

'What is it?' Mousy replied. The two masters looked at him attentively.

'It's just one of my theories. But I'm afraid this is not a joke'

The two masters processed his words and it increased their curiosity.

'It's about Master Widow'

'What about her?' Mousy asked softly. She got excited by the name. It's not like she noticed there was something strange but maybe it is strange in the eyes of the prince. And Mousy trusts Edward's instincts whenever he is being serious. And Edward definitely sounded serious.

'I saw her earlier. She was crying, with Lillain beside her' Edward said. 'But when I looked at her and I looked at Lillain, her tears were not as real as Lillain's. She was faking her cry, just like almost everyone else in this hall'

'What do you mean Eddie?' Mousy asked.

'What if… Master Widow wanted her son dead? What if she asked the avengers to kill him?'

'I think that's too far, are you sure?' Kitty asked, he was already uncomfortable with the conversation. 'I mean, Master Widow has been fighting the avengers and enforcing the law to banish them for years! And why would she want her own son dead?'

'I don't understand. I just told you what I saw and I am sure that her cry was fake'

'Maybe she wasn't in the mood to cry but she doesn't want people looking bad on her so she faked it' Kitty suggested.

'I believed you Edward' Mousy said simply.

'Really?' Edward's face brightened.

'I'll try to figure it out'

'Thank you Master Mousy' Edward said, and hugged her again. The prince went to rejoin his family.

'You really believed him?' Kitty asked, feeling a little disbelief.

'He was getting very disappointed after hearing what you said' Mousy replied.

'You can't always make him happy. He's growing up and he has to know that the world is not as joyful as every child thinks'

'He'll learn that alright, but not from me. And think about it, a mother who lived for fifty years with her son, has to fake a cry when her son was murdered? I really meant what I said to Eddie. I'll look into it'

Mousy walked away, joining the crowd who were walking out of the hall. Kitty stared at her, thinking back on the entire conversation they just had.