The king's gardener

The King turned his eyes away from Lord Irvington and the man breathed a sigh of relief. Sebastian then said to Lords "I'd send the Bishop to the areas where the thefts took place to see if magic was really used and also implement more security in every village". The King knew that the occurrence in Blackthorn wasn't ordinary, but to clear the doubts of others, he'd send his Bishop there. The king let his words sink into the minds of the Lords. Every village had a priest but they knew the Bishop the king was referring to was the one who coronated him. The man was referred to as the Bishop of the crown. Bishop Robert. He was the only Bishop who handles the affairs regarding the crown. Though he still performed his Bishopric duties to others, he always answered when the king called because they were allies.

"Does anyone have a different opinion on how we'd solve this problem?" The king asked and the men before him said simultaneously "No, your majesty". "Good" Sebastian said as he told up and the Lords bowed down to him as he walked away from their presence with Benjamin by his side. The Lords also left the court room and then the castle after the king left their presence.

"Find out what is going on in Lord Irvington's village and also, we'd leave for Father Roberts house tomorrow" the king said to his right hand hand. He knew Lord Irvington was hiding something. Though the man tried to mask his shaking hands, Sebastian noticed it still. From the statement he made to his body movements, he knew the man must be concealing something and soon he'd find out.

"As you wish your majesty" Benjamin answered as they walked further, away from the court room. A maid walked up to them and bowed before saying "Your breakfast is ready your majesty". "I'm on my way" He said to the maid and she bowed down one more time before walking away.

As they walked through the corridors to the dinning room, Sebastian looked outside the glass window, admiring his garden below until his eyes caught sight of the carriage that was entering the castle. He stopped in his tracks, recognizing the carriage to be the property of his gardener. But something was off, it wasn't ridden by the gardeners coachman but by the gardeners himself. Sebastian watched as his gardener got down from the carriage and staggered to get something from inside the carriage. The guards didn't question him as they knew he was the king's gardener but they failed to notice the unusual movements of the man. Mr Nolan dragged the dead body of his Coachman out of the carriage while trying to maintain proper standing. He was badly injured on his leg but still tried his best to carry his Coachman's weight. He had planned to narrate to the king what happened on his way here. Sebastian stopped watching from the window and walked outside to where his Gardner was.

Now, the guards were already aware of the dead body which Mr Nolan had brought into the castle and they were already questioning him. Mr Nolan  explained to them what had happened and one of the guards was on his way to inform the king of it but Sebastian was already walking in their direction.

They all bowed and greeted Sebastian when he finally got to where they were. "Your majesty, my deepest apologies for taking my time" Mr Nolan said as he bowed his head not wanting to see the piercing gaze of the king. Mr Nolan was supposed to get to the castle earlier but what he encountered on the way delayed him.  Sebastian studied Mr Nolan for a while and found out the man had a deep injury on his leg, making standing and walking painful and unbearable. Sebastian's eyes then moved to the dead body before him "Take care of the body" Sebastian said to the guards and two guards carried the body of Matthew away. "Carry him" The king said to some other guards referring to Mr Nolan this time and the man immediately retorted "I'm sorry your majesty but I can walk. They don't need to stress their selves to do that".  "We have known each other for years and it saddens me to see you in this condition. So let them help you" Sebastian said giving a little smile but Mr Nolan saw it as a big deal. He could still walk, yes but it the cut was very deep and blood was dripping from it. Making it almost impossible to bear the pain that comes from walking with that big injury. "My king, there is really no problem. See.." Mr Nolan said as he tried to show them that he could walk with his leg like that but unfortunately, his leg gave him away and he fell to the ground.  Sebastian didn't utter another word as he strode back into his castle. The guards knew what his silence meant and they immediately helped Mr Nolan up and carried him as they all walked back inside the castle.