Crowns of Heritage

Chapter 84- False Alarm (2)

(ROSEMARY'S P.O.V)

After we left the ballroom, Yeshiva and I followed behind Lucy to the third floor. While Duchess Mary and another maid got Lady Victoria and her knight settled into their guestrooms.

Yeshiva and I were heading back to the dressing room to see the seamstress, while she was still here. Duchess Mary mentioned that Yeshiva should get a suit made in the same color as my dress.

While walking behind Lucy, I noticed Yeshiva looked to be deep in thought.

“Yeshiva”, I called out to him to get his attention.

“Rosie”, he said and looked over at me.

He was about to say something, but was interrupted when Lucy stopped walking and stood in front of the room door. I realized we made it back to the dressing room. She opened the door and we followed behind her.

When we entered the room, the seamstress was standing in front of Sage's dress. She turned around and smiled when she noticed me.

“Princess Rosemary, I was going to stay until the Young Duchess made it back to the castle. But I need to return to the shop soon,"she said.

She looked over at Yeshiva, after Lucy gestured to him. Lucy told the seamstress that Yeshiva was my escort and we wanted to get a suit made for him in the same color as my dress.

Yeshiva and the seamstress looked through one of the catalogs and Yeshiva chose the design of the suit he wanted to wear.

When the seamstress was done taking Yeshiva measurements. He walked over to where I was standing.

“I'll be heading back to the shop now”, the seamstress said, “The debutante will be here before we know it. We'll start working on the suit immediately”, she said.

Yeshiva leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear.

“I need to follow her. We suspect that Prince Christian's mother is disguised and living as a seamstress. I'll follow her to get the shop's location”, he said.

I nodded my head as I understood what he was saying.

We looked over at the seamstress who was gathering her belongings, and Yeshiva whispered to me again.

“Find a way to stall her, while I go and inform the chief”, he said.

I nodded and walked over to the seamstress. She looked over at me and smiled a little.

“Shall we have a cup of tea together before you go?”, I asked politely.

Fortunately, she accepted and I asked Lucy to bring us some tea. I glanced over and saw Yeshiva leaving the room.

(NATALIE'S P.O.V)

While I was on my way back to my father's room. I caught a glimpse of Duchess Mary walking towards the stairs. She was holding onto her cane and I rushed over to see if she needed any assistance.

“Duchess Mary”, I called out to her.

She looked back and noticed me.

“Oh, Natalie, my dear”, she said.

“Do you need help going up the stairs?”, I asked.

“I'm fine, my dear”, she said, “I can do this much”, she added while smiling.

I smiled as she chuckled.

“Rosemary and Yeshiva dance very well. I enjoyed seeing them have fun while they were practicing”, she said.

A second later, We noticed Yeshiva coming down the stairs from the third floor.

“Have you chosen a design for your suit?”Duchess Mary asked Yeshiva as he walked down the stairs and stood in front of us.

“Yes, your grace”, Yeshiva said, “the seamstress and Rosemary are having tea at the moment.”, he added.

Duchess Mary smiled and excused herself, “I will go take a short rest. The Duke should be returning soon”, she said and walked up to the stairs.

Yeshiva and I waited and watched as she walked up the stairs, before walking away towards my father's room.

“Chief”, Yeshiva said as we entered the room. My father, Na'mah and Cena were sitting on the couches.

“Yeshiva”, my father said, as he looked towards Yeshiva..

“Chief, I'll be leaving shortly”, he said,'' I plan to follow the seamstress, to get the location of the shop. I should start the search for Prince Christian's mother. Since we learned she has a hobby for making dresses. I can start tracking her down”, he said.

My father nodded, “Bring Cena with you”, he said and Yeshiva nodded.

Suddenly, we were startled by the sound of the sirens ringing loudly. My father stood up and looked directly at me.

“Natalie, follow me”, he said and started to walk towards the door. “We're going on the border”, he added.

My father and I rushed out of the room and made our way down the stairs to the first floor. We rushed out of the castle and ran towards the stables. While running towards the stables, we noticed a couple of knights rushing over as well.

The sirens suddenly stopped ringing.

“Let's hurry, and check it out”, my father said, “We'll be meeting with Saul and his squad as well”, he added.

(SAGE'S P.O.V)

After following Princess Sylvia and Baron Berrian to the library. Baron Berrian grabbed a couple of books, and handed three of them to me.

“Princess Sage, take these three books back to the Winter Dukedom with you. This will be your homework, you have to study and learn about the Avalorian Kingdom. We wouldn't want you to get blindsided by the many questions the delegation will ask you.”, He said, and he pointed at two books and told me it was the history of the Avalorian Kingdom. He pointed at the remaining book that had a blue cover and told me it was the history of the Vanuatu kingdom.

Princess Sylvia, who was standing beside me, started to speak.

“Prince Morgan and I will be heading to the Winter Dukedom in two days.”, she said, “I'll be teaching you on how to host a banquet.”, she added.

I nodded my head.

A few seconds later, Duke Winter and Captain Capilano entered the library. Princess Sylvia, Baron Berrian and I started to walk towards them.

“We'll be heading back to the castle now, my dear”, Duke Winter said as he looked at me.

I noticed immediately he looked concerned about something.

We left the library and walked through the palace. While walking, I noticed the commotion of the palace had settled down and heard a couple of people whispering as we passed them by.

“Was it really a false alarm?”, a guard asked while whispering to another guard.

“Supposedly”, the other guard responded, “That's what Prince Marshall told the King after he visited his office”, he added.

That bastard, I thought.

We finally made it back to the entrance of the palace. The guard who Captain Capilano handed the keys to earlier, came walking towards us. I noticed he brought the car back to the front of the palace.

Peyton and Captain Capilano helped Duke Winter and I into the car. After we sat in the backseat, Captain Capilano got into the driving seat and Peyton was in the passage seat.

I glanced over at Duke Winter, “Was it really a false alarm?”, I asked.

“I highly doubt it”, he replied and looked over at me and noticed the books I was holding.

“You can study a little while we travel back. Ask me any questions if you need to, " he said and I nodded.

(DUKE WINTER’S P.O.V)

After we left the palace, I noticed the sun was starting to set as we rode through the capital city. I was looking out of the window, while thinking to myself. The conversation between Lincoln and I had me feeling a little doubtful and confused. What is he planning? Was he really waiting for Moises to return? What did he mean about me being hasty thinking I know everything? What is going on that I don't know about? The question kept running through my mind.

I definitely need to talk to Malaysia, Moises and Morgan about this. Something could be going on and only the King knows about it.

The change in his demeanor is also something I should pay close attention to and the way he responded about Macy Livens.

“Duke Winter”, I heard Sage called out to me.

I looked over at her and she had a concerned look on her face.

“Yes, my dear”, I said.

“Is something on your mind, you look tense” Sage said.

Ah, she must have sensed something was bothering me.

“I'm just wondering why the sirens went off and suddenly stopped a few minutes after.”, I said.

“Maybe it was a system test”, Captain Capilano suggested.

“I don't think so, Prince Marshall is definitely up to something” I said.

After leaving the central region, we only had another three hours of traveling, until we made it back to the castle. Sage went back to studying one of the books from the royal library. While I continued to speculate about Lincoln's behavior in my mind.

“Duke Winter”, Sage said.

“Yes, my dear?”, I replied.

She turned the book towards me while pointing at a picture inside of the book.

“Who are these people?”, she asked, curiously.

I noticed it was a picture of Lincoln and his family, the royal family of the Vanuatu kingdom.

“That would be King Lincoln's side of the family.” I said, and realized that it was a history book on the Vanuatu kingdom, that Baron Berrian must have given her to study as well.

She looked back at the book and stared at the picture.

“You'll be meeting some of them at your debutante” I said. “Prepare yourself, my dear, because they are aristocratic members.” I added.

Sage looked at me and nodded, “I won't let them underestimate me”, she said, with a determined facial expression.

I definitely need to talk with Moises when he returns to the castle. Since Lincoln's relatives will be in attendance, they will also become a problem for us. How could I forget such a thing, I thought.

(PRINCE MOISES P.O.V)

When I learned that Gloria and Jase were apart of the rebels group of the northern region. I told them about my plan of wiping out the aristocratic members. They immediately agreed to join me in my goal, out of their hatred for Marshall. Learning that Marshall kept Natalie prisoner for all those years, made Gloria hate him even more, because she helped Masiro search for her for a long time.

Gloria and I were sitting by the bar conversing, while Jase went into the backroom to change into some clean clothes.

When Jase returned from the backroom, he walked and sat beside me.

“Prince Moises”, he said, as he was sitting down. “When Gloria told me that Winter Dukedom's successor is your older daughter, I was really surprised. Now I know why Master Masiro left in such a hurry, when I told him I heard rumors that someone paid assassins to go after her," he added.

“We already found out who sent the request”, I said, “it was one of Prince Marshall's advisors named Viscount James” I mentioned, while looking over at Jase.

“That name sounds familiar”, Jase said and suddenly snapped his fingers. “Ah, the nobleman whose wife was found hanging in their garden last night”, he said.

I nodded and his eyes widened a bit.

“Sounds like something Masiro would do”, Gloria said.

I nodded and she laughed.

“Ah”, Jase said and got off from the stool. “The list that Master Masiro wanted.”, he added and ran towards the backroom. A few seconds later, he came rushing out of the room.

“I remember Master Masiro wanted a list of the noblemen who were trafficking sex slaves”, Jase said.

He handed me a file as he sat in the stool once again.

“I haven't found any information of the noblemen that are involved yet, but I managed to find out about an auction house that sells slaves. Supposedly, the slaves are all orphans or people who were sold by their families. I heard some of the commoners that are struggling even sold some of their daughters off” he said.

“What the fuck”, I said, “Just how long has this shit been happening inside of the kingdom. My mother abolished slavery in Vanuatu, when she took over as Queen”, I said, slamming my hand onto the bar.

“The kingdom has been in shambles since your exile, your highness. The other kingdoms and independent regions have taken advantage of the fact that the warrior of the Vanuatu kingdom was exiled ” Gloria said, “If Prince Marshall becomes the King, it's only a matter of time before our Kingdom falls to another kingdom. For years, he has been trying to form peace treaties because he is weak. We lost a lot of knights and mercenaries to his incompetence, "she added.

I grit my teeth as I balled my fist, “Our kingdom will never fall as long as I become the king.” I said in a serious tone.

Gloria and Jase looked at me with a serious expression, “I looked forward to the day, you finally become the King”, Gloria said.

Suddenly, I heard buzzing coming from Gloria and Jase. They both pulled their phone out and looked at it.

“Someone requested a bounty hunter, looks like the target is a pregnant woman. This is the second alert today”, Jase said, as he read his phone.

Marshall is definitely searching for Serbia, she should be having her baby soon.

“Jase, Gloria”, I called out to them and they looked up at me.

“I need you to do something for me”, I said.

“What is it, your highness, we'll be happy to help you”, Gloria said.

“Spread the rumor that the Kalpana Kingdom is searching for their long lost princess, I want the rumor to reach the palace” I said, and pointed at their phone. “Use that woman's description”. I added.

They looked confused but nodded anyway, “ We'll spread it far throughout the kingdom if you want”, Jase said and I nodded.

While they were busy contacting their squad members. I looked over at the time and saw it was almost 7:30pm.

I wonder how Nathan and Valian are making out, they should've reached the border by now.

(NATHAN'S P.O.V)

After traveling through the Northern region for two hours, Valian and I made it near the Northern border. We left the car inside of the forest and traveled the rest of the way on foot. It took about an hour or so until we reached the border wall.

“The wall is still intact, and the guards are still working. Doesn't look like a battle happened over here”, Valian said.

“Something happened for the sirens to go off, unless it was a distraction for something else” I said.

We continued to walk towards the border, “ Do you know the location for the Northern rebels group?” Valian asked.

“Shit”, I said as I remembered the northern rebel groups headquarters were somewhere near the border. “ It's somewhere near the border, I've never been to the location but Morgan has. He mentioned it was near the border.

“It'll be dark soon, let's hurry”, I said.

Valian and I ran through the forest a few distances from the border wall. We wanted to remain hidden from the guards that patrolled the border on their horses.

After running through the forest for thirty minutes, I felt a presence following behind us.

“Valian”, I said as we ran beside each other.

“I know, I sense it too”, he said.

We continued to run until we saw a medium sized cabin in the distance. As we got closer, we saw dead bodies laying on the ground throughout the area.

“Shit, the northern group was attacked”, Valian and I said at the same time.

All of a sudden, the presence we were feeling got closer and suddenly someone dropped down from the trees onto the ground. I recognized the person immediately.

“Asiana”, I said as she raised her head up.

“Nathan!, Valian!” she said and ran up to Valian and I.

“Asiana , what the hell..” I was interrupted when she grabbed onto my shirt.

“Help me, we need to hurry”, she said, “Sylvester is injured and needs treatment. I can't move him by myself”, she said.