Esmond looked at the people he had locked away and the reports he had been able to get together. In his mind, he already had a list of targets but felt confused. Everything they were doing was just enough to have him come to Nakhla; there was no real end goal. That much was obvious. Now that he was here, things slowed down, and he hadn’t received any reports in the other cities of the nobility trying to cause trouble.

Esmond looked at the man before him. He couldn’t just torture these people. They hadn’t broken any lawns after all, and they wouldn’t have the information he wanted. ’I need to him.’ Thinking of the person he had connected everything to, he took a deep breath and left the people he had locked up in their cells. He couldn’t risk having them leak any information of his departure.

He knew they wanted him away from the Palace and reminded himself to send word to Issac and warn him that there may be a larger conspiracy.

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Unbeknowst to Esmond, Issac looked down at the servant with cold eyes. He had separated Kam and himself, knowing it was easier to break them individually. At first, he had arrested them on a strange suspicion that they may have been linked to Edward. After all, they were very nervous and had strange living circumstances.

But after being with the maid for a carriage ride, suspensions became near certainty. Her story of being a prostitute didn’t line up with how well she had kept her appearance, and it all pointed to her being a Palace worker. He didn’t care if they did things like that on the side as long as she was honest, but she lied about it. He would have fired her, but that would be it. They had to be hiding something, and it was just what. He did believe in coincidences, but there were too many.

Issac looked at the man. He was obviously terrified, and he knew that it would be easy to break him. He grabbed a small set of tools and placed them on a small table in front of him. "This can be easy or hard. Tell me, what were you doing?"

"It’s as you guessed, my lord. We just felt embarrassed to say." The servant said with a shaking voice. Issac squinted, not believing it. Grabbing one the man’s hands, he pulled out a small knife and placed it under the man’s fingernail.

Looking down, he paused and frowned. "My Lo..."

"Shut up." Issac breathed heavily as he gently dug under the fingernail, cleaning them. Pulling the knife away, he carefully walked to a nearby torch. Looking at it, he squinted and saw some red dust. ’Dried blood.’ His heart froze as his head snapped towards the man.

"What have you done?" Issac said, containing his rage as he stabbed the knife next to the man’s head. It was an inch away, and the servant realised Issac had found something. Looking at his finger, he saw the blood under it and realised what had happened.

’No, no, no, no.’ He panicked internally and realised it was over. "It was all his idea. I promise. I didn’t want to do it, but he threatened my family." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Issac froze. He didn’t expect anything like this and stumbled as the servant watched in terror. Issac looked at him and threw a backhand across his face. "You.... Where is the Prince?"

The servant’s eyes darted. He could see Issac was ready to kill him, and he didn’t doubt it. Issac wasn’t just any person. He was someone who had been to war. He may have put on a friendly demeanour as Prime Minister, but he was a ruthless man. Anyone in his position had to be. The amount of blood he had spilt to get to his position was nothing to scoff at.

"The house. He’s in the house." The servant broke without even being tortured. He didn’t expect to be caught this quick and hated Kam for proposing the plan to him. It was meant to be simple. In and out. They handed the Prince over once they left Brookhaven and got paid. Then he could leave and live his life in bliss. He couldn’t understand why this was happening. He just wanted to get paid. It wasn’t meant to go like this.

Issac didn’t spare the man a glance and ran out of the dungeon. The guards saw him and quickly followed behind. "Have a carriage ready for our return. We heading back to the house." Telling his men, he saddled a horse. He couldn’t be bothered to wait for a carriage to be prepared and rode as fast as he could. The soldiers prepared a carrige to follow behind.

The moon shone down on Issac as he rode through the empty streets of Brookhaven. A few guards saw Issac riding and, under the order of Martial Law, went to stop him. Issac clicked his tongue and rode through them. Narrowly avoiding Issac, the guards looked at one another and gave chase on foot but quickly lost him.

’Faster. Hurry up.’ Issac slammed the reins on the back of the horse as he pushed it to the extreme. ’He has to be okay.’ Issac didn’t care about anything anymore, and seeing the house they had searched, they slowed down.

Jumping off the horse, he threw his body into the door and looked around. "EDWARD!" Issac called out in panic but heard nothing. His mind instantly went to the worst, but he came to himself. ’He would have said the Prince was dead if that was the case.’

"EDWARD!" Walking around, he called out and searched through drawers and cubboards. Each time, his hope was crushed as he saw nothing. ’Did he lie?’ Issac paced, trying his best to stay composed, but his wild hair from the ride over and his lossly fitted clothes betrayed him.

"PLEASE! EDWARD!" Calling out once more, he walked back into the living room. Walking around, he stepped on a creaking wooden board and froze. Moving back, he stepped around, but none were like the floor board that creaked. Stepping on it again, he put more weight into the step and felt it sink a little into the ground.

Smiling, he bent over and pulled the floorboard, throwing it across the room. Inside, he saw Edward with a gag in his mouth, looking up at him. He could see he had been crying for a while but had stopped. He was obviously tired as he slipped in and out of sleep, but Issac noticed something strange and felt horrified. The boy’s eyes were empty. He could see he had been crying and in pain, but now there was nothing on his face other than the fight to stay awake.

Issac carefully reached down and picked him up. Examining his body, he sighed in relief that he wasn’t physically harmed, only his body having a few scratches from how roughly he was put onto the floor.

"We’re going home, my Prince." Issac quietly whispered in the boy’s ear as his gentle hold made Edward finally feel safe enough to fall asleep. The guards soon entered, and Issac quickly put his finger over his lip to stop them from making noise. Walking out, he looked at the distant Palace with sharp eyes, wondering what he would do with the traitors inside.

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Issac closed the door behind him and took a deep breath, finally able to be at ease. He had been frantic, unable to rest, but now he could finally rest. Frida stood outside the room waiting for Issac. "The Pricne is asleep, but I fear there will be something wrong with him. Keep an eye on him until I can have Abu come."

Frida nodded and carefully entered the room, looking at Edward. Her heart was stung, wondering what the boy had endured. Closing the door behind her, she looked at Issac like she was bout to cry.

"Why? Hes a child? Why did they do it?" She couldn’t fathom the cruelty behind it. Although she knew the answer, she couldn’t understand how someone could be so cruel. Despite the hardship she felt in the new land, she felt it was still better than her homeland, but seeing Edward, she couldn’t anymore.

The cruelty was all the same, just hidden beneath the luxury of the new world. Issac shook his head. His eyes were going icy cold. "Do you understand now? Children will always be targeted. This is what I warned you off." Issac shook his head and walked off to the dungeon.

It was a quick journey, and delving deeper into the abyss, he closed the door behind him and saw Kam, the maid and other servants tied to their chair. They had been gagged and blindfolded, and Issac dragged a chair over, making them flinch.

"You’re in luck." Despite his words, the chill they felt from his voice was real. "I won’t do anything to you. Your punishment will wait. Whilst I would love to do something, I will contain myself. Because the Emporer and Empress are the only ones who deserve to carry out your punishment."

Issac leaned forward and quietly whispered. "Did you know." His voice was full of mockery and hate, "When the Emporer’s friend was killed, he beat the man to death with his bare hands. I wonder what he will do to you." Chuckling, he thought about Isra and, looking at the faces of the three who had gone white in terror, shook his head. "And the Empress. She may be a kind woman, but you hurt the one thing she loves most."

"You won’t die yet. We will keep you alive until they return. So survive until then." Issac threw the chair from behind him away and stood up as the three tried to break free from their restraints, wishing to escape.