Duty Calls

Chapter 1: She's Gone?

In the morning, the city of Niachol was filled with an angry buzz, as if somebody had stepped into a hornet’s nest. From the rumors flying around, it was verily obvious that somebody had. People flitted from corner to corner, openly speaking with friends and strangers alike about the happenings of last night’s celebrations. The parade was amazing, the feast sumptuous, and the ball the most glamorous held in nearly a century. What everyone was discussing was the princess’ speech. It was tradition for every young ruler to give a speech at their coming of age celebration, and every sixteen-year-old prince or princess had done so for thousands of years. Last night had been the first time in Amosela’s history that the speech had ever been missed.

The strange thing was that nobody knew exactly why. It obviously hadn’t been intentional; the trumpets had sounded and the doors at the end of the huge ballroom were thrown wide open to reveal . . . . . . . . an empty corridor. A rather confused-looking footman walked right into the middle of the doorway and then walked backwards the way he had just come after seeing the enormous congregation of faces staring straight at him. The footman quickly sidled back through the door and whispered to the Captain of the Guards. This was immediately responded to with a with a loud “What?!”, which echoed off the walls of the silent hall. The Captain ran into the hallway, signaling for a little more than half of the guards present to come with him. The remaining security was left to handle a thoroughly confused crowd which erupted into conversation immediately after the Captain’s departure.

A multitude of people, made of mainly handsome young men, were insisting on going after the guards to find out, using a combination of bribery and thinly disguised threats trying to get past the soldiers. None of the aspiring suitors made it, so they returned to exchange thoughts with the rest of the mob. This huge conversation was now being spread throughout the city, packed with guesses, theories, exaggerations, lies, and even a few facts. By noon there wasn’t a person in the city that had not heard about the missing of the traditional speech. The unusual occurrence was that nobody, except messengers, was being allowed to leave the city to spread the news, or for any other reason. The city’s guards were also asking strange questions, and some people were even having their homes searched. It wasn’t till nearly two o’clock that afternoon that the vital information was slipped to the public. Apparently the princess’ personal maid told the stable boy who told the baker’s son who told the baker who told the inn and tavern owner that the princess had disappeared!

At the tavern, this news was received with shouts and groans of dismay. Many people promptly ran out to spread the news to friends, family, and anyone else who happened to be in shouting distance. The others began to murmur among themselves, sharing opinions on what might have happened. The most likely thoughts were that she had been kidnapped or murdered. They were far from the most favored ones, which were more along the lines that the princess’ maid had had a little too much ale at last night’s celebration and that the others were just panicking.
While friends still gathered in tightly knit groups, a solitary stranger leaned back in his chair with a puzzled look. Kidnapped? he thought. But isn’t that my job? Maybe Vanion sent someone else to do it because I wasn’t quiet enough last time. It really wasn’t my fault that the candelabra fell over! Besides, we could have just gone in, grabbed Lady What’s-her-face and run for it. The crestfallen kidnapper realized that his train of thought was getting totally off track and went back to something that had been nagging at the back of his mind. The kidnapping was supposed to be tonight when all the guards were hung over, not yesterday. Last night called for nearly every guard in the palace to be watching out for the royal family. How could someone have gotten her then?

He then realized that he wasn’t the one who got the princess, and also realized that the kidnapper might not be working for Vanion. Contemplating this new problem, he paid the innkeeper and walked out the door, hoping that he wouldn’t be punished as harshly as last time and that the kidnapper could be tracked down if they weren’t working for his employer. As he grabbed cloak and pack from a peg, he began wondering about how to get past the blockade that prevented anyone from exiting. If only he could find Ephraim…………

At the moment, Ephraim just happened to get himself into some serious trouble. The kidnapper’s apprentice had been caught picking the pocket of some atrociously rich guy who (fortunately) had been carrying a great deal of money in his pocket and (unfortunately) had used some of it to hire men at arms. They were now advancing on the dark-haired lad, wielding their weapons threateningly. Eyes nervously darting back and forth, Ephraim feinted towards his right and then scampered down a side alley with the guards in furious pursuit.