“How much do you know about the attack, and why didn’t you warn anybody?” Janor’s eyes were hard and he leaned forward on his log.

Nickayla nodded and looked down at the ground below her. She took a deep breath and met the prince’s eyes. “I became aware of a conspiracy to take the throne of Loreslia about a year ago. I couldn’t get a whole lot of information about it at first, but I went to the king and told him what I knew.” Veronica flinched at the mention of her father. She also thought of another question, but before she could ask, ‘Kayla had moved on. “He passed the word on the captain of his guard, and the security at the palace was raised.”

“Did my father know? That you were the signet?” Veronica’s voice caught on the word ‘father’, but the hurt expression on her face was for another reason. How could ‘Kayla have told her father, but not her?

“Not until I told him of the conspiracy. He wanted to know how I knew of it. When he found out about my position, he tried to have me arrested, but I managed to escape. To be honest I think that the possibility of my return, more than the conspiracy, is what prompted the extra security.” She was no longer looking at the two highnesses but was staring at her clasped hands. Charlie murmured her name and she sat up with a sigh.

“After I was chased from the palace, I continued to investigate the conspiracy. It was difficult to learn anything about it, but I eventually managed to narrow it down to one person.” She paused and her eyes turned sadly toward Veronica. “How well do you know Duke Kassel?”

Veronica started, “My uncle? He’s behind this?”

Janor sneered at Nickayla. “That’s the best you could come up with? Rather cliché, don’t you think?”

Nickayla’s cold eyes met his mocking ones. “The reason things become cliché is because there is some truth to them. Besides, if I was going to go through the trouble of killing two kings, a queen, and their assorted guards; why would I save the two of you?”

“To make us think we can trust you, then you’ll run the kingdoms through us. After you managed to work your way into our wills as heir should we die without one, you’d kill us.” After a pause, the whole camp erupted into laughter. ‘Kayla let this go on for a moment before quieting everyone down. She looked at the prince with such confidence that it was impossible to disbelieve her next words.

“If I wanted to rule the two kingdoms, Janor, I wouldn’t have to do all of that. The Hand is pervasive. We’re everywhere, and in every level of society. It would be very easy for me to take control. All I would have to do is give a few commands and walk into the throne room of my choice.” She smirked at the pale look of fear on Janor’s face before sitting back. “Luckily for you, I have no such desire.”

There was still a few snickers around the camp, and they weren’t helping Janor’s mood. “So what about the Duke?” he snapped.

Nickayla considered him before replying. The prince was beginning to annoy her, and she tended to play with people that annoyed her. There was a sigh from her left and Charlie spoke up.

“Don’t Kayla. He’s hard enough to deal with now.”

She grinned at her second and turned back to the two royals. “The Duke has always been jealous of his brother’s crown, and has always intended to steal it from him. But the Duke didn’t want the same as what his brother had, he wanted more. In his mind, he was better than his brother was. Somebody as magnificent as himself deserved not one, but two crowns. So when he plotted, he planned to steal the crowns from both Lorosia and neighboring Vorenal. The Duke has acquired the ear of several people in both courts over the years, especially in the Vorenal court. The chancellor, the second in command of the royal guards, a couple of advisors, and several court members have been won over.”

Charlie again spoke up. “I’ll give the Duke this much, he can be very charming and convincing when he wants to be. However, the easiest to turn or always the weakest in character. You are probably better off without their loyalty, Janor.” The young highness glared at Charlie. “Oh, now, don’t be lookin’ at me like that. Remember, you’re not royalty here, you’re just another upstart kid.”

Janor started to speak, but ‘Kayla quietly cut him off. “He’s right Janor. As of now, you are trying to win a throne. This means you need people’s loyalty. Nobody is going to like you, much less give you the respect you need, if you treat them as if you’re better than they are.” Janor was gritting his teeth, Nickayla could tell, but she had only spoken truth. The young man had no idea what his people thought of him, and it wasn’t all that good. Until she could reform him, she was not putting him in charge of anybody, much less a whole kingdom. She mentally sighed. “We’ve gotten off topic. The Duke has currently taken up residence in the Lorosia palace. He knows the two of you escaped, but not how. He is regularly sending out assassins to find and kill you. Luckily for the two of you, you’re with the best assassins in the kingdom, he only got the amateurs.”

There were a few murmurs of agreement from the camp.

Veronica spoke up, “Why do we need to win the thrones back? You could just give a few commands and walk into the throne room of your choice, you said.”

“Yeah!” Janor leaned forward triumphantly, “why can’t we just do that? You don’t really want to help us do you?”

“Will you stop!” Everyone in the camp stared at Veronica; such outbursts were unusual from her. She in turn glared at Janor. “This situation is hard enough as it is without you antagonizing our allies.”

Janor sat up and sighed. “Allies? Are they really? Isn’t that why we’re in this mess to begin with, we trusted the wrong person? How do we know that we even have any allies, this could all be some big conspiracy.” He dropped his face into his hands and rubbed his forehead.

“We have to trust somebody, Janor.” Veronica put her hand on his shoulder. “They haven’t yet given us a reason not to.”

Charlie looked over at Nickayla and gave her a rueful grin. “I hate to say this, ‘Kayla, but the boy’s kinda right.” Both of the dethroned royals looked at him in surprise.

“Yeah, I know.” Her turn to be stared at. She stared right back. “Your parents trusted the wrong people and it cost them their lives. Your trust should be hard to gain, after all, you have the most to lose and the most enemies. However, as I believe has been said before, you have to trust somebody. The trick is knowing whom. And to answer your earlier question Ronnie,” she nodded to Veronica, “there is more than one reason I don’t just issue commands and walk into the throne room. One, the situation has changed. When Kassel took over, he changed the people in the positions around him. Got rid of some people, replaced them with his own. Second, “she propped her head on her chin and sighed. “It’s a little hard to explain. As much as a ruler cannot afford to trust others, they also can’t afford for others not to trust them. If we just take control as the situation is you’ll have to work twice as hard to gain the trust of your subjects. What we need to do is get the people on our side first. We need to everyone against Kassel. Then when we take control, it will be more of a symbolic thing; we will have already taken control in all the ways that matter.”

Janor’s face looked strained. “How long will that take?”

Nickayla shrugged, “Depends, but it takes time to do things right.”

Veronica squared her shoulders. She knew the Hand’s reputation; you didn’t want to make them angry. They would destroy your life. You would lose everything you cared about and when they finally moved in for the kill, you would welcome it. And she also knew her friend. People who upset her tended to run into a string of bad luck, although this was the first time she connected the two. “Are you angry Nickayla?” Her friend turned and looked her in the eye. When she smiled, it was the smile of a predator.

“You have no idea.”

“Good. What did you have in mind for our first move?” She sat back, confident that Nickayla had a plan. Probably more than one.

Janor had been rethinking his stand in this situation. The others were right, he knew. He also knew that they all viewed him as immature and he had to admit to himself that they were right. The Hand was not so well publicized at home, nor were they very well thought of. Something that would have a negative effect on his image when his people found out that he was working with them. Of course, now he knew that the very people his father had deemed acceptable companions had been the ones to betray him. He had to trust these people, if only a little, if he ever wanted to see home again. While he didn’t like this ‘Signet’, she did seem very much in control. He looked up, a decisive look in his eye.

“Alright.” Nickayla had been about to speak, but now she shut her mouth and looked at him. She knew the second she looked at him that he was finally all in. “Alright, I’ll try to trust you. You Nickayla, none of the others.”

She smiled at him grimly, “Probably wise.”

He took a deep breath and straightened. “I think our first move should be letting people know we are still alive. That Kassel hasn’t won yet.”

This time her smile was in approval. “Oh, absolutely. Charlie and I already have a plan. One that not only lets everyone know that the two of you are alive and more than willing to fight for your parents and your birthright, but it will also drive Kassel crazy.”

Charlie chuckled, “Something all of us are more than willing to do. We hate Kassel. He dismissed the Hand as a threat, even after he was warned we might become involved. We’re going to show him just how much of a threat we can be.”

Cory leaned forward. “So what’s de plan, boss lady?”

Nickayla jumped up and clapped her hands. “Alright, everybody, listen closely. This is war and I don’t want any casualties. For some crazy reason I actually like you lot.”

Veronica and Janor waited in an abandoned room just off the market place. They had arrived early this morning, before anybody else was even up, including the sun. Janor, now that he had decided to trust Kayla, was very calm and very much in control of himself. He actually and a pretty good grasp of tactics, too. He had easily understood what the point of all of this was and had even suggested a few additions to the plan. Like arriving extremely early so they could just ‘appear’ in the market.

Daniel and Cory had come with them. Daniel stood to the side of the window peering out at the market. A few of the others were going to empty the market of Kassel’s loyal guards. Some of the guards could probably be convinced to leave Kassel’s service, if they knew that the family they had spent their lives serving still had one surviving member. Well, one surviving member who wasn’t a homicidal maniac. Those guards were allowed to stay. Cory stood at the door, ready to precede the royals out.

Finally, the signal that Daniel had been waiting for happened. He grinned and turned to the others. “Showtime children!”

Cory snorted at his enthusiasm and led the way out followed by Veronica, Janor, and finally Daniel. The four walked down stairs into the main floor, also abandoned, and out into the market. Two more of the Hand met them outside. They had all dressed up for this and were immediately noticed, sending whispers out in front of them. The four Hands were dressed like royal guards. Not the current guards, who wore Kassel’s colors, but the uniform Veronica’s personal guards wore before her parents’ death. Veronica herself wore a beautiful gown one of the Hand had stolen from her rooms in the palace. It was much too expensive to where to the market, but it marked her as somebody important. It got her the attention of the people, until they noticed who she was. Then her face alone gathered attention. Janor wore one of his suits of clothing, also stolen from the palace. It was his dress uniform, marking him as the Prince of Vorenal. Both wore a band of black around the arms.

They traveled through the crowd. They had to look like they were grieving, but like they were also angry and confident. People crowded around them, calling to Veronica, asking what happened. Cory and Daniel moved the two highnesses through the crowd and to the center of the market, where a platform now sat unoccupied, while the other two worked on crowd control. None of the six was worried for their personal safety. The Hand was hidden all around them. Some were on the rooftops, some in buildings, some in the crowd that suffocated them.

When they reached the platform the climbed on top and turned to the face the people. The four ‘guards’ took up positions on the platform’s corners. Veronica stood in the center of the platform with Janor one step behind. They waited. Eventually the crowd quieted down and Veronica spoke. She had worked on this speech with Janor and Kayla. They were all confident it would get everything they needed said out into the public.