Unbeknownst to the princess, Henry had been waiting outside the doorway. It had been a long discussion between the king, the mentor--former council-man--and another advisor about what to do. It was determined that it would be within their best interests to talk to Kayeni.

If she knew the truth, perhaps she would be inclined to figure out where he could've gone. She was clever, the maps and history and details of the like were something that she had an adept ability to handle, remember and figure out. It was impressive, even to Henry.

But someone else was in the chambers and he waited, hands at his sides. She spoke quietly and it took him a moment before he leaned closer to the door, listening to her request of the Captain.

Just a hunch of course. But he had a brief inclination that something was off--even from the way she spoke about the young man riding off. Granted, the pair weren't exactly friendly with each other, but she could've at least put on a show or something.

Instead, she was rather emotionless about the suitor running off--in their own kingdom no less.

So what was she hiding?

"Do you understand?"

"Yes, your highness. I shall do that." Captain Johnston looked a bit shaken but nodded nonetheless.

"Good. Do not dissapoint me." Unwittingly repeating her words that her father had spoken to her the other day.

The captain nodded, and turned and opened the door - which revealed a man. Kayeni instantly recognized him, and her blood froze.

Henry.

Why the hell was he outside her door?

And did he realize what a serious offence that was?

Kayeni began to speak, but Henry beat her to the mark.

"Kayeni?" He didn't look suprized at Captain Johnston being inside, and a bit of a smily feeling sat in her gut. What had he heard?

Why was he here?

Henry hesitated, and forged on. "I was about to tell you something, but... how about tomorrow morning I'll find you and tell you instead. You seem occupied." And in the presence of an unrelated person as to what I want to say, his expression implied.

Kayeni waved a hand to the captain, dismissing him with a glance, and turning back to Henry. "What's this about?"

"Nothing major. But I'd prefer it if it was for your ears alone."
Kayeni thought for a second, then nodded. "Find me tomorrow. And next time, please knock." She closed the door with a bit more force than she meant to, but - how much had Henry heard outside her door?

Truth be told, Nolian couldn't really remember if he had ever been outside of the kingdom. He knew geography inside of the kingdom but outside of it? That was an entirely new world. If he had been outside of it, he lacked the memories to tell.

The soft sparkle of fresh morning dew glittered on the grass and leaves. The pine needles shook as he shuffled out from under the tree. His mare was still there, munching idly without much care.

He shook his head lightly, tossing the dark locks. The dark charcoal color had all but stained his hair. It wasn't coming out unless it was washed thoroughly.

He wasn't sure where he was though. But as he swung back up on the horse, he set off toward the main road. The passerby's were fairly kind, pleasant to talk to. The Faesia kingdom was open to many but it was very much a "ruffian's home," according to one of the fellow riders. When he had mentioned that he had come from the Galcolia kingdom, the small group looked back at each other.

"Queen Myrissa doesn't exactly like King Josef," the one said wearily.

"Oh no worries there," Nolian said flatly. "I didn't either. I'm actually leaving them behind. I'm fairly good with horses and learned a lot of... secrets."

"Secrets?" One of the women asked, clearly interested. "What kind of secret?"

Nolian shook his head and chuckled dryly. "Well, aside from the fact that the royal family is just a bunch of self-righteous pricks? Not too much. I'd assume it wouldn't take much for an all out war to break out."

He shrugged loosely and shook his head. "I'm hoping my experience with horses can land me a fairly steady job here so that I can just live my life. I'm a little clueless when it comes to politics," he really wasn't but he'd play it off, "so just a low level sort of position works best for me."

Kayeni didn't go to breakfast the next morning. She ordered the servants to bring her breakfast in her room - she wasn't entirely in the mood of having to deal with all of the court today, after last night.

But sleeping on a problem always had a good outcome. Now, she had three questions from last night.

Would the Captain be able to accomplish it?

What did Henry want to say?

And, probably most importantly, what had Henry heard outside her door? It wasn't like she could expose him - for all she knew, he hadn't heard anything. But what exactly had he heard? The whole thing? Half of it? Or what?

The second question, however, could be quite easily solved. All she had to do was talk to Henry. But even the idea of talking to the courtier wasn't as pleasant today. Unlike Kayeni, he clearly cared about the fact that Nolian was absent. Honestly. What was so secial about him? For literally anyone short of herself, her father would not be organizing a big search party for them. Maybe he would do a big search if she herself went missing.

She didn't think Nolian deserved that honour, however. Yet here they were. From what she had heard at dinner, Nolian seemed to be important to her father and Henry.

But why?

And here she was, back at her originaly question.

Sighing, Kayeni stood up and walked to her door.

Whether she liked it or not, she needed to have this conversation with henry. There were too many things that she needed to know - starting with why the heck was Nolian so important - and the first person that could probably supply those answers, short of confronting her father, was Henry.

So it was time to have that conversation with him. Whether she wanted it or not.

Henry stood just outside the door of the library, a place he usually went to. It wasn't uncommon to see the older fellow reading or studying over books and texts to try and help him with a task. It was the studying and the reading that allowed him to think clearly.

He spoke quietly to another one of the Captains over one of the search parties, his voice lowered. "I am aware," he murmured softly. "As--yes, Syr, I am the messenger right now between units and the king," he denied his desire to have the position but confirmed that his former close relation with the suitor was likely a reason as to why he was in the position now.

"I can't say I know for sure why I was selected," Henry replied wearily, adjusting his spectacles. "But I can't say I know where the boy would go either. I would assume home, maybe. The inn to the north. Take your unit up that way and see if you can't find him or the trail."

He watched the woman nod, firmly, and walk off down the castle hallway. There was a tired exhaustion behind his eyes and it wasn't entirely clear if he had slept at all that night.

His hand lifted, readjusting spectacles that hadn't moved. It was a nervous movement from him as he turned to the library once again, his hands pausing on the doorknob. No amount of studying would bring back the boy.

It wouldn't bring back his job or anything of the sort. But his internal voice told him that this was what he was supposed to do. This was how he solved problems.

Kayeni stumbled upon Henry at the door of the library. He looked a bit nervous - then again, he was one of the few people who actually cared whether Nolian came back or not.

Really, she was one of those who didn't. But Henry seemed to be taking his job a bit seriously, especially after Nolian dashed.

If you had asked Kayeni even yesterday, she wouldn't have had the slightest idea that her father would have gone to such measures to get him back. Seriously, she didn't care at all. Resultantly, she was quite suprised to see Henry and her father so anxious about such a thing.

Come to think about it, she hadn't seen her father since dinner last night.

But here was Henry, entering the library. For what reason Kayeni didn't exactly know, but Henry did look like that kind of person who would go to the library as a refuge.

As the doors closed, Kayeni caught it and threw it back open again. Henry didn't seem aware of her presence yet - or he didn't care. Either way, he didn't do anything to recognize her as she strode towards him.

"Henry?"

On the other side of the castle, Captain Johnston was doing exactly what the princess had told him to do the night before.

You don't disobey royals, after all. They were to be obeyed - even if the requests were a bit... strange.

But, he guessed there was always a motive behind royal's orders. So he did everything normally.

"Captain?" He turned, and there stood a messenger boy, looking up at him with slight awe. "Th-there's a message for you," he stammered out, before handing him a folded sheet of paper, with the garrison commander's stamp on it. Before he could say anything else, the messenger boy ran off.

Sighing, he gestured to his second-in-command, who was standing beside him and looking at the folded sheet of paper with undisguised interest. "Captain, what's in that?" he asked, gesturing at it.

Johnston sighed. "Gather up our squad. We're on call for the search for Prince Nolian."

Kayeni frowned. "In what way is he important? For all that you and my father have told me, he's nothing special. Even he himself doesn't think he's special. What's gotten you into such a twist over him?" Honestly, Kayeni couldn't think about why would they care so much about Nolian. He was someone who they had randomly picked up and dressed up. Now he was gone, they were going to quite extreme lengths to find him. But why?

Kayeni deliberately avoided mentioning anything about what he had said the other day, however. The half-truth she had fed everyone was close enough. The only difference was hat she had probably - in her haste - pushed Nolian over the edge as to not coming back. She probably shouldn't have done that, but - hey. At the time, the results were worth it. Nolian leaves, and she wouldn't have to bother with him anymore.

But looking at the amount of effort they were going through to get him back, Kayeni didn't have nothing but a seed of doubt as to why they wanted him back so much. Was he really a prince of Diamertya or something? Why was he so important? Kayeni's mind whirred with bunches of probabilities, most of them probably wrong.

But she held a tiny seed of doubt. Maybe she shouldn't have pushed Nolian that far. Look at waht the consequences were.

Then again, the reward was no Nolian. Which was great for her, but apparently Henry thought otherwise.

So why did he think otherwise?

Henry shook his head lightly, internally cursing. He probably cursed well enough to make a sailor blush but kept it all in his head as he dipped his head slowly.

His voice was calm, not unkind as he began to explain briefly. "On the surface, your highness, he was just the suitor. That--being first and foremost--raises flags. He can be a large target for bandits, raiders and others who wish harm upon nobles."

The older man paused and let out a slow sigh. "The second--and far more important reason--has to do with that pendant. That blessing," he gestured to the necklace that she wore, "your father and his predecessors were blessed with a gift. A gift that would call the wolves to guide and protect their bloodline. The moment that pendant is active is the moment that blessing comes to fruition."

Henry rubbed his forehead. "I request that you don't tell the King that I am telling you any of this. He wanted to keep it under wraps and secret but--as I correctly assumed--it would cause problems. That boy, Nolian, is a special sort of being. A traveling magician first discovered his abilities when traveling through that inn. His items and everything worked perfectly. But it was only around that boy.

"We discussed as a council that bringing him here would be beneficial. It would inevitably lead to the pendant becoming active and bringing you that blessing. However, he ran off. Which not only means he's out in the world with an ability as such--doesn't know he has it but your blessing, that pendant, will remain as a necklace and nothing more!"

Henry was unable to hide his irritation--a mere glimpse into his internal fury--as he looked up at Kayeni. "So I need to know what was said so that we can find him and keep him safe! We don't want him being taken by the wrong people. They'll use him against us instead."

Not to mention the inner voice telling him that she likely chased him off. As she had done before. Every. Single. Time.

He adjusted his spectacles again with a low and heavy sigh. If he could retire soon, he would be happy.

Everything that Kayeni might have said evaporated.

She wasn't entirely certain that Henry hadn't taken a knock to the head of some sort. What did he mean, they had some sort of godly blessing? Kayeni was tempted to laugh, but that - now, that probably wasn't a good idea.

But the ridiculity of it.

"How am I meant to believe you when you say this?" she finally said after regaining her voice, following a brief pause. How am I meant to know that what you're telling me is true? For all I know..." she trailed off.

Because the necklace that she wore did come to her under slightly... off... circumstances.

She just found it on her dresser a few days ago. No-one had been in her room as far as she knew, but it was just there.

Now Henry - out of all people - was telling her that Nolian was actually important to her? Kayeni couldn't believe that the dumb stable boy was actually important. Least of all how he fit in, yet... apparently she was.

"Prove it." She couldn't believe that Nolian actually had to be back, and properly, without proof that he actually was important. Gods damn it, they could barely stand to be in the same room together. Now she was supposed to be close to him to activate whatever the heck Henry wanted them to do? Practically snarling, she unclasped the necklance and threw it onto the table in front of Henry. She was hoping for more than a quiet clink from where it hit the table - but she really couldn't believe a single word that Henry had just said. How could any of this be properly true?

It didn't make sense. None of it. Yet it made perfect sense, all at the same time, why her father was so anxious to get him back.

It didn't make it any easier, though.