As Sigrid’s demeanor changed, so did the faces of the people in the drawing room, everyone could tell that something was off.
"Siggy..." duchess Mila called out in a wary voice. "Are you alright dear?"
"No grandmother, I am not alright." she answered in a cold voice. "John, do you have any idea the gravity of the calamity which you have brought upon our family?" She stood up.
Her words puzzled everyone, and worried them at the same time, they could not help wondering if this was related to her mysterious dream.
She pointed at Mercy and uttered a command, "Grab him."
Cosmos descended on Mercy with lightning speed, he grabbed both of his hands and pinned them behind his back. Brolin and the rest of the knights had not been far behind Cosmos, they reached Mercy and pulled out their swords.
Tension escalated in the room, Seraphina whimpered and outside, Roland drew his sword as well just in case he needed to defend his wife.
John was confused, and he became even more confused when Cosmos kicked him away from Seraphina’s side. Somehow, the kick sent him into Sigrid’s arms but she shoved him aside and he landed in one of the chairs in a sitting position.
"Sister.." he called Sigrid in a small voice.
She was unwilling to hear him out, "You brought Valenford’s here, does that name ring a bell?"
The duke stood up immediately, his eyes were alarmed and he shot John a glare.
"Wilhelm Valenford!!" he exclaimed, "Are they related to the rebel that supported the pretender Agornis?"
The duchess gasped and clutched at the necklace around her throat. Everyone in the room was terrified, they all knew of the Valenford family, it was a compulsory tradition for all noble families to educate their children on all the families that had been killed for treason over the years and what they had done.
"You...you..you...." the duke breathed heavily as he pointed at John, unsure of what to say.
John was mortified, he had no clue that the people he had been traveling with were descendants of a rebel.
"Oh, we are going to die." Iryne squeaked.
There was panic in the air as the consequences of the Valenford’s presence were imagined. Even Roland who was behind the door knew too well what would happen if this information was to fall in the ears of their father.
Seraphina fell to her knees, "Please your highness, have mercy." she pleaded, her voice trembling.
"Mercy!!" Sigrid exclaimed. "Did you have mercy when you wormed your way into our Thorin family knowing too well the consequences if our enemies ever found out your true identities."
"Please, I love John and he loves me." Seraphina cried out.
Out of nowhere, Iryne run towards Seraphina and slapped her, "Love, if you love someone you want them to be safe, you do not put them in danger."
She pulled a sword from one of the knights. with a single decisive stroke, Iryne brought the blade down, ending Seraphina’s life. Everyone fell silent except for Mercy who howled in sorrow. The gravity of the of what had just transpired settled over everyone present but they knew that it was not over, one other person had to be dealt with.
Sigrid gave the gesture and Mercy was executed by Brolin.
"Take their bodies and burn them." The duke ordered.
Sigrid calmly said, "It is not over, we need to know how many people saw you with the siblings. For all we know their house was burned by someone that knows their identity and happens to be hunting for them.
The price of an escaped rebel’s descendant is one hundred gold per head, these are two siblings so that is two hundred gold. Everyone should be on alert, if any strangers come asking about anything to do with the siblings, the answer is simple we have not seen them."
Iryne approached John who looked out of it and put a hand on his arm. "I am sorry son. I did what had to be done. For the sake of entire Thorin family and the royal family."
John wiped away tears that were streaming down his face and nodded slowly. "I understand mother, I only wish that she had told me the truth. I would have given her some gold and sent her away."
"She deliberately calculated you, she saved you because you are a Thorin. John, she probably hired the people that beat you up so that you could owe her and give her a life of luxury and safety.
For all we know, the siblings were looking for a noble family to provide the resources that they could use to get revenge for what happened to their own family. Why else would they not live in hiding and instead try to squeeze into another noble family? Their intentions were not good so you do not need to feel guilty or mourn her death."
Everyone that was feeling uneasy after witnessing the execution of the Valenford siblings started feeling lighter. It was a dog eat dog world, if they did not kill they would have been the ones to be killed.
Sigrid placed a comforting hand on John’s shoulder, "Brother, we must be strong, cautious and decisive when dealing with our enemies or threats to our family."
She raised her eyes and looked around, "You must all remember my dream and the foretold future, we all die, Roland dies, the king and queen. Which of my predictions has been false?"
They thought about the things she had said would happen and shook their heads. It had all come to pass exactly as she had said and they had avoided more than a few traps by their enemies thanks to her.
"I have just started gaining the king’s trust, we are not yet safe. The Ye’s, the Windrider’s, the Jameson’s. Emmah and her mother Mirena, Rina, and all of our enemies are still a present threat. Tomorrow the Silberuss family will be gone, if the king can wipe out royal blood what makes you all think that he will spare us if he thinks for a second that we are plotting against him?
Being innocent will not save us if our enemies are successful, we are not yet safe so none of us should relax."
She drew in a sharp breath and sunk into the chair feeling as if she had aged ten years and battled for one thousand more.
"John, if by chance this gets out, if anybody asks, deny knowing who the siblings are. Acknowledge that you were saved by a stranger and you gave her gold and a carriage. You do not know the man she was with and have no idea what happened to them."
John nodded, everyone in the drawing room had a grave look on their face. John was not crying anymore, he was compiling a list in his mind of those that had seen him with the Valenford siblings. Thankfully, it was short because they had hidden themselves in the carriage to avoid being seen, especially when they reached the capital.
Sigrid saw the rewards she had received on the system screen.
[Congratulations host your rewards as as follows. One loyal companion: a griffin, one minute daily access to the bank and one secret about Roland Maximus, he is behind the door right now.]