Chapter 8.

The Duke's Mistress.

The rain fell and morning came, the streets were covered with breeze, people began their day calmly as every day and even the donkeys that carried the carts with the goods from one side to the other seemed calm, the guards who slept in the abandoned house eventually woke up, stood up, ate a little and began the search with the duchy guards who had been sent by the duke to guide them throughout the city.

The hours passed as did the places they searched, but neither in shops nor restaurants nor in houses did they find the woman and the child they had come to look for, there was no place they hadn't passed by and they even entered the big house, where they practically turned the place upside down and still there was no sign that she was there... when the poor guards were almost losing hope, one of them said: we can enter the duke's palace, it's the only place we haven't searched and without listening to the response of the duke's guards they went to the palace and entered like a dog through his house, ravaging every place, every garden and every hallway, that commotion woke up the duke who was sleeping peacefully in his bedroom, which was invaded by the guards; And at the sudden intrusion, the duke, astonished, said to them: What a way to say good morning!, I barely woke up and I already have to see your faces in my chambers where I am naked. You have to have a good explanation for this, since I have allowed you to enter my duchy to search the city with complete peace of mind and yet you dare to search my palace; One of the guards answered: It was not our intention to wake you, but he who owes nothing fears nothing, we have the order to search the entire city, that also includes the Duke's palace, so I am very sorry about the situation, the Duke laughing told them: It is true that you have permission to enter, I gave you permission because what you have is not signed and sealed by the King, so it is not valid…if I wanted I could decapitate you in the square right now, but I will spare your lives because I am in a good mood, the guards did not comment anything and left the bedroom and continued searching through the checked corridors of the rooms and halls and it was not until they saw a small white-haired child run towards the kitchen laughing while one of the maids chased him, it was then when one of the guards said to the others: You follow the child to the kitchen and we will go in the direction where the child left, in this way, the group of guards separated and each one went their own way, the guards upon reaching the kitchen found the maid was feeding the child, who smiled and touched the woman's cheeks, while on the other hand, the guards who had followed the corridor where the child had left found a lot of women on the way who told them that they could not enter there because they were the chambers of the duke's lover. Likewise, the men used their strength and practically passed over the women without listening to their words until they reached the other side where the first impression was a woman with a wig and a pompous dress. Then, not being able to see her hair well, they simply left. Before leaving the palace, the duke told them from a window that he wished the King greetings and good luck finding the queen...

The guards were increasingly disappointed. That woman seemed to have been swallowed by the earth, she was nowhere to be found and what seemed like was that they were wasting their time looking for a needle in a haystack... when they returned to the old man Erick's house, they informed him of the journey they had made from the coasts to the duchy and nearby towns... everything had been a total failure, the old man sighed disgustedly and putting his hands on the back of his neck he told them if they didn't see anyone suspicious or acting strange, then one of the guards said not at all on the coast there were only old women and the children had green and blue eyes there was no one who had red and violet eyes, the old man stopped breathing, but then one of the guards said: wait a minute, how old is the child supposed to be and the old man answered he has to be a child under 2 years old, he should be a year and a couple of months old he would have to be at the age where he is learning to walk or sit, it was then that the same guard who had asked the question answered that there was a white-haired child running to the kitchen in the duke's palace, when I got there they were feeding him one of the maids the child was very beautiful and had red and violet eyes... the old man opened his eyes completely in astonishment and asked: and ¿didn't you see the mother?, it was then that another of the guards answered: when we went to the other side of the palace where the boy had run out and only found a woman with a wig and a pompous dress, she looked beautiful, but we couldn't see exactly what color her hair was, however, she had one green eye and one blue eye and she was the duke's lover... the old man sat down from the shock and said to them: you bunch of useless people, how could you pass up such an opportunity; the queen has eyes of that color and it's no coincidence that to enter that duchy you have to meet several requirements... it's definitely because you didn't put the cake at the beginning, you put it at the exit.

The queen saw their stupid faces, obviously, they weren't going to recognize her if she was wearing a wig and a pompous dress and the duke didn't say anything before you useless people left there, then another guard said: the duke simply through a window he said goodbye to us sending greetings to the King and wishing us good luck in finding the queen, it was then that the old man grabbed his cane and hit the five guards in front of him saying: of course I was going to wish you good luck, idiots, how could I not wish you good luck in finding the queen when she introduced you as her own lover... you have to see that you are scoundrels to have the truth in front of you and be so blind... ¿What do you have in those eyes that you can't see well?, they had a damn spoken portrait and it didn't occur to them to open it and see if they matched, it's that I'm not killing you right now because it would be a waste of energy and time for me. Rather prepare the carriage, we are going to the palace, we must give the news to the King that the Duke has a lover; I am sure that when we give the graphic descriptions he will be delighted to go and visit the duchy in person.

On the way, old man Erick met George, another of the old men who were secretly searching for the queen, who told him that the search had been a complete failure, there was no one who met the requirements in the most remote villages, and it was then that he told him: don't worry, I have a hunch that I have found one of the greatest offenses that the queen could do to our beloved King, but George asked him ¿what are you talking about?, Well, then Erick told him, I am not sure, but Duke Blake has a very particular lover who wears a wig and pompous dresses, but she and her son also have heterochromia; George opened his eyes at this and said: if this turns out to be true, the duke would be declaring war on King Cyprian V, which would not be beneficial for the Kingdom or the duchy, but we will just leave it as a coincidence, however, old man Erick told him: after you get old you have become an idiot, when do coincidences exist here…

***

When both old men arrived at the palace they requested an audience with the King which was immediately approved and they were allowed to enter his office with complete confidence, the King had a disheveled appearance, there were bottles of alcohol everywhere, the place stank of stench, so much so that George whispered to Erick: since you were the one who found the evidence you are going to expose it, I have nothing to do here and with that he retreated to the gardens, where he met Ilay, Luke and Zahir who were arriving, he immediately explained the situation to them and these old men sent one of their guards to warn the others to stop the search for the moment.

And so Erick, clearing his throat a little and holding back the bad smells, said to him: Your Majesty, ¿when do you plan to bring the Queen back?, Many hope to see her again... and ironically the King answered even I hope to see her again, it was then that the old man told him: A couple of hours ago one of my subordinates who was visiting the Duchy of Blake Claous told me that apparently the Duke has a lover and this lover has a child who has heterochromia and his eyes are red and violet and the lover has green and blue, so if you allow me, I suggest we pay a friendly visit to the Duke, who knows, maybe we might find ourselves with more than one surprise, the King listening to this information said: Well, your subordinate surely has to have very good contacts internally to be able to enter, because without a formal invitation you cannot access the Duchy... the Duke is a very strict person, however, you have aroused my curiosity about who this woman is who has captivated the biggest heartbreaker I have ever met, Then the old man smiling said to him: Do you want me to send the request for a friendly visit? Then he replied to the King that he would send it personally, now just get out of here, I have to put my thoughts in order.

And once Erick left, the seed of discord had been planted in the King's mind, practically his temples were throbbing with anger about the possibility that the duke's lover was his wife and if so,

Or ¿when did they meet and how long had they been secretly dating?, There was a sea of ​​questions and no answers, so to vent, he hit his desk with his clenched fists until he got tired and smashed his knuckles from the anger he felt, because something deep inside him told him that his wife really was the duke's lover and if this were so, both of them would pay for this offense.