King Aiden had a jubilant personality and was bent down on 

making Theo and the others welcome as they were there for Deladra. 

Maids walked in with wagon trolleys silently and served in golden 

plates, all kinds of fowl and beast on the table, and when the drinks 

were being served,

'Best wine in the land for you prince Theoden,' Pavo smiled.

Theo took a sip, 

'Quite pleased, I must say. This is some fine wine, but prince 

Arden has been awfully quiet since we have arrived,' he commented 

looking onto the other side of the table.

Arden stopped drinking startled. He had the mind to respond 

offensively but his father took over,

'He has always been so. Doesn't enjoy conversation much I 

would say, rather a man of action.' Aiden answered as Arden looked 

at him with resent. Then the king turned to Sela,

'I was just curious that you arrived a day later than expected. I 

heard from Pavo that our men who were supposed to escort you were 

not with you either,' he seemed a bit worried to hear what Sela had to 

say, but Theo was waiting to hear it as well and turned to Sela 

implying, he's all ears.

 

'We anchored on a cove on the other side of the island' Sela 

gulped his drink.

'Not at the port of Gini? I should have known.........' Theo set his 

glass down, but before he would continue,

'Let us not be hasty, prince Theoden,' Aiden requested, he was

not the kind of person to jump to conclusions in haste. 'Do explain 

Sela,' he nodded.

Theo settled down to be courteous.

'I suspected we were being tailed, and hence altered the course at 

the last moment. However, I left one of our strongest vessels to sail 

according to the planned course to port Gini…,' Sela paused and 

looked at Pavo.

'But there was no vessel that arrived at the port yesterday nor 

today, it seems..........,' Pavo's eyes widened as he spoke, 'Do you by 

any chance think the vessel was attacked? But we were sure those 

waters haven't been infested yet,' he rubbed his forehead in disbelief.

'Tailed? Infested? Will someone elaborate it for me?' Theo 

banged his glass straight down on the table.

'The fyredari, prince Theoden' Pavo looked at Theo.

The prince's expression remained unchanged, rather became 

more curious, so Pavo turned to Sela,

 

'Does the prince know of the situation here in Deladra?'

Before Sela would say anything, Arden stormed up pushing his 

chair back and it landed on the floor with a thump.

 

'Don't you realise, prince Theoden knows nothing!' he snarled as 

he tossed his glass on the floor in discontent, 'This was a mistake.' he 

stomped away.

 

'Arden!' Aiden's stern tone didn't stop Arden.

The king gestured Pavo to go after him and Pavo left in a hurry.

'I assume there is a reasonable explanation,' Aiden looked at 

Sela, 'Spare me prince Theoden for now as I have to speak to my son, 

but I will see you tomorrow' Aiden assured before he left.

Theo lashed away right after king Aiden without a word.

 

'Well, this is a disaster! I hope there is a hell of a reason.' Dena 

raised his brow at his brother as they followed Theo.

King Aiden walked through the corridors looking for 

Arden when he found Pavo hurrying back.

 

'Sire, prince Arden rode away,' he informed panting, 'Spare me sire, 

I was too late,' he looked to the floor.

 

'Not something unfamiliar, he was in disagreement with this 

from the start, so he must have been disturbed, he will be back before 

midnight as usual. But I am worried for prince Theoden, whatever 

the arguments behind the secrecy it is quite devastating. We have to 

make sure it doesn't turn into a clash between the two of them, young 

and naive,their decisions relying on spontaneity rather than wisdom. 

We do not have hope for Deladra if this doesn't pan out….' Aiden 

paced side to side restless.

'Do not despair sire, it is unlike you to lose faith, it won't go that far.

 I think prince Theoden will surely oblige.' Pavo reassured.

Sela and Dena entered Theo's chamber,

 

'How dare you do this to me? In the presence of Delarians, no 

less!' Theo rubbed his forehead, 'Awe for shame. I shouldn't be 

allowing you to speak to me anymore, but I deserve to know….' He 

turned the other way ready to listen.

'Spare me sire, I was bound by duty, and it has been a 

deadweight. I wanted to make you aware of everything earlier this 

evening, but you were not ready to listen......'

 

'And do not leave off anything,' Theo interrupted Sela and took 

a seat looking into his eyes.

 

'I will need you to kindly be patient, and it would be a great help 

if I am not interrupted,' Sela requested and took a deep breath before 

he began,

 

'Father and I visited Deladra many moons ago. It was a casual 

diplomatic visit, nothing bothersome. That was when it started,' 

He slowed down as he recollected, and the past invaded his face. 

'One morning, news came of an intrusion from the port of Beiva that

shocked us all. We were right here, and Enara doesn't have the forces 

nor the intention. When prince Arden decided to go down there 

personally, father and I said we'd accompany as we were quite 

curious. 

When we got there the port was abandoned as fishermen, 

vendors and sailors had heard of the raid and kept away. The watch 

towers were damaged and unmanned, it raised more suspicions and 

concerns, but there were no witnesses as to what could have caused it.

 

We decided to camp there for a couple of days and enquire in the 

fishermen's villages nearby. The fishermen claimed that some of their 

fishing boats went missing a few moons ago. They were surprised but 

it was common for the boats to wash away on high tide when not 

knotted well, but one morning they were shocked to see the damaged 

watch towers and bridges with no one there. 

They found shattered remains of the missing boats all over the beach, 

which were still there, and some weird footprints over the sands. 

When we checked the port ledger, it mentioned a ship had docked there 

that night with four men on board. No men nor the ship were to be found. 

The number of men missing by then accounted for a few tens, it was highly mysterious, 

but we did not have a clue.

It had already been a while and time was nearing for us to return 

to Orelia. So, Arden suggested we let the men stay behind and keep 

investigating while we left for Menore the next day as it would also 

help him organise rebuilding of the watch towers when he got back.

That night, we were woken by screams and rushed out to see 

something that was inconceivable. In the dark of the night, there 

were these creatures, nothing like we had ever seen before, attacking 

the men. They seemed like massive reptiles with ghastly green eyes 

glistening in the dim. I stood there gawking as father handed me my 

sword and we tried to help the men. One of those things was gripping 

a man with its four arms. As I approached, I saw its scaly 

impenetrable skin. The man was desperate for breath. I struck it on 

one of the arms and it swung its tail that was sharper than any blade 

at me. I was badly hurt and fell to the ground grunting. Father came 

to my rescue, he defended me with all his strength. I got up trembling 

and raised my sword when we heard a deafening roar. By the time we 

came to, the beasts had retreated into the sea with some of the men. 

We were all petrified and no one had the courage to step into the 

waters. We were in disbelief that something like that had just

happened……'