How did Jake get into the throne room? How?
"No time for questions, I will do something that you may not like, but trust me. This will answer questions while also hiding what Henry did." His voice came out of the shadows in whispers; not even her father heard him speak. Only Elena could hear his comforting voice.
"I trust you," she whispered back as his presence left.
Jake hopped from shadow to shadow until he was in the shadow of a noble, who was near the steps leading up to the throne, then his voice rang out.
"By the authority granted under Section Five, Paragraph Seventeen of The Pact Between One and Five, a direct representative of one of the 5 Lord Families of the underground city may request an audience in the royal court once every five years. I, Jake Lockvry, heir of the Lockvry Family, hereby invoke this clause of The Pact Between One and Five to seek counsel with His Majesty."
The room became dead silent as everyone looked around to see where his voice came from, the guards tightened their grips on their halberds, and the King looked around, then looked down at his chest as a golden thread appeared from his heart and led straight to the noble's shadow.
All eyes locked onto the thread as Jake slowly rose from the noble's shadow. As soon as he stepped out of it, the noble scampered off. Jake kneeled in front of the king.
He wore a very expensive suit, with golden veins laced through it, sparkling in the moonlight. His usual messy hair was combed, and he dressed his fluffy ears and tail neatly in ceremonial ornaments custom to the lycanthrope race.
William swallowed hard, sensing the unspoken fear rippling through the room. This shadow mage was one of a very few who could shadow-mage—one of the few who could end a life before their target even realized they were in danger.
People did not merely fear shadow mages; they whispered about them in terror. History and legend alike hinted of their silent massacres, assassins who could melt into darkness and slay hundreds before the sun rose again. Even the fire mages of destruction, with all their fury, could not rival the quiet devastation a single shadow mage could unleash.
They were rare—born once in a generation, if that. And now, one of the five crime families of the Underground city had an heir who carried that power.
Jake heard the muttering, as his eyes locked onto the floor, he trusted his skills to escape and trusted that the king wouldn't break the pact, which would kill him if he did.
"Jake Lockvry, why are you here?" William said, his voice, the voice of the king, was powerful and silenced everyone.
"I am here to tell the truth, tell the truth about Henry Falmil's death," Jake responded, still kneeling and eyes on the ground. His tail was low, showing respect, as his ears were forward, alert to the crowd.
As Elena looked on, her eyes full of terror, the crowd muttered again. Her father and his brother, on the other hand, flexed white knuckles in their hands and shook, barely controlled as they looked at the man who could have killed Henry.
The king looked at Jake, "Rise and speak, Jake Lockvry," he spoke, his voice was a demand, and even Jake subconsciously rose and stood in front of the king.
He looked at the king, his golden eyes steady as they stared at each other. "Yes, your majesty." Jake nodded, his voice steady, "I am here to tell the truth. Henry Falmil was not killed by me nor Adam Lockvry, my Father."
The room fell silent when he spoke, but all eyes were filled with questions. Even Elena's own eyes wondered what he was gonna say.
"We have done our own research, knowing that our name would be on the tip of your tongues," Jake answered, his eyes still on the king. William stroked his beard with white hairs.
His silver eyes looked at Jake, reading him; "We ourselves do not know who the killer is, but I listen to the shadows, I have collected a few names, some even in this court in this room are attending at this moment."
The silence broke at his words, nobles looking at each other, wondering if the person next to them had killed a member of the Falmil house.
Robert and his brother Bormir looked around the courts; they refused to see the darker sides of the courts, unlike Elena, yet she could tell they somewhat believed Jake's words.
"Quiet," William whispered, yet his word silenced the room in an instant.
Jake looked around the court to see if anyone else had anything to say.
"If you may, I shall pull out a paper with the lists of names, and a guard can give you these names," Jake explained as he showed his hands clear to all as one slightly moved to a hidden pocket on his chest.
"Yes, you may," William said, as his royal guards tensed at Jake's actions as he slowly pulled out a folded piece of paper. A guard walked in front of Jake as he held it out. The guard took the paper and stepped back, and turned as he walked up the stairs to give it to the king.
William took the paper from the guard and nodded to him. Then he unfolded the piece of paper as 16 names were listed, each one having one crime attached to it. Some, after naming their major crime, said either "Other minor offenses," or "Has done dealings with major crimes." But two names stood out. Forrest Young and Aries Malanor.
"Forrest young: Slave trade"
"Aries Malanor: Main suspect for Henry Falmil, assassination"
The king looked up from the paper and stared at Jake for a moment. Silver and gold clashing, their eyes unreadable to all except each other. "Thank you, Jake Lockvry," William spoke, the crowd murmuring that the king just thanked a criminal, an heir to one of the 5 crime families.
"It's my greatest honor, your majesty," Jake spoke as he bowed deeply to the king; "But I must clarify that my actions today are only to clear my family's name of the action of killing Henry Falmil, as we hadn't. But also to protect the ones I love."
The King looked at the criminal as he scratched his beard. "You are an honorable man today, Jake Lockvry, protecting your family name and the ones you love. I will look over past the action of today, of breaking into my throne room, as you have given me something to do, and your honor."
Jake's calm demeanor nearly broke as he realized he had broken into the throne room; he was just so used to sneaking into places and not actually entering them properly. His tail betrayed him, though as it shook in fear a bit, the king noticed this and chuckled.
"You were also under the protection of The Pact Between One and Five. You will not be captured or charged as of today, for your other crimes," William spoke, as he raised his hand off the arm of his throne, silencing the bubbling crowd.
"Thank you, your majesty," Jake said, as he bowed once more; "I hope I will see you again, in a similar situation as this." He stole glances around the room, his gaze stopping for a moment as he saw Elena's amber eyes, which were filled with relief. A slight smirk appeared on his face.
"I do hope so, Jake Lockvry. You seem like a nice man, even with your reputation, but reputations can also be deceiving. I will admit that, myself," William said, his mind remembering certain moments.
"If you will allow me, I shall take my leave… I will leave properly this time," Jake said, with a bit of mirth in his voice.
The king chuckled as he nodded and let Jake exit the throne room through the massive doors at the end of the hallway.
All eyes were on him as the doors closed behind him.
Elena let out a sigh of relief as he left, "Idiot," she muttered as the crowd grew in uproar.