<h4>Chapter 184: A prince on the way.</h4>


    At a half past six in the evening, Sigrid finally made an appearance that told everyone at The Vale that she had officially ended her mourning period. For one, she was not wearing ck anymore, her dress of choice was a yellow evening gown that flowed down seamlessly and bunched up around her feet.


    The news of her appearance in a colorful dress traveled quickly through the castle. Word that she had been smiling and walking arm in arm with the crown prince was shared and noise returned to the castle. While she had been grieving, everyone had been tiptoeing around, afraid to make the slightest noise as if any sound could remind her of her tragedy.


    As they approached the dining room whose entirelyy out had been changed, Rnd could still not believe that Sigrid was back to her old self. He stole another nce at her again.


    "What is wrong? Is there something on my face?


    He shook his head. "I am just wondering if you are really back or simply teasing me and I will have to dig you out of bed again tomorrow."


    She shook her head. "There will be no need for that, while I cannot say that I have moved past my griefpletely, I can assure you that I will not be hiding in my bedroom anymore. The Windrider house still stands, as do the Fairfax’s. The Eclipsion sword is still missing four shards, the prince of Sndor has yet to meet Emmah and fall in love with her at first sight."


    "Aah...about that...." Rnd’s smile turned sheepish. "I have news about that. The prince will be arriving in less than a week, depending on how fast his air ship is traveling. I guess those merchants from Sndor in the restaurant three months ago returned and said good things about Eldoria. The prince is noting alone, three ships are apanying him. Rudbeck and Evermore have been living on a ship for a month, watching the skies for any changes."


    Sigrid shot him a startled look, this was a big unexpected change in the book. In the original novel, the prince had been traveling incognito and he did not disy his flying ships. What had brought on the sudden change in the plot? It couldn’t be the food for sure.


    "Its the sword dummy." Cosmos provided the answer in a frustrated voice as if he was tired of exining things to someone with slow understanding.


    In turn, she looked at Rnd and said, "He is here for the sword."


    "He would not be the only one." Rnd shared. "In thest two weeks, many dignitaries from neighboring kingdoms and empires have poured into the kingdom from near and far. The capital is filled with at least a thousand new faces that don’t show signs of evacuating any time soon. Crimes like theft have increased during the night, the foreigners are squandering money deliberately to loosen the lips of people."


    "Increase the patrols." Sigrid suggested. "Have more red knights dress up as ordinary citizens and get jobs in taverns and brothels. Some can even blend in with the homeless or beggars in alleys."


    Rnd’s lips curled upwards in a smile. "This is one of the reasons why I missed you. See, I never would have thought of having knights act as beggars on the streets. We did have them infiltrate some taverns and brothels but its far from enough."


    "Do not forget inns too and stables where the foreigners park their carriages." Sigrid further suggested.


    Rnd gestured for Sir Samuel who was following them to pass on the orders derived from Sigrid’s suggestions.


    "What else have I missed?" she asked. "The Shadowmere’s how have they fared in their affairs?"


    Rnd stopped walking and he frowned, suddenly he turned them both around and they changed direction from heading to the dining room to the moving room. "Have dinner sent to the living room." he told Charles.


    "Why are we eating in there?" She asked curiously.


    "The chairs arefortable, we can sit close together and watch the finale episode of the first season of The rise of Lady nche." He answered with a cheeky smile on his face.


    Sigrid had no arguments against the change in location, the only reason why she sat around the dining table was because it was expected of her. She was an eating in the living room while watching TV from the sofa kind of girl.


    Rnd sank into a soft cream sofa and pulled Sigrid down to sit on hisp. He had missed the feeling of closeness with her, now that she was not grieving anymore he was d to be able to hold her once again.


    "The Shadowmere’s?" Sigrid quizzed.


    A shadow fell over Rnd’s face which made her curious.


    "It doesn’t seem like you have pleasant news to share." She remarked.


    He shook his head before responding, "They sessfully crushed a mutiny on their ships but Alfred Shadowmere was lost in the fight." He took a few breaths and continued, "When I say fight, I mean an actual fight with swords and mes. The Shadowmere’s did not want the captains that had turned against them to escape so they sailed out and ambushed the men on the sea. They lost two ships in a fire but that does not put a dent in their magnificent fleet. As for Alfred, he was stabbed in the heart with a dagger.


    There was no mage on board and the doctor they had could not save him. He was buriedst week, the body was burned and the ashes dumped in the sea. I had no idea that they do not bury their dead on thend. I was very curious when I heard about their tradition.


    Your father told me that the Shadowmere’s believe they came from the sea so when they die they return to the sea."


    "Well, how sad for them to lose one of their own." She said.


    Rnd turned the TV on and answered nonchntly, "You saved the entire family from death with your early warning. Had it not been for you, they would all have been wiped out."


    At exactly seven, the theme song for The rise of Lady nche started ying and all around Eldoria, in homes, taverns, brothels, shops and every ce where a television was, People sung along or held their breath. The news that this was thest episode of the season had been spread through the newspaper and television.


    Even the foreigners had been caught up in the series, most had binge watched it and now they were all caught up. Like the Eldorians, they were waiting to see the fate of nche and the heroine Lady Somerset.


    Rnd, whose head was buried in Sigrid’s neck had just one question. "Before the episode starts airing, can you tell me if it is going to have a happy ending?"


    "There would be no second season if the ending was happy for everyone." She answered.


    Rnd groaned, he had a bad feeling and when the episode ended, he was so d that Lady Iryne was not at The Vale because nobody would get any sleep otherwise.