"Your Majesty, I am here to report about the death of Duke Hamond. He was found in his room stabbed to death.” I look up to see Baldwin. I’m shocked that Reynard is dead. He was always good at avoiding death traps. I guess that he finally got unlucky. 

“That is unfortunate.” I continue reading through my papers. I don’t have the time to handle this affair. “Have someone collect the body and send it to his family. I also want you to investigate what happened” 

“As you wish Your Majesty. I will get it done. I also want to add more guards to your guard. I will spend more time guarding you as well.” He responds. Yes, that is a good idea. 

“I want you to put more guards on Elizabeth and Victoria’s details as well.” I add. I can’t let anything happen to them. Though, more guards won’t be of much use if they are chosen without thought. “I will interview each and every one of them.” 

“Of course, Your Majesty.” Baldwin agrees. Then he yells to the outside of the room “One of you get in here right now.” 

“What do you need Captain?” Asks the guard that entered the room. 

“I need you to tell the vice-captain to pick out some more guards to put on the detail. I want ten names and they should be the best we have.” He orders the guard. The guard then walks out of the office as quickly as he appeared. 

“I would also like to mention all the assassins that have infiltrated the palace lately. By my count there are around 30 of them at this very moment.” I continue. I’m certain there is more, but I don’t have the time to look at each person and discern if they have ill intent or not. Having said that, I still easily spotted some 30 of them and I wasn't even trying. The only good part was that they hadn’t been making any attempts since I literally killed a hallways worth of them. Now they have started acting again. 

“I’ve been trying my best, but I believe the assassins have some friends in high places since they keep slipping through.” He answers me. I’m not surprised. I wouldn’t have to worry about this if it was simple. I’d kill them but they haven’t done anything either. You can’t just kill people even if you have good reason to think they are assassins. People would just think you went crazy. 

“It is your responsibility to prevent them from infiltrating the palace.” I tell him pointedly. 

“Do you think I can spot them all?” He says shaking his head. That is true. Perhaps I am being too hard on him. 

“No, you’re right. I want you to call Henry here. I want him to come immediately.” With those words he leaves. This is really tiring. I put my head on the desk and close my eyes. A minute later the door opens and I look up to see Henry. 

“You requested my presence?” He asks. He seems extremely nervous. Much like he has something to hide. Well, he risked his life to save Elizabeth. I can ignore my suspicions for that. There is something more important I need to know. 

“Yes, can you tell me if you know anything about the death of Duke Hamond?” I inquire. I have a good feeling that he knows something. Or at least he can give me a clue. 

“I can’t say much since I just got here, but Sir Baldwin was yelling at the vice-captain when he heard about this report. It seems that he was extremely angry about this occurrence. He however calmed himself down and told the vice-captain to carry on his duty. He then went to report the incident to you, Your Majesty.” He explains to me. I see, by this story Baldwin was completely taken aback. I was worried since he was good friends with Duke Whyte but it doesn’t seem like this was the situation he wanted. In all likelihood someone wants to cause as much chaos as possible. It would be better if I could just figure out why they want to kill me. 

“Thank you for the answer. I also want to inform you that I'm putting you on Elizabeth’s detail. I hope that no harm comes to her while she is under your watch.” I say looking directly into his eyes. He just gives me a nod in confirmation. “You are free to go.” 

With the dismissal he walks outside of the room. Apparently, whoever killed Reynard thought he was too much of a wild card. Either that or they wanted to put us on our guard. But that makes no sense.  

A/N: So the plot is beginning to thicken. There are a bunch of actors involved right now and I can say that Hammonds death is a bit of a catalyst. Perhaps not directly but at least indirectly. As for the trivia for today, I'll be talking about Jingpingland. Jingping is actually what the land was called by the Yanzhou, they just kept the name. It's a small country bordering both Felworth and Allonia as well as other countries. Out of all the Alton countries it is the most militarized. Every person grows up learning how to use the bow and many also serve time as soldiers.