Misha woke up to a ray of sunlight on his face which had somehow made its way through the tiny window. It covered half the room- dividing it into two like a river of luminosity. He was surprised at how refreshed he felt. He had expected more pain all over but his mind felt at ease for the first time in years. Was it the psychological relief of having a huge weight lifted off his shoulders? He wasn't sure about that but one thing he was certain about was the fact that he didn't want to see anyone in the palace for a good while. As he contemplated running away like Winter, his door flew open and a panicked guard rushed up to him.
"Sir! The King!! He's missing!" Judging by his face, he seemed to be one of the newer recruits. Misha couldn't help but feel sorry for the young lad. He had just entered the force and begun his work when a major incident took place. No, major was an understatement. It was by far the biggest event in history- an incident that would likely never be rivaled by anything else. The only thing that could rival it would be if a God stepped down from the heavens and pulled the whole kingdom out of the mess they were in but there's no way that kind of thing is possible.
"Did you search properly?" Misha asked, wearily, getting up from his comfortable rest. He was supposed to make a decoy to burn but that task was going to take a while. He needed some way to distract the guards. Dragging his feet to his desk, pretending to be searching for something- he wracked his brains to try and figure out a way out.
"Yes, sir! He's vanished! There are signs of struggles in his room, we think someone kidnapped him."
"I see." Misha said blandly. He was a terrible actor. Why did Winter think he could convincingly pull off a stunt at that level? If he was good at manipulating people then he would have manipulated Winter into doing his work years ago. Just then, a crumpled piece of paper caught his eye. He didn't remember it being there before.
As he carefully unfolded the paper while the guard continued to ramble on in the background, he saw exactly what he needed- a distraction! It appeared that while he had still been asleep, Winter had the foresight to leave behind a note. The note was simple, clearly written in a hurry. It was one sentence long and it said- 'Being taken field, search lake.' It was an incoherent sentence clearly written by someone who was short of time! That or it was written on purpose to be misleading...Not like anyone would imagine what Winter had in mind in a million years.
"This-!" Misha said, trying his best to sound in disbelief. "This is Winter's handwriting."
"What? Really?" The guard ran up to where he was, peering over his shoulder and trying to read the contents of the note. "But why would His Highness leave it here?"
Drats. Misha had forgotten that they were still in his study. Why would Winter come all the way to his study only to leave the note on his desk? It would make more sense if it was found on the ground while they were searching.
"Ah well I was busy all night yesterday!" Misha started, using every ounce of his brain power to come up with a clever reason. "Winter must have lied to the kidnapper about something being here, hoping to see me. When he noticed I wouldn't be back, he quickly left the note on my desk!"
"I see...that makes perfect sense."
No it didn't but that was beyond the point. "That's right. Give this to the guards. We have to commence a search immediately!"
"Yes sir!" The young guard ran off at lightning speed with the paper and Misha exhaled a sigh of relief. Many of the guards should be incapacitated from the events of the previous night so only a few would be able to take on the search while waiting for backup. That was just enough stalling for him to create the decoy.
On the bright side, at least his years of work as a scholar in goods production wasn't a waste. He had spent much of his time studying the art of replication. Since he had spent so long with Winter- making a convincing replica would be child's play.
***
"The King! We've found him!" The young guard shouted, alerting everyone around him to gather at the same location. In the confusion, nobody noticed a hooded figure disposing of their hood and then rushing to join the rest.
One of the mages stood at the center of the lake, carefully lifting up the body from underneath. Rising through the layers of the lake, spraying water everywhere- it was unquestionably the lifeless body of Winter. The mage must have had a very steady hand because even upon seeing that, she didn't drop the body back into the lake.
The young guard stood dumbfounded. This was a lake far from the palace grounds which they hadn't bothered to search at first. Many of the guards claimed it would be impossible for the King to have come there as there were many people along the way who should have seen him especially if he was being kidnapped. They also stated that the King would have left them clues but there were no disturbances anywhere. On the other hand, the two lakes closer to the palace grounds were easier to reach and more desolate meaning it was more difficult to leave behind signs in those regions.
"This can't be real..." A young palace maid said, falling to her knees and bursting into tears. Many people shared the same feelings, keeping their eyes on the ground to avoid the wretched sight.
The body was finally laid on the ground beside the lake. The water mage ran up to Misha who was standing there, sweat rolling down his forehead. Misha nodded in acknowledgement at her and bent down to examine the body.
After 10 minutes of quiet examination, he stood up. "The King is dead."
There was no sound except for the sobbing of the young palace maid in the background. Everyone else quietly cleared out of the way as Misha instructed that the body be put on a board and carried to the funeral pyre.
"But sir!" One of the men who helped with the search shouted, "Shouldn't we bury the King? How can we burn him?!"
"If we don't burn him, we'll all be in danger." Misha said with an air of finality. It was as plain as could be if one were to look into his eyes- fear, anger, sorrow and severity. His emotions were on clear display. The man quickly backtracked from his statement, walking away quickly. The message was sent to everyone else as well.
As Misha walked behind the rest, he found that he wasn't acting anymore. The urgency and all the other emotions he felt were undoubtedly real. He was living with the constant anxiety of what could come next. Even those moments were just the calm before the storm. Once the body was burned, there would be revolts, ministers would spring into action to protect their assets selfishly, the mastermind behind the operation would make their move and the assassin might return at any time.
'Do I really have to deal with all this?' Misha thought to himself, feeling like he was one step away from collapsing. 'I'll consider it my last favour to you, Winter.'