The four Royal Heads stood like walls between Aldrich and King Augustus. Their presence filled the destroyed throne room with heavy pressure. The air felt thick, hard to breathe.
Aldrich looked at them. His face was calm. When he spoke, Solomon's voice came out. Smooth. Confident. Almost amused.
"The four Royal Heads, eh?" He tilted his head slightly. "Interrupting a brotherly and friendly conversation between my dear brother and myself. How terribly rude."
He gestured casually toward them with one hand. "I would very much like you four to depart now. Let us finish what we started. How about that?"
Liam Cross stepped forward slightly. His red coat swayed. His wand was still in his hand. "Prince Solomon, that would be impossible. We are bound by duty to protect King Augustus, no matter whose fault this conflict may be."
Liora took a drag from her cigarette. Smoke drifted from her lips as she spoke. "It is the responsibility of the four Royal Heads to protect the Royal Kingdom. This battle has gone way beyond what should be normal." She pointed her cigarette at the destruction around them. "Look at what you've done."
Lucian Makaveli spoke next. His voice was calm. Professional. But there was something sharp underneath it. "My Prince, despite being the brother of the King, you have broken the sacred vow. The one anointed on every King of this kingdom."
He looked directly at Aldrich. A small smile appeared on his face. "That vow states clearly: no one is allowed to go against the King. Everyone must obey his wishes and orders. And I hope you remember, Prince Solomon, that punishment is part of that law. No one is above it."
Aldrich chuckled. It was a dark sound. He raised one finger and pointed it at all four of them. "Do you all really think you can take me head on?" His voice grew colder. "I said depart."
Inside Aldrich's mind, his own voice screamed at Solomon. "How the hell are you going to fight four people at the same time?!"
Solomon's voice responded. Calm.l and Unbothered. Almost playful. "At full strength, my dear boy, they would probably stand no chance against me. Not even close and soon you will get there when we get fully compabilty at 100%."
Aldrich was stunned. "So why are you provoking them?"
"Well," Solomon said slowly, like explaining something obvious to a child, "I want to scare them."
Aldrich's eyes widened inside his own consciousness. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "That's how you scare someone? By provoking them?!"
Solomon chuckled internally. "Trust me. It works beautifully."
Aldrich realized something in that moment. Solomon was insane. Absolutely incredible stupid.
Meanwhile, the wooden dome that had covered King Augustus began to move. The massive tree trunks started sinking back into the ground. Slowly. The wood disappeared as if it had never existed. The floor sealed itself back up.
King Augustus stood in the center of where the dome had been. Blood still ran down his face from his destroyed left eye. The wound looked terrible. Raw and Painful. But Augustus didn't seem to care.
He looked at Aldrich and smiled. "Well, Solomon, you're quite lucky for this intervention. Your death was absolutely certain."
He raised one hand. His voice became commanding. Official. "Arrest him."
Aldrich stared at Augustus. Solomon's tone came out again. "Arrest me? For what, exactly?"
Lucian answered immediately. "You will be facing the Royal Court for the crime of attacking your King."
Aldrich chuckled again. This time it was louder. More bitter. "So we still keep these dirty rules, do we? The ones that allow Kings to behave however they see fit without any consequences for their actions?"
He shook his head. "I cannot believe Father didn't abolish this ridiculous act before his death."
He took a step toward the destroyed doorway. "I will respect the traditions. I will face the Royal Court. I will await judgment for fighting against the King." His voice grew harder. "But arresting me? I dare you to try."
Silas Heartveil spoke for the first time. His voice was quiet. Calm. But it carried weight. "Careful, Prince Solomon. You are speaking to the Royal Heads of this kingdom."
Aldrich turned his head slightly. He looked at Silas for a long moment. Then he spoke again. "I will await the trial at the court. I shall accept whatever judgment they give for this fight. However…" He paused. "They must hear what I have to say. They must hear my side."
He turned fully and began walking toward the destroyed door. His boots crunched over broken stone and shattered glass.
From inside Silas's sleeve, something small dropped out. It was tiny. Metal. A clock. It was attached to his sleeve by a thin chain.
The timer on it was ticking. Moving. Counting down.
But before anyone could react, King Augustus placed his hand on Silas's shoulder. "Let him go."
Silas looked at Augustus. His expression didn't change, but he nodded once.
Augustus spoke louder so everyone could hear. "Tomorrow, Prince Solomon will be summoned to the Royal Court for judgment. He has broken the rule of law that governs this kingdom."
He sat down heavily on what remained of his throne. The chair was damaged, cracked, but it still held his weight. "He will face the consequences then."
Aldrich kept walking. He didn't look back. He passed through the destroyed doorway and disappeared into the hallway beyond.
The four Royal Heads watched him go. None of them moved to stop him.
Once Aldrich was gone, Liora turned to King Augustus. She took another drag from her cigarette. "You're badly injured, Your Majesty."
Augustus waved his hand dismissively. Blood continued dripping from his eye socket. "That doesn't matter. I will heal." He leaned back in his throne. "What I'm more curious about is how you saw an attack that I couldn't."
His remaining eye focused on Liora. The clock pattern inside it stopped spinning for a moment. "My Foresight showed me nothing. How did you detect it?"
Lucian answered before Liora could speak. "King Augustus, Liora isn't just a Royal Head for show. She possesses enormous amounts of Essence. Far more than most. And that grants her a special ability."
He gestured toward Liora. "A Sensory Ability. It lets her sense Essence energy-based attacks, whether they're hidden or physical. She doesn't need to see them with her eyes. She feels them in the air."
Augustus put both hands together. His fingers pressed against each other like he was thinking deeply. "Hmm. So she's a Sensory type Gifter user. I see."
He looked at Silas and Lucian. "Keep a close eye on Solomon. Silas, Lucian, I will let you two handle the situation with the Elders. Prepare them for my brother's judgment tomorrow."
His smile returned. That same dangerous smile from before. "This is going to be fun."
Liora blew smoke toward the ceiling. "Your definition of fun is concerning."
Liam spun his wand once between his fingers. "Should we inform the other Vice Royal head families? The Cross, Slothwell, Heartveil, and Makaveli heads will want to know about this."
Augustus shook his head. "Not yet. Let them find out tomorrow at the court. I want to see their reactions when Solomon walks in."
Lucian bowed slightly. "As you command, Your Majesty."
The four Royal Heads began to leave. One by one, they walked toward different exits. Each had their own responsibilities now.
Silas was the last to go. He paused at the doorway and looked back at Augustus. "Your eye. You should let someone treat it properly."
Augustus touched the ruined socket gently. "It's fine. A missing eye is a small price to pay." He smiled wider. "Besides, it makes me look more interesting, don't you think?"
Silas said nothing. He simply turned and left.
King Augustus sat alone in the destroyed throne room. Half the palace was gone. The ceiling was open to the sky. Stars were visible through the holes. Smoke still drifted upward from small fires.
He looked at his hands. They were shaking slightly. Not from fear. From excitement Solomon was his obsession.
"Tomorrow," he whispered to himself. "Tomorrow will be very entertaining."
Outside, in the hallway, Aldrich walked slowly. His body ached. His shoulder was healed, but he was exhausted. His Essence reserves were almost empty.
Inside his mind, he spoke to Solomon. "That was insane. You almost got us killed."
Solomon's voice was cheerful. "But we didn't die, did we? That's what matters, my boy. Style and survival."
"Style?" Aldrich wanted to scream. "You call that style?"
"Of course." Solomon sounded pleased with himself. "Did you see their faces? They were unsure. Hesitant. That's exactly what I wanted."
Aldrich sighed internally. "You're going to get us killed one day."
Solomon laughed. "Perhaps. But what a glorious death it will be."
Aldrich kept walking. Deeper into the palace. Away from the throne room. Away from Augustus. Away from the Royal Heads.
He needed rest. He needed to think. And he needed to prepare.
Because tomorrow, he would face the Royal Court. And he had no idea what would happen there.