A few minutes later, Percy was standing in front of a group of people with various expressions on their faces.
The one which stood out the most was that of Eloise, who was beaming with a radiant expression on her face. Percy even started to feel bad that the smile would soon have to go, but he could sense that the genuine happiness she felt would not be leaving for a long time.
She looked exactly like someone who had believed in something all their lives without even finding a shred of proof to support that faith, but had just discovered that they had been right all along.
As for the others, although this wasn't as strong, it was still prevalent.
Apart from her and Kellor, there were the three who were together, as if they had known each other for a long time. From the way they stood, itself, it was obvious that they had a background in the Army, mainly because they had unconsciously positioned themselves in the best spot to have an eye over the entire area and also block or access the only entrance and exit if needed. If he was in the Big Four, Percy would have decided right away that these three were part of the law enforcement corps who underwent strict training, but because this was the central continent, he could guess that the Army was the place where they must have picked up these kinds of instincts.
He could see that they were still coming to terms with what Kellor must have told them, but Percy could not give them any time.
Right away, he plunged into the heart of the matter.
"I don't know what Kellor told all of you, but by now, you must have understood that something happened which caused the king to change your memories and make it seem as if all of you are not as close to him as you really are. The truth is that you are part of a group called the Nine Sovereigns of Angaria, who have sworn to protect it for as long as your hearts still beat true. The reason behind him having to flee is not important at the moment, and we can discuss it later. Right now, the Alliance is under threat. The same force which is responsible for the king fleeing, and which is supposed to be one that has the best interests of the continent at heart, has started a plan through which they will massacre a large portion of the population to unite the rest against the Church."
His words made silence fall over the place, and from the gasps of shock of those in front of him, it became clear that they had no information about this whatsoever. This was to be expected, but he had still had a small hope that maybe, just maybe, something or the other might have been intercepted which would have resulted in at least a few backup plans being made already.
Sadly, there was no such thing, so Percy plowed on.
"We basically have no time. I know for a fact that this plan is in its last stages, and it actually even has another purpose: when the massacre reaches its last stage, a fake king will appear who will be gravely injured. As you can guess, this will unite the people even more and make them feel determined that they should definitely do everything they can to oppose the Church, and when the time comes, that organization will put out an order to recruit any and all able-bodied men and women in the continent so that they can fulfill that wish which will be firmly entrenched in their minds. The horrific thing is that even this is not true: they will simply be called upon to distract the Church and act as sacrifices which have been deemed necessary for the best condition of victory, and while the entire central continent burns, that organization probably wishes to snatch victory. Anyway, our priority is to stop this plan from happening. I have to leave soon because all of you are being surveilled by the organization, too: however, to come here, I knocked out the person who is in charge, but he will be waking up in a little bit of time. In this piece of parchment, there is information about the king, and everything you need to know about the situation. Read it when I'm gone- it will burn up after it is read. The order has already confirmed that all of you hold no relevant information about the king in your minds, and they have no reason to check again. Still, even if they do, there is nothing here which will severely impact the king. I only made it so that all of you can have peace of mind. So, preferably, go through after we are past this situation. Our goal is this: we must create a plan to thwart the one of that organization, and it must seem as if this has happened either due to bad luck, or someone goofing up. We have no option but to think for the long term, too: if I am exposed, then all of you will have no way to find out about this organization by yourselves. So my goal is to stay hidden while you do everything that is needed, and for that purpose-CRAP, he's waking up! Damn the timing! I need to go! I'll stay in touch with these trinkets, which you should only use when you get the signal that it is safe! You'll know the signal the first time- don't use them without me saying anything! Goodbye for now, but I think I'll be seeing all of you soon!"
The Sovereigns of Angaria who had just been told once again of their status watched with bemusement as the one in front of them spoke for such a long time without even pausing and taking a breath. At the end, he threw out two things to each of them: one was a piece of parchment, and the other was a trinket shaped like an eagle which, when it entered their hands, extracted a drop of blood from each of them and vanished into their bodies.
They were already shellshocked due to everything they had found out, so when this happened, they weren't even that surprised. By the time they looked up from the items they had received, the man was gone.
Kellor was the first one to respond after this, and his words made them all snap to attention.
"Disperse! We'll talk about this only using trinkets- act as if nothing has happened! Be sure of this! Remember, they're always watching!"
Saying so, he immediately walked out, and one by one, they did the same.
Only Eloise remained, her gaze lingering over the sight of Lanthanor, and after furrowing her eyebrows for a bit due to the worry she felt because everything she had just discovered, she left, too.
Her mind was a mess right now, and she needed a little bit of time, first, to gather all that had been told to her.
She still remembered exactly what Kellor had said before which had led her to have that broad smile on her face: he had told her that she was right, and that she should never listen to that maid, ever again.
Of course, he had been referring to the woman who had tried to tempt her to change her image of the king, and the funny thing was that ever since that incident where she had thrown her out, the woman had not shown up anywhere, even in the kingdom.
She had thought that this might be irrelevant, but now, it became clear: it was definitely possible that that woman might have been sent by the ones who were orchestrating all this to sway her, for some ulterior reason.
It all made sense now, and if Eloise was asked which was the emotion she felt most right now, then she would answer that it was actually… Relief.
At one point, she had even become convinced that she was going mad. She didn't even know how to explain it to anyone: it had just been one of those things which one would feel so strongly that they could not cast it off no matter how much they tried to, but if they attempted to put it into words, they would fail at the first instant, itself.
All she had felt was that a void was now in her life, which was like an open wound, bleeding, everyday, making her abruptly start crying at random times, as if would feel as if it had been stepped on mercilessly by some invisible force. Sometimes, it would even feel as if there were not one, but two such voids, but most of the time, they would unite together and threaten to break her into pieces.
Now… She knew that it was all true, and that everything would go back to normal soon. She didn't know where she got this confidence from, but it just felt so… Right.
Yes! She did know what she had forgotten, but she decided to trust these feelings. They told her that she should just solve this problem in front of her while trusting in her ability to judge someone which had led her to develop so much affection that she had been reduced to this state with their absence, and listening to them, she almost felt like smiling again.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Eloise felt like herself. Right away, she completely threw herself into the present situation and began to think about what could be done.
Immediately, she felt as if she was trying to think like the king, and even in the memories that she had now, she knew that he had always been a mischievous man whose plans almost always succeeded.
What would he do in this situation?
This question felt so important that she paused right where she was, in the middle of the corridor, and as all of the maids and ministers continued to pass around her without saying anything after seeing who she was, her mind started to work as quickly as it could.
When all those who walked past turned to look back, they could see her eyelids closed and her eyes pulsing beneath them, as if she was thinking about something so strongly that it might materialize right in front of her.
Continuously, Eloise tried to imagine which path would be the safest. She did not know if there was even more that they had not been told by that man, so it was probably best to follow a plan that would place them at the least risk.
Many were considered and then discarded, as they would place them out in the open to be targeted and questioned again. Even the thought of this happening made her shudder with fear, as there was no way that she would ever go back to how she had been before, with that demon-like uncertainty that had almost devoured her heart and mind.
This fear pushed her the most, and finally, a few minutes later, her eyes snapped open with clarity shining within them, like the first rays of dawn that peeked through the foliage to brighten the land with their radiance.
Immediately, she sent a message to Kellor, and she could sense his enthusiasm when he heard the confidence in her tone.
"I have a plan, and I think its what King-no, Daneel, would have done."