“You are telling me you can’t find her anywhere?” Tranid’s tone was harsh on the outside but inside he was sweating with worry.

“No my king” Kidorick held his head down and closed his eyes with regret. “All we know for sure right now is that she is alive and probably has moved towards the kingdom of Cronol. I have sent two of my men to see King Crote, hopefully that will help us to garner some information about princess Valyne.”

“You are the royal guard of Panalov, Kidorick. If even you haven’t found about her whereabouts after a week of her disappearance then I don’t know what to say anymore. You do know what will happen if people know about this, if the Rhizens come to know about this. You know she has to be here by the time of the marriage.”

“I do my king. Rest assured, I will make sure she is back by the day of the marriage or else it will be me who will take the whole responsibility and offer my head to the Rhizens.”

“I don’t want more blood of my men Kidorick, just make sure my daughter comes back home safe and on time.”

With a nod and bow Kidorick walked out of the palace gates. His transparent grey eyes glinted with a burning resolve. He clutched the dagger on his waist pouch thinking about the consequences the kingdom has to go through if he fails to find the princess on time.

“Where did we go wrong Merkha? Why did Valyne do something like this? Doesn’t she understand the depth of the situation? Doesn’t she understand what can happen because of this reckless decision of hers? How could she Merkha, how could she?”

Merkha sat beside her emotionally turmoiled husband. She didn’t know how to answer his questions. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him that it was their fault that Valyne has turned out to be like this. The idea of freedom that they wanted her to learn was perceived by Valyne in a very different way. As parents they wanted their daughter to be independent and brave when the time for her to rule the kingdom comes. They wanted her to stand by the people as an ideal ruler who has her own mind to know and choose what’s good for everyone but at the end she only chose herself above everyone.

“Merkha, have she ever told you anything about loving someone else, some other man that she have been interested in. We might be able to find her if we know with whom she went.”

Merkha gave a small frustrated laugh and shook her head. “Don’t you still understand my king? She has run off from the marriage practically because she loves no one else but herself. She doesn’t care what happens to us, she has chosen her freedom.”

Tranid took the golden crown off his head and held it tightly in his hand looking straight ahead.

“We have failed the people Merkha. I think we should tell them now that this kingdom will soon belong to the Rhizens and they should prepare themselves for that. I also think we should also let King Jarred know that this wedding is off so they can stop preparing for it and rather come to capture us.”

So hopeless and broke, she has never seen Tranid like this. He had always believed that Valyne will live and die for the good of the people, good of the kingdom when the time comes. This must have been such a shock for him, betrayal from his daughter.

“My king, if you don’t mind I have a suggestion to make. This might be the only way we can earn some time to find Valyne and hopefully a peaceful life for our people.”

Tranid gave a questioning look to his wife and nodded for her to continue.

“The Rhizens have never seen Valyne and on the day of the marriage she will be in veil and so none of our people can see her either, we can easily replace someone else to stand at the altar in her place.”

Tranid couldn’t believe what he was hearing from her wife. The fact that she was capable of thinking something like this stumped him.

“Merkha, this will be treason, the very cause of war. How could you even speak something like this?”

“My king, I understand what you are saying but you have to understand as well that Valyne is not coming back and right now our priority is the lives of our people. We have to do something.”

The desperation in Merkha’s voice was fair and he couldn’t overlook it. If it was for the kingdom then he has to take a chance even if the possibility of the idea working was pretty bleak.

“Do you have anyone in mind for the job?”

“I was thinking about Fate. She has similar height and face as Valyne including the royal blood. She will be the perfect replacement for our daughter.”

“Hmm, Fate will be a good replacement but what will happen if Waron comes to know that he has been given a different bride rather than the promised one, won’t that cause a war?”

“Then we can defend ourselves by telling that he has got the princess of Panalov as his bride as per the terms of the bargain. It shouldn’t bother whichever one it is.”

Tranid let the crown sit on the side table and clasped his fingers under his chin. He was thinking hard about everything Merkha has just suggested. It doesn’t sound so absurd but it certainly is a betrayal towards the Rhizens but then again since when have the Rhizens ever played things fairly.

“All this is fine but will Fate agree to this marriage when even our own daughter has not?”

“You leave all that to me. Fate is a subject under us; she has no other choice but to agree to our command.”

Tranid nodded in affirmation and exhaled deeply letting his worries flow out while he put his faith on his wife and of course Kidorick.