The door to the Lunar Suite opened as the Bells from God’s Holy Light Church rang out the hour. Remus Lunar released a sigh. His green eyes scanned the darken room. In the streaming moonlight, he didn’t see anything out of place. He walked further into the room, shutting the door behind him. His mind drifted back to the events in the Chamber of the Holy Sword.

  There was a part of Remus felt glad that Genesis wasn’t able to pull out the Holy Sword. If his cousin was able to, Remus would have immediately offered his services as a trusted agent, as a trusted spy master, and personal assassin. Another part of the Lunar Heir worried for the future of Camelot and the White Hall Family.

  Remus had been 8 years old when the Holy Sword refused to chose a King for six months. He remembered the screams of loved ones dying in the streets, leading to the Heart of the Kingdom, how his mother fought bravely until the bitter end, and the horrified face of his older sister as he was forced to watch -

  Remus’ fists clenched and unclenched. He shook his head, trying to get rid of those memories. He knew it would do no good reliving those memories. He strolled over where a large bottle of amber liquid sat on a small table by a window. He pour himself a shot’s worth in round glass.

  He brought it to his lips and jerked his head back, allowing the amber to burn down his throat. He felt the liquid hit his stomach, hard. He winced, slightly as he set the glass down on the table, looking out over the darken town.

  A group of guards walking down one of the main streets while another group of people darted in and out of alleys, playing a secret game of hide and go seek with the unknowing guards. A single person traveled over the rooftops, heading to an unknown location.

  Suddenly, everyone paused, heads snapping toward a building before they erupted into action. The guards ran toward the building. The hiding group ducked into a nearby alleyway. The person traveling via rooftops waited until the guards disappeared inside the building before he or she started to travel again.

  Remus frowned. There was a lot of activity in the dark of the night. He wondered what kind of headaches the guards were dealing with in the building. He smirked in amusement. It was the best time to take care of affairs better left in the dark, after all. He turned around from the window and went to the chair by the fireplace.

  He felt the heat from the fire wash over him as he passed in front of it. He shivered. He reached up and rubbed his face. He didn’t realized he was chilled. He needed to do better. He glanced around the common area of the Lunar Suite. He knew the reason why he dropped his guard. He was in one of the safest places he knew. No one in their right mind would attack the Castle, especially with the Battle Mage and the Black Mage at home.

  The Magi were already on guard from the events over the last week. The Military and the Knights were the same way. Right now, the Castle was the safest place in the Kingdom. He pity the poor soul who tried to attack or kidnap someone who lived within the castle walls.

  Remus fell into the chair by the fireplace. He blinked in surprise as something dug into his ribs and his left hip. He relaxed as he reached into his jacket and grabbed whatever he held in his front, inner jacket pocket. He wrapped his fingers around the cylinder object and pulled it out. He gasped, softly, eying the scroll.

  His mind flashed back to what happened in the White Hall Family Suite the previous day.

  Valentina reached up to the front of her dress as Sir Tristan stepped behind her. Remus could hear a slight riping sound before Valentina pulled at the front of her dress. His eyes widened as he watched his cousin tore the wet dress she wore in half. There was a flash of something cylinder in the folds of the dress. It fell to the ground as Valentina pushed the dress down before she stepped out of it.

  Remus saw the cylinder bounced on the ground before the dress covered it up and Valentina rushed over Genesis’ rooms.

  Valentina had took her wet dress with her when she had left the White Hall Suite, but she ended up leaving the scroll behind. Remus had claimed it when he had the chance to.

  Now, he stared at it. In the firelight, there appeared to be no water damaged from the storm Valentina was in, watching the punishment of the Generals. He tilted it up to look at the end of the scroll and blinked. At the end of the scroll, the crest of the White Hall Family was engraved into the wood.

  Curiosity sparked, Remus flipped the scroll in his hand and thumbed it opened. He angled it, allowing the firelight to illuminate the words on the page. He read the letter out loud:

  “Valentina

  daughter of Annja,

  daughter of Sakura,

  Daughter of House White Hall,

  First of her Name

  You have been requested to visit to the White Hall Estate, the home of Lord Bardock, and his sons, Genesis, Vincent, and Victor, and daughter, Natalie, by the Lady Mother Freya. Please follow the messenger to the White Hall Estate where I will be able to explain more to you, Valentina. It maybe wise to not inform your mother and Lady Sakura of where you are going. They may try to stop you from searching for your father and other family members.

  Wishing to speak to you soon,

  Your other Grandmother

  Freya”

  Remus allowed his hands to fall to his lap. He lend back into the chair. His lips parted. His eyes drifted to the roaring fire.

  Valentina of Armstrong was lying about her identity, claiming to be Lady Nami’s granddaughter. Remus wondered what else she could be lying about and what was her reasons behind her actions. From personal experience, he knew there had to be more to the story then what she was telling.

  “But what?” Remus mused softly. His mind going over what he knew of her, creating a list. He admitted it wasn’t much.

  At the top of that list was the fact she was a relative. She went around, telling everyone who asked she was Nami’s granddaughter, and she claimed she didn’t know her parents.

  The second informative thing was she didn’t act like a lady. Majority of the women he interacted with knew how to behave at Court and understand what their place was among the nobles of the Court. Plus, they didn’t stripped out of their wet dresses in front of men or appeared anything less then fully dressed. From the little tad bit the Violent Knight said while Valentina was tending to Genesis, she had took a bath in front of him.

  The third item on the list, Valentina was experienced with the healing arts. His mind flickered back to the aftermath of the Generals and Sir Tristan’s punishments. She took charge once they were in the White Hall Wing and started to help Genesis who took Belladonna’s harsher punishment.

  The fourth was the fact Valentina was an Archer. She had carried a bow and quiver with her while she had traveled before she arrived at Camelot. She apparently also had a rapier as a heirloom.

  Remus’ eyes flickered to the door. He had to get to the bottom of this, now! He pushed himself up, out of the chair and hurried across the room. In one hand, he fisted the scroll. The only piece of evidence he had that she wasn’t telling the truth about her identity.

  Remus didn’t bother knocking on the Armstrong Suite and burst in. He didn’t want to give Valentina any time to create a story to brush his concerns off. He shut the door behind him and strolled over to one of the bedroom doors. He knew which one she was staying in for the plain fact, Genesis and himself was in the Suite early the previous day to see what happened to her to cause her to scream a string of curse words he never heard from a woman before.

  He reached the knob and twisted it. He pushed the door opened. While he didn’t want to give her a chance to react, he didn’t know how fast her reaction speed was. He heard a whistling sound before he saw Valentina standing beside the bed, holding her bow up. He ducked to the side, hiding behind the door frame as an arrow sped through the spot he was just in and landed with a thud on the far side of the Common Room.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Remus felt amused and pride darted through him as he spotted the arrow sticking out of the back one of the high back cushion chairs. He turned his attention back to the door frame and called out, “Valentina, cousin, it is me, Remus.”

  “Remus?” her voice held a note of confusion, “What the hell are you doing busting into my room in the middle of the night?”

  “Well, considering we just got back from the Wake of the King,” Remus started. He could almost feel her eyes roll as he stepped around the door frame and entered her room, “I found something that belongs to you, Lady Armstrong.”

  In the moonlight streaming in from one of the open curtained windows, Valentina frowned as she looked at him with a puzzled expression.

  “Or should I say, Lady White Hall?” Remus stated, watching as her expression changed into a horrified realization. Her eyes widened. Her jaw dropped. Her body tensed. He waited.

  “How-?” her voice broke the silence. Remus held up the scrolled, not saying a word. Her eyes flickered to it, staring. “Where did you find it?” she finally asked. Her eyes went back to him, trying to read him.

  “You dropped in the White Hall Suite, earlier,” he explained, “When you boldly stripped out of the wet dress.” He paused, allowing her to digest what he was saying. She slowly nodded. “I picked it up after you left the Suite.”

  Her eyes gaze drifted to the floor. It was a moment before she spoke, “Is that all you wanted to tell me?” There was a guarded note in her tone he recognized.

  “No,” Remus replied, “I want to know why you haven’t came forward with this information to Genesis, yet.”

  “I don’t want to have this conversation at this time of night,” Valentina dodged Remus’ request, “We have to be up early in the morning to prepare for the Funeral.”

  “Do you want me to go straight to Genesis with this scroll, right now?” he questioned.

  “He will be probably asleep, Remus,” she replied. She would have went on, but he cut her off, “No, he’s not. He takes his job seriously. Right now, I know, he is going over last minute details with the other two Generals and their seconds and thirds in order to make sure the Ruling Family is safe.”

  Her eyes darted around, trying to figure out a way to get out of the conversation. It was obviously she didn’t want to have it.

  Remus frowned. Why didn’t she want to have this conversation? She would be getting another side of the family back. He paused, thinking about the various topics Rosemary, Remus, and Genesis have talked about in front of her and what Genesis had informed him about Valentina’s situation.

  “You think Lady Freya has found you a match,” Remus stated. Her eyes flickered to his and she gave a sharp nod.

  “That and I didn’t know if that letter had any truth to it,” she explained, “I don’t want to be put in more difficult position then I just managed to get out of.”

  “How about we take this to the common area,” Remus suggested, “This way we can talk about it.” Valentina agreed. “I’ll step out so you can put something more appropriate. I’ll be waiting.” He turned around and shut the door behind him.

  The moment the door closed, Tina darted over to the window as silently as she could and peered down. It was too far to jump. She would break her legs or hip if she landed wrong, even with her spiritual power. She sighed. She glanced at the closed door. Her shoulders slumped.

  Tina didn’t know want to expect when she walked into the common living area after Remus. She had been in the process of getting for bed when he had burst in and when he dropped the reason why he was there, she could have sworn her heart stopped.

  She pulled the robe she grabbed from the end of her bed tighter around her form. She cast her gaze at the room. Remus stood with his back to her as he watched the growing flames in the fireplace, waiting for her.

  Tina mused she could easily try to knock him out since his back was turned to her, but she wouldn’t know what to do next. She could drag him to his living quarters, but from experience, she knew dead weight was a lot heavier then one would expect. She couldn’t do that.

  She wasn’t up to full strength yet when it came to using her spirit energy and she didn’t have the physical strength to do it. It might be easier to bit the bullet, confess, and try to go on from there. After all, she was planning to leave in a couple days, the day after the next King was announced then she wouldn’t have to look back.

  “This might be easier if you sat down, Valentina,” Remus’ voice rang out, breaking the silence, as he turned away from the growing fire and claimed the chair on the left of the fireplace. He scouted around in the chair until he got comfortable.

  “Tina,” She corrected him, “Since you will know the true reason why I’m here, call me Tina.”

  “Tina,” he nodded and she walked, slowly, to the chair on the right of the fireplace, across from him. She glanced to the door leading to the hallway. He had position himself in the way. She glanced over her shoulder.

  From his chair, he could leap over the couch, that was position several feet in front of the fireplace, and prevent her from reaching the safety of her room or he could allow her to escape into there then proved to be good on his threat - getting Genesis and explained what he had found out.

  Personally, she didn’t want Genesis finding out that way, even though she didn’t want him finding out at all. Her gut feeling told her he would be more upset with her if he managed to find out through Remus or a stranger.

  She, finally, reached the chair and settled down into it, sitting on the edge of the seat, ready to run if it became necessary. She didn’t look at Remus and studied the flames as they licked over the wooden logs, growing larger. She felt heat began to warm her exposed skin.

  “So,” Remus started, “Why are you hiding this -“ he waved the scroll in one hand through the air - “from Genesis?”

  “I didn’t know if it was true or not,” Tina admitted, “I originally didn’t planned on coming to Camelot, in the first place.”

  “Why?” He asked. There was a curiosity note in his tone.

  “Why what?” She shot at him, “Why did I come to Camelot or why I didn’t know if the scroll was telling the truth or not?”

  “Both, I suppose,” he stated, “I would have thought you grew up, hearing about Genesis’ military success.”

  “I didn’t,” She took a deep breath, “I wasn’t aware Camelot still existed until Freya sent a team of Ninja after me. They kinda blackmailed me into coming with me.”

  “Kinda?” he questioned, staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

  “I was planning on leaving the house for a bit, to do some soul searching, to heal from what happen to me,” Tina explained, “The Leader of the Ninja Team, Ralph, thought it was a good idea to make sure I was willingly to go with him by blackmailing me, threatening to harm my grandma if I didn’t go with them.”

  “Sakura Armstrong is your grandmother, right,” Remus asked. Tina nodded, frowning. He noticed it and explained, “I’m trying to connect the pieces, Tina. I can tell you, this scroll -“ He waved the scroll again, “Is telling the truth. Genesis is aware you are going through a heartbreak.” Tina sunk into her chair, her back curving to the back of the chair.

  “Lord Bardock - your father - is also aware. The reason why he isn’t here in Camelot with your other two brothers,” Tina gave him a wide eyed look, “Yes, you are the missing part of a set of Triplets.” Her jaw dropped in surprise. “Getting back to Lord Bardock, he received word that you were supposed to be arriving at the White Hall Estate a couple days ago and left with your other two brothers. I think he wanted to be there to meet you and not to overwhelm you with the affairs of Court.”

  “But I managed to get here,” Tina countered.

  “Yes,” Remus agreed, “That’s the part I’m trying to figure out.”

  Tina sighed and launched into what happened, prior to her arriving in Camelot and meeting the members of the White Hall House. Remus only cut in when he needed more of an explanation. She had the pleasure of watching his face transforming from an guard expression to horror when she covered her escape from the Ninja Team and how she met Sir Tristan.

  His expression went to amusement as she informed him of what happen at the Lake, chuckling at Tristan’s expense before his face became guarded again as she told him of the events that took place at the Fawn Village. A furious look broke through the guarded expression when she verbally remembered what happen in the village and how they managed to escape.

  Remus didn’t lose the furious expression when she told him of Tristan’s letter, at first sending her to a brothel then to his personal quarters in the Knight’s tower and how she encounter Reno. She finished her tale with her night time walk through the village and meeting him for the first time.

  Remus let out a sigh and pushed up out of the chair. He stepped toward the door.

  “Are you planning to tell Genesis, now,” Tina asked.

  “No,” Remus answered, “But I can see why you are hesitated on informing him. Reno already has though. Genesis went to the Knight’s Tower and confronted Sir Tristan over your presence in Camelot. The only reason why your brother hasn’t directly confronted you over the fact your name alone, he has to worry about the Funeral, first.” He explained, stepping around the furniture and started to pace back and forth. “Has this team of Ninja tried to come after you again since you stepped foot in Camelot?”

  “Not yet,” Tina admitted, “I’m waiting for them to come after me again.”

  “Did they say which village they are representing,” he asked.

  Tina frowned, thinking back. She recalled the conversations she had with them. Personally, she didn’t know why Remus would want to have the information. “I don’t remember if they said anything about their village,” She admitted. “Why?”

  “I do know there is a ninja village in the Dead End Forest,” Remus admitted, “I have been requested to find it and gather information or allies to help Genesis out with a pet project of his.”

  Tina cocked her head to the side, half wondering about the pet project of Genesis. She stared at her cousin for a long moment before she decided to ask about it later. She changed the subject, “So, the letter is telling the truth.” She lend forward, putting her elbows on her knees and turned her head to look at the roaring fire. “Rose did tell me that Lady Freya is looking for possible matches for the grandkids. Do you know if she managed to find a match for me, yet?”

  “Not to my knowledge,” Remus admitted, “But of course, I know she is actively trying to her grandkids into favorable matches.” Tina sighed. He went on, “I do suggest one thing, Tina.” She turned her gaze onto him and he continued, “Tell Genesis before you leave Camelot. He deserves to know you are here and how close you have been to him.” Tina didn’t say anything as she returned her gaze to the fire. “He has been worried about you, even though he has tried to hide it.” When she didn’t say anything, Remus’s voice turn stern, “Promise me, Tina, that you will tell him before you leave.”

  The red head woman slowly stood up from the chair and met Remus’ gaze, stating, “I promise I will inform him of our relationship before I leave the Kingdom, Remus.”

  Remus nodded. Tina watched him as he turned away and head to the door to the hallway. He opened the door and paused, looking back at her. He sent her a smile, “Tina, it is good to see you again, sweet cousin. Good night.” He disappeared through the door and shut it behind him.

  Tina felt a strong sense of deja vu when he said that pet name. Sweet Cousin. She was called that before, when she was a lot younger. She let out sigh.

  https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08MBFS53L . The Paperback is available for purchase: . The Hardcover edition is now available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. If you want an autographic copy of the book, please check out the link to my etsy shop where you can get an autographed copy with a bookmark and crocheted bookcover.

  https://ko-fi.com/valeries26

  https://www.amazon.com/stores/V.L.-Souders/author/B08QJQ7KGJ

  https://www.etsy.com/shop/Vals3C