All Silence Must Cease: A Mystery Fantasy by Raymond Wilkinson

Author:Raymond Wilkinson [Wilkinson, Raymond]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kathy J Productions
Published: 2024-11-29T00:00:00+00:00

The Late Afternoon of Friday, December 27, 1901

Alya sat in the royal wing’s trophy room and sipped a steaming tea. This is exactly what I needed! The roaring fireplace once again had created too much heat, but this time she was without her warm coat. Jingle needs that more. The Dwarven student miraculously escaped the blast, along with the other attendees, primarily due to luck.

Per Jingle’s account, he had accidentally knocked the Twin’s vase over when the gunfight had started, revealing the second bomb. The Colonel of the Carabinelli had been close at the time and issued an abrupt evacuation. No one had died in the blast. Thank God!

“…Some sustained shrapnel injuries on the way out,” narrated Esmeralda next to Alya. “Had a gunfight with Calli not started in the stables, this might have gone very differently. The ensuing stampedes injured all of the wounded attendees.” She sat beside the King in a high-backed chair, looking like a queen.

“Captain, give your wife a medal!” exclaimed the elderly King to his centaur guard. “She certainly has earned it!” His sunken blue eyes danced beneath his long eyebrows.

The Captain approached the King in his black dress uniform with his orange head bowed low. “Your Highness, you have my sincerest apologies for Calli’s behavior! I’m having her removed from the Queensguard for your good and her own. Effective immediately, Titania will take her place as the ranking lieutenant. My wife will begin alcoholic rehabilitation as a civilian. I have turned a blind eye to her drinking behavior for too long and plan to correct that.”

The King waved a liver-spotted hand. “It’s better to be lucky than good! But luck will only get you so far.” He glanced back at the dragon skull behind him and sighed. “Art! Why did we have to have a damn art exhibit at a summit? Exploding vases of doom!” The King tugged at his warm robe. “Oh well… I’ll return to one of my city palaces! Emira Alya, I heard you set fire to my stables and got everything moving. Good things can come from playing with fire!”

Alya nodded her horns. “My apologies, your Highness. I was trying to create more of a signal than a firestorm.” But I did want a firewall. She shifted her rickety wooden seat. “I wish I could have done something sooner before the assassins killed two stable hands. We almost lost the Elector-princess! Captain, how did the summit conclude?”

“The summit ended as a failure,” replied the Captain, “until the bombing occurred! Moments ago, I completed a proper proclamation with the departing representatives.” He shook his head in dismay. “Why did those Elves bomb two locations? Were the Crownkillers hoping to kill the King as well? His Highness was back in the royal wing the entire time.”

Esmeralda shook her head. “Captain, we have it on good authority that the twins are not Crownkillers. Instead, they are important agents for the Sons of the Archon. I guess they wanted to have their cake and eat it, too.

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