Chapter 10
"What do you mean no one knows how that could be?" Elphaba asked. Someone had to know something, royalty just doesn't up and disappear and obviously they'd confirmed that the King was dead.
"Somehow during the night, the King was murdered and the Queen disappeared from their bedchamber. When the maids went to wake them in the morning, the room contained only a dead body and no signs of a struggle. The Council has taken control of the country and sent me to ask for help. Everyone who had seen them the night before has been detained for questioning and their quarters are being thoroughly searched but when I left nothing had been found yet," Arduenna explained.
"How did the King die?" Fiyero asked.
"There were no outward signs of any wounds so the royal physician is thinking poison. A natural cause doesn't seem to fit given that the Queen has disappeared," the Gillikinese Lord said.
"Where is Momsicle while you're here?" Glinda finally spoke up.
"I sent her to our summer home with troops I trust. While the King and Queen had been staunch supporters of the old ways, the younger generations have been calling for their removal and more open-mindedness. There was a protest a few days prior to the King's death and it was peaceful until someone opened fire on the crowd. Soon the royal troops were being shot at and they returned fire. In the end, innocent civilians were killed and cries for justice have gone up. Everything is very unsettled and now with the death and disappearance of the royals, I can only see this getting worse," Arduenna told them.
"The old regime is not effectively toppled so you will see more unrest until things can be resolved. What about Shiz? Have they evacuated it?" Tahir asked.
"Luckily, spring break started prior to the death of the King and most foreign students went home. Those that have remained are being asked to stay inside the campus grounds, for their own safety," he said.
"Forgive me for saying so, but if the King is dead, I have to wonder why our attackers took the Queen. While she lives, she is the only heir to the throne and will remain a threat to those seeking to disrupt the current power structure," Khalil frowned.
"I concur, especially given that the Queen is past childbearing age. Is there a possibility that she and the King had children but they were sent away? Or that there is a living relative that would be next in line for the throne? They could be using her as bait to draw someone out," Balfour said.
"There is a third option, which makes my skin crawl. They could be making an example out of her," Ayla could feel the goosebumps forming on her arms.
"A public execution of the Queen would inflame their supporters and likely start a war," Tahir nodded, agreeing with his wife.
"That is the current fear of the Council. A Civil War inside of the Gillikin will cause irreparable damage to not only our society but also the economy. In the end, it will drag our allies in, whether they want to or not," Arduenna frowned.
"So what do you want us to do?" Tahir asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Could you locate the Queen using magic? If we can find her before harm befalls her, we may be able to have her abdicate and then have a peaceful transition of power," he asked.
"I'll get my crystal ball but given how long it has taken you to get here, I'm not sure we'll be able to reach her in time," Elphaba told them.
"We may need to borrow Bonescraper," Glinda's father admitted.
To Be Continued…