I liked writing this chapter. Ferris is such a joy to play with :) not sorry for the late update, because I did a Game Of Thrones marathon in the weekend with friends :3

Chapter 14 – The King in the Cloak

Ferris turned as pale as snow and Alexis was concerned for a moment, she literally saw the blood streaming away from his face.

"But…?" Ferris muttered, "You're dead." He made a small movement with his right hand and Sean stormed in with an unsheathed blade and ten men right behind him.

"Is everything all right, your Grace?" He asked, carefully studying Horace, "Did he…?"

But then Sean noticed Halt and he realised it wasn't Horace who was the leader, it was the Greybeard.

"If you're so afraid, brother, let Sean stay. He deserves to hear the truth. But if you don't want any gossiping in the castle, I advise you to let your guards go." Halt said.

His voice made Alexis shiver. It was his Damn-you're-in-so-much-trouble voice, a slow, deep sound that was as soft as a whisper but clear enough for anyone to hear it.

Ferris seemed to hesitate. He looked to Halt, to Horace, even towards Alexis for a brief moment and then at Sean.

"Send your men away." He said. The man sounded defeated. His whole posture said 'defeated'.

Sean hesitated: "Your Grace?"

Ferris did that little thing with his right hand again and Sean nodded towards the men. They saluted to the King and left.

When the door had closed, Sean sheathed his sword and walked towards his King.

"Uncle?" he stuttered, "What is going on? Who or what is this man?"

"Uncle you say?" Halt asked, "So you must be Caitlyn's son?"

This is getting interesting, Alexis thought, So if this man is Ferris' nephew, he must be Halt's too. His family is getting bigger and bigger.

"What do you know about my mother?" Sean walked a step forward, daring Halt to insult him.

Ferris sighed and stumbled over to a little bench next to the throne, where he sat down with his face buried in his hands. He sighed again.

"She was my sister, you know," Halt said, almost whispering, "I am your other uncle. I am Halt."

Sean stumbled backwards: "Impossible! My uncle Halt has been dead and buried for twenty years! Impossible!" he looked towards Ferris, begging for confirmation or denial, but the King was still sitting on the bench, face in his hands, sighing deep.

Sean was silent for a moment and studied Halt, just like Alexis did when she saw him for the first time without a cloak.

"Done looking?" Halt asked sarcastically.

Sean turned back to Ferris again: "Your Grace, please tell me, is this man my dead uncle? Our dead King?"

Ferris didn't answer him, but he confirmed Sean's suspicions with the first word of his sentence.

"Halt…" He began, still staring at the floor, "I didn't want to hurt you, trust me."

Halt rolled his eyes: "Oh Ferris you lying piece of shit, you wanted to hurt me and not a little. You tried to kill me. Trice."

"No! that is not true!" Ferris protested, "After you went missing I immediately sent men to search for you!"

"To finish what you started, you mean,"

This was too much for Sean, the confusion, the proctocol, he mixed everything up: "You don't address a King like that!" he roared.

Halt looked him in the eye for a couple of seconds when he answered: "O, but I'm not addressing a King." He pointed at Ferris, "He, on the other hand, is!"

Sean's mouth opened. Closed again. He seemed to think and all of a sudden he pulled his sword, sank to his knees and offered it to Halt.

"Your Grace." He said.

Ferris let out a soft whimper.

"Yes, yes, very nice and all, but I don't have time for that nonsense. Being a King isn't really my thing, I rather work for my money. I need to talk to Ferris."

Ferris let out the soft whimper again and looked up, scanning the room. Alexis softly laughed, it was like he was looking for an escape route.

"O for god's sake Ferris! Be a man for one time! I'm not here to steal your crown, I am here to save it!"

Ferris' head shot up: "Save it? But who would want to steal it from me?"

Halt sighed: "Okay, let's just all sit down for a minute and then we can talk about it."

He and Horace dragged two little benches from the side of the room in front of the throne. The four of them sat down, Alexis a little overwhelmed.

"What is going on?" she asked Horace, who sat down next to her.

"Halt is going to kick Ferris' ass," He smiled.

Ferris himself was standing on the stage with the throne on it, restlessly dancing around, not sure whether to climb back onto his throne or join his brother and nephew on the bench.

"Oh, just climb back on your throne," Halt sighed, "Before you go into a mental breakdown."

Ferris quickly climbed back onto the oaken throne and Halt turned to Sean: "Is there any chance we could get some coffee? I need something strong."

Sean smiled: "We don't drink coffee, the King… Uncle Ferris doesn't like it."

Halt rolled his eyes and Alexis smiled. Halt didn't seem to mind that his brother had tried to kill and exiled him, but that he didn't like coffee was a disaster.

"Okay. Never mind then. Ferris, have you heard of a religious group called 'The Outsiders'?"

To Alexis' great surprise, the man nodded: "Yes, a small group of Apostles. Harmless, I'd think."

"Harmless?" Halt raised an eyebrow, "This is not just a new religion, this is an entire sect! And your little harmless group of Apostles is on its way to Dun Kilty to take away your crown!"

"My crown?" Ferris replied, "Impossible! Where does that come from?"

Ferris seemed quite sure of this, Alexis thought, a bit stupid for a man who almost had a breakdown because his brother said 'hey'."

"I heard them say it." Halt said, "They are rallying people to kick you off your throne."

"Nonsense!" Ferris answered, "That Tennyson is just a good man, faithful to his God!"

Halt's eyes narrowed and he carefully studied Ferris' face, who was getting slightly nervous: "You met Tennyson?" Halt softly said. "Did you speak with him?"

Ferris opened his mouth to answer but Halt had cut him off before he even started: "A simple 'yes' or 'no' will suffice."

"We had a meeting. He had sent some people to assure me that there was nothing going on, that everything was… fine."

Sean raised an eyebrow: "I don't remember," he said, "When was that?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you, I thought you had more important business to worry about." Before he had finished his sentence Ferris heard how stupid that sounded.

"Did you come to an agreement?" Halt asked coldly.

Ferris nodded: "But Halt! This man makes miracles happen! Before his arrival, the country was overwhelmed by robbers and murderers! He stopped all of them!"

Halt sighed annoyed: "Why didn't you stop them? Why didn't you sent a peloton of soldiers out there to fight them? Didn't want to risk anything?"

He turned to Sean.

"Did he do anything about it?"

Sean shrugged: "I proposed to send soldiers multiple times, but he wouldn't let me."

"But Halt," Ferris tried again, "He was able to stop them! So isn't it solved them this way?"

"Yes, but do you know why it was so easy for him? Do you have any idea? Because he is the boss off those thugs too!" Halt jumped up so wildly that his little bench fell over, "Even an idiot like you should be able to see through that!"

"He is, the boss?" Ferris looked puzzled.

"Yes, of course he is!" Halt yelled, "He calls them when he needs them and then magically sends them back to hell! And when you ask the people what they want, they all shout 'Away with Ferris! Long live Tennyson!"

"But Tennyson said I would still be King," Ferris mumbled.

"Yes of course you would, but he would steal all your taxes and be the true ruler. You'd just be his puppet!"

Ferris looked towards Sean for support, but the man was about as angry as Halt was.

"Look me in the eyes Ferris. There is exactly one way to stop him." Halt said calm.

"How?" Ferris asked.

"You need to get your lazy ass out there and be a King for once! Speak to the people, tell them everything is going to be absolutely fine. You need to prove that he's a fake and give them another hero to cheer for! And luckily for you," Halt pointed at Horace, "We have brought you one! The Sunrise Warrior!"

Ferris raised an eyebrow: "But the Sunrise Warrior, that's just a legend!"

Halt shrugged: "So is Alseias! And we already planted the seed for you, the only thing left for you is to get out there and be a man."

"What do you mean, planted the seed?" Ferris asked.

Halt smiled: "Ah, well, just a couple of days ago, the Sunrise Warrior here came riding from the East and saved Craikennis of three hundred thugs, whom he all killed singlehandedly!"

Horace laughed: "Three hundred Halt? Are you sure about that?"

"The bigger and more unbelievable it sounds, the easier people will actually believe you." Halt said.

Sean reacted too: "I heard about that on the market yesterday. People were talking about the Sunrise Warrior and a battle at Craikennis!"

Ferris sunk his head in his hands again: "I don't know, I don't know," he complained.

Halt got up, marched to Ferris and brought his face very close to his brother's.

"Listen very well, little brother," He whispered, "You are going to do something about it. You have to speak up and tell the people you're going to help them and I will help you. If you choose not to, then I will declare myself rightful heir and you'll lose your crown. But if you cooperate, I promise to go back to Araluen as soon as Tennyson is death or in our custody."

Ferris' eyes lit up a bit, that was easy. But he decided to struggle for a bit: "I need to think about this. You can't just barge into my castle and demand of me that I…"

Halt finished his sentence for him: "make a decision? I believe that your mind indeed can't handle that. I'll give you one day."

Halt got up and started to leave, but Ferris stopped him: "Two days, please Halt?"

Halt shook his head: "One day, and I'll be back at this hour tomorrow, this hour, and not a second later." He turned to Sean, "See to it that he doesn't do anything he'll regret."

Sean nodded: "Yes, I will," he waited for a second, but then added, "Uncle."

The hard lines on Halt's face softened for a brief moment, but then Alexis saw them harden again.

"Horace, Alexis, let's go!" he said, and this time he really did walk away. The three had almost reached the door when Ferris called after them: "Wait!"

Halt stopped, but didn't turn around.

"What if I refuse?"

Halt turned, looked his brother in the eye and smiled, well, if you could call that a smile. Alexis thought it looked more like a wolf, baring his teeth.

"Oh, you won't."

Halt, Alexis and Horace found an inn near the castle and asked for a room. The innkeeper, a big, prominent lady, brought them up with a big smile on their face and presented them a large, clean room with three separate beds and glass windows. Alexis ditched her stuff in the corner and fell down on a bed, moaning.

"We'll take this one," She heard Halt say, "Since the girl has already fallen asleep on one of your beds."

The innkeeper smiled: "For how long milord?"

"Tonight and tomorrow for sure. Maybe we'll stay longer, but we don't know that yet." Halt reached in his pockets and paid for their room.

"Anything else I can help you with milord? Maybe the young lady here wants to use our private bathroom so she can clean up?" The innkeeper asked.

Alexis sat up: "You have a private bathroom? Yes please!"

"And maybe afterwards we could have some dinner?" Horace asked. Halt sighed, but Horace just ignored him. "I know it's a bit late."

The innkeeper started smiling, for some reason, woman like feeding boy's like Horace: "Of course, sweetie! I'm sure you could eat half a horse!"

Horace smiled back: "I'd rather have some steak, if that's the same for you!"

"Of course, of course!" she squealed.

Halt jumped on the bed, sighing satisfied.

"No boots on the quilt, please!" All of a sudden the lady sounded scary.

"Bet you wouldn't say that to Horace." Halt mumbled offended.

"Excuse me?" the innkeeper asked.

Halt was silent for a moment: "Nothing."

The innkeeper nodded, pleased, and grabbed Alexis' hand: "Come on milady! I'll take you to the bathroom and fill the bath with nice warm water and then I'll wash your clothes for you!"

Alexis waved to Horace and Halt, as the lady pulled her into the corridor.

Someone coughed.

After Alexis had her bath and her clothes washed, she went down to have dinner with Horace, Halt wasn't there, and when they returned, the two of them were both so tired that they immediately went to bed.

And now someone coughed.

Alexis looked towards Halt, who was lying in the bed beside her, he had his hands cupped behind his head and his eyes were closed.

"That's an ugly cough there," Halt said softly.

"Ah, so I did find Sleeping Beauty and her two ugly stepsisters." Another voice, a familiar voice, answered, "All of you, just waiting for a Prince to kiss them awake. I already have a girl, I'm sorry."

Alexis sat up. In the corner of the room sat a small person in a dark cloak. Will. Who else.

Halt snorted: "Sleeping? You woke me up when you stumbled up the stairs like a drunk and I wonder if there is anyone who could sleep through you barging in our room the way you did."

Alexis looked towards Horace and she caught his eyes. 'I did,' he mouthed. Alexis chuckled.

"But you make some weird noises when you are awake." Will sounded amused, "What do we call that again? O yeah, right, snoring! Pretty clever of you! Since most people only snore when they are asleep.

Halt got up too now, swinging his legs out of bed: "Of course I kept snoring! I needed to pretend to be asleep! I wanted to know how long you'd sit still in that corner."

"So?" Will asked, "How long did I sit still in my corner?"

Halt got up to lit a candle and sighed: "Horace, if anyone tries to shove an apprentice towards you, push it back. They always come back to bite you in the ass. It's bearable when they are a student, but when they're finished. O brace yourself."

"Hey!" Alexis and Will said at the same time.

"I'll keep that in mind," Horace smiled.

By now, Halt had lit all the candles in the room. A golden glow lit up Will's face as he threw off his hood.

"I didn't expect you back this early," Halt said, "Did anything go wrong?"

"Yeah," Will nodded, "After I had arrived in Tennyson's pilgrim camp he decided to ban all music. So I would've stayed, but then he wanted to confiscate my mandola…"

"Your what?" Halt asked.

Will sighed, frustrated: "My lu-hute!"

Halt nodded: "Then say so."

Will looked towards Horace, who was smiling and then to Alexis, who was smiling too. He sighed frustrated again.

"Anyway, they were on their way to Dun Kilty too. I expect them tomorrow."

Halt scratched his beard: "Oh. But that changes a lot. I thought he needed more followers."

"He's got four hundred. If he armed them all he outnumbers Ferris' men one to four." Will said.

"He could siege the castle with that many men." Horace realised.

"Four hundred men," Halt sighed. "Ferris is going to need us."

"Yeah," Will remarked, "About Ferris. How did the reunion go?"

"Ferris freaked out." Alexis smiled.

"He had already given away the Kingdom to Tennyson in their agreement." Halt mocked.

"But?"

"But Halt convinced him that doing that was a very bad idea," Horace said, "and tomorrow Ferris is going to tell us if he agrees with Halt or not."

Halt nodded: "I think it is wise to have an answer from his this evening, but I don't want to push the poor man. He's had enough for today. We'll stick to the plan, but you're not joining us, Will."

"Why not?" Will asked. He sounded a little disappointed.

"Because Ferris is like a rabbit with a fox near. Three foxes. Let's not add a fourth." Halt said.

"I'll mingle with the people in the market. Listen to what they have to say." Will nodded. "Before we go back to sleep, one more thing. At Tennyson's camp, there were three foreigners. Mercenaries."

"Mercenaries? You mean Skandians?" Horace raised an eyebrow.

"No, these are different. They wear dark purple cloaks and big hats with feathers. They have five knifes on their belts and big crossbows with heavy bolts. I couldn't place them."

Halt was silent. "Girl?"

"What?" Alexis responded.

"Who are these people?"

Alexis thought. Mercenaries. Crossbows. Knifes. Mercenaries. Crossbows. Knifes.

Halt helped her: "Add poison to the list."

"Oh! That's uhm, I know that one! From the west! Uhm, that is… something with a G… from Toscana… GENOVESAN ASSASSINS!"

"Alexis!" Horace shushed her, "Not that loud."

"Is she always like this when you ask her something?" Will smiled.

Halt shook his head: "Most of the time she doesn't even know the answer." He looked towards Alexis again: "And do you know anything more than just their name, girl?"

Alexis nodded, now she knew what they were on about, she could easily dig up all the other facts: "These are professional assassins, they have a big variety of killing methods but they prefer to lay low. You can recognize them from their purple capes and their big feathered hats. They say their cloaks can make them disappear into a city like the Rangers cloaks disappear in the woods. Their specialty is poison and ambushes."

"Isn't that literally from the book?" Will asked.

Alexis nodded: "I have problems remembering names but when I find the paragraph in my head I can recite it all."

"How?" Will asks.

Halt smiled and bowed towards Will: "Would you like to know her secret?"

Foolishly, he nodded.

"She studies." He smiled, "But I want all of you to be very careful around these guys. Don't be over confident. Reconsider running away when you face one of these men."