Chapter Five

“My king, the driver is back but he was rushed to the palace hospital,"

The guard relayed.

"What? What happened?"

"We don't know the full details yet but he was shoot in the arms and he was rushed to the hospital as soon as he got back,"

"Okay, what about the maiden? Where is she?"

He asked as he wore his robe properly.

"I don't know my king, she isn't with him, he was alone,"

The guard revealed.

"Are you sure you saw or are you just saying what you heard, make way for me, I will go talk to him at the hospital,"

"But my king, it's late already, you can do that tomorrow,"

His advisor Patrick said as he walked in, Lance eyed him and walked past him, Patrick was doing the most recently and Lance was seriously considering giving him a sack letter.

“Late? You better not get in my way, Patrick,”

He said moving out of his room, he couldn’t remember the last time he had been to the palace clinic, right from when he was young, he didn’t have a pleasant memory of the clinic so he avoided it as much as he could, the most vivid memory was when he had lost his step-mom when she was about to give birth to his baby sibling, he had been ten then and could still remember how cold it had been that night, it was one of his most painful memories, the queen had been good to him even though he hadn’t been her biological son, she treated him like her son and when she died, he had been heartbroken, everything changed for him after she died, it was as if she was the shield that covered him in the palace and when she was no more, the harsh reality of being an unwanted and a product of an affair dawn on him, even the palace workers were not nice to him, he left the first opportunity he got and never would have returned if his father hadn’t called for him, making the decision to return home hadn’t been easy for him either, he didn’t regret it though.

“Your majesty, you shouldn’t be out right now, I can always go check on him myself and ask the questions you want to ask.”

Patrick said not giving up.

“Patrick, one more word from you and you are out of a job, don’t make me mad,”

“I am sorry your royal highness, I will keep quiet now,”

Patrick said and they both walked in silence, he got in the car and they drove the short distance to the clinic, when he entered there was a small commotion among the workers who were present, he hated that part of being a king and tried his best to be as calm and gentle as possible, but he was the king, he had to be strict sometimes else they will see him as a weakling and he didn’t want that but he didn’t want the fear either.

He requested for the doctor and the patient that was brought in and he was pointed in the right directions in minutes, he was able to see the young man after a few minutes.

“What happened? Where is the maiden with you?”

Lance asked as soon as he met him.

“I am so sorry my king, I didn’t know she had people waiting for us and I was not on gau**”

“Wait? What are you saying?”

Lance asked cutting him off, people? What people and who?

“The maiden, she had people waiting for us and had guns with them, they stopped us and took away everything with us,”

“What? What about her? Where is she?”

He asked.

“She was with them, I know because she told me to stop, I did thinking she wants to ease herself but that’s when they came, it was horrible being faced with guns when I was harmless,”

Lance stared at the shaken young man, he looked like he had been faced to face with death but what he was saying just didn't add up, why would Sophie do that? Why will she organize people just to steal from him? She didn't even know she would run an errand for him so how was she able to get people to help her steal from him, it was just too hard to believe, Sophie wasn't part of the kingdom and she couldn't have known people.

"Are you sure that's what happened?"

He asked again.

"Yes, my king,"

"And they let you come back? Why didn't she return then?"

"I don't know my king, I was shot when I tried to run away, but I managed to escape,"

He recounted.

"My king, if I may cut in,"

The royal doctor said and the king turned towards him.

"Yes?"

"The young man is really shaken and he just got out of surgery, I would advise you to let him rest before you ask him questions,"

The doctor advised, Lance knew that was the right thing to do but he couldn't just believe that Sophie had done what he just heard, there is no way, she barely even leave the palace and she doesn't even talk much, he knew because he always watches her.

"Fine, I will be back by morning, better be prepared to tell me in full detail what went down and where you left Sophie,”

He said and left with Patrick walking behind him.

"Should we launch a search for her?"

"Of course, do you need to ask me that? The diamonds with her are worth millions, she can't leave, tell them to close all borders and keep an eye out for her, if she indeed did do this, she has to pay,"

He said. But he knew within him that it wasn’t the reason he was anxious even though he couldn’t pinpoint why he was, the diamonds are not worth enough for him to be anxious just because they are missing.

"Yes, your majesty,"

When they got back to his chamber, Patrick excused himself to go do as he said and Lance was left alone in his room, he couldn't even think of Sophie stealing from the palace, she didn't look like it and she earned his trust when she works for him without nothing going missing, he trusted her that's why he sent her, or maybe this was her plan all along, to get him to trust her then steal from him, again it didn’t make any sense, she barely leaves the palace and she most certainly would not know a lot of people or maybe he just didn’t know.

"This is messed up,"

He muttered. He just couldn’t picture her doing that, she has been in his chamber a lot and he hadn’t seen her do anything that would make him suspect her, and she couldn’t have pulled all this up by herself, he just couldn’t figure out what went wrong, he wished she would be found on time, he should have done better and made sure she would go and come back safely.

The next morning Lance was up early, he couldn’t say he slept the night before because he wasn’t able to get proper sleep, he just couldn’t get the fact that she might be in danger out of his head, yes, and what was even more burdensome was how he felt about it, she was just a mere palace maid, there shouldn’t be a reason why he would not be able to sleep because she is missing, he found it disturbing yet he couldn’t change how he felt, he took a bath and proceeded to wear something casual since he had no appointments today, his first thought was to go see the driver again but he decided not to, instead, he went for a quick breakfast and took a stroll to the garden, no matter what he did to keep his mind off the missing palace maid, nothing could stop her thoughts from coming to him.

“Make it stop,”

He let out.

“Make what stop your majesty?”

Patrick asked coming behind him, he didn’t even know he was there.

“Has she been found?”

“Who?”

Patrick asked and he whipped him a disgusted look.

“What?”

“Have Sophie been found? Do you want to be thrown into the dungeon?”

He let out, here he was thinking about it and his right-hand man was clueless and forgetful.

“Oh, that, not yet,”

Patrick said without care, for some unknown reasons, that made him mad, he just couldn’t figure out why or what it is about her that made him defensive.

“That? She is a person and she has been missing since last night and all you can say is that? Right after forgetting? I should really throw you into the dungeon,”

He let out.

“One would think you are in a relationship with this maid, she is just a palace maid and they run away all the time, she is not the first and definitely won’t be the last,”

Patrick said and Lance had the sudden urge to bunch his best friend.

“I am not in any relationship with her, she is my person and it is right that I look out for her,”

“Well, technically, she is not your person since she is not from this country,”

He responded which was true, Sophie was a foreigner but she has been here for so long and well maybe he did have a special kind of feeling for her because he liked her presence.

“See, are you in love with her? You even know her name and we both know you are not good with names and barely remember the names of people working for you, do I need to know something?”

Patrick asked and he just really had to punch him and he did just that.

“Wow!”

“What? You had that coming, love? I don’t do love, why will I love someone I barely know? And a maid? Of course, I know her name because I asked her and she has been working with me constantly for a while now, I know your name, don’t I?

He asked, Patrick who was busy nursing his face didn’t say a word.

“She has with her diamonds, I need those to get to the destination it was going to and you know it so why won’t I be worried?”

He added.

“I am sorry I was insensitive my king, it won’t happen again,”

He responded in a broken voice, he dawn on Lance then just how much of a punch he had delivered.

“Oh, I am so sorry Patrick, I shouldn’t have done that,”

“You know, if anyone walks in on you apologizing to me, it won’t be nice, I have been a little provocative since and I guess I deserved it,”

Patrick said.

“I am sorry,”

“A king saying sorry to his subordinate, well,”

“Shut up,”

“Okay, just to be clear, we are looking for her and she would be found soon so long as she is still in this country,”

Patrick revealed.

“Good, once she is found, send her to me directly,”

He instructed.

“But why? I think the right thing to do is send her to prison and probe her, hopefully, she still has the diamonds with her.”

“Don’t question my words Patrick, once she is found send her to me, and arrange for me to see the driver again,”

He instructed.

“Yes, my king,”

Patrick said and left him on his own with his thoughts running back to the maiden, no matter how he tried to picture her plotting to steal from him, the image he had of her in his head dis not agree, he just had to wait till she is found and hear her side of the story, hopefully, she would be found before the day ends…