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Away from there in the palace, the Queen stood beside Damon as they faced the aristocrats and members of the assembly.

"Why did you send for us so early in the morning when we should be reserving what little strength we have? We have no energy to waste on such unproductive gatherings," one of the aristocrats stated in annoyance, and the others murmured in agreement as they discussed amongst themselves.

Although Damon was displeased by the disrespect, he couldn\'t complain since this had become his lot since Harold publicly humiliated him.

"A very shameful and disgraceful piece of information has reached our ears," Damon announced, and everyone fell silent.

"It is an insult not only to the royal family but also to the moon kingdom," Damon continued with a grave expression on his face, while the Queen nodded in agreement as she did her best to maintain a crestfallen expression.

"And what is this insulting information about?" Sir Richard asked, wanting him to get straight to the point so they could be done with it.

Damon looked at the Queen, and when he gave her a nod, she signaled to Damian, who was standing by the door, and he stepped out.

"As shocking as this is to us. I, in particular, feel insulted and embarrassed..."

"Can you just state what it is and save us time?" One of the aristocrats asked with a frown.

"You have to exercise patience, my lords," the Queen pleaded, and a short moment later, Damian walked in with the man who had come bearing news for Prince Ivan.

The man bowed to the Queen and Sir Damon, and then to the members of the assembly, before returning his attention to the Queen.

"Can you tell the members of this great assembly what you told me?" The Queen asked, and the man gave her a nod.

"I was traveling around the villages selling my wares, and I heard some disturbing gossip going around in one of the villages. At first, I didn\'t realize that Prince Harold\'s bride was from there. But when I heard the news going on about how Prince Harold had married their exiled princess,..."

"Exiled Princess?" Several aristocrats asked at the same time.

"What do you mean by an exiled princess?" Sir Richard asked.

"That was what I heard that Prince Harold\'s bride has been in exile since she was only a child. I was shocked to hear that our Prince had married a Princess in exile, so I tried to find out more about it and why she had been exiled. That was when I heard the shocking truth that Prince Harold\'s bride is from a long line of witches and her mother, who was the former Queen, was executed for practicing witchcraft," the man said, and everyone exclaimed.

"Are you certain of the words you speak? Prince Harold would have your tongue if this is a lie," Sir Richard said, and the man fell on his face.

"I swear on my life that it is the truth I speak. I couldn\'t keep it to myself knowing that the kingdom was made a fool of and we have a witch amongst us. I had to make haste to bring this information to the King," the man said, reciting all that the Queen had asked him to say.

"How can we know that you are telling the truth?" One of the aristocrats asked.

"It\'s simple, I believe. All we have to do is send for Princess Amber\'s father. He must answer to us and tell us if what this man has said is the truth or a lie," the Queen said fiercely as she looked around the hall while the aristocrats murmured amongst themselves.

"How can we do that when Prince Harold has ordered that no one must leave the palace?" One of the aristocrats asked with a frown.

"Isn\'t it obvious that he has been bewitched by her? She is the one manipulating him, and she probably knew that her time was up, hence she made him do all of this to us. We must not let witchcraft prevail in our kingdom!" The Queen said passionately.

"I think this is a very delicate issue, and we have to tread with caution," one of the aristocrats said.

"Think about it. Doesn\'t this explain why Prince Harold\'s bride tried to hurt Princess Tyra and why she killed Beth? She came to our kingdom to seek vengeance on the royal family. It is no news to everyone here about the role my father played, with the permission of my husband, the King, in getting rid of witches. Only a strong witch like her could have defeated a strong Beta like Beth," the queen said, and the aristocrats murmured amongst themselves.

While some agreed with the Queen, others didn\'t. They didn\'t want to make any hasty decisions that would further enrage Harold.

"To think she practiced her sorcery right in front of us and we knew nothing about it," the Queen said, and this caused their attention to return to her and they cast questioning eyes on her.

"What do you mean?" They asked, and the Queen shook her head.

"Have you forgotten the strange wind and cloud that swept through the palace the other day? Who do you think was responsible for it?" The Queen asked, and they all looked thoughtful as they processed all that she was saying. It did make sense that only strong witchcraft could have been responsible for such a sudden change in the weather.

"What are we going to do then? We will have to wait for Prince Harold to return and let him know...

"We can\'t do that! He is being controlled by her, and we can not trust his judgement! We must act fast before he returns, or else we do not know what else she might make him do," the Queen said as she looked at Damian.

"Send some of your best men to Princess Amber\'s kingdom. They are to bring her father here. Then you must take some men with you and go capture the witch! Do not let anything or anyone get in your way, even if it\'s the Prince," the Queen ordered, and Damian bowed to her, but before he could walk away, Sir Richard spoke.

"Even if it\'s the Prince? What do you mean by that? Are you asking him to hurt the prince and those with her? Do you realize that some of our children are with them?" He asked, and Sir Gregory nodded, as did Luciana\'s father.

"Are you asking us to place the safety of your children above that of the kingdom? How could you let your children leave with them in the first place?" The Queen asked without thinking until she met her brother\'s harsh gaze on her.

"Try not to hurt them. But make sure you bring the Princess here," the Queen told Damian, who was waiting for final instructions, and he bowed to her once again before leaving.