Josiah woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. The night before had been peaceful and silent. He sat up out of bed and chuckled to himself
'It seems I was worried for nothing. That crone is the true fool.'
Finding the clothes Nyx had layed out for him the night before he quickly got dressed and headed out to the main hall. Though as he arrived he felt something was off.
'Wait a moment, where is Nyx? She normally greets me in the morning before I get this far..'
Looking around he finds the head maid and asks her Nyx's whereabouts.
"She left earlier my lord, she said she was picking up a surprise for your return this evening. She asked me to pass along the message that you should hurry. You don't want to be late."
"Oh I see. Very well then, I'll be off. Thank you" Josiah nodded and continued to the main gate.
As he arrived his carriage was already prepared for him with one of the many butlers already in the coach.
"Good morning my lord, shall we leave now?"
"Yes. I was told to make haste as to not be late, could you make it so?"
The butler nodded "Certainly my lord, we leave on your command."
Josiah smiled and climbed into the carriage. As he shut the door his butler cracked his whip, and they began to move. The meeting is being held at the courthouse only 30 minutes away. So Josiah did have some brief time to relax. As he sat there his mind began to wander, and before he knew it he had drifted fast asleep…
'She's not safe. You must find her. Find her. FIND HER!'
Josiah jumped awake, and in his surprise banged himself against the door.
"My lord? Is everything alright? We will be arriving shortly." The butler called
'I thought the nightmares had ended.' Josiah thought as he called back,
"Yes I'm fine, please continue"
What was that. Josiah heard the voice clear as day. And a sense of urgency briefly overcame him. He managed to calm down but the sense of unease remained.
Just as promised, they arrived outside the courthouse in the next couple moments. Josiah stepped out and thanked his butler before stepping to the entrance. The courthouse was a modestly sized building. It was used for meetings such as these due to it being considered neutral ground. Josiah may be the king, but the other four nobles held weight in their own territories. Almost equal to his in some cases. Stepping inside he went straight to the room the meeting would be held. Opening the door he saw four people sitting around the long table, two on each side with the head seat remaining empty. The four had seemed to be having a private discussion as when he entered the talking ceased.
Flashing a smile and arriving to his seat Josiah spoke to them, "Glad to see you could all make it, shall we begin?"
The boy stared at the man.
"Can we skip the actual meeting? It sounds boring. I don't want to listen to a bunch of old people rant about politics."
The man chuckled. "I suppose we could, so instead I'll explain to you each of the nobles."
The boy groaned but agreed. The man continued, "Duke Gwynn Yggdrifell of Sunvale in the west was in charge of mining and construction. Most buildings were built by people from the west. The western region was also popular for its jewelry. Duchess Kaori Tsunamki of Mistwilde who ruled the East was in charge of silk production and in turn clothing. She herself was very skilled at crafting herself and used to be very popular amongst the people…"
The man suddenly stopped and grit his teeth. "I have nothing to say about the other two."
'Huh? That's random. Why start explaining and not finish?'
The boy found himself irritated but remained respectful. "In that case, could you pick up after the meeting?"
"Very well child. After the meeting Josiah returned to the castle. And soon discovered the reason for his unease…"
She's gone. Josiah had looked through the entire castle and hadn't found her. It was late in the evening now and she should have returned. The maids were equally puzzled. Claiming that they had seen her leave this morning saying she'd return around noon. But she hadn't. Nyx was gone.
Josiah threw on his less formal garments and rushed back to the carriage. The butler in charge looked at him with concern.
"What is the matter my lord? Where could you be off to at-"
"Start the carriage. Take me to the city. The shopping district."
Not waiting for an answer Josiah jumped in the back as his butler rushed to prepare to leave. And quickly but not fast enough, they were off.
The shopping district is a large area. Containing numerous stores, restaurants, and bars. To try to search the entire area would be madness and take a while. But not having any other clues of her last location Josiah didn't feel he had much of a choice. As the carriage pulled towards the area Josiah jumped out before his butler even stopped.
"My Lord! It's dangerous to travel alone, please allow me to-"
Josiah stopped listening and started running. He ran down every street. He looked in what felt like every store. Asked everyone who stopped if they had seen his wife. But she was nowhere. Running and running Josiah found nothing. He finally tired himself out after hours of searching. Stopping at a corner to take a breath.
'I don't even know where she was last. She didn't mention which store. Fuck. She has to be somewhere.'
Just as he began to start moving again someone came up from behind him.
"My king. This is for you."
'Huh?'
Suddenly a man in all black stood infront of him. Josiah couldn't tell what he truly looked like, before he could try to get a better look the man handed him a slip of paper, and disappeared into a crowd.
'Who was that.'
Confused, Josiah opened the paper he was handed and felt his blood run cold.
'We have her. If you want her back come get her. But be warned, you'll be choosing her or this country.
If you have given up on ruling meet us at XXX-XX-XXX
Come alone. Or we will kill her.'
Josiah fell to his knees, and cried out to the sky. His butler finally found him sometime later and took him back to the castle. But he said nothing the whole way. Once arriving back he spoke to no one and went straight to his bed chambers. He sat on the edge of the bed the whole night. And when the sun rose the next morning he stood up. He knew what he would do…