Early that morning, the palace maids drew back the curtains in the Queen's room, letting the morning sunlight fall beside her bed. Nisheriel rolled over, turning her back to the light.
"Is there anything important waiting for me to deal with?"
A faint smile appeared on the maid's face at the Queen's words. They had all been on edge that morning; after all, the Queen had been visibly unhappy since yesterday. But the news they received that morning had put them considerably at ease.
Now the Queen's personal maid hurried to deliver the news.
"Your Majesty, Lord Jonester has been waiting outside the palace for half the night. He has caught the criminal and said he would wait until you woke."
Nisheriel's eyes flew open, and she sat up in bed. Brushing aside her slightly disheveled hair, she looked toward the window, then got straight out of bed and walked barefoot over to it, looking toward the palace gates.
"Help me wash and dress. Quickly!"
"Yes!"
Relief was written on the maids' faces. Although the Queen was usually quite kind, when she was angry, everyone felt tense and stifled even if she never took her anger out on others without reason. Such was the presence of a sovereign.
Outside the palace gates, a member of the Royal Guard remained hidden, while most of the palace guards in plain sight were extremely tense. Anyone arriving for the morning shift to find a scene like this at the gates would have struggled to relax.
Despite their rigorous training, the guards at the gates could not help glancing toward Mulan every ten seconds on average.
Over there, two hideous Gargoyles had folded their wings, looking like a pair of statues. Beneath the foot of one of those "statues" lay a captive in tattered