Shayret's Adventure: A Mystery in Meridell - Part One

      When Shayret opened the door to get his mail, he was surprised to see that it wasn't there, but in its place was a single letter. He picked it up and looked for any markings but couldn't find one. He opened the envelope, took the letter out, and gasped at what he saw. At the top right corner of the page was the seal of the king.

      Shayret was dumbfounded. He stood there and pondered what possible reason the king could have for calling upon him. Unless… Shayret the Shoyru had once been a well-known name, not only in Meridell, but in all of Neopia. He had once been the greatest detective in the world…but lately, business had been slow, and little by little Shayret had fallen out of the spotlight, which is why it was such a surprise to him when he woke up to see a letter from the king!

      Shayret couldn't believe it. He ran a finger over the seal at the top of the page and looked down at what was written on the page. It read,

      "Dear Sir:

      By the order of King Skarl, ruler of Meridell, you are hereby summoned to his castle on this day at 2:30 p.m. You will be informed of the reason for your summoning upon your arrival. Let it be known that this letter is of the utmost importance and is completely confidential. Do not tell anyone that you received this letter and DO NOT BE LATE!

      Sincerely,

      N. Dublin III, Advisor to the King."

     By now, Shayret was very confused, yet curious at the same time. Why in the world would the king send for me? he thought. I'm just a washed-up detective. I have nothing to offer. Well, the letter does say it's of the 'utmost importance' I guess I should go. So, at two o-lock, he took a bath and by 2:20 he was off to the castle. It was a short walk to King Skarl's castle, so it didn't take Shayret long before he was in front of the castle doors. He knocked on the doors three times, and an old Grey Kyrii opened them (Shayret guessed her to be the maid.) Upon seeing Shayret, the maid said, "What is your business at the castle? Not that you'd want to tell me. *sigh*"

     Shayret presented his letter and the maid ushered him into a sitting room. She offered Shayret something to eat, but he politely declined. The maid left the room sobbing and Shayret sat in silence. He looked around the small sitting room and saw what he thought looked like very expensive silver and china. It wasn't a surprise. Shayret knew King Skarl to be a big spender. It had been about 5 minutes, and Shayret was getting restless. He got up and walked to the single window that was in the room. He looked outside at the still beautiful day and began to wish that he was still in bed.

     He was feeling the soft texture of the window curtains when an old Blue Draik with a short grey beard (and a very serious look on his face) entered the room. "Good afternoon," the Draik said in a sophisticated accent. "My name is Nigel Dublin III. I am the King's Royal Advisor. I trust you got my letter?"

     "Yes," replied Shayret, "could you please tell me what this is about?"

     "I am not at liberty to say. King Skarl will tell you when we go up to the throne room."

     "We're going to the throne room?"

     "Well yes, where did you expect the king to sit? The dungeons? Ha ha!"

      Shayret laughed with Dublin, although he didn't find the joke funny. "Um, so when are we going?" he asked.

     "In a short while. I just wanted to speak with you for a few minutes."

     "About what?"

     "Well," said Dublin in a semi-worried tone. "King Skarl is very depressed right now, and it'd be best if you didn't do anything to, er, excite him. He got riled up last night, and trust me, it wasn't pretty!"

     "I'll try my best not to."

     Dublin smiled and said, "Okay then, follow me please."

     Shayret obeyed and followed him. It took quite a while to climb the many staircases that led to the throne room, but eventually they reached two large double doors. Mr. Dublin knocked very lightly on them and said, "King Skarl?" but nothing happened. Everything was still and silent. Dublin was about to knock again, when a voice from behind the door screamed, "WHAT IS IT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

      "King Skarl," said Mr. Dublin, "the detective you summoned has arrived."

      "Well Let Him In!"

     Dublin opened the door and Shayret walked through. Once inside the room, Shayret took a look around. It was as he suspected a palace throne room might be: extravagant and luxurious. The floor was made of cobblestone (the King's favorite according to the gossip column in The Neopian Times.) There were 8 beautiful stain glass windows: 4 on each wall. They each had gorgeous red velvet curtains hanging beside them. On the far end of the room, right in the middle, was a huge throne, and in that throne sat his highness (or "his fatness" as Shayret liked to refer to him) King Skarl. Shayret slowly wandered down the red carpet that led to the king's throne until he was only few feet away from it. He stood there for a few moments before he decided to speak. "Um…I received this letter, and …" he began.

      "I know," said the king, "I summoned you because a crime has been committed and I need you to find the culprit."

      Shayret said, "I figured that out, but I don't even know what's about. Are you sure I'm the person you want?"

      "Never question my choosing!" roared the king in blaze. "A crime has been committed, and I need a detective to help me find the person who did it!!"

      "But I haven't had a case in months," Shayret muttered. "Are you sure you don't want to find another detective?"

      "No, I am sure that you are the detective I want," replied King Skarl.

      "Fine," Shayret said, "but will you at least tell me what happened?!"

      "You must swear to never tell a soul."

      "Okay, I swear."

      King Skarl opened his mouth and slowly whispered, "King Hagan is missing. Someone has taken my brother."

      "King Hagan is missing?!" Shoyru exclaimed.

     "Yes," replied King Skarl. "My dear brother is missing. That is why I asked for you specifically. Am I right in saying that you specialize in missing persons?"

     "Yes, that is correct," said Shayret."

     "Good," King Skarl said, "then you can start looking immediately."

      Shayret was dumbfounded. He couldn't just drop everything and devote all his time to finding the missing king! Although, he didn't have very much to drop, and finding the king was very important. "Okay," said Shayret, "but what do I have to go on? Are there any clues as to where he might be?"

     "No," said King Skarl after thinking for a moment, "I don't even know who might've taken him."

     "King Skarl," Shayret said, "your kingdom is at war on a regular basis. I'm sure there's at least one person who'd have motive for kidnapping King Hagan."

     "You've got a point," King Skarl replied. "But Lord Kass drove himself insane after our last war and Dr. Sloth is too busy getting revenge on Hannah to care."

     "So, who else is there that would want to take your brother?" Shayret asked.

     "That is exactly why I hired you," said King Skarl. "Please find him."

      Shayret walked out of the castle and headed towards his house, but didn't go straight home. He decided to talk a walk, as he usually did when he was thinking. He walked over to the Symol Hole and let his Mummy Baby, Wraps, jump in, and, of course, Wraps hopped back out empty-handed. Then, he went up to Ultimate Bullseye and played a few games before he bought some dinner at the Ye Olde Food Shop. He was walking home, and was almost to his house when he heard something. He wasn't sure, but he thought it had come from the bushes.

     "Who's there?!" yelled Shayret. No one answered. "I said who's there?!" Shayret waited for a few seconds, but still no one answered. He rushed into his house and locked the door behind him. He turned on the lights and walked into his room. He was very tired and just wanted to sleep. He lay down on his bed and was out cold within seconds. But he wasn't asleep for long. A strange sound awakened him to a dark figure standing over him. Before he could say anything the figure sprayed something into his face, and he fell unconscious.

To be continued...