Nyx the Captain of the Guard

     ---

      Nyx patrolled the hall, his ears perked as he heard the familiar laughter of the youngest princess of Miniglen. Violet was the most troublesome of his charges but he was not worried because her personal guard Nessa would be with her. He trusted Nessa implicitly, she was the most trustworthy of his guards. Still, she was probably up to trouble even under Nessa's watchful eye.

      As if to confirm his suspicions he heard the frustrated utterances of the eldest princess as she expressed her displeasure with her sister. Though he shouldn’t have a favourite, Rosaline was without a doubt his favourite charge. He'd been assigned to be her own personal guard as well as the captain. Violet loved to play tricks on her.

     He would most likely have to pry the details from Xander the royal scholar for more details. The Lupe did not often help Violet, who had a habit of giving Nessa the slip, but always knew where she was and what she was up to. While Rosaline was a reliable source of information, she was often- emotional. Nyx liked that about her though, she was fiery, opinionated, and fiery loyal.

      “Violet!” He called, commandingly, hoping the Xweetok, though not likely, would turn herself in. Instead, he ran into an elegant Ruki with curls mussed. “Your majesty.” He bowed low to her.

      “She got Xander to enchant my curlers,” Rosaline fumed. Nyx could not tell what the enchantment had done at first. Both girls often changed the style of their hair, as well as colour. Today the Ruki was sporting auburn-coloured curls that faded into gold. That was not something the Lupe would have normally done, not on his own anyway. He was quite shy, and intimidated by the older princess, never mind Nyx himself.

      “You look beautiful, your majesty,” He offered. Her face softened a bit.

      “Well thank you, but my hair is supposed to be gold, to match my dress for the ball tonight,” She answered, pushing a stray curl out of her face. “You didn’t forget, did you? You are my escort after all.”

      “Of course not,” Nyx answered, trying to hide his unease. The king had for the first time in a long time opened his borders to other Royals to visit the kingdom as a measure of good faith, though they were not a warring country. It made him uneasy. ”You shall look better in whatever you wear, but I will speak with your sister and Xander. Perhaps he made a mistake, I’m sure he will fix it as soon as possible, your majesty.”

      “Thank you, Nyx,” She answered, and turned to head back to her room. Nyx smiled as she walked away and turned to search for the mischievous Xweetok. "Violet! Where are you?!"

     ----

      Violet, who had accidentally switched the curlers, or so she said, with her sister's wore her hair half up with curls cascading over her shoulders. She stood in front of him with her escort, the nervous Lupe from the library. He cleaned up rather nice. Nyx suspected the princess must have chosen his outfit for him.

      Nyx stood beside Rosaline, stalk still but his eyes shifting constantly. He did not like being in the middle of the royal siblings. Behind him with Nessa at his side stood the eldest of the royal children Crown Prince Rillian. It calmed him only a little to know he had two fierce warriors at his back. The Uni prince had trained with him often. Violet was the more fierce of the two princesses but her innocence made him worried. She would not take notice of the things he would.

      He moved only slightly more forward than Rosaline after the younger princess moved ahead of him, almost dragging the Lupe with her. The crowd clapped loudly and raucously as the younger princess joined them. He wished he’d had a better view. Soon enough however he’d gotten his wish. Rosaline was announced next.

     The bright light disoriented him for a moment. Gowns, glasses, and decorations sparkled all around the room. He scowled as his eyes adjusted, so that he could take in a good look around the room. Rosaline led him to the stairs where her sister stood below the thrones. They would wait there till the king commenced the ball.

      Of course he had stationed plenty of guards around the ballroom, but he did not like to be still with only one view. The room however looked as he suspected it would. He picked out many faces he knew, but far more that he did not. While he'd known this would be true, he still wished they had kept the guest list more exclusive.

     He breathed a silent sigh of relief as the king announced the commencement of the ball shortly after Rillian had joined them. A familiar pirate Xweetok asked Rosaline to dance. Rosaline, thankfully took his hand and joined him on the dance floor. Now he could patrol the room.

     She would be safe with him, the Xweetok was one of Violet’s siblings. She had been adopted and her two Xweetok siblings had been taken in by other families. If Ash was in attendance then so was her sister Scarlet. She was a famous explorer and mapmaker. It brought some relief to the Gelert, she was at least rather observant and protective of the royal family, particularly her sister.

           Nyx noted the faces he recognized and the ones he did not as he circled the room. There were guests from the Lost Desert, Brightvale and Meridell, of course, and many others whose lands he could not place. As many faces he could identify there were ten more he could not. One eye was on those he did not know committing their faces to memory, and the other on Rosaline who had taken another partner, while Violet danced with her brother. He thought he had a pretty good sense of the ballroom and his surroundings, so it was all the more surprising when someone bumped into him.

      He and the Kougra both tumbled to the floor. Nyx scrambled to his feet, getting eyes on the princess before helping the displaced Kougra to her feet. Had he not noticed her white eyes he might have told her off, but he held his tongue and offered his paw to her.

      “My apologies, can I help you to your feet,” He said. An Airax, he hadn’t noticed before, darted forward and nipped at his fingers. It had bright blue feathers and took a menacing stance.

      The Kougra pushed the Petpet aside and reached out for his paw, taking only a moment to find it. She offered the other paw to the Airax she’d pushed away. He hopped on looking disgruntled.

      “Forgive me, it was my mistake,” She answered. “I’m afraid I missed you among all the other sounds.” She looked puzzled. Her ears swivelled atop her head. They were pointed rather than rounded like most Kougras, sticking out of her rather elegant hairdo. Nyx chuckled.

      “I am known for being exceptionally quiet,” He answered, a hint of pride in his voice.

      “You must be Nyx,” She answered. “My sister has told me about you. Have you seen her? She is a magma Xweetok, she was dancing with Princess Violet. We were separated incidentally.”

      “No, I haven’t,” Nyx answered honestly he had lost track of Scarlet, not concerned about her, but as he turned back to the dance floor he didn’t see Rosaline either. He scanned the room for Violet, and her siblings to find them missing as well, except for Ash. The pirate Xweetok was looking around the room looking concerned and confused. “Excuse me.”

      He signalled to his guards as he moved on to the dance floor, checking each doorway. He had only taken his eyes off the floor for a few moments. No one else had noticed their absence either, and there had been no commotion. He would have noticed that, had he not been distracted by that Kougra. The other guards were already among the crowd discreetly looking around, but none signalled back to him.

      None of the doors were open but he saw something that sent his heart racing. He raced toward the hall by the thrones, careful not to alert the king and queen. A scrap of purple fabric that looked as if it had come off the younger princesses dress lay on the floor. As clumsy and silly as the younger princess was she would have told Nessa if she and her siblings had left the room. Nessa he saw was also missing from the room. She, of course, would not have left without alerting him.

      He did not make it far down the hallway before he spotted the trio. Rillian was helping his younger sister to her feet. Nessa was leaning against the wall, but tried to straighten up as her captain came toward her.

      “Nyx,” She called. “They came out of nowhere. I didn’t even-” Her face fell as she thought of her failure.

      “Are you alright?” He asked her, as he ran toward them. Both Nessa’s and Violet’s skirts were ripped from a struggle, and Rillian was favouring one arm.

      “I’m fine, I’m sorry, I should have-” Nessa replied standing up, though she had clearly twisted an ankle.

      “You did your job, Violet is here, the physician will look after you both, what happened?” Nyx interrupted.

      “They, I didn’t get a good look at them,” Rillian started. “They told me Violet was looking for me. I was hit from behind but Violet-”

      “I broke free,” She said. “They told me that Rosaline was looking for me. It was a big Skeith. Scarlet went with me. Nessa followed soon after, with Rillian. A Grarrl grabbed me as soon as I came into the hall, I broke free in time to get the Techo who hit Rillian. The Skeith went after Nessa, then they shoved her into me and took off. I think they took Scarlet with them!”

      “And Rosaline?”

      “I-I didn’t see her,” Violet panicked looking around, realizing her older sister must have come down the hall first. “She, she, I, there was another Elephante, I saw him going around the corner, but they all disappeared just before you got here. I didn't see Rosaline!"

      “Its alright, Violet,” Nyx soothed, though his own panic had begun to sink in. “Nessa, go with Rillian and Violet to the physicians. I will send a guard with you. Violet, I will alert your parents. Do not worry we will catch them.” He ran back out of the hall signalling his guards.

      Four of them hurried to his side. He gave them quick directions before running down the hall again hoping to catch them before they left the palace, a sinking feeling in his stomach told him he wouldn’t.

     --

      “Where is my daughter!” the king thundered as Nyx entered the library. His guards had brought them to the library along with Xander, Ash and Kookie, the Kougra who’d bumped into him. Surprisingly she seemed eerily calm. Xander offered him a cup of tea, he waved him off.

     The guards had the King brought to the library along with Xander, Ash and Kookie, the Kougra who’d bumped into him. Surprisingly she seemed eerily calm. Xander offered him a cup of tea, he waved him off.

      “I will find her, your highness,” Nyx assured him. “My men are seeing off all the guests and scouring the palace. We will find her.”

      “And my sister?” Ash added, standing up. He wrung his paws. “Scarlet? I have to get back to my- family.” Nyx remembered Violet telling him about his wife and her niece. They lived in the Haunted Woods. He could understand why he would want to get back to them.

      “We-I will find both of them and return them home,” Nyx assured him. He looked at Kookie, though he knew she couldn't see his pointed look. “I will send word when we find Scarlet to you both. Please go back to your families.”

      “I should check on Violet, if that is okay with your highnesses,” Ash asked, still standing there.

      “Of course dear,” the queen answered sympathetically. The Kau was the epitome of grace, but Nyx could tell she was concerned for her eldest daughter. The king paced back and forth, flexing his wings. The eyrie would be looking for his daughter if he did not have his other children wounded here, and concerned that they might be taken or worse. “Be with your family, we will send guards to escort you home safely when you are ready to leave.” Nyx got the feeling that Ash would have protested but was too polite to turn down the queen’s offer. He bowed to them both before rushing from the room. Kookie remained silent and unmoving.

      “Kookie, dear,” The queen reached out for her, and Kookie accepted her hand. “We can send someone with you as well, whenever you are ready, Nyx will rescue your sister as well of course.”

      “You have my word,” Nyx pledged, raising one paw to the opposite shoulder. Another gesture the Kougra did not see.

      “I’d rather help find my sister,” Kookie replied.

     To be continued…