The boy nodded again.
“All right, Son.” He bent and kissed the boy's head. “I'll be right back.” Then he looked at the King. “Will I need an escort?”
“I'll go with you,” Cyn offered and motioned him toward their home.
The Dragon King took the Shanba man into his home as the man's wife waited beside me with her children.
“Daddy will be right back,” the woman said to the little ones. “And this will be over soon.”
“But why are they being mean to us, Mama?” a little girl asked.
“We're not trying to be mean,” I said to her. “Someone stole something very dangerous. Unfortunately, the thief is a Shanba, and they have tried to use the item to hurt the King.”
“A Shanba would never hurt the King,” the little girl said bravely, then ducked back behind her mother.
“I wish that were true, but some of your priests have come from Rercime to warn us about this person. We have tried many ways to find them. But all have failed. This is our last resort. The King didn't want to do this because he knew how terrible it would be for all of you. He left the city for a while, trying to come up with a better solution. But we have none. I'm so sorry.”
“What relic was stolen?” the mother asked, even as her husband returned with Cyn.
“It's called Tareth's Triumph.”
She gasped.
“What is it?” the Shanba man demanded as he handed the little boy a stuffed bear. “Here you go, sweetheart.”
“Babu.” The boy sighed, sniffed, and cuddled the bear close.
“They're looking for Tareth's Triumph,” the woman said to her husband. “That's why they're searching our homes.”
“The Triumph?” the man looked back at us. “But that’s secured in Tareth’s temple.”
“Yes, it was priests who came to tell me about the theft. They were very upset,” Cyn said.
“Upset?” The man frowned. “They'd have to be dead for the relic to be gone.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our priests and priestesses heavily guarded Earth's temple. Only Rercime Palace is more secure. They keep every sacred treasure locked in a vault that requires four people to open. It's a very complicated vault, enchanted by the first high priest. I'm telling you, Your Majesty, it is not possible for that relic to be stolen. It would require an army, at the very least. If there are men here, claiming it was taken without such a fight, I would doubt their identities.”
Cyn went still. His left eye twitched. Then he spun and shouted, “Stop! Everyone, stop what you're doing! The search is over!”
The Talons on the street froze, then ran to inform their fellow officers indoors.
With that done, Cyn turned to Sir Rosren, who was still on horseback, and said, “I need you to ride to the other teams and tell them to stop the search.”
“Your Majesty, I'm your only guard. I can't leave you.”
“There are soldiers everywhere, Rosren. Go! I will be fine.”
The Dragon knight wasn't pleased, but he obeyed his King's order, turning his mount around and urging it into a gallop.
“Thank you, that's very helpful,” I said to the Shanba couple even as Cyn mounted his horse and took his reins from me.
“Ru!” Cyn shouted as he rode off.
“I'm coming!” I climbed into my saddle and sent my horse galloping after the King.
All around us, Talon officers and civilians gaped and scurried out of our way. Cyn saw none of it. He was focused on getting to his destination as quickly as possible.
