“Help me?” Surprised to hear that, Dustin appeared skeptical. “With your identity, Your Highness, I reckon it’d be better if you stayed out of it.”
It was clear that the upheaval in Aylka a decade ago could not have happened without royalties backing the mastermind And Eloise was royalty up. herself. Dustin found it hard to believe that she’d help him.
“What? Do you think I’m incapable of helping you, or do you simply not trust me?” Eloise asked.
“I’m just afraid of troubling you,” Dustin answered vaguely. “I understand where your concerns are coming from, Logan. But I’m sincere in offering my help.”
Eloise looked at him earnestly as she said, “I am no longer the eldest princess of Dragonmarsh. I am now the Princess Consort of Theswe, your stepmother.
“We are a family, and what you do affects me too. I think what I’m saying.” you understand “I get it, but I’m just curious how exactly you plan on helping me?” Dustin asked.
“We have been secretly looking into what happened all those years ago and gathered lots of information about it.
“Though we have yet to identify the real mastermind behind it all, we have some inkling.” Eloise pulled out a letter and placed it on the table as she spoke.
“Based on our extensive investigation, we discovered another survivor from the upheaval, apart from you and the Drunken Maniac, “He might be able to help you figure out who the mastermind was.”
“A survivor? Who is it?” Dustin perked up immediately.
“Cinna Shaffer,” Eloise told him bluntly.
“What? Mr. Shaffer didn’t die back then? Are you sure?” Dustin leaped out of his seat. Cinna Shaffer was the leader of his team of personal guards, and he was extremely good at what he did. When they had been ambushed back then, Cinna had rushed to the forefront of, the group and fought fearlessly.
Dustin remembered that Cinna had cleared a way out for him with no regard for his own safety. Then, when the pursuers caught up with them, he stayed alone to buy Dustin more time to escape.
In the end, Dustin could only watch as Cinna tried to hold back the troops and was eventually swallowed up by them. He had thought that Cinna had surely died then. Now that he heard that Cinna had survived, Dustin was worked up.
“I’m sure.” Eloise was dead serious. “Though Cinna had been badly wounded, he was strong enough to endure it, so he didn’t die. He was subsequently saved and managed to pull through.”
“So Mr. Shaffer is still alive! That’s great news!” Dustin was pleasantly surprised.
“Where is he now? Can I meet him?”
“Cinna’s in Oakvale; you can find his address here on the letter. But I’m afraid it wouldn’t be easy for you to meet him.” Eloise shook her head.
“What do you mean? Has he been captured?” Dustin frowned. “It’s not that he’s been captured. It’s just that after the fight, Cinna had been terribly wounded.
“Though he made it out alive, he’s fallen into a vegetative state and has been in a coma all this time,” Eloise explained.
“Coma?” Dustin’s face fell. To be reduced to a vegetative state and unable to move for ten years was pure torture beyond what any man could take.
“Mom, you’ve said so much, but it’s not much help, right?” Austin could help to complain. “If Cinna’s in a vegetative state, how can he help Logan figure out the truth? It’d be good enough if he doesn’t burden him.”
“That depends on your brother’s skills, then. If he can help Cinna and bring him round, perhaps we’ll have our answers soon enough,” Eloise said thoughtfully.
“And if he can’t?” Austin asked.
“If he can’t, he’ll have to accept his fate. “Eloise sighed. “No! I will cure Mr. Shaffer! No matter what it takes, I will make him come round!” Dustin’s fists were tightly clenched, his gaze more determined than ever.
As long as Cinna wasn’t dead, he still had hope. No matter how hard it would be, Dustin swore that he would cure Cinna.
“Logan, Oakvale isn’t our turf. We have no influence there, and it’ll be slow to get any information. So we won’t be able to help much.
“You’ll have to find your way out there, “Eloise advised.
