5. The Price

     "Sit," instructed the wizard.
     "In the presence of the prince, my lord?"
     "Yes," replied Adrius with an eye brow lifted in annoyance.
     "It is perfectly fine," added Prince Marcus, gesturing to a chair before his desk.  Devron almost unwillingly took a seat, feeling that he was betraying all respect to the royal person by doing so.
     "You were more adroit in your recognition that this will be no simple task, freeing my brother and sister from the lords of Carthor.  Those barons of trade and underhanded subterfuge are all too prepared to deal with a direct attack, whether by open swords or through a diplomatic mission by one of my councilors.  Thus as you clearly saw, another method must be attempted."
     "We will need a man no one would suspect.  A man that will blend in and be easily lost, but one on whom we can utterly rely," added Adrius, turning around and scrutinizing Devron hard.  "This man might have to undergo torture, possibly assassinate high profile targets, communicate with the criminally insane, and perhaps even die.  Are you prepared on your sworn word of loyalty to defend the interests of the emperor above your own, even if it cost you the final price?"
     "Yes," replied Devron, swallowing hard while those steel grey eyes fixed him with a penetrating stare.  "I am a Salvorian."
     "Your association with the guard has nothing to do with this.  My questions is, can we entrust you with a mission that might require more than you have ever dealt with before?  Will you be able to take orders and follow careful instruction?"
     "Yes," replied Devron, and something about the earnestness of his response seemed to finally convince the wizard that he meant it this time.  Adrius nodded once, and then took a seat next to the unnerved guardsmen and turned to Prince Marcus to continue the briefing.
     "I thank you for your loyalty to my father and myself," said the prince, sitting back and folding his hands before him.  "This is a delicate matter and requires a short history lesson to perhaps enlarge the issue for your eyes.  As a sworn guardsman loyal to the crown, you are already under the pain of a vow to not reveal any of this information, so I will not require any guarantees.  The penalty is already clear to you I believe.  Now to the matter of my royal siblings."