'So? Why don't you start by telling me why you haven't contacted me?'
Patrick started,
'I received a letter from His Highness MacLean asking me to help with the rebellion, but when I replied that I couldn't move because of the preparations in the north, he threatened me to cut off all contact with the Snakes if my son's wife, Crozier's mother, and thus the Third Queen, Alicia, were important to me.
The Abbot explained the reason.
'Is that kid crazy enough to take his own mother hostage? But even so, you could at least get a spouse, right?
Patrick said,
'I sent a few spies secretly, but they were all captured, and your spies also came, but I didn't know their faces, so I couldn't decide whether they were really spies of the Snakes or whether the McClane side was pretending to be spies of the Snakes. If she entrusted him with a letter or something and he took it away, Queen Alicia the Third's life would be in danger. I was wondering if there was anything I could do.
I've been wondering if there's anything I can do about it,' said Abbott with a mysterious look on his face.
'Why has there been no word from you for some time?
Ryan asked, referring to the fact that he hadn't been able to reach him since before the rebellion,
'McClane's bodyguards have been guarding my wife, Crozier, for several months now, and they've been keeping a constant watch on the house, so I haven't been able to move. If anything happens to my wife, the child in my belly will be in danger.
He gave the reason.
'Oh, you're pregnant! Congratulations!
Patrick said, looking at Ryan's face.
'That's why I've been stuck. I was wondering if there was any way we could help Queen Alicia the Third?
' said Abbott, the frontiersman,
'Hmm, if we knew where she was being held, it might be possible, but not necessarily at the royal castle, would it?