Chapter 80
“The human kingdom.” Part 1.
She knows. Her blood turned to ice in her veins at the terrifying news.
The musty, putrid smell of Balsac’s human kingdom cell hit her nose. And it turned her stomach as the pallor of her skin increased and her hands began to tremble at everything the fairy queen could do to her.
She can even torture me and then give me holy water to heal me. And then keep torturing me. Kalysto trembled at the number of possibilities her overactive imagination began to give her. Enough! She scolded herself and inhaled sharply. And she began to cough uncontrollably as a little of dust got up her nose and down her throat.
I’d forgotten how bad this place smells. She thought.
“Kalysto?” Koden’s confused voice questioned as he saw her appear out of nowhere in the cell in front of him. ”Where the hell were you and how come...?” But Kalysto was quick to shut him up.
“Shhhh..." and she wanted to shout at him, as she thought of a way to shut his mouth, and seeing his pale, haggard face and parched lips it occurred to her that while she had been fighting for her life, but being well fed by the fairies, neither Koden nor Edward had eaten anything in the last few days.
She held up a hand, signaling him to stop. So she turned around and sat down on her bed, and pulled her black backpack out of inventory. She pulled out a bottle of water she had just started and drank a third of it and took out the package of sliced bread she had bought. And turned around to show them to Koden, whose eyes glittered hungrily at the sight of the loot.
Then Kalysto raised a finger to her lips in a universal gesture for silence.
“I will keep all your secrets as we had agreed,” he replied in broken Spanish.
Kalysto nodded, pointed to her own eye and then in the direction of the entrance to the cells. Koden, understanding what she meant, moved to the far end of his cell, facing the exit and leaning as close as he could against the wall, trying to get a better view.
“Now," he whispered after a little more than a minute. And Kalysto stepped to the edge of her cell and reached out through the thick bars and threw the bottle with water. Koden, who had already put his arms outside his cell, rushed to catch it and immediately turned around and standing in the middle of his cell uncorked the bottle and drank all the water in less than five seconds.
Kalysto felt bad for him, but then she stopped to think how she would throw just a couple of slices of bread at him without them falling on the floor and getting dirty.
Before Koden turned around and looked at her with hope shining in his eyes at her throwing the whole bag of bread at him, Kalysto’s old fear of running out of anything to eat and going hungry again surfaced.
Enough, you still have the breads that Alynn gave you! And those taste so much better! But still, her hand trembled. And she turned around to make sure she still had another package left inside her backpack, as soon as she did so, she approached the opposite side of her cell, as she felt the tug of the promise she had made to Amanda to take care of her nephew like a weight on her heart, and whispered.
“Hey, Edward, are you awake?”
“.. Mmm, Kalysto? You’re finally awake? I was worried about you. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, just a little tired from too much work. I’m aching all over. But hey, get closer to the wall at the entrance of your cell.” And Kalysto heard him move.
“Done.”
“Keep your voice down!” she scolded him.
“Sorry," he whispered back.
“Take your hand out as far as you can and try to bring it as close to me as you can," she said and as soon as he did she took a little less than half of the bread out of the bag and passed it to him.
“Where did you get it?” the young man got excited.
“Shhhhh” she scolded him again, “keep quiet. Do you want them to catch us and take it away? And put your hand out again. This is all I have to give you, so manage it well.” Then she tied a knot in the bag, seeing that she had left half of the loaves in it and that they would not come out so she walked to the other side of her cell and threw them to Koden, who caught them without making much noise and immediately went to the bottom of his cell and ate them silently but quickly.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Thank you," said Edward, who immediately began to eat them without paying attention to his surroundings.
“At least hide, lest the guard come and take it away from you," she whispered in Japanese, but the young man seemed too focused on eating to pay attention to her. So Kalysto turned around and sat down on the straw mattress, wrapped in an old white cloth.
She had far more important things to concentrate on than acting as his babysitter.
And after giving a long sigh, she put her backpack back in her inventory and lay down, wrapping the thin sheet that didn’t do much to protect her from the cold.
She covered her eyes with her forearm, thinking about what the queen had told her before sending her back.
It was too much to hope that Galatea would not tell her. Still, she would have preferred that she didn’t. And as if that wasn’t enough, now staying in this world after I finish working for the queen is no longer an option... not when in less than three years this entire continent will be destroyed... And where does that leave me? To go back to Earth, which is also being invaded by monsters?
She turned around, trying to get comfortable on the mattress.
At least there’s no demon king or shady figures lurking from the shadows there... As long as I get stronger maybe I can survive, maybe we all can. She thought, remembering that Koden and Edward were also in the same situation.
Now it’s not only left to find a way for all of us to get back and find out if it’s safe to live on Earth... Fortunately part of the reward for quickly leveling up enchantments was a week on Earth... She bit her lip.
If time runs the same there as it does here, then I have seven days to find Alice, cure Amanda, buy all of that author’s books, and see if the city hasn’t been destroyed by monsters.
Maybe Artemis or Caranthir know something about traveling to other worlds? The boss sure knows... but what do I have that she wants for her to give me that information? I don’t think she’ll give it to me for free... and even less after what happened.
She stared silently for a few seconds at the stones on the ceiling.
If I can get them to take me with them... maybe.... She thought, but after what she told her, it was obvious that the queen didn’t trust her enough to risk it.
I need to gain her trust before Thomas fails. It’s the surest way to get it... but I still need to look for more options.
“Is that food? Where did you get it?” Gabriel’s soft voice echoed in the cell, the hunger and longing clear in his tone.
“What, they have food? Where did they get it? I want it too!” his twin joined in.
“Kalysto gave them to me,” answered Edward with total naturalness. “Hey, Kalysto! Couldn’t you also give them a piece of bread?” asked Edward.
“If you want to share so much, why don’t you give them yours?” replied Kalysto annoyed, seeing that none of them bothered to keep their voices down.
“But...”
“If you want to give something, stop counting on things that aren’t yours to give away. If you want to play the hero, go do it with what’s in your hands. But keep in mind that every action has a consequence, and if you decide to share, keep in mind that the guard may discover them and that would bring trouble to all of us.”
“That’s not fair! We’re hungry too! You have no right to keep it all for yourself!” complained one of them.
“What are you talking about?” interjected a voice Kalysto didn’t recognize. “Does anyone have any food? Hey, I want some too! Give me some too!”
“What the hell is going on over there? What’s all the fuss about?”
“Here, take some and hide it, quick!” Edward whispered, but even she could hear his words perfectly.
“I It didn’t reach, you threw it too far,” grunted Gabriel as he seemed to be straining to reach it through the bars.
“Where the hell did they get that bread?” growled the guard, who had already reached them. “The king said there would be no food for any of you for a week! And that will be done!” Growled the man, the sound of several kicks filled the air as Gabriel’s groan filled the void. The sound of a metal object clanging against the bars of the grates echoed for several minutes as the guard seemed to check on them. Then the noise was heard over her grille and continued to Edward’s. where it opened. After giving them both a beating and searching them, the guard relocked both cells before leaving.
“You better not have any more food hidden, if you don’t want me to take it from you the hard way.”
And as the guard left, Kalysto wanted to punch the pair of idiots for getting caught, and the guard for what he had done to them.
But after seeing how easily the others gave themselves away, she realized it wasn’t safe for her to reveal to them that she could heal them.
Who knows what those people will be able to do to me when they find out?
Annoyed, with herself for thinking that way, she fell asleep. Taking advantage of the sudden stillness to finally rest.
Her rest did not last long. Three hours later, guards came and dragged them all out of the cells and into a large hall where a plump king sat comfortably in a majestic chair.
“I am King Medhas of Balsac. And you, my heroes, have been summoned from another world to save my kingdom from the claws of the evil demon king and his fearsome monsters who want to ravage this continent, drag us into darkness and destroy mankind.”
Edward’s mouth almost dropped with emotion at the man’s words, seeing all his otaku fantasies fulfilled, while Koden was more focused on the table full of food that had been set up to one side, but which was blocked by a group of armed guards.
“And tell me, Mr. Medhas, why should we risk our lives for the people who kidnapped us and dragged us to another world against our will, and then locked us in a prison for five days without water and food?” The powerful voice of a bearded man, in his mid-forties with his muscular arms crossed as he stood in front of his teenage daughter, was heard loudly throughout the king’s hall.
“Because I will kill all of you if you don’t," replied the king, all traces of false kindness had been wiped from his face.