I paced nervously outside the tent. I regained control of my body once again, but a bitter taste was left in my mouth. What else could I feel? The small amount of determination I had was gone to the wind. I was at the end of my rope on the issue. I through away the thoughts and tried thinking of something else.
I had brought Ashley, but the doctor refused to have me in the room. He forced me out. Refusing every attempt to gain entry.
“Until she stabilized you are to wait out here” With those words, I was shut out.
The moments seems to drag on for hours. Worry ate at me and frustration built up. Many times I thought of just barging in, but my senses came back before I committed the reckless plan. With the soundless flap of the tent, A wrinkled hand allowed me in.
It took my eyes a second to adjust to the dim light inside the tent. There were many beds all with the same white sheets and a single pillow. My eyes found the one that interested me the most.
She was sleeping soundly and showed signs of comfort, instead of a pained expression. The tightness in my chest eased enough for air to get in. I took baby steps as I got closer.
A new bandage covered her eye, which was an insult to her beautiful features. I moved to remove it, but the doctor slapped my hand away
“What are you doing you fool!?” he yelled at me. I was crestfallen and ashamed of the rashness in my actions.
My eyes fell to the ground. I sat next to her bed. I watched with baited breath at the rise and fall of her chest. Even if I didn’t know her fully, her or myself, I still sensed a bond we shared, or at least that is what I hoped. My memories came as flashes, and pieces, but not enough to give me a clear picture of me or what relationship I had with anyone.
I wondered if I had made any connections at all. With the constant swirling in my head, it was hard to tell where old memories began and I started. At one point it would be me, but then a memory would distort my own memories and making me question if it really was “me”.
“She will live, you fool,” the doctor broke thru my thought like a knife. His curt response was a welcomed distraction.
. I finally got a look at him. His gray hair looked like a field of wild grass, long and unkempt. His white mustache covered his mouth and his wrinkles seemed to be deep. Yet his expression was kind, thought he spouted a lot of harsh things.
A mysterious aura was about him. His blue eyes seemed to look through me and see far into the future.
The doctor moved a chair and sat next to me. I turned to face him and notice a warm cup of tea in his hand. He offered me it and I accepted gratefully.
“She is not in any danger, but she is facing a serious problem.” The doctor's face showed a grave expression. “She is suffering from king’s curse” he continued. I let that sink in and remembered reading about it.
It was a curse placed on servant that if they disobey their master, it began to eat aways at their magic and eventually kills them unless they correct their actions.
I should've realized it sooner. She showed signs and was sluggish the whole trip. I got angry at myself for my ignorance of those closest to me. Was I even properly looking at the people around me?
He looked at me for a while and finally he asked a question
“Is something troubling you?” his facial features softened. Maybe I would feel better. The thought was my silent cry to escape the pressure of being me.
His face never changed from a passive look. Maybe his years of being a doctor made him that way. He listened and never interrupted or questioned me.
Once I was done, he sipped his drink and looked me dead in the eye. “The way you are now, you will die at the hands of the 8th king,”
“What do you know old man!” The chair flew as I rushed up and yelled down to him. “I more than strong enough to fight him!” I was sure I could fight him. What would an old man know about it.
My comments did not register. He rose from his seat and walked out of the tent. I was left in all my rage. I knew I was acting childish, but after so many blows to my confidence I had to hold on to something.
A few second later, Gael entered the tent. His expression as warm as the sun. He slaps me on the back. Then occupied the seat next to me.
“So how is she?”
“She seems to have the king’s curse.” It took all my effort to get control my anger. His warm expression vanished and he moved to inspect the wound. He removed the bandage and then my soul shivered.
Long black cracks lead from the top of her eye down to her collar bone. I could feel the evil from it from where I was.
“It is as I feared” Gael almost whispered to himself. “The curse has been eating at her for days, no maybe longer” He continued. Gael noticed my confusing and elaborated the subject.
“This curse is very specific. It is mostly used to keep people in line. If they disobey the curse spreads through the body, destroying magic circuits. Once it reaches the heart,” Gael looked to Ashley, then back to me. “The target dies, by taking their own life.” The air stiffened as the news hit me.
it was shameful but my thought was Why wasn't she the leader? She was far stronger than me. While i was trying to deal with my burden, She dealt with this all alone and never complained. I placed my hand in hers and held firm.
Truly an amazing person. Even now, I admire her strength.
“What did the doctor say?”
“I wouldn’t know. The old bastard insulted me, then left right before you got here.” I explained letting my anger flow a little.
“What old man?” Gael asked. At first, I thought he was joking, but his face showed real confusion.
“The old man you would've passed on the way in!” fear gripped my heart. I felt a deep fear brewing in my chest. The Gael said it, my fear fulfilled.
“There aren't any old man doctors here and furthermore I meet no one on the way in here.” His expression was grave and with no hint of a joke.
The following night I got no sleep as I tried to put all the event in my mind and focus on what I should do next. Soon sleep ate at me and I gave in.
When I opened my eyes I thought at first I had only been asleep a few minutes, as it was still dark outside of my tent.
I couldn't have been more wrong, when I left my tent after putting on my clothes, I looked up to see a dark sky. The white moon I had seen just yesterday was now a dark purple and was in the middle of the sky. I felt a cold chill run down my spine. It gave off an ominous feeling.
I rushed to meet Gael, who after telling me of the curse, who had decided to have a war meeting the following day(or I guess night?). The largest tent was in the middle of the camp.
I enter and the place was full of men in their armor with swords and axes within in reach. In the middle, was a big table with a map spread over it. Marking and peace surround it. They were very will organized for a bandit group. Honestly, I was having a lot of doubt at this point.
I approached and watched the debate.
“You are aware the time for our attack is soon!” One man yelled at the others, Gael included. They had just reached the topic of the all-out brawl yesterday. A few side glances came my way.
“Yes, we are aware, but the defenses are tough and our men can't scale it and still have the strength to fight.” It seemed nobody wanted to talk about it so a brave soul pushed forward.
The debate went back and forth over things like resources and the defense begin to strong. I tuned them out and looked over the map. The design seemed familiar for some reason.
I looked at the plaza that was near the middle which lead up to the castle. More than likely that is the meeting spot for them. The only entry points available were three gates.
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“Maybe send in a small team and have them work from the inside” I meant to think it, but the words slipped out.
All eyes fell to me. I shuttered a bit, not from the sudden attention, but the anger in them. Dressed in his battle gear, Geal stare sent a deep shiver down my spine. I wanted to cry right there for a second.
“We have tried your method and it has failed each time.” He said this, but seem to wait for me to say something back. I set my mind turning and then I got an idea.
“What if you used people they don't know about and dress them as beggars?” The general went into a massive discussion within their small groups. I doubted it was an original idea. No it definitely wasn't as I was ripping it off from a book.
Dressing as peasant was not a hard maneuver for bandits. It seemed almost text book if bandits had one of those.
Once one group finished their leader turned to me “So you want us to send you, a group who just arrived, on this dangerous mission?” His eyes were full of suspicion. I hadn't meant my group, but I did acknowledge we were good candidates.
The other general nodded in agreement, It was to be expected I caused a riot the day before, and now tried to intervene in their meetings. I was more surprised I was still standing there. I felt my plan was good, but I lacked support.
I needed to convince them, but how was the question. Then, to answer, the shadow came for me. I felt my anger flare
“Fuck!” The shout roared through the darkness but did little to help me. I can only remember as the rage swept through. I was anger at myself. It was my plan, but yet again I was cast aside.
“You all seem to be misunderstanding something.” The voices all stopped and the looked to me. Even if this world I was in was empty and far away. I could feel the pressure “I” was exerting. Maybe not quite pressure,but something even darker.
The desire to kill. “I” was laying it bare like fangs.
None of the generals spoke as “I” continued “I am no friend of this bastard,” Malice leaked for each word.
“Right now people are suffering, a demon has your throne, and you want to worry about trust?” “I” accused them.
They were all speechless and the lowered their heads. “I may be new here, but I can see the dream you all have.” They looked up to me. “I don’t want you to trust me, but place the weight of saving your country with me, and together we shall take back the city and free your citizens.” The mood had shifted, but still, they refused ‘me’.
“Then, I hereby claim the title of the ninth king! With me at your side, your dreams, no your futures, I will make them a reality!” I could tell, since I felt the same, the claim was real. If that wasn't enough the look in “my” eyes was more than enough to convince me. “I” would do it.
The meeting ended with the unanimous decision to send me in.
Gael called me to his tent after the meeting was over. I figured the tent would be a well suited for the top general, but it was the size of a small cabin.
The inside was spacious and it was filled with a few open books and what looked to be battle plans and a table with another map of the city.
Gael had a serious expression as he looked through the books. I walked in and shocked him from his trance.
“Ah! welcome, come take a seat”. I took him up on that and sat a crossed from his desk. Gael moved the books and offered me some cold water.
“I can’t tell if you're smart or incredibly dumb,” Gael opened with that. I was taken aback. I expected something, but criticism from him was strange.
“Well, I'm not to sure myself.” I rubbed the back of my head. I couldn't really say much else. The shadow did the work, but I dealt with the aftermath
He dropped his stare and then looked back at me ‘Now the reason I have called you here” He produced a small stack of notes and placed them in front of me.
“These are records of the country, I felt you would need to be briefed in case you were to run into problems.” I nodded and he continued.
“First, the sky,” I looked toward the single window in the office. “I'm sure you thought it strange how there is no sun or day here.”
“Why? And How?”
“The answer is simple. The 8th, in an attempt to break the people, decided to take away our sun.” Gael crossed his hands and leaned his head on them. He seemed to be reliving the day it happened.
“Like a phantom’s hand, darkness spread thru the sky, and that damned purple ball filled the it. The man thing makes it very hard to sleep.” I could sympathize with that. Its haunting purple glow was very creepy. “It only becomes more apparent as you get closer to the capital, thus why you may not have noticed right away.” It made sense, the the sun disappeared the day after I slept in the forest.
Gael, seeing I understood, and moved on. “Next, when you enter the city, You will be forced to see things. A list of short things like sex slaves....”He looked down and clenched his fist. “Children are not spared from it and in the worst cases, corpse line the walkways.” He looked ready to puke from the words. his eyes were anger, but I guessed it more at himself than anyone else.
Just thinking about it set my stomach churning. It was the kind of thing people did, but it still felt like a faraway fantasy to my mind.
“I’ll do my best to handle it” Coming from a coward it was hard to sounded impressive. I didn’t know how I would handle it, but right now I need to be strong to help those people or pretend at least.
Especially after the shadow had gave such a speech. Declaring me the Ninth King of all things was still shocking. Sure I was a new slayer, but I wasn't official. I certainly didn't feel like a king. I mean at best I had four followers. Not much of a king.
“Third, would be my group’s true identity.” He let that hang for a bit. “We are....The former knights that were in the city.” I had more or less guessed at that. Given how uniform they were, and how well they were disciplined. It could only hint at the military or past military training.
However, at the same time, I'm sure it hurt to say it. The knight I read about it books usual had pride about their job. To fail a city and see it reduced to this, must've been a nightmare. I could say nothing.
“Lastly, how it came to this.” I was amazed how he pushed on through such difficult topics. He truly is worthy of my respect.
He looked up to the ceiling and seemed lost in bittersweet memories as he eyes were warm then very cold as he looked back to me.
“8 years ago, we were lead by the first king.” I jumped forward slamming my palms into the table.
“He’s real!!” I shouted at him. Mr. Onyx had been vague about it, no he barely believed he existed. I couldn’t think of anyone who was for sure he was real.
“Yes…..he was very real. Please seat back down.” I slumped back down. If I had doubted him they were slayed by the look in his eyes. Gael had a deep respect for the person. “but he is gone now, betrayed by one he put faith into” I twinge of hate crossed his face. And again he looked at the ground in shame.
“After this betrayal, the 8th came and finished the job. The princess, who was next in line, took over, but the 8th claimed the land and she is nothing more than a figurehead.
“Wait so the First has kids?”
“Oh, no, she is the old Queen's heir, but since she was too young, the First took over.” It made sense. If he had had some relatives, the world would be more sure about his existence.
“So what happened?”
Geal continued “We gave her support, but that was our mistake. This only added to her burden of not only begin a figurehead but being a good one. It was a miracle she hadn’t taken her own life. A small amount of stubbornness must be in her blood.” A bitter smile touched his face.
“But nonetheless, now the land is barren and the city is a hollow shell of its former self," Gael gritted his teeth. “The princess is barely holding on to whatever order is in that godforsaken place.”
The air was heavy and seriousness oozed from his every word. Gael was shaking from either anger or sadness. I was more than impressed that he had gone for so long without such a reaction.
After a while, he seemed to gain his control again
“The mission is as such: You and your team will be dressed as beggars as to not attract unwanted attention. Once inside, you will need to open the east gate and then we will begin our assault” He stood up from his desk and move away. He looked out a window. He started long and hard at the black sky.
“We are attacking on the day of a festival of sorts. A day at which most of the gu...mercenaries will be at the coliseum in the middle watching the poor fight for their lives” Tha explained the “of sorts part”. The poor trying to kill each other for fun. Just straight fucked up. No matter how much you can convince yourself or other, bad is still bad.
He turned around and looked at me once more. “I don't know you very well and I am very close to not sending you,” he said clearly.
My thoughts bubbled over and I stood to face him The old man’s words were burned into my mind and they played on repeat. They cut deep into my confidence and I found it hard to think I could help.
“Why do you think I can help?” I said my doubts out loud.
“Honestly, I don't know. You haven't done much for us and I can't say I trust you, but when I first meet you and even times after that, you seem to change for a minute and it sent chills down my spine.” It may have been a compliment, but to me, it was a dagger to the chest.
“I feel like we can use that to our advantage. You kind of remind me....never mind” One that Geal was unknowingly stabbing deeper into me. I half hoped he noticed the pained expression on my face, but was glad to end it there.
I then realized I had no idea what time it was. I then made up my mind. The first thing I am doing is break the sky I thought with confidence I didn't have.
Gael watched as Dynames went on his way. He then moved back to his desk and fiddle with his drawers till he found it,
In his second drawer, he pulled out a charm. The single gift his king had left. Given to all the citizens. He claimed it was for good luck or just that if they needed him they should ask it. The first was very whimsical about stuff like this.
The necklace was just a pair of wings. The sight only made him remember what he would have said.
“You are like the First king” The words left his mouth. The boy was the ninth king now, but surely the comparison, from what he could remember, was accurate.
When the boy did one of his shifts his presence, while not as strong as the first, gave off the same kind of feel. Overwhelmingly powerful. One that drew everything;s attention. Impossible to ignore.
Maybe the ninth surpasses the First?
Gael laughed. He couldn’t even remember his king’s face anymore and other memories with him were hazy, but still he knew when he felt someone like the first.
He sent what little magic there was into the necklace and an amber flame engulfed the wings.
The metal didn’t burn, nor did anything. It just lit up and brighten the dark tent.
Gael looked at the flame when he needed reassurance. A small act of weakness he allowed himself. None knew his secret, but even if they did it was not a terrible secret.
Now was such a time and he prepared to take the fight to the 8th once more. No matter how Gael looked at it, he’d put all the brunt of the mission on Dynames.
“Damn it” He swore at himself for doing such a thing. As the flame burned and flared, he moved back to his chair and began the final preparations for their plan.
“We are coming princess. Your suffering will end soon”