“What is it that you want from me? Money?” Mut growled through grit teeth after he’ d rolled up the car windows and buckled his seatbelt, upon Ka’ao’s not-so-polite request.
“Mr. Dhaunyat.” Ka’ao murmured. “I have a gun pointed at your head in one hand, and a sword pointed at your back in another. Do you understand the situation you’re in?”
Silence ensued; Ka’ao could tell that Mut was doing everything he could to keep himself from turning around to look at his attacker. That was one of the reasons why he’d decided to sit directly behind Mut in the first place; the fear of not being able to see what his attacker was doing would drive Mut mad with fright.
And that would make his actions all the easier to predict.
“Yes, I understand.” Mut breathed.
“Very good. If you do exactly as I say, no harm shall come to you or your loved ones.” Ka’ao promised. “Now I want you to start your car and start driving to your house. But first, a few ground rules. Be sure to take note of them mentally; tell me when you’re ready.”
“I’m ready.” Mut announced shakily after a few seconds.
The ground rules were nothing of true importance; only there to pump fear into Mut’s veins. Things like, ‘keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times or I will shoot’ and ‘keep your back glued to the seat’, and so on. Mut didn’t seem to catch onto the utterly ridiculous nature of the rules though and followed them to an extent that was almost hilarious; almost.
Fortunately, because of Mut’s fear derived compliance, the rules fulfilled their purpose. Mut, so focused on following Ka’ao’s rules down to the very last letter, was left no time to truly ponder what Ka’ao’s intentions were, or search for any possible escape routes that might be open to him. Either that, or Mut was a scarily good actor.
“I am the first prince of Kurigazu, Ka’ao Manetho. Ever since my exile, I've been watching your activities closely. You’ve formed a strong partnership with Prince Pakhar Pas Gheraman, and he’s made you a lot of money.” Ka’ao murmured. “We've watched him tear down sacred temples, yet contained ourselves; but when you and Pakhar joined hands to tear down the Temple of Khazeru; well, that was the last straw.”
Mut said nothing, but nodded slowly and carefully, keeping his eyes trained on the road.
“On the opening night of that hideous abomination of a building, he will die.” Ka’ao threatened. “As a foreigner, there can be no forgiveness for his heinous actions. But the Cult of Zeru can afford to give you some leniency if you give us what we need.”
“The Cult of Zeru?” Mut choked. He probably hadn’t even considered how tearing down the Temple of Khazeru might lead to such a reaction from the religious. And he was probably right too considering this whole story was completely false.
Carefully fabricated, yes, but still false.
“Yes. They were the only ones willing to assist me after my exile,” Ka’ao continued. “And dozens of us have hidden in this city, waiting for the time in which we will finally make our move. Did you really think that I single-handedly killed your guards?”
“What is it that you want from me?” Mut growled, his grip on the steering wheel growing tighter with frustration and fear.
Ka’ao couldn’t help but grin. It looked like Mut was starting to realize what he needed to do if he wanted to survive this.
Cut his losses.
“We are not great in number. We will likely all be rooted out and destroyed after we assassinate Pakhar.” Ka’ao continued. “But it will be worth it if I can kill that bastard. All you need to do is provide me with an alias. Pretend I’m a distant relative of yours; introduce me to your influential friends and introduce me to Pakhar. Give me the opportunity to gain his trust. Do that, and the cult shall spare you on the day of reckoning.”
“…We’re here.” Mut announced; an enormous house, so big Ka’ao nearly mistook it for a temple, loomed over them. Ka’ao could immediately tell it had been built around one of the oases, considering all the lush greenery and the date palm trees scattered across the land surrounding the house.
“Another thing. I will be staying with you for the majority of the time. I'll be masquerading as your relative, so you should get used to it. And I'll only call the cultists off your head on the day of the attack; so if I vanish or die before then, you will also die.” Ka’ao leaned forward in his seat. “Am I understood?”
“Yes.” Mut shuddered.
“Good. I'm glad we were able to come to an understanding, Mister Dhaunyat.”
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From then on, Ka’ao was no longer an exiled prince, but a distant cousin of Mut Dhaunyat, Anek Muqsan. Despite the size of Mut’s home, it was surprisingly empty; far more so than Ka’ao had expected for a noble. Instead of having several wives and then dozens of concubines like most nobles, his family consisted of a single wife and two children, all of which he seemed to love dearly.
When Mut had introduced him to his wife and kids that night, they’d almost instantly accepted him, and after a few minutes of the kids poking fun at his starved appearance, Mut’s wife, Iris, had shooed them off and apologized for their rude behavior, before insisting on giving him a tour of the house, which he’d politely accepted, on the condition that Mut follow them.
Apparently Mut, despite being a noble, held no positions of real importance. His father was the governor of Nihiveh, and while Mut waited for his father to retire and pass on the mantle, he owned several successful trading companies in Kurigazu, which was why he had been so on board with Pakhar’s industrialization policies. Furthermore, his father had actually been against the transformation of the Temple of Khazeru, but Pakhar’s authority and ties to the King of Kurigazu made defying Pakhar almost impossible. Not to mention the fact his own son was close friends with Pakhar.
After the tour, which had taken almost two hours due to the sheer size of their home (and Mut’s wife’s tendency to brag about Mut’s feats), Ka’ao retired to his room; one which he chose himself due to the fact it directly faced Mut and Iris’s, allowing him to keep an eye on them at all times. He was pretty sure he’d scared Mut into complete compliance, but the reality of the situation was that Ka’ao was the one at a disadvantage. His only allies were Pepi, and maybe Moa; he was utterly alone in this, and all he had to defend himself was his sword, and his gun.
It was less than ideal.
But at this point, there was no going back. All he could do was hope that everything went exactly to plan; and if it didn’t…well.
He’d always been a good improviser.
-
After leaving Ka’ao with Mut, Pepi had rushed back to his client, Shanti, a quiet lady in her late twenties. She was rather timid, and when he’d burst into the room at the inn she’d been staying at, drenched in sweat and rain, she’d simply glanced up at him from the table, smiled, and then went back to reading her novel as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Pepi found it quite refreshing.
Staring out the small window which overlooked the factory (which seemed even more imposing in the dark), Pepi let out a long sigh he didn’t know he’d been holding jn.
If things were going according to Ka’ao’s plan, they were probably driving over to Mut’s house right now.
And if they weren’t going according to plan, Ka’ao would make the unexpected part of his plans. He’d always been like that, for as long as Pepi had known him; even when they were kids, Ka’ao had always had a reckless side to him. It had honestly made Pepi’s job harder, having to constantly deter and rescue Ka’ao from danger like the adrenaline addict he was.
It was exhausting.
Exhausting, and yet, exhilarating at the same time.
Whenever he was with Ka’ao, he knew that he’d never be bored; knew that they’d always end up doing something dangerous or outlandish: like the time Ka’ao had dived headfirst into the Zeru River to test out the swimming skills he’d practiced in the palace’s pool. He nearly drowned, and then promptly almost got eaten by a pissed crocodile, forcing Pepi to dive in to save him. It was stupid; Pepi remembered barely holding himself back from chewing Ka’ao out for his stupidity.
But right when he was about to snap, Ka’ao thanked him.
After that day, the future seemed almost dazzlingly bright; like there would never be a dull day in his life as long as he was with Ka’ao.
And it looked like he’d ended up being right about that, but not in the way he wanted.
Constantly running from the military police, killing soldiers, and now, trying to assassinate a Gheraman prince. Ka’ao insisted that he was carefully planning out his moves, but to Pepi, he seemed desperate. Always saying that his only two paths were taking back his throne, or dying, when in reality, there was a third path right in front of him.
“Is something bothering you, Pepi?” Shanti asked, calling Pepi back into reality. “You look…troubled.”
“Just thinking about a…” Pepi paused; a friend? He’d thought of Ka’ao as a friend all this time, and yet he was starting to wonder if Ka’ao had even once thought of him as more than his loyal guard. Shahnti smiled at him, patiently waiting for him to finish his sentence. “My wife. Thinking about my wife.”
“Oh, you have a wife?” Shanti immediately leaned forward with interest. “I had no idea! Does she live in Nihiveh?”
“No, she lives in the capital.” Pepi mumbled; he’d honestly forgotten about her in the midst of all this chaos. When he’d fled the capital with Ka’ao, he’d come to terms with the fact he might never see her again. “Her name is Yebu.”
“You have such a wistful expression on your face when you think about her.” She smiled. “It’s wholesome, is all.”
Now that he’d lied about it, he almost felt guilty. The past month, he’d barely thought about her at all. In all honesty, he barely knew anything about Yebu. They’d been married for six months, but they’d only gotten together because Ka’ao had coupled them up. Yebu was one of Queen Ko’hept’s (Ka’ao’s mother)maids, and according to Ka’ao, had harbored a crush on Pepi ever since they were little. And so with some encouragement from Ka’ao, he’d decided to talk to her.
He wasn’t exactly sure why.
She was as quiet and shy as him, and they’d barely exchanged words for the six months they’d been married.
But her presence was a comfort to him, and vice versa. And a part of him kind of wished she was here, in the midst of all this madness to soothe his worries.
A part of him missed her. As weird as that was.
“Do you want to talk to her?” Shanti asked suddenly; she’d been studying him this whole time with an amused smile. “I can help, if you’d like.”
What?
“How?” Pepi tilted his head; she was all the way in the capital, which was at the easternmost edge of Kurigazu, while Nihiveh was at the westernmost edge of Kurigazu.
“If you give me her last name and where in the capital she resides, I may be able to arrange for a message to be sent to her.” Shanti explained. “So?”
Although he missed her, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear from her. Above all else, even his wife, he had an obligation to protect Ka’ao. If he heard from her now, he might lose sight of what he really needed to do.
….
But then again what was it that he really needed to do?
Help Ka’ao assassinate Pakhar? Follow him to the Underworld to ask the Gods for help? Was that his mission?
Why was he even following Ka’ao in the first place? He was no longer Ka’ao’s guard; he was no longer obligated to protect him. So why had he followed him all this way?
Because Ka’ao was his friend?
Were they friends?
Or was he still just Ka’ao’s guard, following along with his crazy plans, under the guise that they were friends?
Was Ka’ao’s grudge more important than his wife?
Was Ka’ao’s grudge more important than his happiness?
…
“Please do it.” Pepi turned around to face Shanti; he honestly didn’t know the answers to any of those questions.
But he knew the answer to Shanti’s question.
“Please message my wife for me.”