A Sorceress From the Future

Chapter Twenty One

A pair of feet shuffled nervously towards the arena. The owner of these feet kept anxiously encircling and releasing the horn they were carrying. They were unnerved and they really couldn’t help the burrow that was swiftly ascertaining itself in their stomach. Upon reaching their destination, the feet suddenly halted. A tingling sensation jolted from the owner’s toe to their limb. The owner of the feet swallowed, then took a deep breath. 

Chi was deathly quiet that morning. There had been rumors roaming about concerning prince Baric’s abduction. They had been confronted by magic before but that had been a long time ago. The vessel had been a cause of fright. The people of Chi had dared to consider themselves unreachable, safe. But with this new development, if they could easily infiltrate their walls…what did this mean for them? Would there be a war? Their prince had been taken, surely they could not sit by and let them harm the poor lad? And where was King Matthias? 

At the sound of the mourning horn. Women dashed to the arena and began wailing. Men followed suit at a slower pace, approaching the summoning grounds with a distinct heaviness in their step. Children hid in their houses, their eyes glassy with dreadful tears. The horn that had been blown was special; it was only used when a regal passed on. The crowd that had now formed in the arena shifted nervously, their faces etched with an inevitable loss. They had known magical creatures to be vile but why abduct and kill a prince who had caused them no harm? Young Baric hardly ever left his chambers. The maidservants had spread the rumor of his stuttering. It was almost unbelievable how drastically he had changed. Once long ago the people had thought that he would fight his brother for the throne when the time came. He had been a wild, ambitious man. Lately he had only been a shell of himself and now, now he was dead at the hands of those malignant creatures.

The large doors to the palace creaked open and a procession emerged. The people immediately began scouting for the face of their king. They wished to comfort him, they wished to communicate their condolences. If need be, they would offer up their children and able men to avenge Prince Baric’s death. Perhaps this will serve as a cruel reminder to the king that mages could not be trusted. Rumors of King Matthias being friendly to a witch had left the people unsettled. Some had even theorized that their king had been struck by a love potion. All those seasons that he had spent alone, without a companion must have drawn him to the sorceress especially after she healed him. The king should have issued her execution immediately after recuperating from that abhorring spell. Because that was what it had been, a spell.

“Where is the king?”

“I cannot spot him either…”

“Perhaps he is mourning Prince Baric. The poor man has lost so much already…”

“I agree but still, since when does he send Dawson to address us? Where is Prince Lucas?”

Murmurs filled the air as Dawson and the elders approached the arena. Dawson heard some of these murmurs, the people thought that it was Baric’s death that had summoned them to the arena. If only they knew that their beloved king was no more. He simply could not wait to reveal this little truth to them. A sad kingdom was a vulnerable kingdom. The people would be engulfed with loss and soon they would start feeling lost especially when they find out that precious Luke was outside the walls where magical creatures could devour him at any given moment. The throne would be empty, the people of Chi would beg for him to sit on it. Dawson hoped his father was seeing how conniving his son was.

“What exactly are you planning to tell them?”

"The truth Stephen…”

“But we do not know anything! All we know is that the king trudged into the room while we were having a secret meeting, saw us and collapsed on the ground dead!”

“What are you implying Sabrina? That betrayal suddenly kills people?”

Sabrina opened and closed her mouth successively. She knew she was not being reasonable but really nothing was making sense as of now. The king was dead, Chi had been infringed, Baric had been abducted and Luke was somewhere outside the walls facing tremendous danger. The throne was empty and Sabrina was certain Dawson would be going after it. Sabrina squeezed her husband’s hand, he had always been the brilliant one. Perhaps he knew how they could save Chi from an avarice-oriented leader.

“Listen to me Dawson, I know what you are after and this is not the way to get it…The elders can properly swear you in in the absence of the royal family but what you are about to do-“

“And what do you suppose I am about to do Stephen?”

They had reached the edge of the arena. Dawson darted his eyes around them; he didn’t want some nosy citizen overhearing the elder’s moral compass. Stephen squeezed his wife’s hand, he was doing everything in his power to contain his anger. He had a reputation of letting his rage consume him.

“Cause chaos so that the people beg you to lead them…”

Dawson bit the inner sides of his cheeks, it was as if Stephen had the ability to read minds. Oh well, if indeed he could see through his thoughts then he did know that there was nothing he could do to stop him, right?

“Unfortunately, I do…”

Dawson lost his footing as he climbed the two steps leading to the arena. Had Stephen read his mind or did he just possess a readable face?

“What was that?”

“What?”

Sabrina aggressively detached her hand from Stephen’s. Her nostrils were flaring.

“Do you want to be hanged?”

“And leave you to be a widow? Never!”

Husband and wife stared at each other for a while before their lips began quirking comically upwards.

“Dawson is not intelligent enough to expose my secret…”

“You underestimate the very man who is about to sit on Chi’s throne…”

Stephen sighed, Sabrina was right. Dawson would actually manage to sit on the throne after all. 

“We need to leave Chi, track down Luke and Baric and bring them here before it is too late…”

Sabrina looked away, tears were swiftly forming in her eyes.

“We both know we cannot leave Chi unguarded. One of us has to stay behind and monitor the power crazed fool. It was what we promised her…”

Stephen swirled around to argue his case but before he could open his mouth, Dawson began addressing the people. 

Stephen swallowed his retort and perked his ears. He could convince Sabrina to leave with him later.

“People of Chi, I bring you devastating news…King Matthias is…I am afraid our king is…”

Stephen watched in utter repugnance as Dawson dropped to his knees and buried his head in his hands. Sabrina hissed when Dawson actually began wailing. One by one the people of Chi mirrored Dawson’s actions. Soon the air around arena was engulfed with moans for even though Dawson had not uttered the devastating news, the people already had a clue what the end of his statement had entailed.

King Matthias was dead.