Magnifico

we hunt him

The sound of the Manora's box and the scroll both stolen sounded like a heavy drum in Jonas's ears. He couldn’t believe it, he wondered why he didn’t think of something like that when he saw Kylian there in the morning. He suddenly remembered that Kylian had blamed him as the principal cause of what has happened to him and his kingdom. He also remembered that he was also blamed for all the things happening recently. He knew there is no way he could have fathomed what Kylian was up to because he was trying to save his face and shame before anything else.

“Look, there is a letter,” King Zulu said as he picks up a letter he found just at the table close to the drawer. It was carefully placed and used a red ribbon to wrap it. He untied and he saw it was addressed to him.

“What letter?” Sun asked as he looked closely at the king.

“I think it was addressed to me” king Zulu. The General and Jonas came closer to the king to see the content of the letter.

The king looked inside to see what was written and it goes as follows:

Dear king Zulu!

I am sorry it has to be this way but there is nothing much I could have done about it.

I believe now you would have noticed that I have taken your scroll and your box. Well, I have to.

At least since I don’t have any other things I can call my own so, taking those won’t be a bad idea.

King Zulu, you are the main cause of what had happened to my kingdom and you even contributed, though unknowingly. If you had honoured my invitation, maybe things wouldn’t have turned out the way it did. But now, everything is gone, Magnifico took away my hope, my dear families, my kingdom, all I have left is myself and this book. It will serve as my bargaining power and this will forge a new part for me when I go out there in the wild. If you Zulu had given me what I have requested from you, things wouldn’t have turned this way. You should take the whole blame for this that I did and please, don’t come looking for me because you won’t find me.

I will miss the kingdom of Quinax, their good food, your classy army General and also the comfort I enjoyed therein. I want to thank you for that because I don’t think I will have the opportunity ever again to see you.

Bye-bye King Zulu

“No. No. No. This is not good. This doesn’t look good at all. This isn’t Kylian, does he actually know what we went through to get those things?” Sun asked, his mind restless.

Allowing the letter to freefall to the ground, the king exhaled a deep breath. It has been confirmed Kylian took the scroll and the box away but the question is where. Where could he have taken it? Which kingdom would he head to first? The king was thinking and thinking deep but couldn’t pinpoint a particular place. He can’t predict Kylian because he had barely spent a few days with him and in the few days, he didn’t have much time to talk to him. But the king had always suspected that Kylian blames him for what had happened to his kingdom. He is quite aware of this but didn’t know he would go to this level to get back at him for what he failed to do for him.

“Where could he have gone to?” King Zulu asked aloud.

“We can’t say for sure but I think there might be a way to look for him. I think we should commence search as soon as possible because the sooner we do so, the easier to close in on him.” Jonas said, with a relaxed voice to calm everyone down.

“That’s a nice idea. We are going to do just that. I think Jonas and I should begin our journey possibly today so we could find him on time.” Sun said confidently.

“That would be nice. It won’t be easy so we are not going to pretend about it. I think you all should prepare while I invite the court to give a formal good luck message to you both.”

“Alright my King. I need to get home, I will be back in the palace as soon as I am done. Jonas I would want you to do the same.” Sun said, Jonas nodded and didn’t say a word. The three of them left the court and the king called for an emergency meeting in the courthouse. Jonas went straight to his lodgings to get his things together, he was ready for this journey. He knew they won’t be coming back to Quinax if they find Jonas instead, they will take the scroll and head straight to Sytrits.

The General was already back home, Amara was done cooking and Elizabeth had already left to her lodge just close to theirs after she had laid Grizler to bed. Coming inside, Sun saw Amara stitching up her torn gown… “Hi dear,” the General said as he walks closer to her where you were sitting.

“Where have you been? Aren’t you supposed to be done with what you told me wanted to do since then?” she asked unhappily.

“Hey! I am sorry. Something else came up and this one is very important.”

“like it’s never important.” She sighed.

“This time around, it is more important than you think,” Sun said.

“Ok what is it this time?” she asked.

“The scroll is gone, it has been stolen.”

“What? By whom?” she asked surprisingly.

“It was stolen by Kylian. He took the scroll and the manora's box away and nobody knows where.”

“You people shouldn’t have trusted him you know. How come the scroll was kept carelessly like that?” she asked with her chin curled in anger.

“Well, it has been stolen already,” Sun said.

“So what are you and the king planning to do about it?” she asked.

“We are going to find him. Jonas and I are leaving today. We don’t know where we will find him so we won’t be coming back anytime soon.” Sun said.

“You are leaving again. That’s not fair" She said, dissatisfied…

“It is part of my job and duty as a trusted General of King Zulu. You need to understand that this is very important, not only to our kingdom but also to our son's future. I don’t want to leave in a kingdom where I would be ruled by a beast and my son, won’t have a future. We need to find that scroll because it is very important to everyone in Quinax, to the king, to our future.” Sun explained.

“Alright… who will be coming with you and how do you intend to start looking for him? Or will you be going alone?” she asked.

“I will be going with Jonas but I don’t think that would be enough but I have to see how things will pan out. To be honest, I don’t know where to start from but Jonas seems to have a good lead" Sun said. Hearing this, Amara frowned.

“And you are going to trust him?” she asked disappointingly.

“I don’t have a choice. We have got to trust someone because we can’t rely on ourselves to achieve some things. That is why I have to trust him, any lead on Kylian, worth a try.”

Considering what Sun just said, Amara knew there was nothing much she could do to change it or to change Sun's mind because it was already made up. The water had already been spilled and the deed had been done so all she could do was to support her husband.

“Alright, I can’t stop you but there is one thing you need to do for me. You are not permitted to die therefore, you should do everything possible to come back to your wife and son.” She said with eyes as red as blood. The realities of the journey had dawned on her like a stroke of red hot rod, she has understood that it is a matter of life and death. Sun couldn’t help it but hug her when he saw tears hanging in her eyes.

“Do not fret, I will be back. And I must come back with a positive result.” Sun explained. Hugging Sun tightly, she said “Just don’t disappoint me. We are waiting for you.”

Sun leaned backward, stood up, and went to his wardrobe to select the wears he would be needing. He packed few clothes and he went straight to where Grizler was laid to bed. He caressed him and kissed him. After saying goodbye, he left for the palace. When he got to the palace, Jonas and the lawmakers were there already.

“Finally, the General is here.” The King announced. He came to the front, just beside Jonas who was opposite the King. Also beside Jonas was Viruz, who was standing with his two hands crossed. The king continued “Gentlemen of the court as I announced, the scroll has been stolen by Kylian. The General, Jonas, and this commander Viruz are three people whom I have chosen to find king Kylian and the stolen scroll. They will be going forth into the journey of the unknown so that is why I deem it worthy and necessary to make a formal announcement about their journey away from our land. They deserve to be formally celebrated and hailed for their bravery and the journey ahead of them is not something that would benefit them alone but all the people in Quinax and beyond.” Everyone paid attention and also, Lucas who was present and was at the left side of the line also listening attentively to what the King was saying.

“May you three kneel, and General Sun should lean forward,” Zulu said pointing at them. Kneeling, the General came closer to the king as directed, the king stood up and brought out his sword, he placed it upon the General's head and said “You General, the highest commander of my military, may the blessings of the people of Quinax be upon you. You will go and you will come back unscathed. You are too delicate to us to be on this journey but we don’t have a choice but you must never allow harm come your way. Rise!!!” the king said. He also gave his blessings to Jonas and Viruz and told them to do anything and everything possible to stay alive and bring back good results. They all packed their bags and headed to where their horses were kept. It had already been brought closer to the courthouse. All the officials came outside too, to watch them depart. There were three horses and they all mounted and left.