Magnifico

Betrayal

Seth who was riding back to Quinax with a soldier instructed the soldier that they need to rest but the soldier wondered why they would need to rest when they were already close and the General’s life depends entirely on them but he stopped anyway because Seth was his superior. “Hey, take this water and drink, you must be tasty,” Seth said but the soldier replied, “I am not tasty yet”.

“Are you rejecting a gift from your superior? “ Seth inquired but the soldier took the water from Seth and drank it. Seth took the bottle of water from him and went and sat down beside a big rock. Minutes later, the soldier started feeling very tired as though he was poisoned with something or hit by a sword but the soldier knew that he wasn’t hit by a sword so he looked at Seth and Seth was looking right into his eyes.

He knew that something was wrong and Seth must certainly be aware of it. He assumed that Seth is a betrayer and or a spy so he started running with his last strength but Seth quickly drew his bow and placed an arrow in it and fired it directly at the soldier’s back and he killed him instantly. He carried the dead soldier and hid him beside a rock, he mounted back to his horse and started riding back to Quinax. Seth knew that there was no way the General and his men would survive the attack so he had the full confidence that whatever he tells the king of Quinax will be very much believed.

“Open the gates, open the gates, the General sent me,” said Seth as he approached the main gate leading to the capital of Quinax. The gate was opened as the soldiers saw that it was their men that was requesting the gate to be opened. He rode directly to the palace that night and he told the Eunuch to announce his arrival. The Eunuchs announced his arrival to the king and the king requested for Lucas’ presence and he called an emergency meeting that night. They assembled at once at the King’s quarters and the King asked him to identify himself. “ My name is Seth, a commander of the third regiment posted to the northern border since three years ago. I was also picked by the General to fight alongside with him and his men but we were ambushed as we were trying to get home by some invaders who outnumbered us, they killed everyone and also struck the General right at the chest. This is the General’ seal “a Eunuch came and picked the seal from him and gave it to Zulu who looked closely and also gave it to Lucas to confirm if it also belongs to Sun and Lucas was also in agreement that the seal was a personal seal to the General.

The king was deeply touched and he instantly declared three days of mourning the national hero and also immediately promoted Seth to the position of high ranking commander. Lucas was very worried, he didn’t know how he would explain to Amara in a way she will understand that her husband died while returning home from the kingdom of Zuix. He knew that it will even be worse if she hears it tomorrow when the mourning would begin so he thought that it would be a nice idea to let her know beforehand. Lucas went to her daughter’s Quarters, “Hi Amara “ “Hello Dad, wow! You came to see me” she rushed and hugged her father “ Dad, I’m surprised you came to see me, I thought you are a very busy man?” “No, em yeah, I am a busy man but not to you my dear daughter “Lucas was still looking for a way to break the news to her daughter when her daughter asked, “Dad, is everything alright?”

“Yes, I mean no, not that alright but it will be alright"

“What do you mean by that Dad?” she asked.

“Please listen, your husband, em, went to Zuix a few days ago but he, he didn’t, I mean couldn’t make it back, I’m sorry” ‘what do you mean by that?’ she inquired.

‘I don’t really understand what you mean by he couldn’t make it back' she started crying profusely and her father held her by her hands and laid her head on his chest. ‘you understand the risks that come with his job, he died as a hero, he will forever leave as a hero” Lucas said and she couldn’t get hold of herself. “Father, you don’t really understand, I’m pregnant for Sun, who is going to father this child?’’. “Oh dear,” he said, Lucas started shedding tears too and he promised himself not to cry in the presence of his daughter but at this point, he understood why his daughter couldn’t control herself and he couldn’t help it as well. After a few minutes, Lucas left the room and went directly to see Seth. “commander, you are here? Lucas inquired. “yes Sir, I am here, greetings Sir.” ”Please I really want to know the full details of what happened when our army was attacked and how the General was killed.”

Seth wondered why Lucas was reiterating the question after he had successfully convinced everyone that the general had died. “ I told you, we were attacked by an unknown army, they ambushed us and we couldn’t fight them all off and the General lost his life”. But this didn’t convince Lucas who finds it hard to believe that Sun would easily die by being attacked by some kind of unknown bandits.“Do you mean that you absolutely have no idea which or whose army attacked you” Lucas asked? “No, I certainly don’t. If I did, I would have told you, not like I will benefit anything from it” Seth said. Lucas left Seth confused, he didn’t know what to believe in. As much as he didn’t want to believe the story, he had no choice so he had to believe it nevertheless.