//Chapter 37//
1048 Words
I stood in front of the king. He stared down at me, trying to see through me like he always did.
"So, you are telling me that you are abandoning your mission and following the Crown Prince just because you have a hunch."
Well, if he put it that way, yeah. "Not abandoning, Your Majesty." I said, trying to be polite. "As soon as I made sure they have succeeded the mission without any problem, I would come back. It won't take that long."
"Explain it to me clearly." He sat back on his throne. "I want to see your thought process."
"I'll be quick, then." I said. "I don't want the second prince to know what I am doing."
"That, too. Tell me your thought process. Exactly what is going on?" He asked.
"Is there a way for you to stop Savin from coming in?" I asked. "This may take a little while."
He called a guard and told him to not to let anyone else inside. The guard bowed and left, leaving me alone with the king again.
"So," I started. "The insfi stone mining and crafting is under the control minister Nave of Rawen. He is... let's just say he is not a good person. He went on as far as to made our own citizens slaves for profit."
I paused, remembering Warren's anger when he found out that his lost father was among those slaves. I could not let the memory consume me. I bit my inner lip. Pain can come later. Right now, I had a story to tell.
"Back when my father ruled, he said he was not using slaves. But me and my friends found out some ledgers with proof. They were filled with illeagal slave tradings and thievery and all the other crimes you could imagine. We wanted to stop it, so we created our own organization, but we were brought down. All of my friends were killed, except for prince... king Surren."
"Who hates you for some reason." The king stated. I nodded.
"Back then, we wanted to relieve the slaves. We snuck in to his mines and properties, disguised. But they were somehow enchanted. The moment we tried to even touch them, they began to yell and scream, calling for help. It was like they were being controlled by someone else."
I remembered the time we found Warren's dad in one of the mines. He had wanted to take him out immeadietly, but he had taken his axe and had tried to kill Warren instead. He did not recognize his own son at all.
"If Resh has the ability to use magic, it won't be a problem. He can make himself appear friendly and that won't trigger any alarm. But since he can't..."
"There is a chance this whole mission could fail and he would be captured by Rawen." The king finished my sentence for me. "Let me ask you one thing. You were the one who suggested this mission all along. Why didn't you think of this before?"
Now, that was a tough question. How can I say that I was thinking about Savin and how his lips felt against mine?
"Well, it's the other thing I want to talk to you about." I said, bracing myself. This was way harder than talking about attacks and Rawen. Somehow, I was sweating and fidgeting.
"I'm listening." The king said. He really knew how to put pressure on people without even trying.
"It's... about Savin." I bit my inner lip again. I could feel a drop of sweat running on my back. "I... he... um. He and I... kind of have feelings for each other."
I've never felt this much loss of words in my entire life.
He did not say a word. Silence stretched, and I felt like I needed to say something to fill it. I took a deep breath, willing some courage in to my voice. "I can't be with him, Your Majesty. I can see some fragments of the future events. It changes when I started opening up to your son. Now, in every dream I see, he is gone. I am terrified of that."
"I see." He looked thoughtful. I waited for him to say something, this time waiting as patiently as I can. "You have the gift to dream just like all the Rawyers, it seems. Resh has that too." He closed his eyes, as if thinking through everything.
"I appreciate your concern about my son." He finally said after a minute or two silence. It may not have been a long pause, but it felt like a lifetime to me. "And I understand your need to stay away from him. Fine. You have my permission to help out Resh on his mission. Bring me good resaults."
I bowed from my waist. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
"One more thing." He said. I looked up at him. "Your friend, Surren. He is not of royal blood, is he?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." I replied, wondering where this was going.
"Then take him down." He said lazily. "It is a disgrace to have an imposter on the throne when the rightful heir is smuggling stones from the country. The heir has a duty to protect your kingdom. You are of Rawen and Elkelyn, so you share the burden to both kingdoms. If you take him down, there will be no more war."
I stared at him. This was the second time he left me speechless in less than ten minutes. What he said actually made a lot of sense.
"I... I am afraid of people dying." I said. "I feel like it's better if I am locked up somewhere."
"That just means you are a coward." He said dismissively. "Two years ago, when you came here, I thought you were a fighter. Now I can see that the Eternal Prison can dim even a blazing soul like yours."
I gritted my teeth and looked down. I wanted to protect my kingdom. I wanted everyone I loved to be safe. There were slaves in my city, waiting to be rescued.
But... to go against Daniel...
"Think about it." The king said. "Now go ahead before my son comes."
I bowed again and walked away, without saying anything.
- Writer
