PART IV: Smoke Signals
After the Viziers' court finished, King Leofric was escorted back from the throne room in the newly constructed Silver Keep to his home in the Ancient Golden Palace.
On his way back, along with his Golden Guards and soldiers at the darkest hour of the night, the streets were empty, the sound of the hooves echoing through the streets. After a long and messy political day, he was greeted at the entrance by a few attending guards and servants. As the Golden Guards and soldiers all retired to their quarters and homes, so did the king.
As he walked through the empty halls of the palace, his steel-plated boots echoed through the hallways, announcing his arrival to his wife, who was patiently waiting for his return in their room.
"Welcome back, Leo." She said as she sat in front of the mirror removing her earrings.
"Hello, Sylvia." He started removing his heavy steel armor. "Thank you for waiting for me," he said as he removed his chest plate.
"It is fine, Leo—it is my duty, after all." She answered back without looking at him, as she started removing the rest of her makeup.
"And the kids?" he asked as he removed the last piece of armor and started wearing his night clothes, which were laid out on the bed for him.
She looked at him, then paused and answered, "They waited, well, as long as their small bodies were able to fight sleep." She smiled slightly.
He let out a small laugh. Then just as he crept into his bed, and she finished removing her makeup and readied herself to go to sleep, the king closed his eyes. A sudden knock forced them open again.
"Your majesty, I beg your pardon." A voice came from behind the doors—it was one of the guards.
The king sighed, then asked, "Yes, guard, what is it?" without leaving his bed yet, hoping to dismiss the matter to a different day.
"Apologies, your majesty. You have a guest. It is Lord Sao Loras." The guard answered.
"Send someone to tell him to visit another day, and let us both rest today," the king ordered as he fell back to his bed and shut his eyes.
"Well... Ahem, he is here... in the guest chambers, waiting for you, your majesty." The guard answered.
Leofric sighed again. Then Sylvia asked, "Are you going to make your guest wait, Leo? Go. I shall warm your side of the bed until you finish your business," as she laid down beside him.
He let out a small laugh at her joke before standing up and going out with the guard.
After reaching the guest chambers, Leofric opened the door, denying the guard his job, then immediately asked, "Lord Sao, could this not have waited till sunrise?"
Sao was seated on a couch awaiting Leofric's arrival. He stood up and answered, "I am afraid not, your majesty. I wish to discuss the terms of our agreement."
"I thought we both agreed on the terms. What is there more to discuss, young lord?" Leofric asked as he took a seat.
"The details," Sao answered back as he took a seat again with the permission of the king.
"For example, how exactly do you wish to search for my prince amidst all this chaos in your kingdom?" Sao asked.
The king sighed and answered, "A bounty."
"A bounty? And what guarantee is there that the people bring him to you alive, King Leofric?" Sao asked with an annoyed expression.
"A letter will be sent to every noble house, minor or not, in this whole kingdom. The bounty will exceed a thousand golden coins, and most importantly, the prince shall be treated with respect and care, and his appearance should be reported to the closest guard, soldier, or knight. That is the only way for them to claim the coin," the king responded.
"Coin as a safety measure for my prince's safety? What do you take me for, King Leofric? The people will dye the heads of every infant white, yellow, black, or whatever and bring it to you. That is inefficient. Instead, ask the nobles to invest soldiers and find the boy without mentioning anything about his appearance or anything."
Sao answered back.
"With what spare soldiers? Most of the noble houses already sent their children to the fronts, and the remaining are left behind to defend against this plague as well as bandits and thieves," Leofric said with a firm tone.
Sao pondered for a second, then he responded with excitement, "We don't."
Leofric sighed, then asked, "We don't what?"
"We don't search for him," Sao responded as he was lost in thought.
"Are you mocking me? First you are willing to trade for peace, saving the lives of thousands, and now you tell me you don't want to look for him anymore? Do I take this as the deal being called off, young wolf?" Leofric asked as he stared Sao down with a mean look.
"No, your highness—we don't look for him. We make him come to us. Instead of investing the time and resources needed to look all around the plague-infested Stella for him, we simply place a beacon telling him I am here and looking for him."
Sao responded, as he finished his thoughts and met Leofric's mean gaze with a firm look of his own.
Leofric's expression lightened as he was lost in his own thoughts. "And how would this beacon look like?" he asked after a small moment.
"Well, I think it would need to be heard of all over Stella, without exception. After all, he could be anywhere. Then I think it needs to be a place, or a person... No, that wouldn't work," Sao responded before losing himself in thought again.
Then suddenly, Sao broke the silence again. "A group of people, searching for someone, and we should call them something only me and him know."
Leofric nodded—it made sense. If it was a place, it would be hard to make everyone care enough to hear of it now with the plague roaming Stella, and if it was a person, it would be strange, and Nex might brush it off as a coincidence and move on. However, if it was a group of people looking for someone, Nex might get the message clearly—that message being, "It is me, Sao."
Leofric crossed his arms, then asked, "And do you think your little eleven-year-old prince is smart enough to understand that message, young wolf?"
Sao locked eyes with Leofric, then without missing a beat responded, "Without a doubt. Nex is not one of those spoiled royals you meet from around the kingdoms—he is the youngest imperial prince, and son of Sword Princess Aurora. He will become, without a doubt, the wisest and strongest emperor this world has ever seen."
Leofric chuckled then asked, "And what is the name of this... search party?"
"Devil's Gaze." Sao responded.
Leofric stood silent for a moment, then chuckled again, looked at the golden ceiling, then looked back down at Sao. After covering his laughter with his hand, he said, "Excuse me, young lord... Well, I shall make it happen when the sun rises."
Sao stood up to leave, but the king's words sat him back down.
"Leaving already, young lord?" Leofric asked.
"Yes, we have discussed—" Before Sao even finished his words, he realized his mistake—he had come here to discuss the details of the deal, not a favor.
Sao sat back down, and Leofric asked, "Well then, young lord, I am intrigued. How exactly are you going to convince the oath breaker to come to peace terms with us?"
Sao's eyes were filled with quiet rage as he answered back, "Watch your tongue. Do not insult my emperor, child king."
Sao knew his threats were useless against the strongest knight alive. However, he also knew how much Leofric hated that title.
Keeping his composure, Leofric showed only slight annoyance at Sao's words, and he moved on. "I apologize, young lord—it is just, I am so used to calling him that since he broke a long-standing seven-hundred-year-old oath. But maybe I am too traditional, and maybe these days people do not like holding on to their oaths."
"You do not have to worry about the emperor—me and my father shall deliver you your peace, the peace you and your people long for so much," Sao responded with a clear hint of sarcasm that Leofric picked up on.
Leofric stayed silent for a bit, then he broke the silence with words that stayed in Sao's mind for the rest of his life. "Well, I guess if your dog emperor did not break his oath, Nex—the emperor you swore your allegiance to—wouldn't have been born. So maybe it is a good thing to have a dishonest and lying emperor so down the line we get the wisest and strongest emperor... ever."
Sao stood up, clenching his fist behind his back as his expression carried a seamless change that even Leofric couldn't pick up. "I think we are done here for today, your majesty. You—no, we should rest, and we will continue the discussion of peace whenever Nex is found."
And as Sao walked away towards the door, Leofric muttered just loud enough so that Sao could hear him as well, "All he had to do was restrain himself to one child, but I guess too many women were fond of him."
Sao walked out without looking back, and Leofric sat there. After a small moment, Leofric sighed as he realized that Sao and he were both on the same side.
Then he ordered the guard, "Guard, get me the messenger by the morning—I need to send out a message to all nobles." Then Leofric stood up and walked back to his chambers, as the sound of the owls filled the streets.
And as the moon lit up the streets of Kalaa, the next morning's sun rose in the northwest of Kalaa—in the Sunrise estate—Countess Ghufran opened the letter from her king, demanding the search for Nex under the name Devil's Gaze and his safe return to the capital of Stella.
The Countess calmly read it, and with each line she understood how deep in the mud she was. Her crimson eyes stared at the parchment as if seeing blood.
Meanwhile, on the northern frontlines, blood dripped from Andy's sword as he cleaned it of imperial blood. He read aloud the letter his mother had sent him the night prior through his personal knight and friend, Isvand: "To Andy, from your mother. The boy and the infant are heading your way up north from the nameless forest. Go search for them. I need them alive."
That same night, Andy obeyed his mother's commands and took with him his loyal men, and rode south to the nameless forest to find and capture Nex.
And while the fires of the torches lit up the road for them, Mars's fiery yellow eyes had been looking around the empty post that Commander Riger and the Silver Knights had left behind, along with Tazan, Actaeon, and the survivors.
Upon witnessing the bodies of the Gallery victims that the Silver Knights burnt, Mars ordered his men, "Send a letter to every one of the High Knights that are currently in the empire. Upon sight, slaughter the pig." And as his men kept marching towards the capital of the empire, Vaelthrone, stepping on the green grass—the same color as the banners of the High Knights that flew high above Lumen.
And sitting beneath them in the ever-peaceful stronghold of Lumen, the Chieftain of the High Knights sat in his office, reading the letter and ordering the few remaining High Knights in Lumen to scatter and search for the missing Andras Boltmot.
And while the Chieftain wrote letters to the rest of the seventeen High Knights with Mars's commands, in the governor's office in Lumen sat Tywin, who had just been sitting alone, thinking of a reply to the letter he received from his daughter at the southern frontlines, Athena.
Tywin stood there in his office by the window, watching snow fall on his beloved city. He called over the guards, his cane rested beside him. "Guard, bring me paper and ink." And as the dark ink slowly filled the paper with her father's orders, urging her to leave her title as commander of the southern frontlines and head back home.
Athena's helmet was stained by the dark old blood that had remained on her armor since her defeat at the hands of Andy and Isvand a day and a half ago. Now she stepped through the mud and dirt to return to her tent and clean herself up.And with each loud step through the mud, the dirt and mud flew up to her knees.
Far away and yet going through similar conditions, Riger and his Silver Knights took the tunnels back to Stella, along with Tazan, Actaeon, and the Death Company, and survivors of the post.
And as soon as they stepped out of the tunnels, they were greeted with more Silver Knights guarding the secret tunnels. Commander Riger ordered immediately, "Send a message to his majesty, King Leofric: The Silver Knights have executed our mission perfectly, and we stumbled upon refugees of war that we brought with us."
He then signaled for one of the Silver Knights closer and whispered, "Tell him Nex, the youngest prince of the empire, crossed into Stella days ago. We need to look for him, and if we find him, we can bring peace to Stella."
And while the pigeons carrying letters from Kalaa to every city and village of Stella flew out, only two of them returned with letters. King Leofric read the first one he got, Countess Ghufran's letter stating: "From a humble Countess to your majesty, I am sorry to inform you that the person you are looking for has been found dead in the nameless forest three days ago. He was being chased by imperial forces. We were too late to help him, and back then we had no idea who he was and that he needed help. I regret to be the one to inform you of this, but the Prince of the empire is truly dead this time."
And while King Leofric sat there on his throne with his face resting on the palm of his hand, reading the Countess's letter, a guard came in. "Your majesty, a letter from Commander Riger, finally."
The guard paused as he saw Leofric's face filled with rage and annoyance. He replied, "Place it down, and send a reply to Commander Riger, Sao Loras, and Countess Sunrise. Summon them to the Golden Palace tomorrow night. Tell Lord Sao I have news about Nex, and Riger—I wish to know a detailed report about the mission I gave him—and the Countess... tell her nothing... She will know why she is being summoned. Send them those exact summons."
As soon as the guard stepped out of the throne room, King Leofric was left by himself. He sighed, threw the letter on the ground, and stood up. He looked down at the letter from the Countess and asked himself, "Why? Why must everything turn to ruins every time I am close to achieving peace in this accursed kingdom?"
Far from the comfortable thrones, houses, or even people, in the nameless forest northwest of Stella, Nex had been traveling for almost two full days. And as the rain constantly poured from between the tree leaves, Nex's journey had left him sleepless, tired, and scared—not for his life, but as the sound of rain grew louder, Nex hugged the small infant Amal to his chest, as he feared for her, from everything.
As he sat beneath the tree, waiting for the cruel rain to calm, he dozed off every now and then, holding the child without a weapon. And every time he dozed off, the sound of wings cutting through the wind woke him up—flying around him and the tree, waking him, then standing there staring at him. The eyeless crow, protecting him from the closing dangers of the nameless forest.
The smell of burnt wood crept through the smell of rain, as smoke filled the sky from between the trees. Nex, seeing this, knew his only option would be heading there, looking for people. Even if he couldn't trust them, maybe if he followed them from afar, they could lead him to a village or a town. Nex stood up, hugged the child, and started heading towards the smoke.
The crow went ahead of him without warning him, and so Nex knew he wasn't in immediate danger. But with every tree he passed, closing in on the smoke, the air was filled with a different smell—one he had smelled in the village of Lif.
And as he finally got close enough to see the source of the fire, he realized it was no campfire. It was larger, burning at least as tall as the trees around it, and as big as a carriage. He looked around the fire and saw no one was watching it. The rain was pouring hard, but the fire was raging beyond control—even if buckets of water were poured on it, it wouldn't have calmed.
And finally, the smell crept through his nose, along with the screams of the dead bodies that were being burnt. He froze, covering the infant's nose lightly and leaving a few gaps so she could breathe. He did not want Amal to be used to this smell. He stepped from between the trees while looking around, and as he finally stepped close enough, he saw the strings, the decayed bodies, the eyeless and lifeless shells screaming in agony as they were being burnt.
Nex ran away from the burnt bodies—the smell and screams had woken him right up and made him run like he had run when he was being chased by Pelon Greyhound.
And after what felt like hours of running, Nex calmed down. He sat beneath a tree again and watched as the rain calmed, and the drops from the leaves lingered before they fell. Then suddenly, smoke started rising to the sky from his right far away, then his left, then behind him, and soon the skies of the forest would be filled with smoke. That told Nex all he needed to know. He hugged Amal one last time before going to sleep beneath the tree.
But his rest would not be for long, as he was awakened by a familiar voice.
Wake up...
Wake up...
Follow...
The crow's voice rang in Nex's head. As he woke up from his little rest, he stood instantly and followed the eyeless crow with trust and without questioning it.
Nex followed the crow for hours, walking whenever the rain would calm, and resting his eyes whenever it poured heavily, and soon, Nex would be on the verge of returning to the empire, his home, where he would finally learn the fate of his friends.