Chapter 105: Chapter 105

As soon as Sirion’s declaration was over, Shia was thrown into the courtyard prison, the same place that Langrey had been kept the last time they were in Gaulane.

It was pitch dark and musty, but she didn’t mind it. She had expected this to happen after Sirion had kidnapped her. What she did not expect was for him to pull a trick out of his sleeve like that...

She wondered what Sirion was thinking when he sentenced her to death. He said he wanted all of her, but she didn’t know what that ‘all’ encompassed. If he was hell bent of owning her, why then was he willing to kill her? Why did he also declare Langrion as a threat in front of the citizens of Gascone when he was already proclaimed as king?

Shia felt that Sirion’s proclamation earlier was just bait that was set up for Langrey and for her. She didn’t know why Sirion wanted her powers that badly. Wasn’t he powerful enough on his own? He was able to curse people by himself. Wasn’t that enough to raise his army and rule the entire world?

Somehow, she felt like this was the best time for her to remember her past... If she could only access Freya’s memories, perhaps he would know Sirion’s motives behind his actions.

She sighed deeply. Another thing she was worried about was the friends she had left behind underground. She made sure that she resealed the shield she made before the tentacled monster took her away. Although she was so worried, especially for Khailis who did not have an ounce of magic in her, she hoped they can find a way to escape.

Speaking of escape, there was something that Shia realized just now... She didn’t feel any sort of pain...

She could distinctly remember how sick to the core she felt last time when she visited Langrey inside his cell and how laboured her breathing had been after she entered the gates of Gaulane with the king.

Now, however, she didn’t feel even the slight discomfort while she was there... How can that be?

There was only one possible explanation she could think of at this point: she had broken off from her curse. If so then, how did she break out of Sirion’s grasp? If her hunch was right, maybe she could use this to her advantage and escape from there...

Before she could think more about it, Shia heard the clanking of metal keys and the sound of boots. Someone was coming.

It was no surprise when the small door opened and in came the devil himself to see her.

“How are you, deary? Are you enjoying your new room?”

“I was... until you came,” Shia replied curtly. He was holding a candlestick, which he settled in the nearby table when he came. The hateful face of Sirion in Prince Danterion’s body came into view with the meagre light from the candlestick.

She hated such small, nonsensical chitchats with him. She wanted to go straight to the point. “What do you want, and where are my friends?” She was sure that Sirion had set Gilyan up against them, so that means he will be coming back for her friends, or at least for his servant back there, right?

“Didn’t you see them all get buried alive? Do you want me to dig their dead bodies as proof,” he sneered at her.

Shia charged at the metal rails that separated her from the blasted god before her. She wanted to claw at his face, but he was staying just a little beyond her grasp.

“You – you did that even when your assistant was there? Can you really stomach him getting buried alive there too?”

“What I do with my pawns are none of your business, deary,” he said, moving closer into the rail. He clasped her fingers that were intertwined in the prison bars.

“Let them go, Sirion! Isn’t it enough that you have kidnapped me? Why are you dragging other people into this? And why are you even dragging Langrion’s name into this mess? Didn’t you already win?”

He slipped his hand from the bar and clutched her hair, pinning her face closer into the metal railings that separate them.

“I told you already, didn’t I? I need all of you to belong to me,” he whispered roughly on her ears. “You can’t fully belong to me if that man is still alive, can you?”

“Then how about Khailis and the commander? They didn’t do anything to you? Why are you dragging them into this?”

“I told you I needed your powers, love... What better way to help you grow but through pain,” he said, his fingers moving into her cheeks, caressing them. Shia moved her fingers towards his fingers too, and he dug her nails at them.

“Go to hell, Sirion!”

“I already did, love. Did you enjoy my present while you were there? Now, be a good girl and stay in here until sunrise, okay? Once you shed this mortal body away, you’ll be as good as new, my love,” he said, breaking away her fingers effortlessly from his grasp.

There was one last hope that Shia had for escape, and seeing that Sirion was about to move away, she grabbed her one and only opportunity.

“Prince, won’t you help me,” she whispered. “Help me get out of here...”

Sirion’s face was as cold as stone, but it didn’t matter. If Danterion’s or Danry’s consciousness were still somewhere in there, perhaps that would be enough.

As soon as she finished, Sirion walked towards the door, which promptly opened when he rapped at it. Before he fully exited, he turned around back towards her.

“Once your thousand and one death is over, love, you’ll understand all of this, and I’m sure you’ll thank me for it.”

For the first time, Shia saw a sorrowful tinge in the Ancient Evil’s eyes. That was all he had to say before he left her again in the darkness.

For a moment, Shia’s heart was moved with his sudden display of vulnerability, but as soon as the light was shut away from her face again, she knew that trusting Sirion was not an option.

After all, she was not Freya. She wasn’t bound to love him, and even if she was Freya, she would never waste her final life as a human and fall in his trap again.

She tried to talk to Danterion subconsciously, but she didn’t know if it will work. She proceeded to think of another way out.

******************

The day was still young, and no one in Teotroly wished to sleep, except for Langrion...

They were preparing for a battle in the wee hours of the day, and their preparation time was not enough, but Langrion must prepare for sleep. Everything rests in that tiny moment of slumber. It can make or break their chances of rescuing Shia and Khailis...

Gavil and Langrey actually wanted to attack at that moment, but Queen Argillya shook her head vehemently.

“Are you both planning to lose your heads? You have just been both married right? Well, stay alive and stay married,” she said coldly at them during their meeting early on that day.

“But mother, my Khailis is in danger, I can feel it,” Gavil pleaded.

“Hush, young one. You are in as much danger as your wife. Besides, you told me she was a part of the Imperial Guards, so she isn’t as fragile as you think. Only strong women can carry Pauca eggs, and your wife isn’t an exception.”

Langrion could feel the frustration in Gavil’s body seething through him. He was actually feeling the same hurt in his chest. He felt so powerless and useless that he couldn’t immediately rescue Shia on his own.

Gavil pounded his fist on the table. “Mother, is there no other way? I can’t just stand here brooding over how I can rescue my wife while she’s in much more real danger by the minute!”

The queen sighed. “Alright... If you want something to do, go ahead and train with the soldiers on the ground. Make sure you are fit for tomorrow.”

Gavil protested, “That’s not what I mean!”

“Then what do you mean? Do you want to simply go there and wag your tail at the enemy? There is a greater risk we face, young one. You are the future king of our kind, so even if you wanted to just put yourself out there for your wife, you can’t. You have to be careful of the repercussions of your actions.”

‘Repercussions of the actions my ass,’ Langrion thought. With every second he spent there listening to all this talk of tactics, the more useless he felt. He needed to do something, anything...

“Alright, let’s go train,” Langrion finally said, taping Gavil on the shoulder. They were really better off burning the energy inside of them. Also, he wanted to tell him something important.

The impulsive youth looked back at him wearily. As if he understood what Langrion had really meant to do, he conceded and went with him to the open fields at the back of the Temple of the Gods.

“So why did you want to talk to me,” Gavil said. Langrion can’t believe it. He really was able to read the contents of his mind right!

“You and I - let’s go back there later to rescue them,” Langrion said.

Although they both knew that they needed an army to infiltrate the castle in Gaulane, the thought of Shia and Khailis spending time somewhere they can die anytime is unacceptable.

“That is the best idea I’ve heard today, but how? Everybody here is adamant for me to stay still,” he said weakly. If he wasn’t the prince of his clan, he could have quickly gone to Khailis’ side.

“We fly until we reach it tonight,” Langrion said. “Also, it should be just the two of us; three with my familiar.”

“But why? I’m sure God Templar and God Galahad would also want to help us.”

“No, something’s not right,” Langrion said. “In the first place, how do you think the Ancient Evil was able to infiltrate the temple?”

Gavil opened his mouth as if to say something, but he closed it again and stayed silent. After some time, he started to speak. “Let’s spar with the swords for a while.”

They had reached the small training ground at the back of the temple just then. There was a pile of wooden swords form the side used by the temple knights for their practice.

It was noontime, and after the unexpected battle last night, the knights were deployed to help with the aftermath, leaving the training ground deserted at that particular moment.

Gavil pulled a wooden sword from the pile, and he threw a similar one at Langrion.

The last time Langrion used his sword was on the ship going to Jazamel. Shia had gone back instantaneously for him at that time then. How can he wait for dawn to see her in this instance?

Gavil started to attack him with a wooden sword overhead. Langrion maintained his defensive stance and blocked it.

“So, what you’re saying is there’s probably a spy in our midst,” Gavil whispered just enough for him to hear when their wooden swords collided against each other.

“Uh huh,” he said. “In the time passages, Shia and I found someone else other than the Ancient Evil... It means he had already escaped for quite some time now...”

“Yes, so I’ve heard from your lady wife,” Gavil answered back. There was a certain hardness in his eyes now as he realized the gravity of what that story meant. “Then, we cannot trust anyone other than ourselves in this mission?”

Langrion nodded. “You and I, and Chibi will leave once everyone settles down tonight, but before that, I must try to get some information.”

“Information,” Gavil whispered in exasperation as he made another close attack to the prince. “To whom shall you ask? The God of Darkness himself?”

“Not quite,” Langrion spat. “Although I don’t like it, this time, I’ll have to ask my brother for help...”