Chapter 65: Chapter 65
Dawn crept in quickly for Shia. She barely slept as she thought of the things they needed to do today. On the other bed next to her, Khalis, presently acting as her lady-in-waiting, stirred.
“Shia, it’s time.”
Shia nodded.
The plan needed to be executed at a specific hour before the wedding. The help that had been promised to them won’t be available until that time came. If they were too early or too late, the king might be able to sense that they plan to escape and stop them. They didn’t want to risk it.
“I’ll check on the void with the mage. You go ahead and get dressed. You need to be present for breakfast and get ready for the wedding ceremony. I’ll be back after breakfast.”
Shia nodded. She hoped in her heart that Langrion remembered the codes they had talked about when they were riding at the back of Gavil’s wagon a few weeks before. She also hoped he had enough sense to use the ring to open up a portal. Otherwise, they’d have to proceed to their next plan, which is breaking into the courtyard prison – a feat that was easier said than done.
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Langrion could not sleep the whole night. He was afraid that if he slept, the tiny opening he had made would be gone. Thus, he had stayed all night, looking at the tiny sliver of light in the air. Thankfully, it had stayed open for him all throughout the night until the morning came.
As soon as he was able to open that tiny sliver of light the night before, he saw a slip of paper passing through it. He fumbled at the piece of paper. Despite the dimness of his cell, he was able to read the words in it as if it was luminous.
Langrion frowned as he looked at the short message he had received:
Keep it small.
This was probably pertaining to the size of the tear he had made, right? He was actually thinking of making the opening bigger so that he could slip through it and hide. However, there must be a reason why he was asked to keep it small. Why don’t they just go and pull him out that instant?
He surmised that something important must be happening outside. He began to wonder: does it concern Shia’s wedding with the king? His closed fist shook at the mere thought of his vile uncle twining his arms around Shia. He thought back at the disgusting way he had looked at her the first time his uncle saw his beloved back in Sensala. If he had indeed forced Shia to take his hand in marriage in account of his imprisonment, then he won’t really hesitate to hurt his own uncle. No wonder Shia had cried so bitterly when she saw him!.. She must have been in so much grief this past week.
Since he didn’t know what was actually taking place around him and what Shia’s actual plan was, he needed to abide by the rule he was given. He gritted his teeth and waited patiently.
As soon as his breakfast had been served in his cell, he received another slip of paper from the tear on the air.
Be ready at one.
That must mean at one o’ clock in the afternoon. Whatever Shia’s plan was, it sounded like everything should be well-coordinated. He just hoped she will be safe until that time comes.
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Breakfast had come and gone smoothly for Shia. The king was pleased to see her that morning, although she cannot say the same for herself. She tried to act as normally as she could to avoid arousing any suspicion from him, but internally, she really couldn’t steady her nerves at all. What if something bad happens? Was this going to work?
She wanted to be confident that their plan could work, but a bad feeling was rising in the pit of her stomach, and she couldn’t help it.
What they had was a rather simple plan: while she is on her way to the Grand Cathedral, the venue for herself and his majesty’s wedding, Langrion would slip by the void using the ring she had fashioned from Freya’s power. Shortly after receiving a signal from the mage, she and Khailis would also slip by the void en route to the cathedral. Mage Silas had already arranged for the Red-Headed Knuckles to meet them in Leer and ultimately, escape to Jazamel.
To be able to avoid being detected, the time that Langrion, Shia and Khailis would disappear should all be synchronized. Otherwise, they would encounter difficulties along the way.
After breakfast, Shia had gotten back to her room. To her surprise though, Lady Khailis had not yet returned. She was supposed to give instructions to Langrey through the void. It wouldn’t have taken her a lot of time to pass messages to him. What was taking her so long then?...
Soon, the servants swarmed in to help her with the wedding preparations. These preparations were supposed to be done with Khailis by her side, but why was she not there yet? Despite Shia’s deepening anxiety, she was forced to take a bath with the servants. She mentally counted how many people were with her. The servants present now were around twenty. If they would get in the way of their plan, that would make things more difficult...
No matter how Shia looked at it, things were not going well. She could only hope that Khalis arrives in time before she boards the carriage going to the Cathedral later on.
After taking a bath, Shia was able to sigh in relief when she saw Khailis standing by the doorway.
“Thank the gods you’re here! Is everything alright?”
She tilted her head and smiled brightly at Shia. “Everything is well. How could it not be?”
Shia’s heart sank. Things did not look good at all...
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Langrion was paying attention to the number of chimes emitted by Gaulane’s bell, signalling the exact hour of the day. Based on the number of chimes, it was eleven in the morning. The last message he had received told him to be ready at one o’ clock. However, he couldn’t help but feel that something was not quite right. Therefore, it wouldn’t be bad if he stayed alert.
Suddenly, Langrion heard a loud thud and the clanging of metals from the outside. What was happening?
He strained his ears, looking for more clues. He did not hear anything more afterwards. That’s weird. He had definitely heard a loud sound, as if something was slammed against the floor. Now, an eerie silence just ensued.
He sniffed the air and coughed violently. Out of the blue, the smell of fire wafted inside his humid cell. A thick smoke came from underneath the heavy door of his cell as well as from the minute window that brought the only light in his room. By the gods of Teotroly, someone had set fire at the courtyard prison, or at least in section of the prison where he was being held!
He was still recovering from the shock of the fire when seemingly out of nowhere, Langrion heard a set of heavy footprint from behind the door of his cell. It stopped shortly by the closed door, but he could hear the heavy panting of breath that escaped from its body. Whoever it was, it didn’t sound too friendly.
Without seeing any other means of escape, Langrion drew a bigger line over the tear he had made last night. It opened a hole big enough for him to enter.
In a few seconds, Langrion was able to slip inside the tear, and he staggered. The void he opened did not look quite right. It was pitch black inside. He couldn’t see anything at all, not even his own two hands and feet.
He took a step forward blindly and groped against the walls of the void for support. Thankfully, there were walls, or it would have been too difficult for him to move. From his recollection, the type of void that the mage made was always roomy and semi-transparent. It usually overlapped with open spaces, allowing ample air and circulation to come through it.
This void, however, was dark, small, slimy, and even smelly. It couldn’t have been more than a few meters in height and width. Langrion could not help but feel that there was something sinister in this void. The floor felt wet and slippery. Sometimes, the ground and walls would shift, as if they were pulsating. Nonetheless, he continued to walk through it. He could only hope that he finds Shia, Khailis, or the mage somewhere inside the horrible place he was in.
After the gods knew when, Langrion saw a flicker of light inside the lightless void. It was only for a quick second, but then, it disappeared.
Langrion froze. From what he saw, it was around fifteen to twenty feet from where he stood. He didn’t know if he should approach it or not. He decided to stop and wait just to make sure his eyes weren’t playing any tricks on him.
After a few minutes, he saw the flicker of light again, as if a small torch was lit, but it disappeared quickly like before. This time, he heard a voice as well.
“Prince Langrion?”
He knew that voice. “Mage Silas?”
“Follow the light. I cannot hold it for a long period of time, or I might irritate the monster.”
“Monster?” Did he hear the mage say the word correctly? “What monster?”
“This monster... I don’t know who had tampered with my magic, but I am guessing it’s someone quite powerful. If my hunch is right, someone had transformed this place into a monster’s stomach, so we have to be careful in treading it.”
Langrion’s heart sank. He was right from the very start. Something was terribly wrong with the void, but who would have guessed it had become the insides of a beast?
“Let’s move quickly and find Shia and Khailis before something bad happens,” the mage replied, as if reading his thoughts.
Langrion nodded to the mage and walked quickly but nimbly inside the transformed void.
Unknown to both the mage and Langrion at that time, another danger was looming over them. Finding his target gone in his cell, Langrion’s beastly pursuer began to thoroughly search his prison. The void that Langrion opened wasn’t only visible just to him. Soon, this pursuer would be able to see it, and he would be able to feverishly follow him, aiming for a kill.