Chapter 73: Chapter 73

“Why does my back feel so cold?” Shia mumbled.

Langrion dared not to speak. He simply put his cape around her back and rested his arms on her tightly, shielding her from the chilly morning wind.

“Just put this on for the meantime. It’s still very early. You might catch a cold.” he quickly said.

Thankfully, she wasn’t able to catch the guilty look in Langrion’s eyes. After helping her take a quick bath by the river, he offered to close the back of Shia’s dress for her, but to his surprise, he saw that almost all of the buttons of her dress had fallen away. He didn’t really know how, but maybe it had something to do with him the night prior. He couldn’t just bring himself to tell Shia that she was missing more than half of the buttons, especially at the lower parts of the dress.

“It’s alright. I’ll get changed at the tent. We’ve prepared some clothes beforehand. It should already be at the tent,” Shia said, smiling back at him.

The two of them crept back by the campsite in the wee hours of the morning. Langrion had half-hoped that someone else was standing guard when they get back, but he was really unlucky. He caught a glimpse of Khailis’ figure with her auburn ponytailed hair, sitting by the fire a few paces before they even arrived.

“Next time, do tell me if you’re planning to go out. I was dying of worry that you’d all been eaten up by some monster in the woods!” Khailis hissed when they were close enough for her to berate.

“We’re so sorry,” Shia said, her face all red.

“We were together, so you shouldn’t have worried,” Langrion said curtly. He felt as embarrassed as Shia, but he was better at hiding these things than her.

“Which is exactly why I was so worried! How brazen of you, dear prince, to come running off with her! Didn’t you know your voices can get carried by the wind easily? It was a good thing the sleeping tents were way over there. I had to suffer volunteering all night to stay on guard just to cover for the both of you! Next time make sure you are a thousand miles from camp, alright?” Khailis replied, looking as if she was about to lose her temper.

Shia and Langrion’s faces were both in deep scarlet after hearing her out. They couldn’t think of any other words to say.

“You go ahead and get some sleep, Khailis. I’ll stay on guard now,” Langrion said after a while, his voice more apologetic.

“Thank you. You get some sleep too, Shia. I’m sure you’ve had it rough,” Khailis said, rising quickly before Langrion could change his mind.

Langrion’s face was as hard as a rock. He was relieved that it was Khailis who was lecturing him about these things, and not someone else.

Shia’s face, however, was still red. In truth, she could not wish for anything else at that moment but for the earth to swallow her whole. She scolded herself internally for letting Langrion into coaxing her to do that deed by the river side. How can she have the courage to face Khailis and everyone else in camp now?

“I’ll stay here... I’m not sleepy...” Shia said to Langrey, seemingly afraid that she would bump into someone else at the tent.

“It’s alright. Go ahead and get changed. I’ll sleep later, don’t worry,” Langrion whispered, trying to soothe her nerves. He liked the fact that he could somehow read what she was thinking today. It made him feel closer towards his beloved.

After some more enticement from Langrey, Shia finally agreed. She trudged back to camp.

Looking at her disappearing figure, Langrion scratched his head. Shia would probably get upset once she finds out that her clothes had lost most of its buttons. He should be ready for her wrath later on...

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

The next two days were consisted of a simple cycle of eating, camping out, and sleeping. After completing the purchase or horses at Liddraele, they had to make up for the delay in their journey by riding the horses as fast as they could. Because Shia didn’t know how to ride horses, she had shared a ride with Langrion. Langrion insisted she stayed in front of him, but she always felt a tad uncomfortable in this position, especially when Mage Silas would glance at them from time to time.

Shia still hadn’t gotten the opportunity to thank Mage Silas – or Galahad, as she more comfortable called him – for all his help. He had made their escape possible and had trained her hard to wield enough of Freya’s power so that she could fashion out the ring that opened the void for Langrey. He had contacted the Red-Headed Knuckles in her behalf, and he had extricated them from Sirion’s grasp when they were trying to escape the day before.

She was really thankful to him from the bottom of her heart, and yet she always felt guilty and suspicious of him when their eyes meet. Perhaps it was because she knew he still loved Freya, but she could never give even a tenth of that love back to him as Shia. She doubted if Freya could return that passion too. If the Goddess or Light had loved Sirion time and again, wouldn’t that mean Freya only had eyes for Sirion? Then, that means Galahad had to endure seeing his beloved fall for someone time and again, but why did he choose to stay beside her, then? What was his reason? Was his love that strong, or was Freya just a wretched goddess who did not care if someone like Galahad would suffer in her stead? Although she cared for Langrion in her heart, Shia couldn’t imagine developing such strong feelings for someone the way Galahad did with Freya.

Shia vowed to look for a perfect time to talk to Galahad soon. Perhaps if she did, she’d be able to understand what his feelings for the goddess truly were.

The roads had been smooth as they road fiercely towards the Coast of Carm. They followed the length of the Dorana River closely, as planned. They would sometimes stop shortly to have lunch and dinner. They were all skilled hunters, except for Marmie, who still contributed a lot by making the fish and game that they catch palatable. By taking turns to hunt for food, everyone could maintain their energy despite the long travel.

After a week, they miraculously reached the Coast of Carm without any problems, but why was there a sickening feeling that loomed in the pit of Shia’s stomach?

When they arrived at the wee hours of the morning, there were only a few people by the coast line, all waiting for a ship to arrive. By noontime, even fewer numbers of people had gathered by the bay, waiting patiently for the Jazamel merchants or the ferry that would get them safely across the sea.

The Coast Of Carm was the official port and trading ground of the kingdom of Gascone. However, after Caldwell’s rule, the kingdom had gradually lost interest in international sea trading with Jazamel.

Jazamel was a free state with no ruling monarch, and people who can wield powers are respected in their country. This opposing treatment on magic wielders had created a feud with Gascone.

Before, Gascone used to send people with magical potentials to Jazamel and sponsor their education. However, after Caldwell’s reign, Gascone had closed its doors towards magic. In turn, Jazamel welcomed anyone who could wield magic in their midst. Their government had actually gone as far as to give amnesty for any Gasconian cursed ones who wished to come and live in Jazamel. Thus, leaving the Coast of Carm is allowed. However, since many people view those who leave via this route as cursed, for security reasons, coming back from Jazamel to Gascone isn’t permitted.

As years had gone by, trade between Jazamel and Gascone had almost halted. The Gasconians feared that everyone from Jazamel can wield magic and might harm them. Although Jazamelians produce excellent silk and tea leaves, the Gasconian commoners would never buy them, and only a handful of noble men would come and buy their goods.

Although confident that anyone won’t be making inspections at this part of the border, Shia felt strangely nervous. If the king was hell bent in chasing after them, he would probably assign knights and guards in this route.

However, that wasn’t the case. The guards were sparse and mostly stayed at the gates. Once they had passed by the gates, nobody made any inspections. This scenario felt even stranger to Shia.

Was it possible that the king had not looked for them at all, or did he never consider the possibility that they would escape to Jazamel, which was the story concocted by Hadrian Veed during the Tribunal hearing? Considering the ploy that old king had done in an attempt to marry her, Shia couldn’t believe he would give up that easily. For everyone’s sake though, she could only hope that was really the case.

She unconsciously adjusted the head part of her robes to conceal her face more effectively as she thought of these things.

Their group was now waiting in line for the passenger boat that will take them to Jazamel. Langrion fell beside her and Khailis stood in the very front of their procession. The mage used magic to change their faces, so Khailis rode confidently without a hood, but Shia and Langrion felt that it was much safer to hide their faces.

“Did you hear? It’s been a week since the king had died,” one of the women from behind Shia and Langrey said.

“Yes. There’s a rumor that the princes’ betrothed poisoned him.”

Shia held her breath and stole a glance at Langrion. He looked back at her with a pale face. She could not believe it: the king was dead? Maybe that could explain why they were not pursued at the border!

The girls continued with their gossips. “Which one? Both princes were about to get married right?”

“I think it’s the older one’s fiancé, the one who was related to the king.”

“Is that so? I heard the other prince was also sent to prison. I wonder what happened to his betrothed.”

“I’m not sure. She probably withdrew the engagement. Who in their right minds would continue their marriage with a prince who’s about to be sentenced at the Capitol?”

Shia wanted to laugh. They were right. She wasn’t sure if she was in her right mind herself for doing all the things she had done so far. She could never imagine, however, that the high and mighty Lady Edelfina would go about poisoning the king. On second thought though, the wretched Edelfina did attempt to poison her, so she might have tried doing the same to King Caldwell, but the question is why?

Shia wanted to talk to Langrion about it as soon as they were out of earshot. Seeing how grave his expression was, she knew he was greatly troubled after hearing those gossips.

Soon, they were all able to board the ship. It’s the first time Shia would be riding one. Her family had never travelled aboard a ship all their lives. She heard that most people had sea sickness, and she hoped she wasn’t one of them.

As soon as the ship took off from the coast, however, Shia’s head swirled. She wanted to lie down and throw up. Was she really sea sick?

She looked back at Langrion. He looked deathly pale as well, but at least he didn’t look like he was about to throw up. Shia looked around the group. Almost all people had begun having queasy stomachs. She couldn’t believe it. Were all these people sea sick?

She didn’t have to wait for too long to find out why. Suddenly, a man holding a staff emerged from the Captain’s cabin. Shia only needed to see the humongous guiding stone at the end of his staff to figure out why she was feeling horrible.

The man lifted his hood and revealed an abhorrent face with a toothless grin. He looked straight at Shia as he spoke, his shrill voice sounding harsh amidst the untamed waves of the sea.

“Welcome, cursed ones! Today is the day you die!”

Shia’s hunch was right. Escaping couldn’t have been that easy, for laughing softly in their midst was the scoundrel Hadrian Veed.