Chapter 87: Chapter 87

Andrea stood at the railings, her demonic eyes staring at the distant horizon, narrowing at what she saw, and while the love rabbits were at heat, making everyone on the ship uncomfortable with their loudness, she took the liberty to bring the whole sail into a sudden halt, all the ships stopping for a while until they figure out what to do next.

She wouldn’t have cared if about what was happening on the shore since it didn’t concern her nor her kind, but after receiving an earful from her Lord, who was alive to her utter relief, she didn’t have any choice but to ‘fully and sincerely’ cooperate with their allies, whose king and queen were sweetly fucking in his room.

Not that she cared, Andrea thought, her Lord was the only person who mattered to her and with his return, she didn’t have any reason to hate the human king and the ice queen, but that didn’t mean she liked them either, nevertheless, she did what she did and stopped the fleet because she knew something was wrong with one of their allies, only to obey her Lord’s commands, and that too was because they were her lord’s commands.

“What is going on?!” Turning around, Andrea was met with the king and queen, coming together with their fingers intertwined, a public display of affection, she didn’t miss the way the ice queen was glaring at her, but it didn’t faze her one bit, instead she looked at the human king in the eye, her face expressionless as she answered.

“Something abnormal is happening on the shore!” hearing those words, both Henry and Rima frowned as they approached the railings, but when his human eyes didn’t see anything but the blue water, Rima’s got a glimpse of something very small, but very strange.

“Golden banners!” Rima said softly, her confused expressions mirroring Henry’s, the Taghit banners were red with a black sword and a white rose crossing in the middle, and it stood on every magistrate’s house in every village in Taghit, Rima knew that, but the banners she saw were Golden.

“Do you see anything else?” Henry asked, clenching his fist but quickly unclenching it when he remembered that Rima’s hand was in his, and even when he knew how strong the ice queen was, he still chose to treat her like a frail flower.

“a white sun in the middle with a black snake on either side of it.” Rima felt Henry’s body stiffening at the new information he received, squeezing his hand, she silently reassured him while also asking what that meant.

“These are the Banners of Manrast, the second strongest kingdom after hours, but I don’t understand! We are far from the borders! For their banners to be on the village…” it only meant that another kingdom has invaded his while he was off to war, risking his life and the lives of his men to save all humanity.

“Let us not get ahead of ourselves, Henry, and see what is it first!” offering him a reassuring smile, Rima tried to think o something quickly, only for her thoughts to be interrupted by the voice of the demoness she so badly wanted to kill.

“I have sent my best spies to inspect the situation, and they have returned with some unsettling information.” Andrea said with a straight face, again not caring that she had gone behind their backs, but seeing them about to lash out, she added quickly “That is why I asked for your Majesties’ urgent presence.”

Both Henry and Rima swallowed their angry words, knowing that they again gave the demoness a chance to act as she liked while they were indulged in their own world of pleasure, and with the possibility of invasion, they both knew that what she did was right.

“Well, spit it out!” Henry’s voice was an almost hiss but he didn’t care, with all the suspicions, anger, and worry growing inside of him, the demoness’ feelings were the least of his worries, he wasn't too optimistic with what he was going to hear, Manrast Kingdom was the first to oppose the alliance with the demons against the Gods, and even if their relationship has been peaceful for the last century, he knew well that their so-called peace among human kingdoms was forced by his own as they have always been not just the strongest, but the holiest with their history as the blessed kingdom, his mother also had a major part in temporizing the relationships between other kingdoms by finding or creating political, economic, and sometimes even cultural bridges between them, Henry felt stupid for believing the peace would last a second with most of the Taghit army gone and their King absent, Once those traitorous leaches had the opportunity to stab them in the back they did, and he would be damned if he let that slide without a proper punishment...

"According to my spies, the village had been turned into a military base, they don't share the uniform of your kingdom's soldiers, and...."

"And what?!" Henry asked knowing he is not going to like what is he going to hear next.

"It is not just soldiers there, Your Grace, but also slaves..."

Henry's eyes widened and his nostrils flared, the veins of his neck pulsated angrily and his fists clenched, not even noticing the fingers he was almost crushing, his anger almost bursting out as a living monster, his neck veins showing and his fists clenched hard, he asked in a dangerously low tone "What do you mean by slaves?!"

"There are men, women, and even children, of all ages, all wearing similar rags and metal collars, some even had chains on, they all looked very weak and abused, some were being whipped while the others were serving the soldiers, some were being raped openly, of both genders, some were very...young" the last word that left Andrea’s lips sounded faint and she almost cursed herself for it, hating the fact that she allowed an image of her past to resurface and shake her.

"Enough!!" Henry's voice roared in the ship, making everyone flinch from how angry he sounded, only that he was not angry, he was furious, slavery was one of the red lines that no one dared to approach in his kingdom, some did it in hidden but once caught they were brutally executed in public, to think that another kingdom not only dared to usurp his lands but also enslave his people, there wasn't a thing he wasn't willing to do nor a soul he was willing to spare for this unforgivable crime.

"I will give orders for the forces to get ready" Rima who was still standing by his side didn't miss the murderous glint in his eyes, the human king was asking for blood and there was nothing that can stop him, not that she planned to, she understood his reaction perfectly and wished to do nothing less to the bastards who took the chance of him setting off to war to take his lands and enslave his people.

"We must ensure the safety of the captives first, I'm sure those bastards would be using them as hostages and shields " Henry said, his voice still ice cold, not even a hint of it earlier warmth was left, he had hoped that the fight was over, temporarily at least, and that he will return to his castle to meet with his family, again hoping that his mother was back and that his brother was back to his senses, he even planned to welcome the two new members to his family and give them their rightful places, his beloved Rima and his half-sister, Sara, if that was her name, but all his hopes were crushed by the pigs’ betrayal.

"About that" Rima, who understood Henry's anger better than anyone looked him in the eye "I believe I have a way, a dangerous one though"

"I think I’m willing to take the risks" Henry looked at her with determined eyes, not understanding why hers were hesitant until she spoke her next words.

"I mean, risky for the captives. There might be casualties among them, Henry!"

"Do we have a choice?! As I said, I’m willing to take the risks" Henry held her hand, finding some tranquility in her touch.

"Alright, let's give them hell then..." she nodded at him, her reluctance washing away and a deadly seriousness replacing it as she quickly gave the orders.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

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A week later.

Henry stared at the giant gates of his castle, the castle built by his ancestors thousands of years ago, withstanding all the storms and catastrophes, standing proudly in the face of winds and usurpers, still looking breathtaking and intimidating, even after all the wonders he had seen in the last journey, he was still mesmerized by the sight of his home, the place where he grew up with his family and friends, he missed them dearly, his mother, his little sister, and his brother, but his happiness to be back home was slowly invaded by the dark thoughts, or more accurately, the dark realities he learned on his way to the castle.

Henry sighed deeply, tasting the bitterness in his mouth as he mounted off his horse and walked inside the castle, quickly hiding his bitterness behind a gentle smile to grace the people who were out to meet him and celebrate his return, not missing that they didn’t look like before, not only did they look older, but poorer.

Henry thought back about the poor people of Tahat, Grateful that he had the help of the demons which allowed him to save as much as he could, otherwise it would have been a real massacre, the ice demons and their queen used their magic to critically decrease the temperature of the town, the captives, considering the weak and starving state they were kept in were the first to be affected, they fell one after the other, in what resembled a slumber caused by cold, a thick fog quickly covered the town only for the shadow demons to begin their silent and blind hunt, helped by the silhouettes of the soldiers since they were the only ones strong enough to resist the cold spell, sadly the plan wasn't a full success considering the fact that some captives were slightly stronger to not fall under the spell and ended up being blindly killed while others, especially children and elders were too weak to resist the spell and died out of cold, There wasn't many of them but every single soul mattered to him, his only solace was the fact that they had annihilated every single one of Manrast soldiers and freed the enslaved villagers.

Henry was curious how did the Manrast army take the town in less than a month, his curiosity soon turned into horror when he knew it wasn't just Tahat but half of his kingdom, and it wasn't just Manrast, it was also Buskeen and even Katara, and every other strong kingdom in the world, everyone thought the Yoren dynasty had fallen and couldn't wait to take a bite of their heritage, but what shocked him the most was the fact that he wasn't gone for two months but for over two years.

it was unbelievable, but after thinking about it for a while, it explained everything, the state of his kingdom included, the center must have been some kind of a time trap, as the time flew slower inside it, a circle inside a circle.

The news were shocking to everyone, not knowing what to do, Henry, Rima, and the shadows’ demoness decided to part ways so they can each deal with whatever damage had occurred during their absence, Rima took the south side heading toward her empire, not batting an eye while exterminating any outsiders or slavers she met on her way, she felt Henry's pain, the taste of betrayal by his own kind after he risked his life and lost his own good soldiers just to protect them all, to be rewarded like this was heartbreaking and she planned to break the very souls of those who broke her man's heart.

On another hand, Henry took the east direction heading back toward the capital, he left a thousand soldiers in Tahat, just in case any other kingdom thought about stepping in again, the shadow demons followed him east since that was where the dark forest was located anyway, Henry took advantage of their presence to liberate every town and village on their way.

The human King snapped out of his thoughts at the sight of the beauty who stood on the other side of the gates, waiting for him eagerly, her red curls longer than before, and her beautiful face more mature, but still had that touch of innocence that melted his heart, the woman took few slow steps toward the man, tears gathering in her eyes before she ran toward him, aiming for his chest like an arrow, Henry opened his arms as wild as he could  to receive his beloved sister before locking her in a tight embrace.

He had missed her so much, he thought, his little sister who wasn't so little anymore, for she had matured up to be a very beautiful woman, her face looked more mature than the last time he saw her and she looked nothing less than an exact duplicate of their mother.

"Missed me, Little sister?!" Henry asked while breathing in the scent of his sister, she mumbled something he couldn't hear so he let go of her for a second.

"Henry, you nearly crushed me..." Nara pouted her cheeks at him, acting like she did when she was a child, not because she was childish but because she knew it would place a warm smile out of him, which happened right away, causing her to also smile back, from ear to ear, something she didn’t get to do much in the last two years.

"And here I thought you would welcome a hug from your big brother, How disappointing! " Henry teased his little sister who smiled more vividly, he had missed her so much, he couldn't even find words to describe it, she pouted a little more before pulling him back into another hug, only that it felt like a needing hug, one that asked reassurance, Henry realized it must have been very hard for her, and didn’t hesitate to hug her tightly, silently reassuring her that he was there with her.

"I think we might need to talk little sister; I need you to tell me everything, I believe the study is still where it was before?"

"No, it grew a couple of legs and ran away" Nara said, rolling her eyes at him.

"Stranger things happened sister of mine, trust me!"

"Well, If that is the case, then I believe you should rest and, take a bath first, it is going to be a long talk, you are going to need the rest and I’m definitely going to need you to bathe if I am to be locked up in a closed room with you." Nara said teasingly only for Henry to chuckle while placing his hand on his heart, pretending to be hurt while wondering when did his sweet sister become this rude.

Skipping the rest, Henry bathed quickly and changed into comfortable clothes before heading to his study, the thought of all the work and meetings that waited for him made him sigh tiredly, knowing that he can’t skip nor delay any, entering his study, he found Nara already there, properly seated like a lady with a tea set and some pastries, his sister smiled at him lovingly before pouring the tea into the porcelain cups, Lemon tea, Henry thought as he smelled the tranquilizing aroma, he took the cup from his sister with a thankful nod and tasted it, lemon and honey, just the way he loved it.

Henry was thinking of where to start when a knock was heard on the door, making him frown as to who would be rude enough to come to his study uninvited, his sister however told whoever was on the door to come in nonchalantly, the door was opened to reveal the figure of a young girl.

NOTE: SO I KNOW THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN SLIGHTLY RUSHED, BUT I KNOW YOU ALL WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE LAST CHAPTER, SO I TRIED TO SUMMERISE THE EVENTS OF THEIR JOURNEY IN ONE QUICK CHAPTER, I HOPE YOU LIKE IT, PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO COMMENT.