Chapter 40

"Has anyone seen the king?" Jun asked everyone who returned to the camp and with each denial, he was getting more and more nervous. "I don't get it, he should be back a long time ago. Something must have happened!"

"As far as I know, Prince Darmeon's body has been found," replied Rikken, "but no one has ever seen Galaspiael."

"You have to gather the Silver Guard and set off to look," Aymon decided, "there's nothing to wait for."

"Zarkin!" The captain ran up to the boy with hope. "You sat in the tree all the time, you had to see..."

"I saved you," he reminded. When Jun was attacked by four Madegaldian soldiers, he shot them.

"Galaspiael," Jun quickly returned to the subject. "You must've seen him for sure. Do you know what happened?"

"I only saw him once. Someone was following him and I thought he moved somewhere further to lose them." Zarkin quickly glanced toward the royal tent. "Did he not come back yet?"

Jun backed away angrily, and all hope previously clearly visible in his eyes disappeared somewhere.

"Everyone who can walk, come with us! His Majesty is missing, we must find him as soon as possible!"

"Maybe he's in the tent for the wounded?" Zarkin followed Jun. "Did you look there?"

"If he would've been found in the wounded section, we'll be notified immediately!" He shouted. "Be useful for something or stop bothering me!"

The boy raised his hands slightly in a defensive gesture.

"Don't worry, Captain, he'll probably be here soon." I'll go to the place I shot from. From there, you can see a large area of ​​the battlefield."

They started searching and with time more and more people joined. All places where Galaspiael could have been were thoroughly watched. After three hours, Jun lost hope and ordered everyone to look carefully at the bodies of the fallen, but among them, the king was not found either.

After the sunset, the search continued. The group headed by Aymon entered the forest, lighting their way with lanterns and torches. Even when the sun rose, they were not allowed to rest. The atmosphere was thickening.

"Captain," Aymon came over, breaking through the thickets. "We have to come back. In my opinion, we have already gone far too far. If Galaspiael got wounded so hard to be unable to return to the camp, he certainly would not have traveled such a distance."

"So what happened in your opinion? He deserted?!"

"I didn't say that. I think it's good that we didn't find anything. Think about it, if he died, someone would have come across the body already. We can assume that he is still alive. I don't know where he is, maybe he went on some lonely mission to get something important for his research..."

"In the middle of a battle? It doesn't make sense!"

"He's not here anyway," Aymon shrugged. "We won't know where and why he disappeared until we ask him when he comes back." I think someone should be sent to a Madegaldian camp. We haven't been looking there yet, and since we're going on such long routes, why not check them out?"

"Its all my fault! I promised to guard him and I was more busy guarding my own life! Do you think they could have caught him?" Capitan Jun asked in a whisper.

"Everything is possible. Before visiting them, I would ask the Sekanians for help. He could likely go to their funeral of Prince Darmeon. And if we don't find him there, at least we'll ask for help in searching. Even two additional pairs of eyes will be good. Our soldiers want to rest and celebrate their deceased companions."

"Let's organize a replacement, then," Jun nodded. "But we have to keep looking!"

*

When Galaspiael woke up, his right shoulder hurt terribly, but it was nothing compared to a headache. He felt that something was blasting him from the inside and he could barely open his eyes.

He stared numbly at the brown material above him, and when he wanted to move a hand, he was horrified to find that he had been shackled. This discovery quickly sobered him up. Fighting with the pain, he rose to a semi-sitting position and looked around. The chain was long enough to allow for standing up, but nothing more. It was attached to a thick wooden pole on which the tent scaffolding was based.

Galaspiael began to look at his shackles, looking for the latch in them, but could not see it anywhere. There was a space for a round key on the link between the two bracelets. He guessed that it was releasing the mechanism.

Galaspiael didn't have the key, and he wouldn't be able to find it, but he knew that the lock could be opened the other way. He pulled the buckle out of his shoe and tried to bend it to fit. He was trying to free at least one hand but to no avail. The shackles were made especially for him. It was impossible to remove them.

When someone entered the tent, Galaspiael did not even notice at first. He turned around looking for a more comfortable place and then almost screamed seeing the opponent with whom he was stunned by the explosion. Up close he still looked terrible, but at least it was obvious that he was an ordinary man, not something like Gyeul.

He stared at him for a moment, then snorted softly. His voice was muffled by the mask, and sometimes hearing what he was saying was a problem.

"It's unbelievable who I was able to bring! Nice to see you here, Prince of Kagolania," the mysterious man said and laughed maliciously.

"Not a prince. Now a king," he replied coldly. "As far as I remember, even during wars, certain agreements apply. For example about keeping prisoners of war. Now I know that our opponents are people with no honor. You have no idea what consequences you'll face for treating me like that!"

"I don't think they'll be severe considering I'm in my area, surrounded by my subjects, and you are chained up" He grabbed Galaspiael's chain and jerked violently. "It's for your safety. People like to attack the camp and they would take you away."

"They'll take me sooner than you think. Everyone is looking for me, for sure someone has already found a trail," Galaspiael dodged when a metal rod dangled above his head. "How dare you!"

"They'll find you... or maybe they won't?" The man crouched beside him. "I heard about you, Your Majesty. The Righteous Conspiracy curses you to this day for your Academy. They would be very grateful to me if I led you to them."

"Your stupid Conspiracies could not even look after a piece of parchment in the heart of the country, you can't handle me! Everyone knows that you have a fortress in the capital in which the dynamite recipe was hidden. It has no legs and somehow managed to get out! Untie me and fight like a man!"

The man in the mask stood still and slowly turned his head.

"It's you..."

"What?"

"You brat, I finally found you. You thief, I can finally look you in the eye!"

"I don't know what you mean," Galaspiael lied quickly and cursed his thoughts. "Everyone knows this story."

"Do they? I think you have something to do with it." Suddenly this man threw back the bar and laughed. "I can make someone tell the truth. You'll see"

*

The seekers have been closely followed for some time. In the darkness a spy was hiding, who after a long moment retreated cautiously and ran into the thickets, where a hidden horse waited. The dark figure quickly climbed on it, then galloped toward the Madegaldian camp.

When she arrived, she took off the black mask and the two sentries moved aside, making her way. The woman let her hair down and almost ran to the commanders' quarters. Someone was already sitting at the long wooden table. As soon as he saw her, he stood up.

"It is already dark, Washar. You can remove the mask, I think the light of lanterns and torches will not harm your eyes. You should go out more often during the day, then you would be used to it."

"Why would I do that? Soon I will have to come back underground anyway." The man stopped when she pulled the mask off his face. "What news you bring, Najana?"

"This is a perfect moment to present our conditions to them. They begin to suspect that we could have captured him and they will send a message here soon."

"I understand," Washar said slowly, "unfortunately I had to change my plan. I'm not going to give them any prisoners, even for direct access to the ocean right now. I need to find out what he is hiding!" He added quickly, seeing her silent protests. "I've heard rumors about the Kagolanian king, and now I'm sure there is a grain of truth in them. He was the one who created the second dynamite from our recipe! I know it! Najano, I promise I will leave sooner! I won't endanger you, but please help me get revenge on him!"

"You can't hurt him, he's a king! If something happens to him, we will all be doomed, have you not heard the legends?"

"I heard and believed in them until I stood up to fight him. Believe it or not, he was alone. No deity helped him, so even if it exists, it had to renounce him. No unknown force defended him, now it will certainly be the same."

"Don't you think he might be useful to you?" Najana attacked again. "With such a valuable prisoner you can turn the tide of war! Your brother will surely show you grace when he finds out that you were the one who gave the empire an advantage. We could do something together!"

"I don't care about this war." Washar looked out the window to the place where Galaspiael was imprisoned and narrowed his eyes. "And I don't want Naimoor's mercy. Because of him, my life is in ruins. You will not understand this, your husband is alive, the child is safe. After all, you will come back home and enjoy the sunrise every morning. I don't have a home to return to anymore."

"But it wasn't the Kagolanian king who murdered your family and banished you," she reminded.

"So what?! This rat almost confessed his sins! He laughed in my face, saying how easily the dynamite recipe left Madegald!" Washar paused and took a deep breath. "I'll do the guard duty for the last time. Maybe if I do well with him, the gods will also give me a chance to take revenge on Naimoor."

Najana listened to his words with tears in her eyes. It wasn't until that time that she saw how drastically Washar changed by living in the mine. She no longer saw in him any of the men he was before.

"Do what you want," she said resignedly. "But keep in mind that until they find the body, they won't stop looking."

The man pursed his lips angrily and raised his hand as if to hit the table with it. However, he left her laughing triumphantly.

"We'll give them a body then. I just need to look for someone suitable."

*

"When we were younger, he always said he felt like a prisoner here. I understand him now."

Lin-Si did not mention Galaspiael often, and if so she did it only in the company of the most trusted court. Kalena had not belonged to them before, but recently her relations with the queen have improved significantly.

Both the courtyard and the garden were isolated from the outside world by thick walls, but they were really large. It was easy to get lost in the garden, and on the courtyard, a large crowd could gather so Lin-Si found it difficult to understand why Galaspiael felt trapped in the open space.

"I feel like I'm in prison too. I should go there with them," Kalena said quietly, "I'm not happy that I stayed, I want to help."

"Do you have your army? If not, you wouldn't help much. One person more or less on the battlefield means nothing."

"I don't agree with you, lady. I read a lot about the war and it was always one person on the battlefield who proved to be the most important hero who made kings win. There has always been someone like that!"

Lin-Si laughed at Kalena's high words.

"I understand that you are our hero?" She smiled but suddenly became serious. "You have no idea what war is. This is not a task that you are used to."

"So what was all this for? Kalena turned her back angrily. "Why I undergo all this teaching at Yagn-Sho and then here? I don't want to sit idly like a helpless child!"

"What do you want to do? Galaspiael wrote that they did very well, you have nothing to worry about. Two or three battles more and Sekania will win."

The news of the war spread slowly. It was only the previous day that information about the victorious first battle arrived in the palace. It calmed Lin-Si, but Kalena was still worried. She has read the message several times, trying to find comfort in the written words, but she could not.

"I can't do it!" She drawled through her teeth.

"Oh, do what you want, but if you have a clear order, why oppose it? Are you uncomfortable here? Wait a little longer. Galaspiael will be back soon and everything will be as it was before. Who will defend the palace when you go? Didn't you think that maybe this one special person will be needed right here?"