Chapter 44

Kalena was locked up in a cell located at the very end of the dungeon, from where you could hear the footsteps of everyone who entered the corridor. Before the guards opened the heavy door, the girl was ready, and as soon as Samin crossed the threshold of the cell, she attacked him intending to twist his neck or cause some other serious damage. She quickly changed plans, seeing that the door was not closed. Kalena ran outside fast as an arrow, and by the time Samin and the guards realized, she was already running across the corridor.

"Take her!" She heard his scream behind her back. "Bring her to me immediately!"

Kalena looked around, feeling panic seize her. She didn't know which way to go. Over the years of service in the Silver Guard, she managed to get to know the palace a little, but she was in the dungeons only once and she had no idea how to get out of them. She decided to run ahead, but she took the wrong turn and by the time she realized she was surrounded, it was too late.

"Don't you like walking in the cell? I will have you tied up and shackle!" Samin came over and punched her in the face."

"How could you do such a thing?! Galaspiael considered you a friend!?

"Galaspiael considered me a friend?" He mocked her. "I also considered him mine and I was here when people needed me and when he needed me the most. Always on his side, no matter how stupid things he would do. And even to you, a dirty slave, he was more grateful than to me for years of faithful service. I prayed to my ancestors that they would give me the opportunity and suddenly it came. I will make Kagolania as it was before he began to destroy the order."

"I hate you!" She moaned desperately, trying to break free.

"I'm not interested in what vermin like you think about me." You won't understand the pain I felt."

Kalena stopped struggling for a moment.

"It's hard for me to understand," she admitted, "but I realize you may have felt bad when Galaspiael took power after you ruled for so many years. Indeed, he should show some gratitude, you are absolutely right." She pierced him with a pleading look. "Become a king. Everyone thinks Galaspiael is dead anyway. But please, let me find and save him. Believe me, if he had a choice, he would never go back to the palace. He never wanted that crown..."

"Do you think I'll believe you?" Samin walked over to Kalena and tugged at her hair, pulling it back. "I'll let you leave and you will come back with the old, beloved king. You will organize a revolution and then he will remain forever grateful. Since he had already written the act of appointing you as Okianesa, he could have joined the royal family after such a heroic deed! Is that what you came up with?"

"I don't mean any titles! I didn't even know it! I mean Galaspiael and only him!"

In the light-blue eyes of the man, she noticed a note of surprise. He released her and wiped his hand ostentatiously.

"He didn't say anything because he knew that the other Okiani would not agree. I'm sick when I think you could sit at one table with the most important people in the country. I can assure you that I am not going to tolerate the presence of people like you in my palace. Your dirty friend has returned to his place, and when I'm done with you, I have to clean every corner in this cell. I'm not such a tyrant to force anyone to be in the room in which you previously been"

Kalena tried to break free when three men nailed her to the wall, but she couldn't. The metal shackles tightened around her wrists. She was not released until they were sure she was powerless.

*

A strong blow to the back of the head wake Galaspiael up and the smell of blood and mud convinced him that he was still alive and still in the Madegaldian camp.

"Get up!" He heard a voice above him. "We have a lot of work and you need to be prepared."

He didn't want to get up, he didn't even have the strength to do it. He wondered what would happen if he will lie still. It couldn't be bad, he would be beaten again. One step closer to death.

"Are you deaf?!" Washar hit Galaspiael in the ribs with a thick stick. "I said get up!"

White light flashed, giving an illusory sense of peace. Galaspiael quickly regretted trying to defend himself at all by using enchanting. He did not hurt Washar much and weakened himself even more.

"I see you rested? Since you have the strength for something like this, you can walk on your own without problems. Don't worry, I'm not going to beat you today, no one is enjoying it anymore. You are weak, you lose consciousness too often, we might as well be beating a corpse. But that doesn't mean you don't have to be afraid" Washar added when he heard Galaspiael's soft sigh of relief.

Galaspiael was led outside, and later into a small tent in which a place was already prepared for him. He let himself be shackled and chained, wondering why he must be immobilized in this way. They could see how weak he was, even if there were half the number of people around him, he wouldn't be able to run away. Even if they left him untied, he doubted he would have the strength to go far.

Someone tilted his head back and put a gag in his mouth. He didn't know why since Washar said they were not going to beat him. It was only when his right sleeve was rolled up that he understood.

They were going to burn a slave mark on his arm.

Washar came in holding a metal seal, warmed at the end to redness. Galaspiael could feel the heat from it, even when the metal had not yet touched his body. He gathered himself and prepared for what pain he would feel. However, the mark on his shoulder was not burned.

Washar signaled someone to hold Galaspiael by the head and put a seal on his cheek.

Torture, beatings, loss of fingers, and everything he has gone through so far have been nothing compared to this pain. It felt like metal had burned his skin to the bone. At one point he didn't even have the strength to scream. Everything was blurred, only this pain remained. He was sure that he couldn't make it, that he would die soon, and that was when he was released. He wanted to lose consciousness very much, but they made sure that he was aware of what was going on all the time.

When that shameful sign appeared on his face, he felt something in him was dying forever. Not only did he no longer have the strength to fight, but he also lost the will to do so.

It was the first time he thought that he should give up.

*

Only ten days after the funeral, Samin's coronation took place.

The decision was made by Okiani and most of the subjects understood that it was dictated by concern for the balance of the country. However the decision to arrange a grand party, when people still mourned the previous king, no one tried to understand or justify, but no one admonished the new ruler.

The ceremony was public and everyone could enter the higher circle for a moment. But when it was time to speak, Samin left. He returned to the palace surrounded by the Golden Guard, actually named only to indicate its superiority over previous guardsmen who disappeared suddenly. After the captain's honor suicide, Luko and Zei were found who decided to do the same. The rest just vanished.

Lin-Si avoided meeting Samin for as long as she could. She spent her time only in her part of the palace, surrounded by the most trusted maidens, which for some time began to carry weapons attached to the belts.

The king surprised her one afternoon in one of her chambers. She knew that she would have to ask him about some important matters, but she was not ready for it at the moment. They exchanged casual smiles and he finally spoke.

"My lady, I wanted to ask you to come to dinner tonight. Very important guests will come, you should be present."

She nodded.

"I will appear for sure. Would you mind telling me what will happen with Kalena? We can't keep her in the dungeon for the rest of her life, you have to make a decision."

"Ah ..." Samin's expression changed slightly when she said Kalena's name. "It's really sad. I visited her recently and it's even worse than before. I asked a trusted person for help and thanks to that I understood what could have happened. However, I don't know if I should share this with you."

"This girl acted outrageously, but I know that Galaspiael would like to bring this matter to an end as soon as possible. She was close to him and served faithfully in the Silver Guard for a long time."

"Do you realize how close they were?" He picked up.

Lin-Si pursed her lips briefly.

"Not really, but I know he loved her."

"He loved her very much. I suspect he still loves her. His spirit could haunt her and that's the reason for her madness."

"Then she should be released immediately! If Kalena is still in contact with Galaspiael..."

"I'm afraid that even if you're right, she wouldn't tell us anything," he interrupted firmly. "She tried to kill me the last time I was there. Please, don't go there for your own safety. She stopped recognizing anyone."

The queen gave him a doubtful look.

"And this is happening because of Galaspiael's spirit?"

"Yes. I think he is trying to take her with him to the world of the dead. The problem is that her body is still alive and therefore her soul cannot leave it. Perhaps she had agreed to the procedure herself, but she was not aware that something like this would happen, and Galaspiael, although powerful, could not kill her. So she's torn between two worlds."

"It's terrible, my lord," Lin-Si replied, "I've always been frightened by these Kaitan ghost stories, and now when you say one of them is taking place right before our eyes, I feel deeply moved. Can we help this poor girl somehow?"

"We have two solutions. We could drive Galaspiael's spirit away from her by performing a special ritual. However, there is no guarantee that it will restore her clarity of mind, and we could make him angry. Another way is to kill her. Then she could enter the underworld with him. Forgive me, I know how unpleasant it must be for a wife to hear something like that."

"I personally advised him how to win her heart. I understand that he loves her even after death.

"That's why she didn't recognize him at the funeral. All she saw was a body that the spirit had already left. She was somehow right, it was no longer Galaspiael. I don't want to torture or publicly humiliate her. I will choose the least painful and fastest method. My queen, if there was the slightest chance that I would be able to help her, without interfering with spiritual matters, I would not hesitate. I have devoted my whole life learning about body and diseases and I can cure many of them. I must admit, however, that I don't have much religious knowledge, but even the priests I consulted were powerless. Probably Kalena had to give him access to her soul herself. I don't know what went wrong, but now this girl is suffering a lot."

"When are you going to kill her?"

"I certainly can't make it today, and I'm not going to ask for it someone unprepared who could only make things worse. Tomorrow I will end this case."

"Well." She nodded. "Thank you for taking a moment to explain this to me."

"I'm not going to hide anything from you, lady."

Without a word, Lin-Si sat down at the dressing table and started choosing jewelry for the evening. When she stopped hearing footsteps in the corridor she asked Nailan to come inside.

"Go to Yagn-Sho immediately! Tell Aymon and Rikken that they must come to the palace as soon as possible and save Kalena."

The girl looked at her in surprise.

"Your Highness... are you sure?"

"There is a lot to be said about Galaspiael." She smiled weakly. "But I know that he would never, even after his death, do such harm to a person he sincerely loved. Samin is lying."