Sett is the hostage here so why the hell would I tell him the truth? And besides, the creepy mage only wants to see me. There’s nothing harmful about that right? Well, let’s see.
When Sett asked me what the mage told me, I answered that the mage wants me to ask him to join him. Of course, I denied but who knows if he believed it or not. I also asked him about what is the crow’s hour which he said that it is the time when the clock’s hand is at the top. This meant that it’s midnight and with deduction, the whitest spire in the arcanum means that it is the pearl spire. I smiled at Sett and pat him in the head while we finished our sandwiches.
—
I moved in the dead of the midnight hour. The streets are more desolate than before. There are no whispering pilgrims and even the city guards are in the depth of their sleep. I moved through the city with my nimble body, jumping from roof to roof with my makeshift cloak fluttering at my feet. I reached the Arcanum gates and sneaked behind the guard who’s too busy looking at the second moon. I moved through the bushes and made my work through the base of the Pearl Tower.
“There’s no use hiding,” A familiar voice said. It was Belethor who has found me sneaking near the tower. “I could see you.”
I left the bushes and approached him. He’s more menacing in the dark rather in the light. His eyes are flaming and more vibrant than before. I swear that I saw fangs underneath that cloak but it could just be my imagination.
“You didn’t bring Sett with you?” He asked.
“I didn’t. Why are you asking?”
“Nothing,” He motioned me to enter the spire but before I could, he lowered his head and whispered, “Whatever you see in these halls, will remain in here. Understand?”
I nodded. I’m debating whether I made the right decision this time.
Inside the halls are the same white walls like the one outside. The hallway is adorned with paintings of kings with mages behind their backs. We stopped at one painting which depicted a queen with overflowing golden hair and behind her is Belethor. The mage touched one brick of the wall and did some minor incantations. The brick rotated and the other bricks soon followed until there’s an open archway for both of us to enter.
We descended for a few steps before we reached an underground cavern filled with only darkness and mysterious grunts of pain. Belethor flicked his fingers and torches blazed with life, lighting the hallway with its death and dread. On the floor are people bound in chains. Some are clothed while most are naked and filled with rashes. There are males, females, and people ranging from a mere child to a man in the twilight of his life. The scene as much as the smell made me gag the vomit piling in my throat.
“What is this!?” I demanded.
“Prisoners. War hostages. They don’t matter. They are specimens for the job the queen tasked of me.”
“Job?”
“You’ll soon know.”
He led me to another room which is cleaner this time. In the middle of the circular torch-lit room lies a steel platform with a male in his mid-20s lies bound, naked and sleeping. We went over to the man and Belethor prodded his testicles with the long fingernails of his index. The spot where he touched turned black and the smell of searing meat filled the room. It’s sickening! It smelled good but the grunting pain that man is making me sick to the core.
“What the fuck are you doing!?” I asked. “Stop!” I shouted and he followed.
“Rashid, is that still your name?”
“Yes,”
“The mind of a human is a strange and wondrous thing. It seeks to create memories where there is none. This man before you have his mind erased twenty times as of this moment. And every time, he emerges with figments of his memory.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“You’ll know soon enough.”
On the side of the room is a painting of a king with a different mage behind him.
“The is King Alfur XIV, the father of Queen Almira and the previous ruler of this land. Did you realize that all the rulers before Queen Almira are all males?”
I noticed it but I didn’t find it strange. Kingdoms are meant for Kings, not Queens.
“Almaria could trace its roots to King Alfur the Sunspire, a proud king with a prouder host of nations. With his leadership, he conquered nearby kingdoms and unified it to the Almaria we know today. The king defeated many enemies but he has one enemy he could not overcome. Mortality. Death.
With the help of his cohort of mages and sorcerers from conquered kingdoms, they made two spells that would allow King Alfur to live indefinitely. The first is Mindbreak, complete annihilation of the mind. And Takeover, the permission of a soul to travel to a blank host’s body. King Alfur and his Master Mage did that for centuries with their children. He did that until Queen Almira III, who found out his father’s plans and prevented it by killing him on the throne.”
“So what has that got to do with everything about these?”
“Queen Almira seeks to do what her father has done for centuries. She seeks to take over his son, Prince Lerion’s, body. She seeks to prolong her reign until the ends of the world. But the spells necessary for her dream is lost when her blade sought my father’s neck. Queen Almira is aging and yet, we are not even halfway to finishing Mindbreak. And yet you, a simple street rat managed to do Takeover without using Mindbreak”
“H- How did you know!?”
“These eyes of mine could see souls. And you, my boy, has two, yours and Rashid’s petty soul. With your help, we can prolong Queen Almira’s will. We can do what her family has done for years! Help me, my boy.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“What else but the Queen’s grace and everything she could provide.”