ALL NOVEL Ch.66 – Unwilling Guests
POV: Luchael
They hadn't killed him, both the human and the leporan had decided that he was worth more alive, probably to obtain information although from what he had heard during the journey in which he had been tied and blindfolded, their leader had managed to kill Aradra. If this was the truth, however, the most obvious question was why they were keeping him alive... perhaps he was wrong to think that they wanted to interrogate him (if not worse) and instead they wanted to put him on trial?
The leporan bent his slender, smooth legs and hugged them, pressing his shoulders against the cold stone of the cell he was in; they had taken everything away from him and put in a dirty courtesan's dress probably in an attempt to humiliate him, the worst thing for him was that they had taken away his rapier, his precious rapier...
His shoulders trembled, not from the cold, but from fear: when he had been deprived of that safety anchor which was the rapier blessed by Velen, his fears and insecurities had violently re-emerged from the recesses of his mind and now they had petrified him, abandoned in a dark corner who knows where, where he will rot for who knows how long before being set free in one way or another.
'I wanted to become a brave adventurer like my grandfather,' he thought bitterly, 'I should have stayed at home, I should have dedicated myself to the fields and the farm animals...'
If he had remained in his land with the rest of the family he would never have ended up in that situation, he would never have met Aradra and he would not have experienced the most daring period of his life... that thought, however, did not cause him sadness because he could have avoided it if he hadn't started his journey but rather because it seemed that it was already finished: Aradra was most likely dead, he had been stripped of the little equipment he had and those bars had a solid appearance, difficult to break or bend for anyone other than a croconoid.
'If only I had been stronger...' he thought, resting his forehead on his knees and folding his ears behind his head.
He heard the sound of footsteps echoing in the otherwise silent corridors of the prison they had placed him in; they were light and long steps, someone in a hurry to reach the cells. Luchael raised his head slightly to look towards the bars on the opposite side of the cell and remained silent even when the figure of the leporan who had contributed to his capture finally showed herself. She was holding a tray of food and water with her hands.
Their eyes met, but he didn't say a word, so it was she who started the conversation, "I brought you some food and something to drink," she said, approaching a rectangular hole left specifically for pushing food inside the cell for the prisoners, "how do you feel?”
Luchael didn't answer her, going back to resting his forehead on his knees.
“Not talking won't help you,” his peer told him, “please, can you at least talk to me? If you will try to explain the reason for your actions, perhaps my lady will try to bring you mercy.”
“I haven't done anything wrong,” Luchael replied, “I guess that murderous lady of yours has already made up her mind about me, whether I speak or not.”
“Don't talk like that about my lady!” The leporan girl exclaimed, her voice a high-pitched trill that almost made Luchael's ears ring, “this is matter in the hands of her father the king, but she is a fair princess who knows how to feel compassion. If you explain yourself, I could report to her, and she could influence the king's decision about you… you can still save yourself!” She said, “don't throw this opportunity away!”
“Aradra had her difficulties, but she had a good heart,” Luchael replied softly.
“That monster was Nightmare Tyrant, it was beyond redemption… it had to be banished,” she approached the cage, Luchael looked up and saw her bend down and sit down in front of the tray she had slid over to him inside the cell. “Did it force you to follow it and protect it? Was it threatening you and your family?”
“None of that.”
“So why did a leporan join such an evil entity??” She asked, “did you not see the destruction Nightmare Tyrant caused in its attempt to stop my lady? Do you know how many people died in the fire that lightning strike caused?” As she spoke, she put her hand inside the cell, pushing the tray slightly as if inviting Luchael to eat.
Luchael had to laugh, “did your lady tell you what kind of monster Aradra was?”
The leporan girl raised an eyebrow, “what does it matter? She told me what mattered, which was that Nightmare Tyrant started the fire in an attempt to sow chaos and escape.”
“Aradra was a salmadrer,” Luchael said, pulling the corner of his lips into a vague smile, “what are the magical affinities of salmadrers?”
The leporan girl opened her mouth and widened her eyes, as if she had just been stabbed in the stomach, “that salmadrer was Nightmare Tyrant! It could have had unusual powers and kept them hidden from you!”
“I saw Aradra in the situation where it was necessary for her to use those powers and she didn't,” Luchael stood up, adjusting the long skirt that reached below his knees and trying to match the straps, then he approached the tray and sat in front of it… in the end the cage and the fact that he had lost his hopes of being able to live fantastic adventures with Aradra and Helen again was helping him not to remain in a corner shaking like a leaf. “I can guarantee that in that room apart from Aradra and your lady there was no one. Do you happen to know the limits of your lady's powers?”
The Leporan girl didn't answer, she bowed her head, making one eye disappear behind some locks of her sandy hair.
“Aradra had established her control over Wadencap without any bloodshed, nor did she intend to harm anyone… why did the plan change just when she was alone with your lady?”
“You're trying to manipulate me!” She exclaimed, jumping up and making Luchael shake for a moment, "I know what you're trying to do," she said, pointing at him, "you're trying to make me doubt my lady's honesty and good heart! Well, it will not work, agent of evil!"
Luchael bit back a shudder, “so you have no idea what the limit of your lady's power is, otherwise you would have said that unleashing a lightning storm is not within her capabilities.”
“I love her!” The Leporan girl trilled out loud, putting her hand over her heart.
“That explains why you trust her,” Luchael pointed out, “but it doesn't explain why she couldn't have started the fire.”
The leporan girl clenched her fists and jaw staring at him unable to give him an answer, her eyes swelled with tears and without another word she walked away leaving Luchael alone with his meal.
- - -
POV: Helen
They had almost literally dragged her out of her cell just over half an hour earlier to take her to get dressed and put on makeup as if she were a noblewoman about to leave for a palace party, something she didn't like very much since it accentuated too much the curves of her breasts and ample hips, sure, the maid's dress that Gornowayl made his priestesses wear was not that much less showy, but that was a religious dress, so it was something she accepted by virtue of that.
She convinced herself psychologically not to tear her dress off and when the women who had proceeded to make her presentable and beautiful had finished, they accompanied her to an elegant living room where the man who had captured her was waiting for her; the man was wearing a suit that made him appear stiff as the trunk of a tree, with one hand behind his back and the other holding a glass of wine that he was sipping while his gaze contemplated a fire that he had lit in the fireplace.
'A little too masculine for my tastes, but he’s above average, I guess.' Helen simply thought as the door she had just entered through began to close behind her.
“Welcome, and forgive the methods of the guards and ladies of the castle,” the man began to say, turning towards her, “our first meeting was a little too chaotic to allow the courtesy of the case, so allow me to remedy it: My name is Darren.”
“Helen,” the Templar replied, moving her eyes from him to the chair and the sofa and back again, “I am honored by this treatment. Am I allowed to ask what the reason is?”
“Of course,” Darren replied, gesturing to the seats with his free hand, “you are my prisoner, but that doesn't mean you are denied the rights to ask questions and be treated with dignity.”
Helen sighed, brushed a few strands of hair behind her ears and walked with a somewhat tomboyish gait to the sofa, where she sat down, putting her legs together and placing her hands on her knees.
“Thank you for your understanding,” he said as he sat down in the chair, “I had you brought here because there are some things I would like to be clearer about your connection to Nightmare Tyrant, your church, and what you were doing. in Wadencap.”
“You are a very curious man.”
Darren laughed, “whenever needed!” He raised the glass to his lips and took a few sips, “can you satisfy my curiosity?”
“Mh…” at that point what did she have to lose? Aradra was supposedly dead, she was a prisoner and Luchael was somewhere inside the building she was in, there was no one who could have rescued them... except maybe some other members of the God of Heroes' church when the word got out, that admitting that they wouldn't label her as a heretic for helping the supposed Nightmare Tyrant. “yes, why not… in exchange, however, you could tell me what happened to my friend.”
“The leporan?” Darren asked, “he... she… well, whatever they’re, they’re in the dungeons of this castle.”
“And what about the castle?”
“A frontier guardpost within the kingdom of Heliolite, we are on our way back to Khalrinda,” Darren tilted his head and gave Helen a bright smile, “you are a very curious woman.”
Helen smiled back, “whenever needed!” having said this, the templar fell for a moment of silence in which she became more serious, to make it clear when the playing time was over, "well... regarding my connection with Nightmare Tyrant what I can tell you is that it was before of all part of the divine will of my god, the sacred robe that you took from me was blessed and given to me in that context,” she shrugged, “I don't know why he asked me to protect her and keep her safe, but if he did that it means he had his own plans.”
“And a good believer always follows the will of their god unquestioningly,” Darren murmured, “well, the God of Heroes is not unknown to pull some tricks on humanity for a supposed greater good from time to time, but in this case I am in favor of thinking that he was right to send you with Nightmare Tyrant, because that wasn't Nightmare Tyrant, right?”
Helen closed her eyes and shook her head.
“I feel like that was a setup to expose the real Nightmare Tyrant,” Darren said, rubbing his chin.
“And did he succeed?”
Darren smiled slightly, "I think so, the problem is that now it's too late to find evidence that will stop her rise to power."
“Her rise to power?” Helen blanched noticeably, “you mean… you mean…” she swallowed, her throat felt dry, “can I have some wine too?”
“Of course,” he said, getting up and going to retrieve a bottle of wine from a metal basket. He then took a glass from a bedside table that was under the metal basket and filled it, "don't worry, the last word hasn't been said yet."
Helen waited for Darren to offer her the glass and took a few sips before speaking again, “how can you say that? If I'm not mistaken on who you think Nightmare Tyrant is, she will soon have the army of the largest kingdom in the Eastern Continent under her control.”
“You're right,” Darren sat back down in his chair, “but Princess Rosalia disappeared during the fight and I have the impression that the fake Nightmare Tyrant is also still alive, perhaps if they are able to join forces, we could still prevent the future queen of Heliolite from extending her shadow across the entire continent.”
She looked at the glass of wine, unsure what to think, “if one or both of them are still alive, I'm sure your lady will be informed and will do something about it.”
“For this reason I have already sent someone who will look for them and cover their backs from the shadow,” concluded the man, “when we reach Khalrinda, I will take you and your friend with me to my duchy, there not even Dyenna will have the courage to come and pick you up for a while.”
“I also thank you on behalf of Luchael,” Helen waved the glass of wine, it seemed that out of all the negative things, at least one was going the right way, “how come you do all this?” She asked out of the blue.
“Well…” Darren smiled kindly at her, “my dream is to become the king of Heliolite, and I can't become the king of Heliolite if Dyenna destroys it. Stopping Nightmare Tyrant coincides with my personal interests.
At least they were on the same side on the question of wanting to stop Nightmare Tyrant.
