Bacorium Legacy (43 page)

“Run, little rabbit, run,” Devith taunted her.

She ran.

<> <> <>

“Princess Selphie.”

She stopped. Prince Gera, the second son of Marcus, was standing in her way, just in front of Marcus' bedroom. “What are doing running through the halls, dressed like that in the middle of the night?”

“I need to see your father, my prince,” she said to him. “It's urgent.”

“My father has already gone to bed for the night,” Gera told her. “Whatever it is you need, perhaps me or my brother can help you? Or if it is just some trivial thing, perhaps you could just ask a servant? I don't know how they do things in Sono, but here in Saeticia, we have respect for our king, and we do not come barging at his door at all hours of the night with every little problem we have.”

Jared frowned, and looked to her.

No, Jared, she silently told him with a look. Things were bad enough already. They could not afford to be seeking fights with their guests.

“This is no trivial matter, Prince Gera,” she said in a firmer voice. “One of my men has been attacked-”

“And locked in the dungeon for the night,” Gera finished for her. “Where he belongs. Doubtless, the person you heard this news from had their own version of the story, but the truth I heard is that your escort was the one who attacked our guard. This is the same man who angered my father during dinner, and you think it fair of you to wake him in middle of the night for this person's sake?”

“I can vouch for Luca,” Selphie said. “He did not start that fight, I swear it.”

“The son of Lodin, no less,” Gera continued, ignoring her plea. “The boy who made claims of immortality. No doubt this person went out looking for a fight, angry and bitter after being humiliated by my father. Is this the kind of person you bring with you to our hall, princess?”

Selphie bit her lip. She was putting a lot at stake for Luca's sake.

The dim lighting of the lamps on the wall cast long shadows over Gera's face. “You should go back to bed, princess. My father can deal with this in the morning. Unless you would rather give your friend's sentencing up to me to be decided right now?”

She said nothing.

“That's what I thought,” Gera said, before snapping his finger. One of the guards by the door came over to them. “Escort Princess Selphie and her guard back to their rooms. Make sure they stay there.”

Under the circumstances, they had no choice but to comply.

<> <> <>

Emila ran through the palace, now more worried than ever. She had no idea where to go - both Luca and Brand had been taken, and Ash had disappeared after dinner, likely going to town to stay at the inn with the Allmans. Selphie and Jared were off to see the king, but until they reached him and got his help, she needed to fend for herself. Even without her inability to take a life, she doubted she could handle this Devith man, especially as he seemed completely unaffected by her ice magick. She had no idea who, if anyone, in the palace could be trusted, and all her companions were unavailable, which meant...

No, wait. There was someone she had forgotten.

Even in her panicked state, she frowned at the thought. The only person she could go to for help, and it was the last person she would have liked to ask.

And yet, she had no choice. Devith was still following after her, somehow keeping up with her even though he was walking at the same slow pace as before.

A few minutes later, Emila burst through the doors to the library. Wiosna was the only person there, sitting at a table engrossed in some dusty tome. The blond girl looked up in surprise and confusion as Emila came dashing in through the doors, tripping over a stack of books on her way.

“Emila?” Wiosna said, looking at her like she was insane. “What in the world are you doing?”

Emila faced the doorway and backed up to the table Wiosna was sitting at, raising her shaking hand and pointing at the man who had followed her. Devith stood with his arms crossed, shaking his head.

“H-he's after me...” she told Wiosna. “He beat Luca and Brand already.”

Wiosna frowned and rose from her seat. She said to Devith, “Who are you exactly?”

“The princess' escort,” Devith said. “Do not stand between us.”

“He thinks you're Selphie?” Wiosna whispered to her. Emila did not reply.

Devith drew his sword from his sheath and slowly approached them. “If you try to resist, I will have to beat you as well.”

“Whose orders are you acting on?!” Wiosna demanded, her hand going to her side where her own blade was sheathed.

“My king's orders,” Devith said.

“Marcus?” Wiosna looked to Emila. “Does Selphie know about this?”

Emila had grown a shade paler. “I told her first, and she and Jared left to go see Marcus - I didn't know this man was acting on his orders...”

“This makes no sense,” Wiosna said. “If Marcus ordered this man to go after Selphie, he would know who to send him after. Something's not adding up.”

Devith stopped, standing only a few paces from Wiosna and Emila.

“Are you going to hide behind this one too, princess?” he asked Emila with a smirk.

“I'm sorry,” Emila said to Wiosna. “I have no weapon, and my magick doesn't affect him...”

“Your magick doesn't affect him...?!” Wiosna gaped. “Just who
is
this guy?!”
 

Devith drew his sword and swung it at Wiosna. Emila jumped away, and Wiosna sidestepped the attack, drawing her curved sword and countering with a stroke of her own. Devith did not try to dodge, instead blocking the blade with his gauntlet.

“I am fully armoured,” Devith told her. “And magick cannot harm me. Attack me all you like - as you grow tired, I will grow stronger.”

Wiosna pulled back, holding her sword with both hands and circling around Devith, keeping her gaze locked on him. She looked over his armour, searching it for any gaps or weaknesses. Unfortunately, it seemed things were as he said - his massive form was covered in armour from head to toe.

Devith lunged again, and Wiosna fell back, switching to defence. Her opponent was overwhelmingly strong - she wouldn't be able to hold out for very long without a way to fight him.

The guard knocked her back again, and she fell on one knee. As he brought his blade down on her, she kicked back, pushing herself away from him.

“Emila!” she called out. “Get out here while you can! I won't be able to hold him off for very long!”

Devith took one more step towards her before a blast of ice crystals struck him in the head. His helmet, which was frozen through, was knocked off his head. The helm flew across the room and struck the far wall, shattering apart.

The guard rose up from the temporary distraction, looking irritated for the first time. His face was now revealed. He had black hair that he kept pulled back, a trimmed beard, and a single lock of braided hair that hung over his left ear.

Wiosna gasped.

“Y-you're!”

<> <> <>

Luca opened his eyes.

He tried to sit up, but he slipped on something and struck the back of his head against a stone wall.

“Fuck - ow...”

Trying to ignore the pain in his head, he looked around to figure out where he was. It only took him a moment to realise he was in a prison cell, complete with iron bars and a mana-sealing circle carved into the stone at his feet.

“Fantastic...”

He thought back to what had happened, to get him where he was. He had gone to Emila's room to talk with her, when the massive guard they called the bear, Devith, had shown up out of nowhere and tried to take Emila. Devith had told him he was sent by Marcus to bring him the princess, and apparently he had mistaken Emila for Selphie.

Except... Marcus clearly knew who Selphie was. He had known her since she was a child. There was no way he would have gotten her mixed up with Emila. In that case it had to be the guard's blunder, but it seemed like Marcus wouldn't have sent him off to kidnap a princess without making sure he knew which girl to go after. And what reason would Marcus have to kidnap or kill Selphie anyway? He had been honoured to have her at his palace - it was Luca that the guy had had a problem with. In that case, it made sense that Luca had ended up where he was - except that the guard clearly hadn't expected to run into him.

Something about this wasn't adding up - but he just couldn't put his finger on it. He felt like he was missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.

Luca rose, being careful this time not to slip and hit his head. He went over to the bars and peered outside. The gaol he was in was empty, save for a single guard who sat at a table by the stairs, flipping through a small book in his hand and occasionally chuckling.

“Hey, I'm not supposed to be here!” Luca called out to the gaoler.

“Shut it,” the gaoler said, not even looking up from his book.

“One of your people attacked one of my people!” he insisted.

“Not what I was told,” the gaoler replied. “I heard you picked a fight with Devith, and got your ass handed to you like you deserve. Sit back down and keep quiet and we'll see about all this in the morning.”

“Damn it!” Luca grabbed the iron bars of his cell and pulled them apart with all his might. They did not budge.

“Settle down, or I'll come over there and whack you over-”

At that moment, the gaoler gave out a cry, and collapsed, dropping his book on the ground. Brand stood behind him, holding a metal rod.

“The head?” Brand guessed. He tossed the rod aside and knelt down beside the inert guard. A moment later, Brand stood back up, carrying the key ring.

“Did Selphie send you?” Luca asked as Brand tried out the different keys on the ring, trying to find the right one.

He shook his head. “I heard it from one of the other guards. There are only a couple in the palace at night, and this Devith guy has them all paid to keep quiet. But one of the guys I befriended earlier told me anyway.”

“Wait, you knew this was going to happen?”

“He told me after the fact. I just found out you were locked up.”

“Where is Emila?” Luca asked.

“I don't know, I haven't seen her.” There was a click, and the door of the cell swung open with a rusty sound. “Ah, that's the one.”

Luca stepped outside of the cell. Brand handed him a sheathed blade.

“Thank you,” Luca said, returning
Siora
to its rightful place at his side.
 

Brand looked over at the unconscious gaoler. “One thing I know for sure is that Marcus is not behind this. This Devith guy has been planning this for some time, according to the guard I talked to. He's been bribing a lot of people to make this happen.”

“And yet he's made the dumbest of mistakes,” Luca said. “He went after Emila, not Selphie. He seems to have gotten them mixed up.”

Brand frowned. “Is that right - so where's Selphie?”

“She went to go see Marcus.”

“In that case, let's hope the king will pardon my springing you once he learns of the circumstances.”

Luca started off for the stairs. “We have to find Emila. That guy could still be after her.”

Brand nodded, and followed him out.

<> <> <>

“Acarian,” Wiosna hissed at the man before them. “You're an Acarian.”

Devith did not move, but his lips curled into an amused half-smile.

“Why would you not remove the braid?” Wiosna asked him. “It gave you away.”

“My actions had given me away well before,” he answered. “My braid is a symbol of my pride, and my allegiance to my true king. I would sooner be found out and slain before my mission is done than have it cut from me.”

“And that mission is...?”

“To bring the princess back with me to King Zinoro.”

Wiosna glanced back over to Emila, who had retreated as far into the library as she could, all but cowering behind a shelf and staring out at the massive Acarian in fear.

“Fool,” she whispered, meaning the both of them. She turned back to Devith. “So who are you really, then?”

“Devith was a name I used long ago,” he said to her in a voice that carried the weight of history. “Nobody remembers the man I was then. Devith is dead. I am Trunda, one of the five acolytes of Zinoro.”

Wiosna frowned, biting her lip. She didn't like the implications of that. If he was indeed one of Zinoro's acolytes, then why would he so readily offer up that information? If he was after the princess, then he should be trying to capture her no matter what...

She turned her head just enough to see Emila out of the corner of her eye. This guy - Trunda. He didn't seem to be the brightest bulb in the batch if he didn't even know the basic appearance of the princess he was after. Zinoro clearly wasn't putting a lot of faith in this mission if this dumb brute was who he sent. And after Dreevius, who was the biggest fool she had ever seen in a position of power, Wiosna was starting to have serious doubts about Zinoro's supposed strategic brilliance.

But regardless of how much a fool this guy was, he was tough. Wiosna didn't think she could beat him by herself. However, as he was here on Zinoro's orders and not Marcus', then hopefully help was on its way.

Trunda shrugged, and held up his sword. “It matters not. The princess and I will soon be far from here. And you will be dead.” He charged at her, clearing the distance between them in a few seconds.

Wiosna dodged the attack and did the only thing she could thing of - she ducked behind a massive bookshelf and pushed it forward with all her strength. Cringing in self-hatred at her act of literary sacrilege, she was nonetheless saved from Trunda's next attack as he was buried under a few hundred pounds of books.

She felt sorry for the librarian who would have to clean up the mess.

A few moments passed, and Trunda did not rise. Wiosna let out a sigh of relief, and turned to see Emila stepping forward hesitantly. “Is - is he dead?” she asked.

Wiosna looked back over at the collapsed bookcase, and the small mountain of books Trunda was buried under. There was no sign of movement.