Chapter 1: Blood-moon
(Part 2)
The general of that army raised his hooded head at
hearing the scream of pain from the lady proceeding from the castle and gave a
sly smile. So, the queen still lived, but not the king.
His followers had done a good job, “good,” he thought.
“And like this, my vengeance against her will be complete.” He found himself in
the central plaza of the city, surrounded by burning houses and bodies spread
at his feet. But all of this didn’t displease him, he didn’t even show signs of
seeing it. His objective, since he had left the army, since he had heard those
damned words, almost five years ago, was different. With a quick gesture, he
indicated for various supporters to follow him down a stretch of narrow street
arriving, after a few minutes, at the gates of the walled part of the castle.
The strong bars that permitted entrance now appeared
doubled over, as well as having their remains spread over the parade grounds.
The hooded man, unperturbed, passed by the jumble of ruined iron and stone in
order to, thereupon, move between the chaos he had created in front of the main
castle gate; the real residence of the monarchs, inside the small royal
complex.
His followers, on the other hand, had begun dedicating
themselves to pillaging, just watching the unoccupied and undefended rooms that
surrounded the enormous central building, at the same time as they would
exterminate all living beings that crossed their path. The hooded man who led
the retinue made a slight gesture of distaste at seeing the first, without
upsetting himself in the slightest at the second. And so he let his captain,
who followed him in silence barely a meter away, know in a hushed tone, ¨You
know what to do with those who rob.¨
The geruk quickly nodded its head in assent and let
out a growl of warning, commanding all of the subordinates to meet in the patio
that instant. More than one threw everything they held onto the floor when they
heard the order, but others did not. The boss geruk growled again, but this
time to himself. More than one of them should be punished...and soon.
Slowly, once regrouped, the small battalion, led by
the dark general, entered the castle, easily pushing open the doors decorated
with mother of pearl. They ascended the grand staircase that spiraled to the
left navigating various passages until they found the door they were looking for.
A silent moonlit gallery proceeding from an arched gallery, over a patio,
appeared in front of them. Without stopping to admire the spectacle, and while
some geruk seethed on the lower floors destroying everything in their path, the
asultants guided by the maestro of all the destruction advanced without fear
and without giving their surroundings a second look to the other side of the
balconade. They had finally arrived at the royal turret. The hooded general
then made a gesture to the geruk at his left, his personal executioner, and
signaled him with a dry movement of the head to the door in front of them.
Without blinking, he stepped forward and gave a strong kick to
the wood, breaking it into pieces as well as causing the surrounding walls to
tremble. But, none of those present seemed to notice as they further ascended
the dark spiral staircase to the other side.
As they advanced together, they more clearly heard the
sobs of a woman from above.
Upon arriving at the landing of the royal chambers,
the door was locked. The door in front of them, decorated in ivy and exotic
plants seemed to move when contemplated, it was suspicious.
There had been something strange on the other side of
the wood, they could sense it. However, the carvings remained motionless as
they watched more intently and the general hufed an order to forget the
bothersome thoughts. He was certain that if the girl were anywhere, she would
be with her mother. And so, he repeated the gesture he had already given his
executioner at the foot of the tower and the rest occurred as before.
When the wood jumped, an unnatural screech was heard
in the interior of the bedroom, but the invaders were not intimidated. The
queen for her part, opened her eyes and mouth wide at recognizing the leader of
the group before putting on an aggressive face.
“You…” she hissed.
The man, for his part, gave a malicious half smile
beneath the hood.
“Well, Alia. You remember me!”
The queen, for her part, sat up and faced the foot of
the large canopied bed and extricated something with effort from beneath it.
The metal of the blade rang out as it grazed the stone floor of the bedroom,
just before the queen Alia de Gadar tried to raise it over her head, without
much success, but willing to launch herself, as she was , against her dark
opponent. Without being perturbed, he raised his hand and pronounced several
words. In an instant, Queen Alia saw herself disarmed, defenceless and drawn
briskly towards him.
“Where are your manners, your majesty?” He laughed an
instant before planting his dagger in her stomach.
The woman opened her eyes wide, surprised but she
could not do anything to evade her destiny. A few seconds afterwards, her
lifeless body fell like as a bundle to the floor, her face turned toward the
ceiling. Her assassin observed her for a moment before murmuring, “You should
have been more reasonable, Alia,” and shook his head in feigned disgust before
adding, “now, you will keep your ‘beloved husband’ company.”
Inmediately afterwards, the man returned the dagger to
his cloak and headed toward the crib which occupied the corner furthest away in
the room. It was simple. It only appeared covered in white baby blankets
bordered with the letter “E” in green and gold. The intruder pressed his lips
together. Only one more step… Only a little bit more and nightmare would end.
He quickly raised his hand and pulled back the sheets
that covered the bundle inside. But the crib was empty.
The general froze momentarily without speaking, and
immediately afterwards he emitted a crazed scream that could be heard
throughout the entire city, silencing it even more. The combatants who had
stopped on the other side of the window didn’t survive. There wasn’t a Gadarath
left alive to tell the tale of what had happened. But it had all been in vain. The
general squeezed his fists until his knuckles turned white before returning to
his followers, who remained impassive beside the door.
“Search
for her” he murmured in hoarse growl. “I want to have the body of that baby at
my feet, no matter the cost. Ready?”
The
two geruk assented right away and left the bedroom without making a noise. Their leader, on the other hand, stayed another moment thoughtful, stood
upright in the center of the room and then made a decision. From the entrance,
he slowly moved closer to the balcony and leaned out on it. His followers were
all gathered in the patio cheering him with voices that seemed to resonate from
the bowls of the very earth. He let them flatter him, meanwhile, his mind
worked at full speed. He had to find a way to be sure that the princess wouldn’t
return to be a problem for him in case his geruk didn’t find her… and smiled
wickedly at coming to the solution without expecting to.
“Like this, I will rid myself of another problem from
above,” he thought a bit afterwards while he advanced to the head of his army
and then crossing the lands of Gadar leaving behind the city of Mehyan,
formerly the proud capital of the kingdom burned and devastated, “and she will
surrender to my orders. She
will leave no other option.”
©
Paula de Vera García
Traducción :
Isaiah O’Bryon (USA).
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