Chapter 3: Chapter 2
The next two days were painfully slow. The calm of the soldier's modest house and the silence of the cold cells did not bring the same sentiment. The calm the soldier felt contrasted the restlessness the prince experienced. Indeed, the young man felt the calm before the storm, the last feeling of calm you feel before everything goes horribly wrong. Soon, he thought, soon it won't matter.
Haldor awaited with excitement the discovery of new continents, and maybe the sailors meant to take them to their destination were the same sailors he meets at the tavern. That would make the voyage supportable.
Ludicael was also looking forward to leave the humid prison, and it's inhabitants. Maybe just maybe that guard could be bought and he could go free once he got to Eulobea. The land of centaurs. Maybe he could get help. Lying is not difficult when you talk to other nobles of the court.
'Please, offer me sanctuary. I've lost all I had to war. I beg of you have mercy.'
Centaurs may look big and scary. But, they are gentle giants. The diplomatic visits Oloiste, the king of Eulobea, had been nothing but amicable. Ludicael would often pass by the throne room and hear his father and King Oloiste laugh and share stories.
Hopefully, all centaurs were like that.
Haldor had heard the sailor's stories all his life. The one that always stuck with him was old Sanfrid's story. The old man went on and on about how their ship was attacked by mermaids.
"So Haldor," the tavern's owner, Lodar, was cleaning the counter in front of him, "Remember Sanfrid's story?"
"How can I forget? For 20 years he told the same story everyday. I am really asking, how can I forget?"
"Keep the drinking up and you eventually may."
The old soldier and the old barman have known each other since boyhood. Haldor tried to come drink has a teenager, he was 16, ordered the nastiest alcohol there was. Lodar's father was no idiot and so he proposed a bargain, if he could drink the whole mug without feeling sick or spitting it out he could have has many free drinks as he could drink. Haldor never got to drink one quarter of the damned thing.
When he finally got on his feet again, he got a damned good beating from the man and one again when he got home. He was not allowed to go anywhere alone for weeks. His father would take him to the tavern and didn't let him order anything but milk. That's where he heard old Sanfrid's tale about mermaids, he and Lodar would just listen to the man and drink every word he said.
"You know Hal," the barman stopped cleaning for a moment and fidgeted with the clothes he held, "I know mermaids haven't been seen for over a decade, but what if you do encounter a mermaid, what will you do?"
"Listen, if I ever encounter a mermaid, I guess I better swim very fucking fast."
"You are an idiot."
Laughter did take the soldier's mind off the old sailor and his tale only for a short while, but someway or another the late man's words still echoed in his mind
'Damned things are vicious boys. They tore apart the haul of The Parting, you had no time to help anyone other than yourself, Gods know I had just enough time to get to the escape boats and flee, and leave the creatures distracted with the ones left in the water. I was one of the lucky ones, I lived to tell the tale. We were rescued by another ship hours after. And I have something to remember that day forever.'
That's when the old man took his left glove off to reveal a wooden hand, what stayed on his mind was the horrible scratch marks where the wood meets the flesh. That gave him nightmares for days. Now that he was a soldier and had seen the horror of battle it didn't faze him anymore, or as much as it used to.
Soon the time came to meet his charge. The traitor. The reason he would be leaving. The goodbyes were more of a laughing matter than a serious one. The guys at the tavern would mock him, saying he wouldn't last a day at sea and even the prisoner would have more guts than him even if "the kid looks like he just got out of the womb". The docks weren't far, the laughter and the remark of the drunken men were still heard. The sea breeze and the sound of the water was calming, calming enough to let him think.
If he said he didn't look forward to see the kid, he would be lying, he was interested to see this 'cold blooded murderer' in the flesh again, and why did the King insist he had permission to kill him.
The sound of chains and heavy footsteps alerted him. Six heavy armored guards, seeing them armed to the teeth, you'd think they would be escorting the biggest and meanest criminal in the world, but no. In the middle of those armored brutes stood a man, an average man, there was nothing that would make him stand out in the middle of a crowd, if he wasn't accused of murdering the man that was trying to bring peace to all kingdoms. Still, he walked as if he was being escorted through a parade, he held his head high, and ignored all the insults thrown at him.
"Here is your charge, Commander Stithulf. Be careful, he still has the gall to try and be a brat."
One of the guards shoved the man hard, he fell to the ground under the gaze of the angry mob that had gathered to see his departure. Nevertheless, under all the mockeries and spiteful stares he got up and dusted himself. The people grew only louder and angrier, that was the queue to leave. Haldor grabbed his charge by the arm quite roughly, the young prince struggle but the old soldier's grip only tightened -a warning, he would get on the damned ship, willingly or not- that did not stop the young man from struggling.
Below deck was made a cell to hold this infamous criminal. Nothing too sturdy or costly because after all, even if he escaped, where would he go once they were in the middle of the ocean? Plus, it was more for his protection than to hold him captive.
"From a cage to another? Well, this journey is starting well, wouldn't you say friend?"
The guards were right, the man could still be sarcastic even when he faces the death penalty. Haldor gently, or as gently as he could be with a murderer, pushed him inside the cell, quickly locking it in the process.
"I am not your friend and you will not talk-"
"-unless you address to me. Yes, I know how the song goes, friend."
"I could -and will, if you continue- wipe that grin off of your face. You are a prince no longer, remember that."
The young man lazily rested his back against the haul of the ship and averted his eyes. The two had fallen into silence quicker than the soldier had thought. He did not worry much and started his duty. He sat on a chair and observed his prisoner. That would be his duty for the next month. Luckly for him, the prisoner had nowhere to escape to, that would make it easier for him.
It has not even been ten minutes when the silence was disturbed by the young man, he sat up straight and eyed the old soldier as if he was an animal he could study.
It had not gone unnoticed, Haldor looked back at the young man, a slight glint of curiosity in his eyes. They stayed that way for a moment before the soldier's curiosity got to him.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm thinking about perspective."
"What?"
"Because, from my perspective, it looks like the one locked up is you. Do you want to test it?"
"How stupid do I look to you?"
The soldier was amused at the attempt, truly, had he been ten years younger, he could have fallen for that trick. Aging was good for him, intelligence was something he had lacked in his young years. A small smile played at his lips.
They stayed in silence for a minute more before the young prince decided to talk once more.
"Pretty stupid if you ask me."
The smile was quickly wiped off of the older man's face, and slowly graced the young man's lips.
"I did not want an answer."
"Then why did you ask?"
"Do not start this little game."
"You are the one keeping it going."
Haldor sighed, this young foolish man, was aggravating and quite possibly was going to be thrown overboard. Ludicael laughed, he was thinking this trip would be dull, far from it. The soldier tried to hide any hint of reaction, but he couldn't the prince was just too obnoxious to deal with. He certainly wasn't on a normal basis, but, he really wanted a reaction out of the older man. He will get bored with him soon but for now, he was going to have some fun.
— New chapter is coming soon — Write a review
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone