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The Kingdom of Lies & Gems 2

A side story from “In The Ashes of Forgiveness”

By Harrys StratigakisPublished 2 years ago 6 min read
2

The carriage arrived at the small bridge that connected the city with the Avilla castle since it was surrounded by a small river. Vierizen had 5 rivers flowing through its lands and it was said that Artanges became the capital as it was the only place where all 5 rivers passed through it.

Avilla castle was built at the exact point where the 5 rivers collided with each other, making it the center of Artanges as well as of the whole Vierizen region.

As the cart was passing the bridge, several knights stationed there could be seen making way for it while saluting Aaron in respect. Aaron was feeling tense throughout the journey as he was sitting inside the carriage.

“Master, we are here. Let us grab everything and we will meet you inside.”

Aaron quickly stepped out while nodding at the knights and headed toward the giant entrance where two heavily armored knights with helmets were also stationed at the door’s two edges.

“Thank you for everything”, Aaron expressed his gratitude for their work as he pointed his finger at the cart behind him, “Go help move this load to the kitchen on the first floor, the maids will know what to do with them.”

“Yes sir!”, the knights shouted in harmony as they bowed to him.

After he entered the castle he noticed a blonde-haired figure wearing a white-indigo uniform talking to two maids on the entrance’s large stairs that spiraled their way toward the castle’s upper floors.

“Brother!, the voice called out to Aaron, “Welcome back! I see you’ve brought all the goods we were lacking. Great job, I am sure that all of it is of exquisite taste and quality.”

“Gabriel…Enough with these chores, however, it’s time for me to take charge of some of the meaningful tasks here.”, Aaron answered in a slightly peeved voice as he was climbing the stairs.

“Come on…chores? What would we do if we run out of wine on the Aegis Iory night? Don’t you worry though, I’ve had everything covered here as well.”, Gabriel proudly said.

“But that’s what I am worried about. You can’t be the only one that coordinates the ceremony…”

Gabriel then gave an expression as if understanding the meaning behind Aaron’s words.

“Oh, so my little brother wants to test his management skills it seems. I don’t mind, can’t say no to a helping hand extended to me.” Gabriel uttered, and after pausing for some seconds he continued in a soft but enthusiastic voice.

“Actually, you could be quite useful in coordinating the banquet preparations. I can go arrange the interior in more detail this way!”

“Alright, alright.”, Aaron said as if wanting to get rid of Gabriel, “Let me handle that and you go indulge yourself in the decorations.”

He then stormed out toward the 1st floor where the kitchen was stationed as Gabriel waved at him like a mother seeing his child leaving for school.

“Tsch”, Aaron muttered to himself as he gained distance from Gabriel, “This doesn’t work well for me. Unfortunately, I might have to cancel the whole operation…”

He then proceeded to the kitchen to watch how the maids were doing and told them that he will come back in a bit to check their work. Then, Aaron hid from plain sight and inserted a Pearl [Spiritual Power stealing] into a left-hand bracelet covered up by his long sleeves.

The bracelet and its various scribblings lit up as he felt his soul momentarily escaping his body. Then, he touched with his right finger the pearl fragment and gently pressed it in, while a previously faint pattern scribbled on the bracelet, started lighting up as well.

Aaron simultaneously focused on the image of a man in his mind and after that he began speaking in a low-volume voice.

“Can you hear me Kebo Avita?”

Aaron’s voice reached telepathically the ears of a man dressed in violet clothing, alarming him at first, but then he repeated the same process as Aaron with his Moissanite and answered him in a rushed voice.

“Aaron! What took you so long? You haven’t come to us yet and we started getting impatient around here, I can’t hold them for much longer.”

“Kebo, we need to withdraw from this plan. Brother — Gabriel gave me the task of coordinating the food and beverages preparations.”

Aaron could feel Kebo’s surprise as he raised his voice in return.

“What?! But that place is better for you to get positioned if we want to poison Gabriel!”

“Don’t you get it?”, Aaron quietly lashed out at Kebo, “If my brother dies of poisoning and I was placed in the kitchen, at the very least I would be labeled as incompetent, and at the very worst I could be charged with conspiring against him!”

“Couldn’t you just shift your posts with him?”

“It’s not as easy as it sounds. He loves decorating so I couldn’t just take his job for no good reason, he would get suspicious…”, Aaron answered as he was starting to calm down.

Kebo stayed silent for a brief moment after he heard Aaron’s explanation and then started speaking again in a softer voice.

“Hmm…Well, it can’t be helped then. I’ll try to explain your position to the Irnalids and if we can’t think of something else, we will drop this mission and try to find another opportunity.”

“Don’t you worry Kebo”, Aaron then spoke in an arrogant voice, “Tell them that our options will be plenty in the near future anyway…”

“As you wish. We will stay in touch.”, Kebo said before parting with him.

Then, Aaron took off his pearl and hid it away in his pocket, and started pacing toward the kitchen. He was feeling a little irritated since that conversation. However, after a deep breath, he murmured in a sinister voice to himself.

“Yes, yes…don’t fret my beloved brother, the opportunities for you to get out of my way to the throne won’t be limited indeed. I will get there by any means necessary; even if it costs us everything…”

The maids greeted him happily as he entered the room with a lighter expression on his face and before he sat down, he began pouring some wine into a silver cup and stared at them doing their job exceptionally.

This is a side story featuring characters Vierizen Kingdom from my work-in-progress novel, "In The Ashes of Forgiveness", originally published on Medium.

You can further support my work and even gain access to exclusive stories from the novel through Ko-fi!

© All rights reserved to Harrys Stratigakis

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About the Creator

Harrys Stratigakis

From self-help articles to fantasy stories based on the novel I am writing, In The Ashes of Forgiveness, here you can read to your heart’s content!

You can also support me on Ko-fi, see more of my articles on Medium, or catch up on Twitter!

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