“Captain Yehval, I charged you with keeping them calm and you failed me, forcing me to reveal my presence.” Kamila was flabbergasted realizing that the Queen had been watching and listening to them the entire time.
Suddenly Lith’s paranoia sounded reasonable.
“I relieve you from your duty. Prepare them for what is about to come and embarrass me no further.”
Everyone turned toward Kamila, looking at her with steel gazes as if there was a traitor among them. Even Zinya didn’t say a word to defend her.
“I couldn’t disobey a direct order from the Queen, just as there wasn’t anything I could say to ease your worries.” Kamila said to both the Queen and the Verhens.
Sylpha’s gaze softened, realizing she had tasked the Captain with an impossible mission. If it was her son they were talking about, the Commander and his men would be all over the place, reduced to small bits.
***
Two more days passed with no more news from either Solus or the Professors. For the first time in his life, Lith hated his secrets. He had asked Marth and Vastor multiple times if everything was alright at Lutia, only to hear them lie to his face.
Yet he couldn’t expose them without revealing Solus’s existence and their bond. He focused solely on Accumulation, drawing world energy non-stop in the case he needed to escape.
‘If only I managed to see out of this cell and could tell Solus where I am, she might be able to help me.’ He thought.
Lith understood that something was truly wrong when Vastor, Marth, and Manohar walked through the door of his cell in their Spellbreaker uniform and all wearing a stern expression.
“Change into this. We’ll wait for you outside.” Marth handed to him what looked like a light blue jumpsuit that would have looked identical to an Earth’s prisoner uniform if not for bearing the army color.
Lith used both Invigoration and Life Vision, discovering that the cloth was enchanted, yet it was nothing he had ever seen before and was already imprinted.
‘At least it’s not a slave item, but I can’t refuse to wear it anyway. I’m completely disarmed whereas they are veterans and are combat-ready. The Professors aren’t wearing ceremonial garbs and weapons, but the real deal.
‘I doubt I can take out even one of them. They are prepared and waiting for troubles. Also, I’ve already seen how good Vastor’s and Manohar’s teamwork is, if we add Marth, I don’t have a ghost of a chance without my equipment and Solus.’ Lith thought.
The Professors had him walking in the middle of a triangular formation, with Headmaster Marth on point while Vastor and Manohar walked behind him.
“I’m really sorry, kid. You deserved better.” Manohar said, his tone sadder than Lith had ever heard him. The god of healing’s ominous words deserved him several curses from his colleagues.
Paranoia made Lith plan on weaving his best spells, perform a surprise attack on his wardens with three tier five spells at the same time, and then flee from the Royal castle.
Then, his good sense stopped him.
‘Even if I manage to escape from this corridor, I have no idea where the exit is. Let’s assume I leave the castle, then what? My family is presumably held hostage and I’ve got nowhere to run.’ He thought.
‘On top of that, this is too weird. Jumpsuit aside, I’ve not been charged with anything, I wear no restraints, and I can feel that aside from dimensional magic, I can use all elements again.’
Despite the many inconsistencies, Lith silently cast his spells. Being rational was good, but being rational and prepared was better.
After walking through a few stark corridors, he understood that the Royals didn’t hold him in the dungeon, but in the medical ward of the castle. The space around him went from mental asylum to royal palace of Versailles quickly.
Even mirrors were framed with solid gold, while all the tapestries and paintings on the walls were not only masterpieces to the point that even a layman of arts could appreciate them, but they were also enchanted.
The carpets were the same, but while the pieces of art on the walls depicted epic scenes of battle and the magical breakthroughs of the past Magi that had shaped the Kingdom’s history, those covering the floor guided the guests by giving them directions.
Soon Lith recognized the path towards the Banquet Hall. It was filled with magical marvels, among which at least fifty different arrays and countless magical treasures hidden inside the walls that only Life Vision revealed to him.
The double doors leading inside were wide open. Before they could enter, a valet checked Marth’s ID before announcing their arrival, speaking with a magically enhanced voice.
The room was more than forty meters (133 feet) long and over thirty meters (100 feet) wide, with a single red silk carpet with gold embroidered edges going from the three meters (10 feet) wide double doors up to the two steps that distanced the floor where nobles stood and the raised one for the royal family.
That way, even while sitting on their golden thrones, the Royal couple would be able to look down on everyone present, reaffirming their status and authority.
The whole room was lighted by crystal chandeliers, fueled by magic, leaving no space for shadows or need for maintenance.
On the walls, magically enchanted tapestries would recount over and over the great feats that the current King had accomplished to be deemed worthy of his power. Both the floor and the pillars of the room were realized from gold veined marble, the most precious and robust material available in the Griffon Kingdom.
The room was filled with nobles and mages of all ages and relevance. Some Lith knew personally like Marchioness Mirim Distar, Count Lark, General Berion, and the Ernas family, others were merely acquaintances like Velan Deirus and Baron Eiros Wyalon from Jambel, but most of them were complete strangers to him.
‘I wish Solus was with me. She would probably remember who the beanpole is and why he is glaring at me like that.’ Lith failed to recognize Kallion Nuragor and all the enemies he had made as a student first and a Ranger later.
The room was filled with those who thought of themselves as his friends and those who considered him a threat. Both were eager to witness Lith’s judgment.
Lith glanced at the balconies. They were sealed, but it was nothing that his enhanced body and a spell couldn’t open.
‘So far I have no clue. I received my family name here, but I also witnessed several trials for high treason taking place in the banquet hall. The fact that no one wears evening clothes but only high uniforms don’t bode well, though.’ He thought.
Queen Sylpha and King Meron were the only ones allowed to sit, whereas all of their guests had to stand. Lith could feel how half the room was tense while the other half sent dirty looks at him.
No one seemed happy, which confused him even more.
‘Fuck me sideways.’ Lith thought when he noticed that the Queen was wielding the Sword of Saefel, the weapon of Valeron Griffon, the first King.
It was used mainly to declare war and execute traitors.
