Heroism

Chapter Eleven: Cracking the Truth

"He's not going to be happy to hear this, you know that, right?" A young woman questioned as she stood with one hand propped against her hip. The man next to her shuddered, his lips pulling themselves into a frown as he nodded his head. The two stood in front of a pair of large, ornate black marble doors with a gold pattern. Taking a deep breath, he took a step forward and pressed his hands against the doors.

Gripping his resolve, he pushed the doors open and made his way inside. Getting down on one knee and looked down at the ground. "Your Majesty, I have news. Disturbing and awful news." He could feel the piercing, hot and intense crimson red eyes piercing his skin like daggers. King Detsoldue rested his chin on his hand, his lips pulled themselves into a frown. "Continue." Swallowing nervously, the man spoke up.

"The woman we have prisoner... She is not the hero. In Athlina today, there was an incident. A young woman who looks identical to the one we have was spotted fighting someone. She had the marking. We have the wrong person." The air turned bitterly cold as King Detsoldue's stare intensified. Getting to his feet, he slowly began to approach the man. Swallowing nervously, the man continued to stare at the ground.

"Thank you for this information. You are dismissed." Nodding his head, the man quickly got to his feet before scurrying away. Folding his arms behind his back, he began heading further into the castle. Rika quickly scuttled after him and only stopped jogging once she had matched his pace. Looking up at him, she could see a dark shadow crossing his features. A dark aura radiated from his entire being.

"Based on the fact that she looks exactly alike to our prisoner, I'm gonna guess they're siblings. Which means that no doubtebly she's come in search of her sister. We could use her as bait, to lure the hero here. But since she's not the hero, we're not going to execute her anymore are we?" She questioned with a frown. King Detsoldue remained silent as he pushed a large, rotting oak door open.

After a couple of moments, he finally spoke up. "We'll have the girl moved to a more secure location. As for the execution, I suppose it is unnecessary. However, I want some information out of her. I want to know more about this hero. I want you to contact Charles, see if he can get any information out of her," he stated coldly. His footsteps made an audible Tap, Tap, Tapping noise against the cold stone floor.

"Alright, I'll go and fetch Charles now." She nodded and quickly hurried away, leaving him to stand on his own in the dark and decrepit dungeon. Sighing, he continued down the damp corridor. The walls were caked in thick black mould; its musty, earthy and rotten stench was permeating through the air, it was almost enough to make anyone gag. But he had grown accustomed to the smell a long time ago.

"I found out you've been lying to me this whole time," he inserted the key into the cell door before stepping inside. Lulu's head was dipped low as she stared at the ground; her hands were restrained above her head with thick metal chains. She didn't look up from the ground, not even when she heard him approaching her. Taking her jaw between his index finger and thumb, he roughly forced her to look up at him.

"I know you're not the hero. I know your sister is; and how do I know that? Your sister is here. She's looking for you. But she won't get very far. I have someone following her as we speak, he will put an end to her. Now, if you want her death to be painless and quick, then you're going to tell me everything I want to know. Starting with, what is her name?~" Lulu's eyes narrowed at him but she remained silent.

"Still refusing to talk mmh? Well, we have ways of making that happen. If you won't talk willingly, I'll just have to make you." Releasing her face, he sighed and took a step backwards. Lulu lips pulled themselves into a frown; while she maintained a stern face, worry pooled behind her blue eyes. As he turned on his heel, he was met with the sight of a young man standing in front of the door.