The Kingdom of Liticea: The Sorcerer Prince

Chapter Nineteen: Unlikely Allies

"What does the Black Sun speak about?"

"A proposal from the Prince. He wishes to hire your company."

Talk began to flow from the mercenaries, "We have Proposal. We work for Saud."

"The Prince is willing to pay you twice what Saud paid you," Julius said with a wink, "And he has sent me to discuss terms."

The big Userian did not say anything, but his eyes widened enough to let Julius know that he was enticed by what he heard.

"Come."

Julius followed the man deeper into camp until they came upon a tent that was twice as large as the others and with about a hundred more colors. By the time they got a large crowd of the warriors was following him. Tauron ordered him to go alone to not be too threatening.

"Here. Inside."

They both dismounted, and there horses were taken care of. The big Userian led him through the open drapes and inside. The smell of incense hit Julius like a war hammer and he almost lost control of himself coughing. The tent was a maze of exotic tapestries of every color and of every shape. They were in the shapes of lions, elephants and other creatures Julius did not recognize. They were of mountains, sunsets and the vast open ocean. Julius often told Helg that he would like to see the open ocean before he died.

The Big Userian led him through and then stopped. In a pile of fine silk pillows lay the lean form of Nakbar Nazeen. A women was in each of his arms and a serving boy stood over him with a cup of wine. A few words of Userian were exchanged and Nakbar's eyes turned to Julius. The eyes darkened with the same intensity that Julius saw during their fight. He spoke a few words, and the big man, the serving boy, and the two women left him alone. He was shirtless and his body was like a marble structure form Spartica. He wrapped himself in a red and black robe and finally spoke to the Knight.

"The Black Sun returns to me," he said in a very well-spoken accent, "Do you wish to kill me this time? I could go for a rematch, give that scar on your chin some company."

"I did not come to fight you, Nazeen."

"No. Armar says that you bring a proposal from the Prince. Is this this true?" he said standing up and pouring himself a cup of wine. He offered some to Julius but he politely declined.

"The Prince wishes to hire your company."

"Does he? Well, I regret to tell you that me and my friends are currently employed. By Arhan Saud if you have forgotten."

"I have not forgotten. And the Prince is offering double what Mr. Saud paid you."

Nakbar raised one of his thin eyebrows. It was cut from the middle to just above the eyelid, "Is he now. Does he think he can so willingly get me to throw myself against the Morcars?"

"The Morcars?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Julius the Black. The only reason you Litici would even consider hiring me is because you do not have enough little pink men. The Prince wants my swords to fight the Morcars. We know of them, Julius the Black. The word has spread all the way south: a great terror from the west is laying waste to your country. Must be very distressing for your poor Prince."

"Tauron has the situation well under control."

"Which is why he decided to imprison the Frogman's son. Not a bad idea. Nothing motivates more than the death of a family member."