"A- Are w- we g- " River gulped. "W-wesssssssso-own"
"Clatter or chatter,River honey ,pick a battle " Wolfram laughed and draped another heavy fur coat around him.
They had traveled westward from Linchet and crossed the boarder with no hiccups. Wolfram had produced a set of documentation to indicate that they were silk traders returning to West at the checkpoint. The soldiers let them pass with no further interrogation.
The security in West Linchet was the weakest in the whole Eastern kingdom ,even though it was the closest region to East-West boarder.
For starters the area was desolated. The houses in the area was few and far in between and large part of the land was occupied by thick forests.
This situation could only be explained by the existence of the infamous mass grave ; The Valley of Fallen Heroes.
Although thousand years have passed since the catastrophe people still deemed lands like West Linchet and Whiolf unsuitable for human habitation. The regions could not be used for farming or livestock raising and they were far from capitals like Malia and Wesown.
"There's only one very dyfunctional check point here" Wolfram had said pointing at the vastness of barren fields beyond the window of their carriage. "Gaurds there would let us go even if we carried Raek's head with us "
He had then tapped his fan to his head in distress "That would change soon ,though"
"My lord think Solina would declare war?"
"I have a feeling " he had said "South and West might have to form an alliance if it comes down to that. We dont know North's stance yet. Gods will be consulted"
He snapped open his fan "How very bothersome. Imagine having to explain battle strategy to Alistair "
River had laughed dryly at the mention of his name,the needle of betrayal sinking bitterly in to his heart.
They had travelled past boarder in to West kingdom and Whiolf was a far worse nightmare than Linchet.
Two days in to reaching Whiolf, they were now pulling through seven inches of snow on a sleigh powered by four reindeers. The air was crisp, biting with a cold that seeps into every layer. All around them was the blanket of pristine white .The silence was only broken by the soft muffled noise of reindeer hooves sinking in to powdery snow.
This was River's first time seeing snow and likewise his first time experiencing such absurdly cold weather. Wolfram had wrapped him in multiple layers of furcoats to ward off the chill, but he still miserably shivered.
He resembled that one chair in every household which was used to dump laudary on with his haphazardly draped layers. Only his eyes were visible to the world, which had collected a thin coat of snow on their thick lashes.
"Well aint this a crisis of epic propotions " he laughed at River's layer situation "Id like to see you surviving Whiolf winters"
River widened his eyes at him .
This is not winter?
Wolfram giggled and fanned himself in the face. "Today is one of warmest days of the year"
The man was only wearing his usual dark blue, single layered fur coat. Other than the slight pink dusting his cheeks and nose he seemed completely unbothered by the cold .
Good sir, is your blood blue?
Wolfram picked up a handful of clean snow on the wooden sleigh and started balling it "I wander what made Solina lose her marbles "
"N-no cl-ue" River inched away from him when he jokingly tried to throw it at his face .
"Couldn't be anything I said ,right?" he giggled and took a large mouthful out of the snow ball.
Friend ..brother ..stop this madness !
"Huh, beauty really is only skin deep" he shook is head dissapointedly and continued to munch on his gourmet ice dish.
No matter how much River tried to put his mind to rest,something about Wolfram's narration of events felt incredibly off. He could not put his finger on it beacuse everything he said seemed wholly plausible.
As Wolfram pointed , Solina's impulsive murder spree felt extremely odd. She was the legitamate heir to the throne and Raek Wendigo favoured her. She had virtually no reason to do what she did.
Solina could have been against her father's decision to hand over the metal to West and murdered to stop him. Still she looked so brazen in her gruesome homicide like her actions could bear no consequences.
Putting his personal bitterness aside ,Raven Alistair's dissapearance felt wrong too. Sure ,River was disposable to him and the metal took priority. But then what? Where is he going to keep it? How is he going to find the other fragment? Or fragments according to Xola Wendigo?
River did not completely trusted Wolfram Shculz . But River held no importance for him to go through all this trouble. There was nothing worthy to take from him.
"Things like this happens when your intelligence is eclipsed by three pounds of makeup " Wolfram commented "East cant win against South and West"
Solina didnt know the first thing about being a ruler. East had not a single advantage. Not financially ,not politically and definitely not geographically.
My brain is half frozen and even I can process that much.
If North joins West -South alliance , this will be a reenactment of the great war from thousand years ago.
"Will m-m-y lor-dd be p-pun-nished?" He asked "For ffffai-ling to rretrieve the mattt-tal"
"Shh" Wolfram closed his eyes dramatically "We dont talk about that! Not when the weather is so nice "
* * * * * * * * *
In another two days they passed Whiolf and reached Wesown.
River obediently climbed 999 steps behind Wolfram up the mountain side to the Castle of Calamis. One step for each day of Devine Judgement.
"This is why my brother sends me on errands !" Wolfram sarcastically pointed down at the flight of rock stairs they had just ascended and gasped . They were both panting and drenched in sweat from the arduous climb "This is the source of all our conflicts!"
The West Castle of Calamis was one of nations greatest architectural spectacles. The gradiose structure perched on a snow covered mountain top, over seeing the city of Wesown. It was on top of River's favourite destinations to see one day if he ever got out of house arrest.
A group of maids came running to welcome their prince with smiliing and bright faces. The gaurds lined up at the gate with simillar expressions of joy. Wolfram seemed to have won the hearts of everyone in Calamis castle.
"Welcome back your highness!" They greeted in harmony . One maid who seemed to be head of the group bowed respectfully "Its a delight to see that you have returned safely"
"Ill be happy to be home too," Wolfram pointed his fan accusingly at the flight of stairs "if I didnt have to climb that wretched thing, every.fucking .time "
"It cant be helped ,Highness" the maid bowed apologetically.
"Thank you ,that made my knees feel so much better" Wolfram unclasped his cloak and pushed it on to her hands. "Where's my brother ?"
"His majesty is in his study and wishes not to be distu-"
But Wolfram had already taken off in the opposite direction. River hurried behind him ,afraid to be left behind .
He lead River through opulent halls featuring crystal chandeliers and elaborate frescoes of legend of Vorine and Devine Judgement. Regal furnishings decorated every nook creating an atmosphere of unparalleled luxury. The hallways were adorned with masterfull oil paintings.
River followed him like a lost yet extremely giddy little puppy, occasionally pausing to admire something that had caught his attention with bright eyes. The entire palace seemed to be something out of a fairy tale and it certainly lived up to its reputation as the most majestic palace in the nation.
"My brother might look like he sold his soul to West god in exchange of the throne" Wolfram waved his fan around dramatically "But fear not. He was soulless long before any divine real estate transactions"
They reached the study room of the West king and its intimidating dark ebony doors.
A single gaurd stood there in attention . When he saw them approaching he bowed in respect, smiling .
"Your highness! Welcome back!" He greeted.
"Is my brother in side?" He grinned at the gaurd
"His majesty refuses to see anyone rig-"
"KAAAAAAIIIIIIIIII" Wolfram threw the doors open with a bang and stormed in .
He had bearly took two steps in when a massive black shadow lunged on him , violently propelling him backwards.
A blood curdling scream echoed through the hallways of the castle.
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I redid this chapter threee timessssss.
The next one will be out today !
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Wolfram Schulz
Kaizer Shculz