To satisfy my curiosity, I looked at Christopher in the middle of that walk and asked, "Umm... Christopher, what made you decide to join the Democrats?"
"The queen made my life miserable," Christopher answered. "She had sentenced my parents to death for accidentally burning Rosario banners hung at the back of her throne."
"That is a shallow reason to sentence people to death," I shook my head.
"I know. As a matter of fact, she was still not satisfied of my parent's fate that she had turned me into her personal slave," Christopher explained. "In the hope of making my life less unfortunate, I tried to escape that castle one night through that forest we had been before. In the end, I had found myself in the middle of the city with no food to eat and no water to drink. For every hour that had passed, I got weaker. Until there came a time that I had just fell and passed out."
"Oh that is horrible," Kate spoke sadly.
"Indeed, Kate," Christopher nodded. "Luckily, as I woke up, I realized that I was in the middle of a light blue room with my whole body laid on top of a white comfy bed. As I looked on my right hand, I realized that there was a dextrose attached to it and at the moment I had touched my face, I found out that there was an oxygen mask that had helped me breathe. Unexpectedly, a lady went inside the room and in a kindly manner she asked my condition and the clan that I had belonged... That lady was no other than Commander Hilda."
"Whoa! What a revelation," Alexander widened his eyes.
"She said that some of the Democrats saw me lie unconsciously in front of the gate. So, without any hesitation, they carried me inside the Mansion to treat my ill condition," Christopher continued. "For days she monitored my recovery and provided my every need. Every time she visited me, she would always explain all about the Mansion and the Democrats... I had admired her attitude which was way opposite than the queen herself. With kind words, Commander Hilda motivated me for who I am now. In the end, I had chosen my allegiance to the league and not to the clan that I had belonged."
"So how did you get back to the castle without them knowing that you are already a Democrat?" Kate asked.
"It was easy," Christopher smirked. "I lied to the queen. I made her believe that the guards had forced me to do labor outside the castle for days. With no other time to realize whether what I had said was a truth or a lie, she had forgotten to ask the guards their side of the story."
"Oh! You really have convincing acting skills," I chuckled.
"I know," Christopher smiled. "Never did she knew that from that day on, I had made a huge deal with Commander Hilda which was for me to be the eye of the Democrats inside the territory. So, for months I had studied all the passages of the castle when there was a spare time and would sometimes observe all her characteristics and battle strategies, in the hope that I could use it against her in the future."
"Oh! That is such a wise act," I nodded with a smile.
"At the moment I saved you guys from that dungeon, I had decided to quit the job and finally take a rest from her harsh orders. From that day on, I never came back from the castle and was never heard again," He explained.
"You have made the right choice, my friend," I patted his back when all of a sudden, three framed portraits which were attached on the upper right side of the hallway had caught my attention. I hurriedly walked towards them and examined the people presented in those acrylic made paintings.
The first painting presented a lady which was about in her mid-twenties. Her fair complexion resembled to like that of an angel which was untouched with any impurities. Her long curly hair was gold in color and this was elegantly partnered with her brown colored eyes. Her lips was peach in color and her nose had a small mole on its upper right. With glamour, she wore yellow colored gown and held a black colored cloth on her right hand.
The second painting portrayed a man which was about Thirty years old. His mustache perfectly matched with his dark straight hair. His pride-filled stare with his grey colored eyes seemed to intimidate everyone who dared to see the painting. With confidence, he wore a grey colored suit which was matched with a black colored tie. On his left hand, he held a white colored feather.
As I looked on the third painting, it portrayed a man which was about Twenty years old. Unlike the second person, this guy had no mustache. He had a curly black hair and green colored eyes. With a smile executed by his pale juicy lips, it seemed like he greeted with delight on everyone who would see him through that old painting. He wore a blue colored suit which was paired with a white colored tie. On his right hand was a brown colored paper which had a sketch of the crystallized heart.
"These paintings look interesting," Kate said as she looked at the paintings.
"I agree. It is so classic," Alexander added.
"Actually they are the founders of the Democrats," Christopher clarified. "The first painting is Elisa, the second painting is Fidel while the third painting is Eduardo."
"Oh my goodness," My eyes widened. "It all makes sense. Actually, I had read the letters coming from Elisa and Eduardo a few weeks ago."
"Oh! It seems interesting," Christopher smiled. "You sensed it as a call, didn't you?"
"Apparently, yes," I nodded with a smile. "Weird huh?"
"Yeah... Anyways, these portraits can wait," Christopher spoke. "It's already late at night and Commander Hilda is longing to see you all back here.
"Oh... You're right," I looked at Christopher.
"Let's go," Christopher said as we gave him a nod and continued the walk towards that silent hallway.
~~~o0o~~~
After ten minutes of that nonstop walk, we finally had stopped on our tracks at the moment we reached in front of this dark blue door. Designed on its center was a wooden sculpture of a wing. Attached on top of the door was a small light bulb which gave the place a brighter view.
Moments later, Christopher looked at us with a smile and said, "Well, this is it... This is her office."
"Awesome," I nodded as Christopher slowly opened the door.
As we walked inside, the first thing that had caught my attention was the light blue colored walls. It was a shocker that at the center of the whole room was another door. It was white in color and attached to it was another sculpture of a wing.
"I think Commander Hilda is inside that door. Am I right?" I asked.
"Yeah... I almost forgot. Just stay here guys," Christopher spoke. "I'm going to call her."
"Sure," I smiled. "Take your time."
Without any time wasted, Christopher immediately went inside that white colored door.
While we waited for Commander Hilda and Christopher to come out, I roam around the room and tried to entertain myself with all the sights. On the leftmost part of the room was a white colored sofa which had a lot of boxes on top of it. As I tried to take a peek on what was inside, I found out that it was filled with frames.
As I walked on the right side of the room, I saw a huge painting of a young man attached to the wall. It was so huge that it almost filled a half of the right wall. His short brownish hair seemed to be blown by an intense wind. His Arabian look was emphasized by black eyes and thick eyebrows. On the right side of his pale lips was a dimple. His expression was caught on a mid-smile. Oh his left hand was a long silver sword which was extremely shiny. Among these features, the thing that had made the painting interesting was that the guy wore a Roman Soldier outfit. As I walked in front of it, I found out that there was a name printed on the upper left of the painting.
Prince Joshua? Who is this guy? I asked myself.
I was about to touch the painting when all of a sudden, Christopher opened the white colored door. With him was Commander Hilda who at that time was on her pajamas.
With excitement, she looked at us and said, "Oh my goodness! You three are back!"
"Yes, Commander Hilda. We are," I looked at her with a slight smile.
"It's good to see you three again here in the Mansion," Commander Hilda said.
"It's nice to see you again too, commander," Kate smiled.
"Anyway, we have already decided," I spoke firmly.
"Okay. What is your decision?" She asked as the smile on her face started to fade.
I took a deep breath and said, "We will join The Democrats."
"Did I hear that correctly?" She widened her eyes. "Are you three finally going to join us?"
"Yes. We will," I answered with a smile.
"Oh that's great! Anyways, it's already late at night. So you three need spend the night here in this room while I prepare for the ceremony," Commander Hilda said excitedly as she walked back inside the white colored door and left us with Christopher.
"A ceremony?" Alexander asked with his eyes widened.
"Yes. There is a ceremony for the new recruits. You three are going to it find out this morning. I'm sure you're going to like it," Christopher replied with a smile.
"Anyways, we really need to go to sleep. We must have all the energy we need in that ceremony," I looked at them.
"Well, in that case, I'm going to sleep on the sofa," Alexander spoke as he lifted all the boxes and placed them all on the blue carpeted ground.
"There goes comfort," Kate sighed.
"I'm sorry, my lady, but I was here first," Alexander smirked as he slowly lay down on the sofa.
"Let him have it, Kate. The ground is covered with a carpet. So everything will still be comfortable," I comforted.
"Well, yeah," Kate said sadly as we both lay down on the carpeted floor.
"Now that you guys are already comfortable, I should turn most of the lights off," Christopher spoke as he walked towards the switches and turned all the lights off, except for the light above Prince Joshua's painting.
Then, he lay beside me and said, "Well, I thank you guys for trusting me and joining this league."
"It's our pleasure, Christopher," I smiled as one by one, we all lay down.
Minutes later, everyone closed their eyes and went to sleep except for me. I waited for all of them to be in their deep sleeps in order to investigate Mandy's phone on my own.
An hour had passed and the snore from all of my companions had overwhelmed the four corners of the room.
It only means one thing, I thought to myself. They are all now fast asleep.
Immediately, I slowly sat down and grabbed the phone inside my pocket. With a press of a button, the gadget revealed to me a picture of his owner. Luckily, she did not have any patterns or codes that served as a password. So with a swipe, I managed to unlock the phone. The first thing that had caught my attention was the number of messages that waited to be read. So I pressed the message button and it revealed to me something that made me cringe.
Most of the messages came from the queen of the Rosarios and their interaction went this way:
Her Majesty: Are they in the bus?
Mandy: Yes, your majesty.
Her Majesty: Good. Girls, don't let your eyes off of them. Now that we know their base, we have to find the other places they are going.
Mandy: Yes, your majesty.
Her Majesty: Perfect.
Mandy: My queen, one of them seems to have a desire to go outside. What should we do?
Her Majesty: Make a scene. Make sure that none of them comes out of that bus. We really need to know where they are going.
Mandy: Your wish is my command, your majesty.
Her Majesty: How was everything?
Her Majesty: Are you still there?
Her Majesty: Hello?
Her Majesty: Answer me, you minion!
Her Majesty: This is the queen you motherfucker!
Her Majesty: Hey!!!!
Her Majesty: Answer me!!!
So all this time, we were being followed, I thought to myself. We were being followed the whole time!