Capítulo 10: Lijin of Lafta

The maid walked past the servants' hallways and reached a red door. She knocked on it thrice in a sequence. The door creaked opened, and she sneaked in.

"The king killed our accomplices. We need to inform our lord," she whispered to a lady standing next to the mantle. Her slender silhouette of her back and her auburn hair glowed red from the fire.

"Send him a message about our situation," the lady slowly whispered. She carefully opened a kerchief full of blond curly hair. Caressing it, "He was meant to be mine," she mumbled and tossed it into the fire. The hair strands crackled as it burnt into ashes. "I will make him mine," the auburn-haired woman clenched her fists.

"Miss, should I add, exclude the information about the prince this time as well," the maid hesitantly said.

"Write everything we know about the prince. I want the prince dead," the lady cracked her neck.

The maid nodded and darted out of the room. She rushed over to her room and scribbled on a small parchment paper. Darting towards her window, she cupped her fingers and cooed loudly. A small falcon flew into the room and landed on her shoulders. After tying the note to its talons, it flew away with a screech.

The little falcon soared into the somber night sky. It flew past many forests and trees, and reached a huge mountain range. It screeched and flew towards a large castle on a nearby Snow-capped mountain.

Flapping its wings, it landed on the rail of a room's balcony. "Screech."

"Oh my eagle has arrived," the messenger said, rushing towards the small balcony. Holding his little eagle on his gloved form, he handed the eagle a small morsel of meat, "Here, you have done a good job."

"Now what message are you carrying," he wondered as he untied the small tube tied to its feet. He removed a small scroll from the tube. With his glasses on his nose, he narrowed his eyes and read the scroll's content.

"Oh my, this is good news. Lord will love to hear this," he said as he happily rushed out of his room. He ran through the red tinted hallways. He entered a room with a large double door and stood by the doorway.

"Our spies were captured," A guard kneeled on the ground, shivering.

"Isn't he the one who was sent to Miriafa," the messenger mumbled, glancing at the trembling guard.

An aging man clothed in royal green stood next to the open window. Tender snow blew on his face as he turned his head slowly. "Incompetent fool, I sent you to kill the prince not to play with him. Do you know how much effort it took for me to send you to their side? And you spoilt it with a simple childish trick. Poison? You could have just sliced the runt's throat," he sneered.

The guard started to shiver with fear. Sweat lined up his forehead as he went to his knees and begged "Please my lord, I can do it. I can kill that runt. Please give me another chance."

The man kicked the guard and shouted, "Useless. Someone come and drag this man out."

The guard was dragged as he cried, "My lord, please spare me."

The man turned back and peered at the silent messenger standing next to the door. "You, why are you standing there?" he glared.

The said man is Lijin of Lafta, an unfeeling brute who killed his own daughter to consolidate his position as the defense minister.

The messenger gulped and kneeled on the floor. "My lord, we—we have... 'gulp'… good news," he said subtly, glancing up at him.

"I am in a very bad mood today, so stop stuttering and start talking," he mumbled and took a gulp of wine from his goblet.

"We received this from our spy in Miriafa," the messenger whispered and handed a small scroll.

"This news better be important, otherwise I will cut your tongue and feed it to the falcons," Lijin sneered and opened the little scroll. His eyes slowly widened as he read through the contents. "Incredible—this is incredible." He strode away from the window. "You, go call for all the ministers for a meeting," he pointed at the messenger.

"Yes, my lord," he said and bowed out of the room.

"Finally, I know what you look like little runt," Lijin whispered glancing at the small portrait attached with the letter. A delicate looking blond kid was drawn vividly, with his jewel green eyes felt like it was almost piercing him through the paper. "I will not let you win," he sneered, crushing the paper in his hands. He flicked his cape and strode out of the room.

A deep murmur was heard outside the meeting room. He leaned against the door way and gulped the remaining wine from his goblet. "I hope all of my ministers are well today." Tossing the goblet aside, he sat on the leading seat and threw the crushed paper in between. "We have all the info we need to kill that runt." He narrowed his eyes at them.

One of the aging ministers opened the crushed papers. ��This is… Miriafa's prince. How did you manage to get his portrait?" he threw a suspicious look his way.

Lijin held his chin and smirked. "Minister Fugon, I have my ways to get info. But I am not obliged to reveal them to you." Ministers started murmuring.

"But Lord Lijin, we are allies," another one of the ministers chimed in.

Lijin slammed the table and pushed off his seat. "I. AM. NOT. OBLIGED. TO TELL YOU ANYTHING," he screamed.

The minister pushed his chair away and pointed a finger at him. "WE are the ones taking the risk going against Miriafa."

A small dagger flew into his mouth and silenced his banter. Blood dribble down his mouth as he slid onto the table, unmoving. Lijin slowly pranced up to him and pulled the dagger out, wiping the blood on the corpse. "Any more objections," he said.

The room regained its temporary quiet. Lijin twirled the small dagger in his palm. "Now that we have this information…. We need to act swiftly.�� He walked behind each of the trembling ministers, dragging his fingers on the ornate falcons carved on the chair head.

"Lijin, you are going overboard," One of the trembling man snapped. He clenched his fists and shouted, "Just because your daughter was the former queen doesn't give you the right to order us around."

"Fugon, Just because you are the finance minister I am tolerating your existence," Lijin pulled the aging man's collar. He spat on his face and sneered, "BUT don't for a second think I can take your position away."

"Calm down my lord, Fugon didn't mean that," one of the ministers bowed.

"I am calm, now sit down," he whispered.

The brave minister sat down and subtly wiped his sweat. "Before we make an enemy out of Miriafa, we need to exterminate our royal family."

"That Stupid King will not even care," Lijin shrugged. "But that prince Deric, we need to be vigilant of."

"Yes, he is gaining more power as we speak," Fugon chimed in. "We need to take him down," he gritted his teeth.

"Not now, a time will come for that, and then I will cut through that disgusting royal family." Lijin sneered. "Now, we need to take out that Miriafa runt," he insisted.

"I will send my trained assassins," Minister of Guards added.

"No, we need to send the Aaorlins."

"What? But the King needs to authorize their order. My men are much more capable than them," the minister of guard exclaimed.

"Your men? They are all wimps, only the Aaorlins can infiltrate Miriafa without being noticed," Lijin said. "I will make sure that the king agrees."

Lijin clenched the carved falcons and gritted.

Next morning, Lijin entered the royal courtroom with a determined look.

"Your highness the King, Royal prince" he bowed at the two royals sitting on the throne.

"Take a seat, my dear minister," King Gukil cheerfully waved.

"Your highness, I am here to convey dire news," Lijin waved at one of the guards. They brought forward a huge box. He opened the box and toppled it, and logs after logs of shimmering green arrows fell out of it.

"We intercepted this box of weapons being transported to Reth." He picked one of the arrows and twirled it around. "Arrows made from Rowan wood are poisonous….. I believe that Miriafa is planning to ally with Reth….." he dragged.

"I knew it! They are planning to wage a war against us," the kings Trembling hands held his scepter.

"Eighteen years ago, they blamed us for the demon attack that happened, now this," Lijin said. "We have to act before they do," he said with a sidelong gaze.

The prince Deric frowned. "But there has been no concrete proof that Miriafa is colliding with Reth," he added.

"THIS is all the proof we need," Lijin pointed towards the arrows. "This Rowan wood is only found in Miriafa, Tsk Tsk, Little Prince Deric, too naïve," he smirked.

With gritted teeth, Prince Deric glanced at his father. "Father, we should not act on just this."

King Gukil peered at him and sighed. "Deric, you are not ready to make a decision yet." A small murmur rose in the courtroom. He banged his scepter on the ground. "Lijin, what do you suggest we do?"

Lijin raised his lips. "Kill their prince, It will to take down their morale."

The king nodded his head. "Minister of guards, I want you to send your best trained men to Miriafa."

"Wait your highness. Normal guards are incapable of infiltrating their fortress. Only the Aaorlins can do that," Lijin bowed.

"Send the Aaorlins. Miriafa's prince should not be spared," the King ordered.

The morning court dispersed and Deric followed after his father.

"Father Wait, I still don't think this is a good idea," Deric whispered.

The king turned back and held his shoulders, "son, when the time comes you will understand." he strode away.

Deric peered at his retreating back and sighed. He walked out of the palace in stealth and reached a small jewelry shop, knocking on it in a sequence. The door opened. Walking in, he removed his cape and opened the hidden door in the wall.

"Deric!" a red clothed young man ran over and hugged him.

He patted his friend's shoulder, "Fang, how was Reth?"

"The same old, have you gotten any news from Kaden yet?"

Deric shook his head with a frown. He pulled his friend inside the room and made him sit down.

After relishing on a piece of pastry, Fang mumbled, "Hey Deric, Lijin has sent the Aaorlins to hunt down the Miriafa prince. What are you planning to do?"

"He has been going overboard for many years now. I think it's time to act," Deric said.

"But why is this Lijin obsessed with that prince? Even ten years back he secretly sent the demons to attack that kid,"

Evening sunlight reflected on his friends bright red clothes, eyes hurt looking at him. "Because of this," Derec pulled a piece of paper from his sleeve. He handed it to his friend.

Fang was astonished at reading the contents. "Lijin is doing all this because of a prophecy? That is just unexpected." he looked at prince Deric. He was calmly sitting on his study table.

"Unexpected indeed. This Miriafa's prince is a variable in our plan. If the prophecy is true, then it will be very beneficial for us," Deric said as he moved towards the window.

"But it does not say anywhere that it is the Miriafa's prince."

"<Veiled beauty that will rip the head off Lafta's sword > is self explanatory. Miriafa's prince has always worn a veil since the day he was born. No one has seen his face, but our spies have heard rumors that he is a great beauty. And the sword of Lafta is our defense minister, Lijin. The prophecy is definitely talking about the prince," Deric tried explaining it to his dense friend.

Pausing for a moment he said, "Lijin is acting on his impulses. It's the right time to act. Tell Ging to leave by nightfall. I want him to bring me the imperial seal."

Fang stood up from his seat in shock, "What! You plan to usurp the throne! Lijin will kill you for treason, Deric! He will have all the reasons to take the throne for himself."

"Lijin would probably want to kill me, but we will be in a war with Miriafa soon. He would need a scapegoat. The Aaorlins will be caught in the border of Miriafa thanks to my spies. All out war will begin. Lijin is a cowardly man; he will never dare to fight Miriafa head on so he will try to find temporary peace with them. And Lijin will try to blame it all on the royal bloodline. In the end, I will become a hostage prince."

"This is absurd! You plan to find homage in the enemy nation," Fang raged at his friend.

"A hostage prince is much better than a dead prince. And what else do you want me to do? The entire court is filled with Lijin's men. Even if I take the throne, those guys will collude with Lijin and kill me. I need an ally. I want Miriafa to be my ally," Deric sighed.

"But you can end up dead."

Deric clenched his fists. "That is why this is a gamble. I am willing to gamble with my life." He pulled a small whistle from his it pocket and blew on it.

A small raven flew through the window and perched onto his shoulders. He patted its soft feathers and tied a small scroll to its feet. "Dinko, send this to Kaden." It cawed loudly and flew out.

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