The Mysterious Soldier - Part I

by Tina Silvens

  So said, so done. Once she’d arrived in her room, she arranged the soldier costume better on herself, verified the crystal-gloves’ and the helmet’s fixing on her head, then went determined to the door, like a true warrior on his way to a battle.

  In the brightly illuminated corridor, by the lamps on the walls, she walked with hasty steps, watchful if somebody came up in front of or behind her. The way to the main hall was passed with no difficulty. The only people she met were the victims of the spell, scattered on the floor, unconscious. There was a desolate silence in the corridors. Had she remained in place, she would have thought she’d gone deaf.

  Selunia had a general idea of how the main hall looked. When Waltario had led her to her room, they’d passed through that hall, and she, curious-natured, took an overall look. It felt like she’d never been in this palace before, with how new everything seemed to her.

  The main hall was a very large room, two levels in height, decorated with badges and huge royal paintings, lit up by majestic chandeliers. It was designed for guest meetings, and organizing celebrations or major conferences.

  After they had entered the palace and crossed the large guards’ chamber, Waltario had brought her into this grand hall, where she couldn’t pass by without stopping to admire it. At the far end, there was a row of marble stairs, with a golden banister that narrowed a little to the upper part. Those steps lead to the thrones zone, a sort of terrace from which the speeches were held. In the middle of each side wall there were other such rows of steps, only those had wooden banisters, carefully sculptured and varnished. Those led to the long landing, placed at half the room’s height.

  The landing started from both sides of the thrones zone, stretched along the side walls, and stopped by the entrance wall. It was also bordered by a wooden balustrade, and it split the room in two parts: a lower and an upper one, from the landing to the ceiling. On both parts were some doors and a number of windows, which made way to other rooms of the palace.

  Selunia, as shown by the general, took at that time the first door from the right, before a flight of stairs with wooden banisters. Now she wanted to reach a place where she could see the attackers. She’d heard their noisy voices. She knew they were there, but she had to see them too. She planned to get somewhere on the upper part.

  Chapter 13

  The Bardanians’ league placed itself in the middle of the hall near the side stairs—by which Selunia had passed with the general when she’d come into the palace. From there, they had a view to the thrones zone.

  Both of Soris’ parents sat unconscious, side by side, tied up with thick ropes. At Vittria’s insistence, Soris had been tied with arms stretched by the banister, on the outside of the stairs. She found this hanged posture of a tortured prisoner very appealing. Moreover, it was as if he was standing normally, so she needn’t bend to get to his face.

  The Bardanians gazed at their prey in silence. Aside from the royal family, no other people of the palace were inside the hall.

  Leido made a tour within the large room, nodded as if pleased, then said, “That’s it! The palace is ours! All that’s left is to wait for Bardan to come and order the public execution of these. Hehe, it’s been easier than expected. See how smart we were to take them by surprise? When you plan too much, it doesn’t go this smooth! Hahaha!”

  Vittria, drained by all the effort she had put in, sat on a step tidying her hair. She felt that after so much hard work, she deserved a reward, and that couldn’t be other than Soris.

  Up somewhere opposite to them, Selunia was watching stealthily through a cracked-open window. She had heard what they were up to. Through that silence, their voices resonated clearly all around. She had to save the royal family. General Waltario was missing from the scene.

  She counted her enemies. Hmm, they’re quite a number; in addition, they’re humans, not beasts. I’m not allowed to kill them. I swore at the Castle. People mustn’t be killed. I’ll go over this principle a little when I hurt them, but that should be understandable, she thought, tensed. Her gaze stopped over six Bardanians. They were much more massive than the rest, humped, with arms falling close to the ground, and had a slightly purple skin. Their long black hair was left loose on their backs, behind their pointy ears. One yawned greatly, revealing two long rows of conical teeth that looked more like fangs.

  Selunia scratched her head, moving the helmet to and fro. —Those are humans too? Or are they beasts? From the way they look... She meditated long on the nature of those beings. She squinted to search for definitive features. Were they humans or beasts?

  “Bardan shall praise us for this!” one finally exclaimed.

  Selunia reached a conclusion: They’re humans. As long as they can speak, it means they’re humans. Oh well, that means I can’t get rid of them either.

  She analyzed their position in the hall. I think I have an idea! It’s a method I like, but which I haven’t had the occasion to use often, because it takes a bit too long to launch—and quite a lot of energy too. But this way I’ll make sure I don’t kill them, just temporarily paralyze them. Until they get back on their feet, I should have enough time to break the spell—which is clearly related to that woman’s scepter. But what’s that woman doing?

  Down there, Vittria had approached Soris, savoring him from head to foot. Tied like that, with his back on the banister’s bars, and arms spread like a flying eagle’s wings, she could admire him better. She drew her right hand with satisfaction over his shoulders and chest. She waited for a moment when nobody paid attention to her, then lifted the staff, getting the crystal globe close to the prince’s forehead. She spelled a short incantation in her mind. The stone lit up progressively and extracted a stream of dark dust, which miraculously came out of his forehead.

  Soris woke up a little. He half-opened his eyelids and looked dizzily around, trying to get hold of what was going on with him. He felt sick. He was breathing hard, as if he was suffering from a serious illness. He barely recalled his own identity. Feeling the touch of a hand slipping smoothly over his neck, he pulled his head backwards and propped it up by the banister.

  He saw Vittria smiling at him provocatively. He frowned, thinking: This vixen! She’s poisoned me! I don’t know when she did it, but I’m sure that was the cause of those weird hallucinations. Who’s ever seen a woman flying inside a big flame? That’s absurd!

  He turned away from that irritating smile. His eyes widened when he noticed his own parents had been taken hostage. His father, despite some contemptible habits, was a skilled warrior. How did they manage to capture even him? Soris was confused: He’s probably been poisoned too. But who are these strange people? How did they do this? Where are our soldiers?

  Vittria took him by the chin and drew his face towards her. Disgusted, the prince made an effort to snatch his head from her grasp. He fought to get himself out of the tight ties, but the ropes barely budged. The movement didn’t do him any good, as his sight went dark immediately. An overwhelming weakening pain started from the crown of his head and spread all over his body. He shut his eyes, wailing.

  “Stop fighting, handsome,” she whispered, bringing her lips close to his left ear. “Every move you make will weaken you more. Give up! You’ve no way out now. You’re mine!”

  To his surprise—and to the indignation of Selunia, who was watching everything—Vittria caught his temples in her perfumed hands, turned his face to hers, and aimed to look into his eyes. Selunia, gaze on the witch, activated a glove, thinking: If that lunatic tries to make something strange, I’m not going to sit back! I’ll forget about the plan.

  “Let me go! What do you want to do?” he managed to shout, drawing everyone’s attention.

  A Bardanian quickly jumped and dragged Vittria back. Soris gave a sigh of relief. He had felt her intentions weren’t quite pure. Selunia turned off her glove, keeping an eye on the way things would progress.

  Enraged, Leido snapped at her, “Vittria! By my
axe, what do you think you’re doing? Why did you wake him?”

  “None of your business!” she replied impertinently, snatching herself from her colleague’s grasp. “I just woke him up a bit, why are you so worried? In his current state, he can’t escape.”

  She spitefully looked at them and shouted, “Get back to your work! I just want to have some fun! Why not? Can’t I, after all I did? Don’t sit there watching me! In the end, they’ve been captured thanks to me! Where’s your gratitude?”

  All, aside from Leido, bent their heads, feeling guilty, conscience-stricken, lowering their eyes to the ground. Leido gnashed his teeth. He looked for a while at her, then at the prince. He said: “Indeed, you’ve worked enough, Vittria; no one says you didn’t, but be careful not to ruin everything with a thoughtless idea. If it’s your fault we lose them, your contribution from until now won’t mean anything! You’ll be severely punished!”

  Vittria lifted her chin conceitedly. “Hmpf! I know very well what I’m doing! From now on, if we lose them, it won’t be other than your fault! Don’t worry so much, Leido! I’ve studied quite well this spell. The way he is now, we can keep him untied. He can’t even stand on his feet properly.”

  Vittria chuckled, looking ominously at the prince. Soris felt his soul boiling with anger and fury. He seriously disliked the situation he was in: completely powerless, with legs and arms tied up, surrounded by weird people who triumphantly grinned in his face and wished to torment him in whatever way they felt like, and—worst of all—watching his family and palace being conquered so easily by some cunning strangers.

  He and his people had bravely defeated a number of strong armies, just to find themselves now submitting to only a handful of people. Nothing could have been more humiliating than that. Additionally, he was discouraged by the thought of not having a way to escape. Waltario, where are you?

  Chapter 14

  A Bardanian, stirred by Vittria’s utterances, went gaily to the prince. He drew out a knife from his belt.

  “If it’s as you say, dear Vittria, let me help you a little with your fun. Heaheaha!” he laughed, twirling the knife in his hand.

  Selunia got tense again and activated her glove. These savages have no scruples! They always aim at Soris. I can’t move on with my plan because of them. What if they try to mutilate him?

  Approaching the prince, the Bardanian, grinning, showed him the sharp blade and said, “There you are, little boy! If only you knew how bored I got watching all your daily moves... I’ve been waiting forever for this moment! Now you’re in my hands!”

  Now you’re a moron, commented Soris mentally, trying to make fun of the situation.

  The Bardanian continued, “I know each injury on your body. How about I reopen the freshest one, eh? How’s your shoulder? Heheaheaha!”

  Soris tried again to get out, although he was aware he hadn’t any chance to escape. He knew such tortures would begin sooner or later. It was the enemies’ pleasure. Once in captivity, it was as if he lost the stature of a human being; he was turning into an object. It wasn’t his first time to experience that, but the terror he felt was always great like that.

  Selunia got startled when the Bardanian made to stab him. Oh! What to do, what to do? I’m not ready yet, but I can’t just sit here when poor Soris is about to get tortured!

  But right then, Vittria came to his rescue: “Hey, hey! Get your hands off him, you fool! I’ve told you he’s mine! Only I have the right to play with him!”

  The Bardanian, being a big-head, was reluctant to listen to her; but then, when Vittria came to him, he gnashed his teeth, displeased, and backed off. Soris felt half-relieved, like Selunia. The woman who’d just saved him wasn’t a more acceptable torture option. Selunia deactivated her glove.

  Soris, trying to play for time, forced himself to ask Leido: “Who are you? Why are you doing this? What do you want from us?”

  He then lowered his head, shutting his eyes, exhausted.

  Leido leaned backwards with an evil smile.

  “You’ll find out quite soon what we’re going to do!” he laughed. “I’m sure you want to know who we are, it’s just that I don’t like to repeat myself. Vittria! Wake up those two on the ground!” he commanded, pointing with his head towards Soris’ parents.

  “All right, but then don’t disturb Soris and me any longer...” she said, lazily approaching the king and the queen.

  All Bardanians jumped for joy at the hearing of this. Since they’d seen everyone in the palace brought down, they’d become very proud of themselves. The humiliation of the royal family was an excellent prize after so much time sitting in the shadows.

  Selunia woke up from her gaping state. Now’s the time! Now they’re busy boasting in front of Soris’ parents. Come on, Selunia! she urged herself, retreating from the window.

  She found herself again in a tomb-silent corridor. She looked, lost, to the left and to the right. Her limbs were trembling from worry. The entire kingdom depended on her actions, but she had to make decisions all by herself, without the slightest guidance from anyone. If I don’t succeed in saving these people, it might have a radical effect on history!

  She ought not to lose. She took a deep breath and tried to think rationally. I need water, a bucket of water! She went to the left. She remembered that on her way to the main hall she’d seen, apart from some maids, some buckets of water. She ran as fast as she could, her steps echoing on the corridors and stairs, like in a grotto.

  Arriving by the maids, she noticed that, in fact, only one bucket of water was left. The other three were turned over on the carpet. She took that one, praying it would suffice and she wouldn’t spill it by mistake.

  She went carefully, at a fast pace, to the main hall. She had planned to get to the inferior part of the room, somewhere by the central stairs, opposite the Bardanians’ position. There, from her calculations, she could stay as close as possible to the Bardanians, watch over and attack them—at least if they weren’t going to stroll around the room too much. The way they sat gathered by the royal family’s members like bees over honey, she doubted they’d wander off.

  As Selunia was searching with a shrunken heart to find her way to that place in the room, Vittria had already awakened the king and the queen. They were flustered and confused by everything that had happened with them, and what was going on around them.

  Two Bardanians “helped” them get up on their knees. All of them savored deeply to see the heads of the kingdom lowered in front of them, with helpless expressions. Soris exchanged some subtle and sympathetic gazes with them.

  “Haha,” laughed Leido, resting hands on his hips. “Good evening, Your Majesties! I’m sure that, just like your spoiled little boy, you’re very impatient to get to know us. Haha!”

  He turned in place, proudly pointing his right hand at all the group members, and said in a crescent voice: “We are the loyal subjects of Bardan, the future king of the Arid Kingdom!”

  The Bardanians blasted in happy shouts, raising their fists as after a victory. Leido continued, fiery, “Bardan is our skilled master; the right man to rule over the Arid Kingdom! Your wasteful domination will soon meet its end! Down with Ardensis family!”

  The Bardanians roared ecstatically again. The king listened to them, unconcerned. He saw in their manifest just a temporary act of joy. After all, it wasn’t the first time he’d gotten to hear such words, and now the exhaustion and weakness induced by Vittria’s spell seemed to have benumbed even his emotions.

  He waited for them to cool down. Taking a deep breath, he asked them calmly, in an elusive tone, “And who exactly is this magnificent Bardan? Where does he come from?”

  Soris feigned a smile. Although he quarreled often with his father, as he had many things to say against him, he couldn’t not appreciate that sense of humor in hard situations. It was a quality that had turned many difficult war moments into pleasant memories. His jokes were like a sign that there stil
l were chances of escape.

  Leido passed by the king, not replying immediately. Their moment of glory had to be savored, nice and slowly. He leaned on his back, stopping in place, and said heroically, “Bardan is the one who’ll change the bad ruling in this kingdom.”

  ... into something worse, completed Soris sarcastically in his mind.

  Leido went on in an affected manner, “Unfortunately, he’s also...” he cleared his voice intentionally, “your foster brother.”

  The king raised an eyebrow. What foster brother was he talking about? His father, Soris’ grandfather, had never told him about the possibility of the existence of such a brother.

  Reading that question in his eyes, Leido added, “Don’t look at me like that. You know very well your father wasn’t pure. Many years ago, when he was a young man and he extended to our continent in an attempt to get rid of the Cravalians, he fell for an inhabitant of ours, Macalina. Does this name say something to you, future past-king?” he finished with a provoking grin.

  The king didn’t lose his temper but sat silent, pondering. He was trying to find connections between what he had heard and what he knew. He said calmly: “When he fought the Cravalians, you say... That means you’re from Avaidan continent, right?”

  The Bardanians, and Vittria herself, lifted their heads patriotically, proud to hear the name of their mother-continent.

  “Exactly! We all come from Avaidan!” Leido loudly confirmed.

  “So what? What’s your problem on Centeralum, here in our kingdom? The vast Avaidan isn’t enough?” the king asked sneeringly.