1738 Seeing is Believing
Bahaahahhahahahahha~
They found it!
They found it!
Snowflakes decendead from the heavens, painting the world in hues of white and gray.
The once familiar roads were now claimed in a blanket of freshly fallen snow glistening under the pale winter night light.
Amidst the icy tapestry, the rhythmic clopping of hooves resonated, breaking the hushed serenity.
Gallop. Gallop. Gallop!~
Horses rode with force lights in their eyes, as their owners kicked their sides sending them forth in a frenzy.
Their horses rode with Ghostly lights as if they were the horses belonging to a headless horseman on Halloween night.
Go. Go. Go~
A lone group of 3 messengers bundled in thick furs spurred their sturdy horses with arrogant smiles.
With breaths misted in the air, they clutched their leather-bound bags in hand with determination.
Wooowww~
The riders yanked their horses monetarily, to stare at the breathtaking silhouette of the palace emerging from the distance.
It was a sight to behold, with its towering spires piercing the overcast skies with radiance, even during the night.
As they say, winters often led to early darkness.
It was a little over 6:30 PM, yet the entire land was covered in darkness.
Torches liked the palace's entrance path, casting warm, flickering glows against the snowy paths leading visitors toward the entrance walls.
The grand structure ahead was an epitome of grace and beauty yet at the same time an imposing fortress against the snowy backdrop.
Power was all one could think of when staring at the grand Castle structure hovering high on elevated plains.
.
~Hyah!
The men rode forward with no more delays, bypassing groups and groups of guards in heavy armor whose breaths formed icy mist around their vicinity.
The men wasted no time taking out their seals. "Urgent matter for the great monarch."
Urgent matters? This is serious!
The lesser-ranked guard quickly left the group and headed to his superior, who then approved of the matter, with a few more confirmations and secret checks done.
After all, they can't leave everyone who has the monarch's seal and special identities in without checks no?
Who knows if it was stolen or not? Hey... these people could also be wearing human masks.
Understand that if they let any criminal pass in, the day that criminal reveals themselves, it will be their heads on the plate too.
Urgent issues are all serious and all, but not as serious as keeping monarchs alive, and more importantly, keeping their heads on their necks.
As they say, the bigger you are, the heavier the fall.
The supervisor in a bigger position would be the one to take the biggest fall.
The little guard who went to check things out with him will receive punishment, but not as much as his superior.
The higher you climb, the more is expected of you.
The superior dared not let them in without doing checks of his own.
"Go."
Hmph!
All 3 men were annoyed by the guards' actions of double-checking their identities, swearing to report the reason for their delays to the monarch once they got in.
"A small fry like you dares to stop us? You will hear from the monarch once we are through!"
.
Hyah!
Gallop. Gallop. Gallop~
The palace roads, though swept with brooms and sprinkled with salt, still had thin slippery layers of ice coating them.
But with many years of horse riding under everyone's belt, this much was nothing, as they decreased their speeds a bit, showing no fear for the matter.
From the main palace gates on the front walls to the Innermost zone took over 58 minutes to accomplish.
Mind you, they had decreased their speeds in this bad weather and icy floors.
In the summertime, it would take roughly 45~47 minutes to get to the innermost zone if riding at full horse speed.
Of course, the inner zone was the central zone.
So if one was leaving, let's say the west walls to the east walls, it would take double the time, taking 1 hour 30 minutes.
But don't forget that this was when traveling at full horde speed.
If slower, it could take 2 hours and a little over that too.
One should never underestimate how big these palaces were.
Again, reaching the inner zone took them 58 minutes now, but it also took an additional 10 minutes to head to His Majesty's private quarters after entering the central Zone and bypassing so many open fields, buildings and gardens just for his private entertainment.
--
"Halt! Halt in the name of the monarch! Who goes there?"
Who cares to run so wildly in the monarch's private territory? Look around you.
This building and the immediate surrounding space didn't house any bloody concubine and is the private territory of the monarch that even his children, wives and concubines dared to venture in unless granted access before they could.
They would wait far away at the edge of the space, waiting for a guard to return with GRANTED permission.
Yes.
To the monarch, this was his sanctuary, his Holy ground.
So who dares run amok here?
(?^?)
Swish!
No less than 100 hidden heavens appeared at the foot of these horses, causing them to rise, flare their nostrils and pause for their safety.
Where did these weapons come from?
Looking left and right, the 3 men didn't see anyone other than the 4 guards arrogantly coming their way.
"Forgive us, but we have a reason."
running their way.
Scary...
1, 2, 3.
Bam!
The giant massive golden double-sided doors were thrown open, and in came the 3 men who were taken to a small waiting hall and told to stand in what for the monarch's arrival.
Urgent news you say?
Emperor Kavian, raised his brow, looking at the 3 kneeling men before him.
He recognized them, as disciples of the several renowned academy teachers and elders who he specifically talked with about certain matters concerning the Holy core/stone.
"Your majesty, we know who the 2nd Key is!"
"He hails from Zohl, the empire of Titarian to be precise."
"What?"
Very quickly, one of them stepped forward to present a rolled-up document that had a red seal stamp on it.
Well... would you look at that.
According to ancestry, it is no other than the newly crowned Titarian Monarch, his Majesty Gregory!
.
Kavain stood dumbfounded for a split second.
This… this…
Bahahhahahahhahahahha~
Oh, fate just likes to play with their strings, knowing they almost killed him not too long ago.
Luckily they failed, or else wouldn't they be in a Goddamn pickle without him?
Bahahahahaha~
Emperor Kavian was so thankful to the God of War for ensuring their earlier plans failed.
Yes.
It was all destiny that Gregory should survive so they could pluck him alive and bring him here to Morhany!
"Alissimo!"
Swish!
Over 10 advanced hidden guards appeared on the scene, shining these disciples of famous academy teachers who thought their martial arts were already something to brag about.
You won't understand.
At their level which was already very great, they couldn't even perceive the aura or breaths from these hidden guards at all!
This only made them look at Emperor Kavain with more awe and twinkling eyes of worship.
Tsk.
As expected of one of the most powerful men in Morgany.
"Allismo."
"Master." All 10 replied.
"Send word to the 10 Token Lords... The 2nd Key must be brought back without heavy injuries. Any who defy my orders will have their heads shaved, their bodies slashed and their bottoms defiled by a thousand horses in front of their men."
Hiss
Many felt their butt cheeks clench in horror at the sound of such punishments.
How to live with the shame after that?
Kavian was about to send them off but paused. "Inform the Organization of what we found. To ensure no slips, it must be done."
The pirates and they are one and must continue to act as one to keep Morgany growing.
"Now go."
Swish!
In a flash, all 10 vanished into thin air as though never there in the first place.
'The blue-face Gregory of Titarian, Zohl...' Kavian chuckled playfully.
'Destiny has once again tied your fate with our Morg continent. And this time, you won't be able to escape!'
As for the one they called Tilda of Dafaren, Veinitta, don't think they will give up on her search just yet.
No way!
Before they understood the matters of the HOLY core and keys, they knew her bloodline and that of her grandmother's, was important. It was the whole thing connecting all pieces of the puzzle together.
So of course they now speculated she was a Key.
Thus, unless they find her body or remains, no one was putting a certainty on her death yet.
Seeing is believing.
That girl and her grandmother must be found, no matter what rock their bodies are buried under!
That was a matter, Kavian would never let go of.
