Tetsu’s throat tightened and he hastily slunk back up the stairs, away from Cambyses’s possible line-of-sight. His heart was pounding rapidly against his chest, so hard that he swore that he could hear his own heartbeat. Sweat had formed on his brow as heat surged through every inch of his body, making him feel as though it was a hundred degrees. He tugged at the collar of his shirt and gulped silently. Why was there a dead body down there? Cambyses clearly seemed to disregard it. Could he be responsible for the corpse?
“The scepter is an artifact from Ahriman himself,” a mysterious voice spoke suddenly and Tetsu frowned. He recognized this voice from somewhere. It was Zahir, the Magus who worked for the king. This was the strongest mage in all of Tulgor! “It was knocked out of his hands when the great god of darkness was defeated. This argonaut had it in his possession,” he said. There was a shivering whimper that crept from the lips of yet another person, someone who was clearly terrified. “He’s the first person to have survived a journey across the Lost Sands.”
“So he’s from eastern Dastia? Why, a journey there would take us months. If we even survived that long,” Cambyses said. “So then, adventurer, tell us. What’s it like over there?”
“C-Completely different, sir,” a man’s shaky voice croaked out. He clearly was scared for his life and the strain in his voice seemed to indicate that Zahir and Cambyses had already harmed him. “We have different gods, different cultures, different architectures, and technologies; everything is different.”
“Different gods, huh?” Cambyses said, amused. “If so many cultures each believe in a different pantheon then how is it possible for them all to exist? This scepter is proof that our gods are real. Ahriman, the Tulgorian god of darkness, wielded this scepter in our ancient texts that span centuries.” There was a choking sound. “Your gods are not real.”
“B-But they are! I saw them! In the Lost Sands … they were with your gods as well…!”
“Our gods?” Cambyses frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Ahriman … he battled another god in the Lost Sands. He killed one of the gods that we worship in eastern Dastia; his name is Ares. He was slain in the desert but another Tulgorian god defeated Ahriman, who was weakened. He … he called himself Mithra.”
Zahir burst out laughing, his guffawing echoing off the silent walls of the Royal Jail. “One of your gods battled against our Tulgorian god of darkness. Then out of nowhere, our god of war, sun, and justice appears miraculously to defeat Ahriman. Yet you, an inept weakling, managed to survive their legendary battle and flit away with this powerful scepter. Now that is indeed a tale, adventurer.” There was a snap and a body crumpled loudly to the ground. Tetsu placed a hand over his mouth, wincing. He exhaled slowly from his nose.
“We could’ve gotten more information on what’s out there in the Lost Sands. Why the hell would you just kill him?” Cambyses boomed, shaking his head in annoyance. “The adventurer must’ve had secrets regarding how he journeyed across the wasteland and survived.”
“Who cares?” Zahir smirked. “After all, we have Ahriman’s scepter. With this almighty power I can make anyone bend to my will. Its legendary strength is mine to control now.” He spoke now in a lower tone, dropping to barely even a whisper. “Now we can bring an end to this foolish king’s reign and bring about the Tulgorian Empire that you’ve always envisioned.”
Tetsu’s eyes widened and he began to retreat several steps backward. They were planning on getting rid of the king? With this new weapon that they had obtained, surely they would use its power to assassinate the Tulgorian lord. I have to get the hell out of here. He staggered up the stone stairway and tripped suddenly, cursing as he hit the hard stairs. Now’s not the time to be clumsy!
Cambyses and Zahir stopped talking, turning their attention to the stairway. “It seems that we have an eavesdropper,” Cambyses murmured. “Kill him.”
Tetsu saw a bright light reflect off of the stone walls of the stairway, vanquishing the shadows. The boy grunted, scrambling up the stairs as fast as he could, throwing himself out into the corridor. From the stairway behind him came a burst of fire that surged out into the hallway before flickering away. Tetsu clambered to his feet and sprinted down the corridor, his breath heavy. He heard someone dashing up the stairs behind him but he had already thrown himself around the corner, hoping that Zahir and Cambyses hadn’t seen his face.
Tetsu pumped his arms as he raced through the hallways of the castle, his heart racing rapidly. His eyes darted left and right, completely alert and ready for any magic that Zahir might cast in order to catch him. But nothing came. He bit his lower lip, knowing exactly what he had to do. He had to warn someone. But who? He couldn’t just go to the king without being summoned. He had to tell Darien first. Yes, Darien would believe him.
***
Cambyses climbed slowly up the singed stairway of the Royal Jail and out into the silent hallway of the castle. His bloodied hands were tucked into the long sleeves of his expensive garment. He turned his head and saw that Zahir was standing there at the end of the hallway, gripping Ahriman’s scepter in his hands. “Did you see who our intruder was?”
“It was the young prince’s little minion. The tiny bodyguard,” Zahir muttered. The man had long strings of dark hair that reached down the back of his head to the base of his neck. His bangs were messy and came down over his eyes, which glowed an ominous purple. His ears were hidden behind the layers of his stringy hair and he wore a black cloak that was wrapped tightly around his body, buttoned up at the front. The whole outfit looked like a hooded dress for males.
“Then dispatch him.”
“No,” Zahir said with a sly smile. “I have a better idea. Allow for us to blame this entire conversation on Tetsu. We’ll say that he’s the one who’s after the king’s head. After all, who would the king believe? An ex-slave, or his brother?”
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