Chapter 5.

The Despair of Loss.

King Cyprian V, two nights ago he himself, along with the guards, the maids and even the alchemist had begun the search for Queen Eva, and the little prince, for King Cyprian when the hunt ended, was carrying a dead wolf on his horse, while the alchemist only brought an eagle, it seems that even the rabbits had hidden from the hunt of said men; And Cyprian, seeing what the alchemist had in his hands, mockingly said to him: As expected, a man whose origin is unknown, cannot surpass the greatness of a King in hunting, I told you that the winner would be the one who hunted the largest animal, but look what you have brought, a small eagle, while I have brought a huge wolf, probably the leader of some pack and the alchemist answered him: it seems that there is a pack that was left without a leader, but the skies have also run out of speed, so my defeat is gain and ¿how do you interpret your Victory? ...

Both men began to laugh as they approached the small camp they had set up, and the closer they were, they realized that everyone was asleep in the undergrowth, suddenly, the King opened the carriage to greet his queen, but the reality was that she was not there, immediately he took the jug of water that was near the cold, off-gassed stew, threw it on the guards and the maids who woke up, feeling themselves burning... The King's hard face was easy to interpret: he was furious, everyone immediately thought, ¿had he lost the hunt against the alchemist?, But the reality was different, Cyprian's harsh words asking where the queen was, showed the fury through his eyes, everyone was sleeping so they did not know how to answer, therefore, silence was the answer, no one knew where she was; The alchemist made a comment into the air, saying: well, it seems that not only have you won the hunt with a wolf leading a pack, but that someone else was hunting you too, but the rain began to fall and any trace of a thief began to fade... then, it didn't take long for them to realize that a horse was missing, and then Cyprian remembered all those nights when after making love to his wife, he heard her say that one day she would be free and escape from his arms, but he never imagined that she really had the guts to do it, therefore, he always underestimated her.

 Cyprian V then said to him: Will, man to man, how far can someone who flees or has been kidnapped go ... to which Will said: it depends on the resilience of the kidnapper or the victim, because the adrenaline rush that a kidnapper has is not the same as the enormous rush that a victim has when faced with freedom, therefore, if I were the kidnapper I would use the path by which we came, which is a well-known route, however if I were the victim I would go to the next town up the mountain, but who knows, we cannot know for sure the heart of a person, so Cyprian got on the horse and said to him: Will, you are coming with me, and you bunch of useless people, will check the road from here to the Kingdom and check house by house, mill by mill, make sure not even the stones are left unchecked, the queen has to appear before dawn, you cannot tell anyone that the queen and the heir do not appear, whoever does so I will burn alive; So, the guards and maids understood, they took a couple of horses and before leaving the King told them: I will wait for you in this place tomorrow at noon and I hope you have good news… the guards turned pale at the threat that was heard behind the words and they hurried to ride along with the maids slowly and being very alert for any anomaly on the road.

Meanwhile, Will and Cyprian began to ride up the mountain to reach the next town; the route was exhausting, the rain was not helping and it was evident that the horses were tired, but that was not going to stop the search… a thousand thoughts of how to subdue his wife came to Cyprian V's mind, his eyes were blinded by anger, while Will was as calm as if he had known that this would happen… perhaps the alchemist had seen the future and knew that the queen would escape.

After 5 hours of riding they arrived at the town totally tired, wasted and even hungry; Will looked towards the village and said: in this heavy rain no woman would escape with a child in her arms, it is obvious that she would not reach this village even a third of the way we have made to get here under this intense rain because she and the child would die of cold and hunger.

Cipriano understood the situation and said: you are telling me that my wife did not escape, but that she went kidnapped by a rope of vandals who will be skinned as soon as I get my hands on them, how do you expect me to calm down when the journey here can only confirm that she has been kidnapped? I should believe you and return hoping that the guardians caught the kidnappers the other way, to which Will replied: that is exactly what I am telling you, let's suppose that she was very lucky to escape and got to this point, a woman with an infant and a horse alone, hungry under heavy rain would still die, we can take a walk around the town and that would only confirm that she was kidnapped, she would not survive under this climate considering that there are only two Kingdoms that can be accessed after this town: one that could not be considered a Kingdom, but a large city under the care of a Duke and that it is known that the place is extremely clean, but very exclusive, so much so that you cannot enter without an invitation; and the other is the Kingdom of Texrra, and unless she wanted to be enslaved she would get there, but taking into account the distance, she would first get to Texrra, and if she survives to pass the rugged Kingdom of Texrra, she would be raped, enslaved or sold, it would be a miracle if she survived, so I regret to be the one to confirm it to you my friend, but your wife has not escaped, she has probably been kidnapped by an old lover.

When Cyprian V heard the word old lover, his face was totally red, so he said: let's take a walk around the town and with luck I will find him; Will didn't say anything and just followed him closely, but Cipriano was totally immersed in his thoughts, he told himself that when he found her he would chain her to the bed for the rest of her life, he would not allow her to see the morning sun again and he would probably fill her with children until he broke her fortress... what would be the old love that would kidnap his wife and probably they weren't kidnappings, but the escape of a couple of lovers? But there were only three ways to escape: one had sent the guards; in the other he was and the third was the forest where he had hunted with Will, whom he crossed paths with on more than one occasion during the hunt; there was a small river that probably flowed into the coast or some nearby beach, but if she had escaped with a lover through the forest she would have run into him on more than one occasion because it was inevitable to cross paths in the small forest without being seen quickly.

While walking around the town, Cipriano said to himself, she is only for me, her beauty belongs to me, no one else is more worthy than me.

On the way they met a drunk, to whom Cipriano asked, ¿have you not seen a white-haired woman with a child in her arms ride a horse? The drunk, belching, said to him: ¿What woman would be so crazy as to have a horse in the middle of the rain with a child? Not a single fly has entered this town today, not even to lay eggs… Will laughed at the incoherent things that the drunk was telling Cipriano, while he asked him again, ¿are you sure you have not seen a beauty ride a horse?, And the drunk said: I will answer you, beauties are my balls… the horse has not set foot on land here because it would fall in the middle of the rain, the earth would slide its hooves like alcohol slides down my throat, sarcastically Will commented: what this man is saying makes perfect sense, now you can confirm that this path was not chosen by your wife, let's go back where we came from, then, when they were turning around to leave, the drunk said to him: you have asked me two questions and I don't know what you are doing…you have paid me for none, at least give me something to buy a jar of wine that I have not drunk enough yet, so, Will checked his sides and took out some gold coins and gave him two and said we asked you two questions, here are two coins, you will see what you buy if food or alcohol, to which the drunk taking the coins danced with joy and told them: I will never forget you pair of beauties who wanted to suck my balls; and before Cipriano could refute him, Will hurried and said: let's get back on time, and without further ado, they slowly returned where they went up in a deep silence that was much colder than the falling rain.