Diamond Elf - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

John the sadist found his mouth suddenly dry, and swallowed several times to rewet it. “My Liege, I had no idea that he was anything other than a slave.”

“No idea? Did you never wonder why I showed any interest in a mere slave, especially one owned by someone else?”

“I assumed that his talent and skills attracted you, and that you would one day claim him as your most valuable slave. I could never have imagined any other explanation,” John nearly whined.

“You have already admitted to me that you not only abused my son, but that you encouraged every man with you to rape him as well. For that crime, I sentence you all to death,” the Emperor announced.

Ando and his men wanted to beg for their lives, but suddenly realized that they were much too lethargic to speak. Ando was an expert in drugs and poison, and intuitively knew that they were nearly dead already.

“I was generous to them, for they merely followed your command. Their deaths were quick and painless, but you John, you deserve to suffer exactly what you have wrought. What do you think, Gabriel, my son?”

Gabriel had been staring at the Emperor in shock for several minutes now, and had to force himself to respond to the question. “I uh… As much as I would love to see him suffer… I… I don’t think I could sleep knowing that he was still alive. Thoughts of him potentially escaping and coming back for revenge…” Gabriel shuddered.

“I understand, you wish to see him killed with your own eyes.” The Emperor signaled to his bodyguard, who promptly walked up to the kneeling begging ex-lover, and grabbed him by the hair. An Imperial nod, and the bodyguard sliced through his captive’s throat. Gabriel smiled so that the last thing the dying man saw was his triumphant smirk.

“I am going to let you rest now, Gabriel, but I need you to know the official story. Originally, I could never imagine a situation in which the Imperial Princess would become so important that I could not just dispose of her when the time came, but her marriage to one of the Kings under my rule is vital. I cannot admit that she is not of Imperial blood and invalidate her marriage, the treaties, and the Heir to his throne she has provided.

“Therefore, I am going to announce that your mother had given birth to twins, and that I decided to secretly send you away until I determined that you were no longer in danger of assassination.”

“Am I in danger of assassination?” Gabriel asked.

“Probably, but I do not think anyone would dare send an assassin until they think I have relaxed my vigilance, so you will likely be safe for a while,” the Emperor smiled, knowing that this was not a reassuring statement.

Gabriel thought this through. “Maybe you should announce your official story, but not introduce me just yet. If people know I exist, but don’t know that I am me, then maybe those who might wish to kill me might reveal themselves in an attempt to figure out who I am.” I must be tired; I’m making no sense!

The Emperor thought this over. “That might work, and what is more, there is no harm in enacting your plan. The worst that can happen is that my courtiers do not believe me.”

He turned to his bodyguard, “Carry him out to the guard in the hall, and have him brought back to the Imperial Healer. Reassure the assistant Alyda that I have not overexerted him, then come back and clean up this mess.”

“Yes Majesty.”

*******

Randy couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was following him, so he hid in a bush near a loudly roaring river, and decided to get some sleep. If he was lucky, he would be able to steal a horse later and ride hard towards the field where Chelindra was probably stationed. He was grateful for this thick bush for it not only hid him completely, but provided him with some berries to eat.

Maybe I can find a downed tree and use it to ride down the river, Randy thought, fairly sure that this river would take him close to where he wanted to go.

*******

Chelindra was certain she had been following Randy’s trail, but then it disappeared by a river, and she was also fairly certain that he had used it to throw off any pursuers. It was a smart move, but frustrating to her. Still… he was safe, and making his way back to their main camp, by the look of the river.

Should I follow him? Chelindra wondered. Going all the way back to their main camp was actually inconvenient at the moment as she needed to be at their field camp. There was no way she would be able to defend their field camp if she went all the back to their main camp now.

By her calculations, the second wave of enemy troops should be mere days away from her field camp, and even if she raced back pushing her horse as hard as she had to get here, she’d still probably arrive after they did. Even so, there was no way the enemy could expect her to attack them from behind, and that gave her an advantage.

*******

Randy had been lucky. He found an old abandoned rowboat. From the look of it, termites had eaten away at the sides of it until it was little more than a curved raft, but what was left of it still floated, and did not take on water unless he moved too much. He laid flat and held still to minimize splashing water onto his transport. The river roared and thrashed him about, and he questioned the wisdom of trusting his life to an old boat bottom.

By the time the river slowed enough that he wasn’t quite so afraid for his life, he was too nauseous to move even if he wanted to. He knew he would have to get off the river in an hour or so if he didn’t want to pass the field camp, but judging by the pace of the flowing water, he knew it would need to slow down a bit more before he would be in the right area.

He drifted off to sleep without intending to, and the next thing he knew, he was being hauled off the boat bottom.

“Are you hurt, Colonel? What happened to you?”

“Where am I?” Randy replied with a question.

“This is the main camp, if we hadn’t pulled you out, you would have continued to float all the way to KingsSoul Palace.”

Randy sighed. So much for joining Chelindra at the field camp. “I’m not hurt, and I need to ride to the field camp as soon as possible.”

“Yes Colonel!” The head perimeter guard saluted, and motioned for a runner to see to it. The runner turned to leave, but stopped when Randy addressed him directly.

“I’m going to want to confer with whoever the General left in charge before I go… and you know what? I need to make a general announcement, so tell everyone but the perimeter guards to report to the main yard in ten minutes!”

“Yes Colonel!”

Ten minutes later, Randy looked out at everyone waiting to hear his announcement. From the looks of it, Chelindra had ordered a good 4/5^ths of the soldier stationed here over to the field camp. He whispered to the Officer in charge, “What are your orders?”

“Defend the main camp and the border, and keep an eye on the river to ensure that none of the enemy try to use it as a direct route to KingsSoul Palace.”

“I thought as much,” Randy nodded. “Listen up! I know that there is a rumor that our Chief Coordinating Officer and a Private First Class named Candace ran away together, but that simply isn’t true. During a covert mission, I was captured by an enemy unit, and saw with my very own eyes how the CCO had been kidnapped and… beaten. When we had a moment to speak, he informed me that PFC Candace was taken too, and had been raped to death.”

He turned to the head clerk. “See to it that her next of kin are notified of her death, and add her name to the list of those lost during the course of duty.”

Randy turned back to dismiss the assembly, but was prevented by a curious Sergeant. “What happened to our CCO? Why is he not with you?”

Randy sighed gravely. “Unfortunately, the CCO was in no condition to move. I would have had to carry him while avoiding recapture through leagues of enemy territory, and without medical attention, I am certain he would have died long before we reached camp. He assured me that despite his condition, the enemy had captured him for a specific reason and did not actually want him to die… yet. We agreed that he might have a better chance of survival with the enemy. Believe me when I tell you that I would not be here if he hadn’t helped me escape. If it turns out that he has died, he died a hero… Dismissed!”

Randy mounted his waiting horse, and set out for the field camp.

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