The elites and their gournouk gasped.
"Jeefol, you fought Tirom, the lightning assassin!?"
He only nodded in reply. They all sensed that the deep admiration these elites held for the blue beast had just been enriched by a new dimension. Alas, the same could not be said for everyone. Moreover, despite the phlegm he forced himself to adopt, it was perceptible that he was finding it hard to remain calm. The contempt and indifference others felt towards him affected him more than she imagined and more than he let on.
As a result, his leader had to intervene.
"Zeron, that's enough, we've been over this."
It was an order, but also a kind of consolation, so after a constraint he must surely have imposed on himself every day, the young Gaazal calmed down and nodded.
The elites sniggered in silence. Aidine heard them.
"The privilege of the talentless little prince."
"Even the most pitiful of idiots shouldn't envy him."
Prince?" raised Aidine, aghast as she turned to Zeron, who still seemed to be in the grip of explosive cravings. So, he was like her, of royal blood, he was handsome, she was beautiful, he had saved her, at least in some way, so the meeting should have been perfect. Alas, the prince was too imperfect to win the heart and esteem of the princess, who incidentally was already a queen, Fate was cracked from the start.
"I guess you didn't manage to eliminate that monster," the Gaazal ruler surmised as he stared at Jeefol, who shook his head.
"Unfortunately not. He was too powerful. Even queen Koroth had to come to my rescue."
"It sure wasn't his master who was going to do it," added the elites, who giggled absentmindedly again.
Their master imposed silence.
"We'll find him on our way. He's Ridius' favorite mercenary."
There was a short silence in the room, which Zeitok broke.
"You still haven't asked for him, Your Majesty," he observed with even more eloquent seriousness.
Aidine swallowed her saliva before replying.
"I was about to. I wouldn't be fit to be queen if I didn't. Why, why does Ridius want Aedor so badly?"
Zeirok told her. The young queen had already speculated on the reason, but it was even more incredible than she had imagined, even in her wildest dreams, so much so that she doubted its reality for a long time. But for such an evil organization to give so much of itself to a planet as ordinary in resources as Aedor, it had to be true. And as the story unfolded, precise and convincing, Aidine was reminded of memories she was supposed to possess but which seemed to find no trace in her.
When the story was finished, the red Marquise decided that enough was enough, that her ward needed to rest.
"Your speech will take place the next day and..."
"...and will be performed in space. I know," Aidine completed, shrugging disdainfully.
"It would have been bad form to do it here, clearly showing the whole galaxy how little regard Emperor Jeugolk has for me, denying me access to his original city."
This time too, Zeron couldn't let the words pass.
"You hate him, and for ridiculous reasons, yet you expect him to help you!"
"Ridiculous!" raised the queen angrily, "you call my father's death, ridiculous!"
The two young people measured each other with fury and passion.
"It wasn't the emperor who killed your father!"
"That's enough!" the Gaazal leader had to intervene again as Jeefol pulled his master by the arms.
"Let's go, master."
"You're all at your wits' end, rest will soothe the spirits, and tomorrow you'll be back in top form to face our enemies."
"Jeefol, don't push me!" protested Zeron, but his gournouk didn't listen.
"Let's go!"
Zeitok and his guards left too, along with Foyne and Tarias.
Aidine found herself alone in the vast apartment - or almost alone, since a female robot had been placed at her disposal, bringing her a delicious, well-balanced meal and preparing her bath.
And after checking on Roune's health, she decided to go to bed.
In bed, despite her tiredness, she couldn't fall asleep. Too many things had happened that day. It was impossible to repress them, let alone make them disappear for a moment.
She recalled their discussion again, which immediately made her blood boil all over. She was proud of her mastery, well, except towards this fallen prince for a more than obvious reason, but still.
When they explained to her why she had been brought to Yzvalthes, she was desperate to see that her debt to the winged ones had only increased. So her hatred and resentment of them, especially their ruler, became a laughable affair.
Zeron was right to mock her. She could do nothing on her own, and certainly nothing without the Yzvalthians.
Turning on her side, she gazed out of the bay window at the immense city stretching as far as the eye could see, as beautiful as it was bustling. She knew nothing of this magical and apparently rich place, but she knew she could never love it.
Eventually, she felt sleep overtake her, and as she closed her eyes, the last thought she had before sinking was of the kingdom where Zeron had been prince before he was banished forever... because he wasn't up to the job.
***
"Your incompetence is too laughable, Vreik." A deep voice tinged with contempt shouted at him. "We found Princess Koroth for you and lent you our assassins. And in the end, the princess is still alive."
The new reigning ruler of Aedor and his loyal right hand man General Odief, along with the lightning emissary Tirom were all seated in a conference room on the highest level of an ultra-secure building in the kingdom, and were discussing or rather being rebuked by the VARDOG ambassador Melher - the wizard, who appeared on a giant screen in all his grandeur and fury.
"I apologize, Your Excellency," the duke tried to declare, battered but powerless to defend himself. "But I assure you it was only a hitch."
"A mere contretemps?" the assassin spared by the young prodigy pointed out mordantly. "It is obvious that you are as cowardly a pawn as you are stupid Vreik. That someone like you could lead Aedor, and that this traitorous general takes his orders from you, is completely beyond me. "
Tirom turned to his leader and spoke deferentially to him. He was a being whose beauty was matched only by his cruelty and intelligence. His white skin highlighted the brilliant color of his carmine mid-length hair, and the abysmal depth of his steel-blue eyes, and his giant, slender, muscular body wore a sumptuous viridian-hued ensemble with class. He was one of the first members recruited by the founder of Vardog, recognizing his love of power, his unwavering loyalty and his unconditional attachment to all that represented destruction.
Despite appearances, many people knew Lord Melher's story. He was descended from a relatively noble family with origins in the Garvo galaxy. Ambitious and greedy beyond reason, Melher used his natural charm and terrifying manipulative skills to open all doors of power. He had a knack for making others, especially those whose influence he needed, believe he was indispensable. Ignoring the meaning of loyalty before being recruited by Vardog, he devoted himself to all sides, selling and betraying without conscience or limit. This is what happened to the Northern and Southern rulers of Boyok, resulting in the destruction of that kingdom, which never recovered. Melher made each of the two kings believe in his duty of supremacy. The consequences were inevitable and tragic. He went on, sowing disorder and chaos in his path. The only thing that ever disappointed him was Kioppe. How could he have imagined that this being, this ruler, would be able to reach such a level of magic, capable of overcoming everything, to the point of becoming legendary, and this only for the love of a fallen prince. A prince who, now that he thought about it, bore a disturbing resemblance, both in personality and power, to the one who had easily defeated one of VARDOG's elite guards.
It was in this state of shock, shaken by his defeat at the hands of the ruler of Kioppe, that the most spectacular being he had ever known and would ever know, drew him into his infinite and invincible system, where one never escaped and where even someone like him could know loyalty.
Since then, he had earned his place as ambassador and director of operations for the most powerful evil organization the galaxy had seen in centuries.
"The enemy is not a game this time, Lord Melher."
"Gaazal." This one only indicated, nodding. "But we have already considered their assistance to the royal family which I must admit is more resilient than I thought."
"But not the unimaginable power of their wonder. It costs me great pride to admit it, but he is the real deal."
"By you, indeed." Admitted the ambassador, ironically, but acknowledging the fact nonetheless, especially when his emissary added:
"He pulverized the Elg monster with one blow." He was silent for a moment before admitting. "And he could have done the same with me. Obviously, the fight was a close one with me, and I have to admit that if he wasn't in a hurry to get the princess away from me as quickly as possible, I don't know what the outcome would be. But in the end, it was just a whim. I guess in his delusional mind, he decided that I had to go on living so that I could entertain him again. I must make him pay for this humiliation."
"I see," Melher remarked as Vreik blushed to the point of irritation at his superiors, wondering who could be this enemy so formidable that he was able to dispose of a Vardog monster with such ease and make even the cruel, terrifying Tirom shake.
"You can teach me a lesson later," continued the lightning assassin. "But first, tell me, what are you going to do to get rid of this obstacle that obscures our horizons?" Asked the emissary, curious.
"We're going to use our best cards, no matter what happens. If he is as strong as they say, then we will simply send him an opponent stronger than he is."
"There are few of them," his loyal subordinate asserted with humility.
"But there are, and that's what counts. As you said, Tirom, it also costs me pride to have to use great means to destroy this defense, but if the result is the defeat of the enemy and the extinction of the Aedor royal family, then that will make up for everything."
"I look forward to that." exclaimed Tirom enthusiastically, confident in his superior's terrific abilities.
"In the meantime, since the queen is on Yzvalthes, we'll make sure to get her out of there."
"We must not let Jiide go to war with us now." General Odief remarked, trembling with fear and spite.
"Then I will send Ladak and his henchmen."
"That rabid mercenary!" Protested Duke Vreik as he rose to his feet, dismayed and frightened. "But he will kill anything that gets in his way. He will cause real carnage, unforgivable to the winged."
"He's strong, destructive, but not stupid," the ambassador cut in, looking at his interlocutor with a revulsion that made the latter cower. "He'll know how to keep the damage to a minimum. All he has to do is get Aidine out of Yzvalthes. I'll take care of the rest."
"So you guarantee me that this time that little pest of a princess will be eliminated for good?". asked Vreik in a quavering voice and with shifty eyes.
Tirom and his leader looked down on this one, then exchanged an eloquent look between them.
"Unlike you, Vreik, we are talented and powerful," the ambassador declared in a cold, sardonic voice before concluding. "I will leave you now. I will go and inform the ruler of the latest news."
"Well, my greetings, my lord." expressed Tirom with a respectful nod.
$Chapter