Finally Ivo spoke in a voice so low that Leon thought he had not heard right. “It was I.”
“I beg your pardon,” Leon had to hear this again.
“It was I,” Ivo repeated, his voice raising.
His young visitor was now absolutely stunned. He sat in complete silence as Ivo told his story.
“My father was from Mordelan. But my mother was from Xenoria. They married long before Mordelan became the miserable land that it is now. We moved to Xenoria when I was fifteen. Twenty years ago I came back here to start a business. But it had changed. It was then I knew why our Father led me back. I had passion to return the land back to what it was because I had enjoyed my childhood here. I hated what the new council was doing to it. And one big problem is we have a very passive king who hardly comes out of his palace. The council has fooled him into thinking they are his friends and that they are friends of the land. He trusts them completely.”
Ivo continued his story for some time. He told how he finally lost hope after trying and it did not seem to work. “I allowed myself to be intimidated by them.”
Leon thought for a moment. “How have the council been able to keep such tight hold on the land behind the king’s back?”
Ivo’s eyes gleamed with knowledge. “There is a curse called the curse of gates. That is what they placed on the land. They have some kind of hold on the atmosphere of this land. No one should leave and no one should come in. That’s why it’s a mystery that you are here. I knew that you must belong to our Father.”
“How do you know all this?” Leon asked; the astonishment could be heard in his voice.
The old man smiled. “Even though I have disappointed our Father, he has not taken away my gift. And now he has given me another chance. That’s why I’m going to help you all I can. This time I will not give up.”
SEVENTEEN
PRINCE HERMAN WAS furious as he stepped out of his father’s private parlor. He was coming out of another long and exasperating conversation. He was never one to be rude to his father so to avoid saying any regrettable things, he had politely excused himself. He needed some air.
King Petro had not always been this way. He had been an involved and passionate ruler. He had led the land through many stages of change. He was why the land was still well known around the world. Until his wife died. She had been sick. Herman knew that she was a wonderful woman from the stories he’d heard about her growing up. She had been the real motivation behind the king. She was his heart. So when she was gone, he lost his support; his heart. All his spunk was gone. Every day he withdrew till he became a shadow of himself hiding in his palace and hardly ever showing his face to the outside world.
The king remarried many years later just so he could have an heir to protect the throne. And Herman was the product of that second marriage. Prince Herman hated the hiding and when he got old enough began to take secret trips to the city. He wanted to see what life was like for the people. It was until he visited Leon with his personal attendant that he was ever found out. Herman was a horse enthusiast so he had been so excited when he saw a horse that looked better than his. He had to see the rest of Leon’s horses. His attendant—whose name was actually Arman and not Hardman—was extremely concerned at their being found out. Herman on the other hand did not really know this foreigner but he somehow felt he could trust him to keep the secret.
“Besides,” he’d tried to convince Arman. “Who would put himself in trouble by offending the prince?”
Arman was not in the least bit convinced. He only hoped the prince was right.
Herman knew this would unsettle Arman to no end but he needed to go out again. He needed to be in the city. He rushed to his room and grabbed his hooded cloak. This time Arman should not know or he’d try to prevent it.
Herman stood in front of a jewelry salesman’s store and admired the intricate detailing on each piece of jewelry. As he looked, the man advertised his jewels.
“This one took me a month to make. The materials invested in it are very valuable.”
Herman remained silent but nodded to show he was listening. Just then, a council guard came riding on a horse and halted in front of the jewelry store. Herman noticed the jeweler stiffen. Both of them looked on at the guard as he delivered his message.
“The High Council is searching for the foreigner by name Leon,” he bellowed. “It is imperative that anyone who sees him inform the High Council guards immediately.”
This said, the guard was on his way. His horse trotted on to the next store where he repeated the same thing. Herman squinted in thought. Leon? What did they want with him? Had he gotten into some kind of trouble? He didn’t seem like a trouble maker. Herman decided to check his house.
As he strolled to Leon’s house, Herman noticed that there were more council guards than usual present in the city. And they all often stopped to talk to the people they saw around. Was this all because of Leon? It was then that it occurred to him that Leon was probably not at his house. If he were, they’d have found him by now. He decided to try anyway. If he wasn’t there, then maybe there would be something that could point to where Leon might be. Something was going on and Herman had a feeling that it wasn’t good.
It felt so surreal having the prince right in front of her. Though it was happening a second time, Aelia was no less awestruck than the first time she’d met him. He was so handsome.
“So where are they now?” he asked her.
“We don’t know,” she squeaked, trying hard not to make her admiration obvious.
“Not even one clue?”
She shook her head.
The prince squinted in thought. Leon must be in hiding. Why? What has he done? “Do you have any idea why they would be looking for him?”
She shook her head again.
The prince nodded and started back out of Aelia’s house. “Thanks for your help.”
She nodded and he was out in a flash. Something fishy was going on in the land of Mordelan and he wanted to know what it was. It looked like Arman would have to hear about this outing after all because the prince would need his help.
EIGHTEEN
ARMAN SHOOK HIS head as he strolled down the city street. The things he always ended up doing for Prince Herman surprised him. He had watched over the Prince for most of the young man’s life. So they got quite close over the years. Though Arman would never admit this out loud, he loved the prince like a son. This was why he could bring himself to do some of the things he did for the young prince. There were so many things he’d done that must never reach King Petro’s ears. And this was one of them.
Arman had a cousin who worked as a personal attendant in the High Council Chamber. That was his hope of getting information about what was going on with this foreigner that the Prince was so interested in. His cousin was already at the designated meeting point. They had picked a corner by a tree in a more secluded part of the city. Arman was disguised in normal clothing with another piece of cloth covering his head.
“Arman it’s been a while,” the man gave the cultural Mordelan handshake.
“A really long while, Hyra,” Arman agreed. “The nature of our work does not give much room for seeing each other.”
Hyra nodded. Then glancing round he began, keeping his voice low. “If it weren’t you, there is no way I would share this with anyone.”
Arman nodded in understanding.
Hyra continued. “For a long time the council has been having open meetings where personal attendants can be present. Then a few days ago they convened for an impromptu meeting and sent out all the personal attendants and other workers present in the hall. We were puzzled as to what could be so secret. Well, they had that hushed meeting for a while before they opened the door and let us in.”
“Do you have any idea what it was about?” Arman asked curiously.
“No,” Hyra shook his head. “But a few hours later, the council guards were given an order to
go round the city in search of the foreigner. They started the very next day and have been stopping by every house and store ever since.”
“How do they know he hasn’t left Mordelan?”
“Because the guards at the border haven’t seen him there. If he had left, they would know.”
“What wrong has he committed?”
“I am not sure. But rumour has it that strange things started happening since he came into this land. And they all happen to people who meet him face to face and talk with him. The word going round is that he has special powers. And that he is not an ordinary human being.”
Arman asked a few more questions which Hyra provided satisfactory answers to. Arman could see his cousin getting uneasy. They’d been there for a while now and it was only a matter of time before a council guard shows up. To prevent any trouble, Arman released him.
On his way back to the palace, Arman thought about what he’d just heard. The prince had been right to be suspicious. He would take the information he’d received back to the prince. He knew that Prince Herman would be very interested in what he had to say.
NINETEEN
THE PLAN WAS to find Leon before the high council did. They would need more help from Arman’s cousin. The prince decided that they should send a messenger to Hyra anytime they needed information. He did not want to risk Arman’s position in the palace by sending him out too frequently. They found out that Hyra