The Hathway Kingdom (Book 2)

Twenty-Six.

~Twenty-Six. ~

Julius rode as fast as his horse could take him, clutching the small, limp figure close to him so that he didn't drop her, or she fell from the horse. He couldn't believe his luck when the queen had taken Tobias instead of him with her when she travelled to the Wade Kingdom. Ever since he had tried to seduce her, she had kept him as far away from her as possible and for that, he was grateful. He was even more grateful that he hadn't been demoted in rank because of his actions.

The small figure in his arms stirred and he glanced down at her carefully. He hoped she would remain asleep until they reached their destination. He watched her carefully before she fell silent and still again and he couldn't help the large sigh that left his lips in relief. Urging his horse to go faster, Julius rode on, clutching the small form closer to his body so that they wouldn't fall. A loud crack of thunder sounded above them, and Julius looked up in time to have rain fall straight onto his face. Closing his eyes as he sighed and his horse knickered in annoyance at getting wet, he looked back down and urged his horse faster. They managed to reach their destination before the storm became worse and Julius got down from his horse before handing the reins to a servant who came over to him.

"Where is he?" he asked the servant as he gently got the small figure down from his horse.

"He is in his study, my lord. He is waiting for you," the servant said as Julius adjusted his hold on the small figure in his arms. As he did, the hood on the cloak he had wrapped her on slipped, revealing the face of a small child with blonde hair, sleeping in his arms and the servant eyed her before looking up at Julius' face.

"Thank you," he said, quickly pulling the hood back up and over the girl's face before he hurried towards the study.

Once he entered the room, Julius looked around until he spotted the person he was looking for, standing in front of his desk with his back to him and he walked over to him. He stopped in front of him, kneeling before he placed the sleeping girl on the floor in front of the man. The man kept his back to Julius, and he bowed his head.

"Your Highness. I did as you asked," Julius said, keeping his head down as he heard the man turn to face him now. He walked forward a few steps before they stopped just in front of the sleeping child.

"Well done, Julius. You have proven yourself to be the loyal man I thought you were," the man said before Julius lifted his head and locked gazes with a pair of grey eyes. Isidore stared down at the child then before his eyes returned to Julius, a dangerous glint in the grey depths.

"Thank you, Your Highness," Julius said as he looked down again. After a few minutes of silence, Julius spoke again.

"Can I...May I ask what you intend to do with her, Your Highness?" he asked in a cautious voice as his eyes fell on the child lying between them.

"You make it sound as if you care, Julius," Isidore said as he moved away from Julius, the man in question flinching slightly before he shook his head.

"You misunderstand me, Your Highness. I am only concerned about what Her Majesty will do in response to what you have done to the young lady," he said, doing his best not to voice his concern for the child's safety or fate.

"Hmm...Very well. There is a room that I have created to act as a cell just down the corridor and to the left. Take her and put her in there before standing guard. I will think about what to do later," Isidore said, and Julius bowed before he scooped up the child and carried her from the room, doing his best to ignore the sense of foreboding he felt pounding in his chest.

* * *

Tristan ducked yet another punch that was thrown his way. He had sent men out to every corner of Hathway and its bordering kingdoms to find both Julius and Akira and hoped that they would get to them before something dreadful fell Akira and before Julius could set his plan into action because Tristan feared for his future if he were caught by anyone but his men. The entire group of former bandits had undergone a rather extensive interrogation, under Larissa's watch and, thankfully, none of them had assisted Julius in taking Akira. Larissa's fury was well known know and no one had dared get near her as no one was sure what would happen to them should they approach her at the wrong moment.

The next punch that had been thrown his way, Tristan didn't duck or block it in time, and he was sent to the ground with a grunt of pain and a rather loud thud as he landed. He groaned as his sparring partner came over and smirked at him before they offered their hand to him to help him up and he sighed.

"You're rather distracted today, Grey," they said, and Tristan sighed again before he let his head fall back against the ground again.

"I'm worried, Tobias. After she interrogated every single one of your men, she's been angry. No one has ever seen her like this before, Tobias. Not even when she was a child," he said as he sat up before accepting Tobias' hand as it was offered to him again and getting to his feet.

"We will find the young Landy Ohamura, General Grey. I have sent my men everywhere that we can think of that she might have been taken and I do believe that His Highness has been trying to think of where he could have gone. He has sent word to his father to search within Wade as well and I do not see His Majesty turning down the request," Tobias said as he handed Tristan a towel to dry his face.

"I know, but I am afraid that something will happen to her before we find her," he said before he looked up as Iovianus hurried over to them.

"General! Lieutenant! Do you know where Her Majesty is?" he asked as he came to a stop in front of them, slightly out of breath. Tristan looked at Tobias, who shrugged his shoulders before he looked back at Iovianus carefully.

"The last time that I saw her, Your Highness, she was in her study. Would you like me to show you to her?" Tristan asked the prince, who shook his head quickly.

"No. Thank you though, General. I know the way," he said before he turned and left the pair with identical looks of confusion on their faces.

Iovianus hurried through the palace, ignoring the servants as they bowed in greeting to him as he passed them. He didn't have time to acknowledge them right now. He needed to get to Larissa as soon as he could. He couldn't believe that it had taken him this long to figure out where Isidore would have had Larissa's cousin taken. Pausing long enough outside of Larissa's study to at least observe the polite thing to do as he knocked on the door, and waited to be called in, Iovianus hurried over to the still silently fuming form of Larissa as she stood in front of the window, looking out at the rather dark sky outside.

"What do you want, Iovianus?" she snapped at him as she continued to stare out the window as the sky darkened. Iovianus watched her carefully but paid no mind to her tone or how she reacted to him as he came to a stop beside the desk and bowed to her.

"Forgive me for taking so long to figure it out Larissa, but..." he said before stopping as she looked at his reflection in the window.

"Figure what out?" she snapped at him, and he cleared his throat before continuing.

"I know where to find my brother, but I will need to be the one to take you," he said, and Larissa whirled around to face him as lightning flashed outside the window.

"Where is he?"