The Hunters' Quest

Chapter Eight: The Ugly Truth

This day is not looking too good for Kaio and me. Thubet's royal guards have confiscated our weapons and horses. That little brat must've ratted on us while we were sleeping last night. I wish Coretha had written beforehand that Elred is related to royal blood. Now Kaio and I are in this damn pickle.

I am nervous as to where they're taking us. No one is talking except for Thubet and Elred. They're too far for me to hear. I don't want to ask Kaio if he has some spell ability to make it easier for one of us to listen to them. So, I try discreetly using terrible sign language to ask if he can hear them.

"What?" Kaio says with his mouth. "What are you saying?" I rest my forearm on my chest to hide them from the elves behind me and point at Thubet talking. He shrugs his shoulders after I fail to convey what I want him to know.

"Nevermind," I say, moving my lips and rolling my eyes halfway to the right.

"Halt," Thubet says all of a sudden. Everyone but Kaio and I stop in synchronization. She flicks her hand to command a mage to open a portal. The portal opens just like the ring portals. We all step inside and end up in a long hallway where the polished stone floor seems like mirrors. " Torlan. I thought I told you to wait in the practice rooms." There's a suave black-haired elf with a green feather in his hair sitting shirtless on a lone throne in the middle of the aisle. He's too good-looking for my taste. He's muscular but not as defined as Kaio. Although, his definition is getting softer since we last trained a long time ago. He can easily return to his peek.

"Your highness," Torlan chuckles. "One thing you'll learn about me is that I like to move around."

"Sounds like you will be a pain in my side," Thubet says. Something about her saying makes him laugh. She laughs too, but only for a short moment.

"So! Who are these two?"

"Humans! Come here!" The guards behind me shove me forward before they do the same with Kaio.

"Hey!" Kaio yells with some irritation in his voice. Another guard shoves him hard enough he almost falls over.

"Kaio," I say gently to calm him down. "Peace, darling."

"Yes," Thubet snickers as she walks next to Kaio. "You better settle down, Kromagian."

"You best not rile me anymore," Kaio says, standing close to her as he looks down at her with his eyes.

"Oh?" She stands extremely close to him with her nose barely touching his mouth and her breasts pressing into his stomach. "What are you gonna do, huh? Yell at me? Hit me?" She doesn't seem intimidated at all. She's got balls, and I don't like that one bit. Her personality reminds me of the ego of my younger self. If I'm assuming correctly, she might be cocky, bold, playful, and a fighter. If Kaio keeps reacting to her witty remarks, this might turn bad for us.

"Hey!" I say loud enough to break the tension between them. He steps back to look at me. She stays firm and looks at me with the side of her eye.

"What?"

"What are we doing here?"

"You're being detained." She turns halfway to the left to signal two guards to take Kaio away.

"What? Why? What did he do?"

"And her," she says, pointing at me. Two different guards escort me away to a room on the right.

"Ulrika, I'll get Haleema to get us out of here!" Kaio says. They shove me into the room without any furniture and close the door with Thubet in the room. The floor looks like it hasn't been broomed in months. It's dusty and smells like old leather.

"What do you want from me?" I ask.

"Sit," Thubet says, pointing at the dirty ground. I heed her command to stay on her good side. She walks around me slowly, slapping the heel of her brown boot on the floor with each step. "So, you're one of the knights that destroyed my cousin's neighborhood, hmm?"