Sea of Lies

Chapter 2

Denis stuck a dagger in the map spread out on his table. He looked over the outline of the Igocia Kingdom. It was in the Northern Hemisphere, closer to the ice caps.

"Holden," Denis called. A boy with curly orange hair hurried over to him. "Do you have any records on the Igocia Kingdom?"

"Well–" Holden picked at his skin as he thought. "Oh! They're king has recently passed away! His eldest son is going to take over. His coronation is sometime within the next month." Denis smiled and patted the boy's head.

"Perfect. We can use the coronation to our advantage." Denis stood up straight and looked over the map. He took a silver coin out from his pocket and placed it in the middle of an ocean.

"We're in the middle of the Atlantic at the moment. How are we on supplies?" Denis turned back to Holden. His eyes shot up from the map to look at Denis.

He glanced down at a stack of paper in his hands. "Uhm–quite low, sir. That feast we had the other day depleted us of most of your food." Denis sighed and looked over the map again. He smiled and pointed to an island.

"We could stop at Greenland to buy new food. Besides, I have something I need to get from there."

Footsteps echoed in the large hall. Denis walked ahead as Sub followed on his right side and a knight on his left.

They approached the throne that sat on a pedestal at the end of the hall. The king glared as the two knelt in front of the steps.

"What do you want?" He mumbled as he lifted his chalice for the servant to refill with wine. "I haven't seen you in years." He had a thick accent that made his English slightly hard to understand.

"I'd like to undo our trade." The king's eyebrows raised and he took another sip of wine.

"Which was that? I've made so many trades that I don't recall."

"I'd like my Oadrium back. I traded it for a ship." The king smiled and placed his glass down.

"Well, then I'd like my ship back." The king sat up and leaned forward. Denis' face went pale and he laughed nervously again.

"That might not work out." He lowered his head again. "Unless you want me to search for it on the ocean floor."

The king stroked his thick black beard. He turned to one of his servants and whispered something. They left the room and the king turned back to Denis and Sub.

"I'd like you to pay me back in gold." He said. "That ship cost about 10 pounds of gold."

The servant returned with a knight. The knight dragged someone in a tethered robe into the room and dropped them onto the floor. Their hands were tied behind their back and there was cloth wrapped around their eyes and mouth. Their hair was a bright, unnatural yellow and their skin was a warm orange color. Pointed ears stuck out from the sides of their head. There were shimmering spots of light blue scattered around their exposed skin from their torn clothing.

The king got up from his throne and walked over to them. He lightly kicked at them with his foot. They curled up and squirmed on the floor, trying to get their hands loose.

"Your Oadrium has proven to be very useful." He smirked. He knelt down and grabbed the Oadrium's hair. He raised their face and pulled back the cloth to look at their three eyes. He let go and their head dropped back down.

"I feel like I cheated you with the trade we made. By itself it costs about 50 pounds of gold. So you owe me 60 pounds." Denis stood up.

"That's ridiculous! There's no way it costs that much!" He yelled. Sub pulled on Denis' clothing and he knelt back down again.