With love, Spain

VII.

"Who's up?" asked a robust and mature man. His voice indicated that he was a man hardened by his profession.

-Make way for your prince, Kingdom of Spain, son of the Spanish Empire, the highest authority in these lands- take advantage of the light of a torch to show my dyed face and, just in case, a ring typical of royalty.

Of course, the subject was not impressed. He looked at me with eyes full of suspicion and I wouldn't question it since I would also wonder why a so-called prince would show up in a prison, alone with a horse and under the cloak of night.

Apart from the ring, I showed a gold sack and a sword from my belt.

-OPEN THE DOORS!- The man shouted- Welcome to his Majesty, I hope you also enjoy his stay.

His last words confused me, but I adjusted my cape and indicated my horse to move forward.

The place was horrible, ugly and barbaric. He was sure that the architect who was commissioned to build the fortress was dying and angry with life, since he had limited himself to putting stone on stone and forming cubes resembling a building.

Even the warmth of the night was mutilated in that place.

"Sir," an Indian boy said suddenly, eyes tired, and held out a hand to take care of the horse.

I got off the mount and handed him the reins, I followed him with my eyes until he was lost in the night, only then did he encourage me to walk inside the structure.

This time, I ran into an old man dozing on a desk, instead of armor, he wore wide and thick clothes, inappropriate for his work but for his comfort.

-Good night.

-Oh! huh? Eeehh...- I was afraid for a moment that I had scared him to death, but the old man soon recovered from the shock- His Excellency of him!-And he quickly stood up to revere me.

-It is not necessary- he indicated with a hand to rise, I did not correct the misassigned title either. "His Excellency of him" was for my father, the emperor, at that time they called me "His Majesty of him" because he was a prince and not a king. I came to...

"Yes, yes, I'll take it right away" I frowned, because I didn't expect a fortune teller to attend to me and show me the way.

I kept silent as I followed him through the stone walls, only a small torch guiding our steps. I was surprised that the old man, older than the earth itself, was so precise in his movements. They were the footsteps of a man who has never trodden on anything other than stone or traveled other paths than those of that place.

You know what's worse than the dungeons themselves? The smell. Disease, filth, and human waste are beyond compare on the scale of uncleanness. I didn't even hide it and covered my mouth and nose, hoping to appease the stench that threatened to make me vomit.

We continued one more section, a staircase took us to the back, with a ravine to the right and a flimsy rope that served only to mark the limit of life and death.

Finally, we come to another building, somewhat cleaner and taller, but just as scary.

"Come in, His Excellency." The old man took out a key and opened the heavy iron door.

Surprise was the first to welcome me. How to explain what that room was? It was a strange mix of patterns and colors, of soberly ornate furniture and beds, and woven fabrics scattered throughout the space. A kind of bedroom combined with a living room, I had never seen anything like it.

At that time, the room was only illuminated by the moon, which filtered through some large windows at the top of the structure and left some figures a mystery.