Inferno's legacy

Chapter 17

Scenes with the royal family will be limited from now henceforth. I'll be focusing more on Eretria and Damion. But nevertheless, here's a scene for them.

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"Any news?"

Roman raked a hand through his hair as he slumped on the chair. Fatigue painted his features, coupled with the dark circles and growing stubble. Three days of searching and no lead on Eretria.

"Nothing. We did find her horse, but it ended there. It's a pretty dangerous area and I don't want to imagine the worst that could have happened."

George walked into the room few moments later. He looked just as tattared as Roman. All of them did. He sat down next to Wil. "She hadn't made it to any village. There is a possibility that she could have been..." He stopped himself and sighed. Why had she been so impulsive? Taking off in the middle of the night, that was downright stupid. Especially with the building foes of their father, she should have known better.

"I can't shake off the feeling that Varsha has her. The bandits were with Varsha, right?" Wil turned to Roman who simply nodded.

"She should have known better than taking off on her own, especially after everything." George said.

"Maybe, she didn't want to think of the consequences." Roman said coldly.

"What do you mean?" George asked.

"Have you ever thought what it's like for her, living with siblings she's constantly compared to? It must have been hard. No one paid any mind to her and she had to resort to anything to get attention." Roman said.

"And you aided her. You made her reckless." George said.

Roman chuckled. "At least she got something. When even father couldn't look her in the eye. Anything was something. I gave her freedom."

"You planted an idea in her head that led to nothing good. Freedom?" He scoffed. "She's probably in danger because of that freedom!" George said, slamming the table as he stood up.

"No, she's in danger because she couldn't take it anymore!" Roman rose to his feet, knocking his chair off.

"She hung around the wrong company for too long."

"What choice did she have? Where you there for her?"

"Unlike you, I've got duties. To father, to the kingdom. Unlike you, I'd never run away from my duties."

"You're blinded by your so called duty. You strive to please father in everything but he'll never see you more than the other son."

"That's enough!"

Three heads turned to the door where Storm stood. There was a first for everything and this was definitely the first time Storm was raising his voice. They all knew they never wanted to hear it again. It was terrifying.

"Thank you." Wil breathed.

"We've all been stressed these last few days and it's okay to express our thoughts. But not this way. Listen to yourselves. You both sound like fools. None of your jabs will bring Eretria to our doorstep." Storm said, stepping into the room, a bloodied sword by his side.

Wil gave him a weary look.

"I ran into some trouble. Bandits. From Varsha. It's surprising how they're filtering into the city." Storm said, coming to sit next to Roman.

George ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Roman who was giving him a dead stare.

"Hey, quit that." Storm nudged Roman.

"Storm," he turned to Wil. "Quick advice, never raise your voice again."

"I can't promise it. The stress is getting to all of us." He said with a sigh.

"Yeah, no kidding." Roman said and walked out.

"Do you think the bandits from Varsha has Eretria?" Wil asked.

"I doubt it. But their number is quite alarming. They seem to be increasing." Storm said.

"I'll increase the security around the palace. The boarders will be closed soon enough. I'm guessing they're gaining access into the city since the trade boarders has been opened due to the alliance with Mondrid." George said, sitting down.

"If Varsha doesn't have Eretria, who does?"

Storm shook his head. "What I know for a fact is that Varsha doesn't have her."

Wil massaged his temples. "Being one of the very few non magic kingdoms, it's a surprise father could garner so many foes." He said.

"He had to, to keep magic users from the kingdom." George said.

Storm looked thoughtful for a moment. "Is there a possibility that any of the other magic affiliated kingdoms had reached out to father?" He asked.

"Well, not one I can think of. But there was someone here from the mage council. She requested an audience with both Roman and Eretria due to the fire. Said it might be related to the plague." Wil said.

"It's not possible they kidnapped her." George said.

"I'm only thinking it. Anything's possible." With that, Storm stood up. "I'll look into the mage, just to be sure. She might not have kidnapped her, but maybe she has some news or maybe Eretria found her way there." He said.

"Why would she..." Wil began speaking but Storm was already out the door, "....go there?"

He turned to George who had sunk into his chair, eyes closed. He looked tired and worn out. They all were.

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