Prince of Dragons

Chapter 32 - Rejection

Later that night, when Maréin had almost started preparing himself to go to bed, but before Vaciana had arrived, he suddenly heard a pounding at his door. He stood up from his chair and opened it. Hageriech stood before him.

"Nibelinde and I are going to look for our son," he said in Northern. "We have no idea where he went, but we hope to find some clues in nearby towns."

"Good luck," Maréin said, wondering why Hageriech had decided to come to him, after accusing the wanderer of being responsible for his son's disappearance only about two hours ago.

"Before I go, I wanted to apologise to you for yelling at you earlier," Hageriech continued, answering the question Maréin was thinking. "It was wrong of me to hold you responsible for our son's disappearance. It is not your fault. If anyone is to blame, then me."

"Don't say that," Maréin said. "You already have to carry the burden of your son's disappearance. Don't add to that the weight of guilt. No problem has ever been solved by people pointing fingers at one another, or at themselves, for that matter."

"I suppose you're right," Hageriech said, shifting his gaze to the floor. "Wish Amahilda luck with leading the revolt. I'm not the leader type anyway."

"I will," Maréin said, and then thought, But then why did you volunteer?

Why had Hageriech even attempted to kill Hadufried in the first place?

At that moment, the realisation struck Maréin that maybe more was going on here than met the eye. Why would someone who, by his own admission, was not 'the leader type', volunteer to lead a revolt? Was Hageriech receiving orders from someone? Who would want a revolt to take place in Dracherwold... where Darfith was living?

In a low voice, so that no-one would hear, the knight asked, "Are you a Servant of Darfith?"

Hageriech looked taken aback. It took him a while to pull himself together, but then he whispered, "Please keep this to yourself. For now, I don't even know if I still am a Servant. My son is more important to me than serving Darfith."

"Your secret is safe with me," Maréin assured him. "I care more about who people are than what organisation they're a part of. Organisations and allegiances change, but the heart remains." He pointed at the man's chest. "And I believe that yours is in the right place. So make sure to listen to your heart first, not to feelings of anger and vengeance."

Hageriech grimaced. "Adalmaer said one of the reasons he killed Sir Tarnhald was because I'd attempted to kill Hadufried."

"Then go after him and show him that his father is not a killer, but someone who cares for his family," Maréin said. "Go now. And if I happen to hear anything about him throughout my travels, then I'll look into it. I promise."

"Thank you," Hageriech said. "Good night."

"Good luck," Maréin called after him, as Hageriech hurried away to find his son.

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A few days later, Bedreigh appeared before the guards of castle Dracherwold, holding the earl's horse by the reins.

At first, he hadn't known where to look for Sir Enorwin, but his expectation was that the prince would have sought another noble's help. The duke of Dracherwold was the most likely candidate. He just hoped his guess had been correct.

One of the guards asked something in Northern, but Bedreigh did not understand. "I don't speak Northern," he said.

"He asked who you are," the other guard said in the Middle language with a heavy Northern accent.