The Algathians and Faber were a little late arriving to the designated point at the Great Pleneasian Reef, but once Kail saw Adonius being led onto the Pelican in shackles, he didn’t mind the delay. The Algathians had accomplished their task.
Adonius was brought into the food room and plunked on a chair. His face was white, and he kept his eyes closed devoid of all visible emotion. Dark rings had formed under his eyes, which could have been from a lack of sleep, but more likely it was from burst capillaries from having a nervous breakdown. This was supposed to be his day of victory against one of the worst pirates the world had ever seen: Kail the Brave. However, it turned out to be the day he was captured; the day he would likely be killed. The swing of emotion was enough to send anyone into a panic attack.
Today was Kail’s victory. He had orchestrated a plan that saw him breach the Empire, come out alive, and take their king captive. As heroic as that all was, now came the delicate part.
Only a select few were in the room. Kail didn’t want Adonius overwhelmed although given the circumstances, making him feel comfortable was about as likely as Douly beating Faber in an arm wrestle. Still, the less people around the better. Kail was joined by Keiran for his intellect, Selestia for her ability, Faber for intimidation purposes, Butterfield to administer the proper dosage of amnesiac, Terrence to learn how to administer it, and Freijad, the husky second in command to Tusk. He was there simply to keep the Algathians in the loop. Looking at him now Kail figured he could have been used for intimidation purposes just as well as Faber.
Kail wasted no time jumping in. “First question, what town is next on your list of places to conquer?” Kail asked the question not just for the sake of preventing that town’s demise, but also to make sure that the new ideas implanted into the King’s head were relevant. If the King became erratic in behavioral and decision making patterns, it would raise the alarm for the others working closely to him. The implantation of new ideas was a tricky task.
Adonius remained silent, and looked at Kail. He closed his eyes and let Kail ask the question again. This time he gave a half laugh and stared at his captor. “If you’re going to kill me anyway, can’t you just do it already?”
Kail was surprised at the King’s attitude. He expected him to be begging for his life, not this. “I never said we were going to kill you, Adonius.”
“Well, what then?” the King replied. “Is it gold you want? They’ll pay it, or I’ll pay it or whatever.” He was slurring his words. His next comment caught Kail off guard. “I just assumed you wanted to kill me for killing your mommy and daddy.”
Kail restrained himself to the point where he could stop the tremor that felt like it had overtaken him. He tried to take a few deep breaths but was choked out by the shaking of his body. He gave a nod to Faber, who walked in front of Adonius and backhanded him. It wasn’t hard, but the size of his hand combined with the smoothness of Adonius’ shaved face made a great slapping noise.
“Now for the third time,” Kail said a little louder, his anger fueling him on, “What town is next?”
Adonius closed his eyes. “The City of Bellows in the east.”
Kail again looked to Faber. This time instead of hitting him grabbed his head and straightened it. Selestia looked at him, trying to keep eye contact. He was reluctant to return it shutting his eyes tightly. Faber peeled his lids open with his thumbs and index fingers leaving him no choice but to look at her.
