Empire of Kingdoms Awakening

Chapter 16

The sun's rays struggled their way through the treetops in Wairess woods. The leaves rustled as birds and squirrels ran through the branches. Ryella found their journey peaceful as a way to clear her mind from the recent chaos that had been ensuing. When she told the king of the actions Retribution had been taking, he was less than pleased. Horrified, in fact.

The metal of the saddles clanked with the rhythm of the hooves below them as they rode north. "You know, we could have been misinformed." Soft-spoken, Ryella offered Charles a friendly smile.

Her horse huffed in agreeance to her statement, but Charles did not give her a second glance. Days had passed since word had reached them about Ivan's magic usage, but due to her meeting, they had to postpone their trip. They had decided it would be in their best interest to meet here in the woods afterward.

He had told her that she needs to miss the meeting so they can depart, but she persisted that she needed to attend. While frustrated about the reckless actions of his brother, Charles understood that they placed Ryella amongst the people for a purpose.

A sigh escaped from him. "We were not misinformed. Nothing has been going how it is supposed to. Something is different, and we need to find out what it is." Pausing for a moment, he inhaled deeply. "He knows it's the law, and he doesn't care. Had I done to you what I had done to him, you would feel differently."

Her lips tightened as she couldn't find the proper words to say. Charles was right. While her loyalties to him ran deep, she wasn't blind to his actions. He needed wisdom and comfort, but that was never something she was good at. There were no words to ease someone when it came to a threat.

"If we can find the reason he needed to use magic, we will be able to prepare for what comes next." He knew that his brother didn't care for him after what Charles had done to his wife, but he didn't realize the depth of it.

Ryella knew there was nothing left for Ivan. He knew that he was being watched and that the king would learn of what he had done. He knew what it would do to Charles once he found out. "Maybe he just did it to get under your skin. He did that to you time and time again in the past. Why would this time be different?" She was empathetic towards Charles. It seemed the paranoia was slowly consuming him.

He shrugged his shoulders to brush off the words. Ivan wouldn't pay the toll of magic just to terrorize him. He believed that Ivan had to have a hidden agenda. He's done many things to draw Charles in, magic was never one of them.

Ryella went to respond but noticed Charles had stopped as he stared wide-eyed into the distance. The hollow mountains. On it, two people were climbing, nearing the top. She squinted her eyes to try making out who it was, but they were too far away.

"This is what I am talking about, there is no order! These people don'tt know how to obey!"

He couldn't have made it more clear that Hollow Mountains was a forbidden place. Reaching into his satchel, Charles pulled out a pair of binoculars. "I don't recognize them. If we are lucky, they'll be killed. We don't have time to deal with this too." The law was not only to protect the people but also to protect his position.

Her lips twisted as she joined him to see. "Perhaps this time was not meant to be. You seem to be hitting many walls, my king."

His laugh was forced as he spoke. "We should begin the reset process then. We can find what is causing it to go wrong so quickly." He meant it as a joke, but the idea had crossed his mind.

If they reset in sections, Charles could find where the issues were making his success near impossible. Rumors had already begun to spread across the country of his past. Initially, he thought he had removed any remnants of it, but the people managed to find a way.