A Warrior's Heart

Chapter 42; Followers of the King

Darkness. That was all he could see. Not even a tiny speck of light found its way past the cloth before his eyes. His head hurt. Did he hit something hard? He didn't remember if he did or not, but he didn't have time to think about it, as a loud bang was suddenly heard accompanied by some heavy footsteps.

"Ah, so you're awake?"  He heard a low voice say.  "Took you long enough."

He didn't recognise the voice from somewhere, but it didn't sound like your friendly neighbour. It was raspy and had a little bit of a growl at the end of it. A pair of hands found their way to the back of his head, where the cloth was tied together. He could feel a bit of a tugging and then suddenly he could see again. He blinked his eyes a couple of times, trying to get accustomed to the light coming from the large window of the room.

When his eyes were used to the lights and he looked around the room he could see a table or two standing against the wall, some plates and knifes on top of them. Swords hung next to the door as some sort of decoration and a shield was placed somewhere in a corner. The room wasn't that big, so the single window was enough to provide the light. He couldn't see the man who had just walked into the room from where he was seated, but he could hear leather creak and chains dangle with every step the man took. He could tell by the sounds he had a sword around his hip, and by the looks of the room it didn't seem like he was here to share some tea with him.

"We finally got our hands on you, little prince."  The man then said, pacing back and forth behind the chair the boy was seated on.  "After weeks of searching and failed attempts to get inside the perimeter of your palace, we finally succeeded."

Beomgyu frowned at the words.  "I'm not a prince anymore,"  He said.  "Undo the rope around me and let me go."  He spoke, hoping his anxiety wasn't too evident in his voice.

A laugh was heard.

"You really think I'm gonna let you go? Now that I finally got you?"  The man said, rounding the chair and standing before him. Now that he could see the man's face he took a good look at it, still not recognising it but thinking the might've seen someone with a similar outfit on the battlefield months ago.

He had dark eyes in deep carcasses, high cheekbones and his lips formed a pursed line, the cut on the bottom one pulling a bit. He leant down to his eye level, looking him right in the eye.

"I don't think so." He spat, before leaning back up and turning around to walk to on of the tables in the room. He places his hands on the surface, looking at the weapons stalled out on top. "We've tried to capture you for so long" He said. "For so long and we've lost so many men. Good men, too. Few of the best soldiers we had" He told the boy, tracing his fingers over the hefts of the swords. "Why do you think I'd let you go?"

Beomgyu took a deep breath, knowing the following words of the man were gonna be yelled at him. Even so, he said what was on his mind, taking the advice of one of the girls back at home. She was bringing him some tea, and they got to talking about all sorts of things. Eventually she ended up giving him advice on a couple things. She said you should never be afraid to speak your mind. Some people will agree, some people will disagree. But in the end, it's your opinion. And that's always valid.

So he gave his opinion. He inhaled and spoke.

"Because I never did anything to you or any of the other soldiers."

The man visible froze in his spot, his shoulders tensing and Beomgyu could see his fist clenching. Then a chuckle was heard and the man slowly turned around. "You never-" He started, a sickening smile on his lips and his eyes were wide. "You never did-" He started but then his expression changed. His eyes turn angry and mean and the smile was gone, making place for a scowl and the man was walking- no, running to the boy.

"OF COURSE YOU DID SOMETHING!" The man yelled, getting close and spitting in his face. "Your whole entire family wronged us! Those warriors of yours are doing no good protecting all of you! It wouldn't surprise me if that wizard cursed them all!"

Beomgyu moved his head to the side, trying to avoid getting saliva of the man in his eyes. He knew he would react like this, yelling and getting really close. But it still kinda scared him. He knew how merciless and mean the soldiers could be, d this guy didn't look like an exception.

"It's a pity we didn't get that one warrior too when we poisoned the rest of your personal guards." The man continued. "He's the worst of them all, with that stupid black hair and that emotionless face of his!" He said, and Beomgyu found himself agreeing that the warrior never really showed any emotion in his expressions, but that was a part of who he was and Beomgyu couldn't imagine someone better for the job as personal guard for the latter.

"But at least we got to your precious father, so I don't think that mission failed at all." The man grinned.

Those words hit the little boy right in his heart. Like a thousand little needles were being thrusted into the organ, then twisted and moved until all that was left of it were tiny shreds with no life left in them. Tears were building up being his eyes fast, and the man had the audacity to laugh at him.

"You gonna cry now? It's just a guy, it's not like he would've lived forever anyway," He shrugged. "Besides, he wasn't that good for his people anyway."

"SHUT UP!" Beomgyu yelled then. He hated yelling, and it was the first time he's yelled in a long time, but he needed to make the man stop talking.

"Don't talk to my father in that way! He was a good man, he loved his people! He would do anything to make the citizens happy!" He continued. "You have no rights calling him unworthy of immortality!"

"Oh so now I don't have the rights?! How would you know if he was good for his people or not! You were just a kid, and you still are! You haven't seen him in the light I've seen him!"

"I've seen him from the good sides! He doesn't have any bad ones! You're lying!!" The boy yelled, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably now, vision blurry and heart hurting. He was tugging at the restraints behind his back and though he wasn't a violent person, he would like seeing the man be beheaded by the black haired warrior.

"It doesn't matter who's lying or not, the only thing that's relevant right now is the fact that he deserved his death!" The man yelled out and pulled his hands back, pushing Beomgyu's shoulders harshly. The boy's shoulders hit the chair and the object lost its balance, falling backwards. Beomgyu shrieked and tried to break his hands free to catch himself, but to no avail. The chair fall to the ground, and he hit his head on the wooden planks, his hands being crushed under his back and he quickly tried to arch his back, trying to run away from the pain and luckily it worked.

He cried and the man sighed loudly, frustration now gone. He kicked the chair a little, making Beomgyu wince and spat one last time at the boy before turning and storming out of the door, leaving the blonde to cry loudly to himself.