A Dance of Two Worlds

An Unexpected Visitor

Chapter Thirty-Four

An Unexpected Visitor

A wretched life filled with remorse is the true meaning of hell

Aden

5L 15/15/2/10

"You have a visitor, Your Highness".

A guard walked near Samuel's small prison cell and announced in a loud voice. Samuel came out of his thoughts where he was pondering over the journey of his life. From the lavish balcony of the Grand Palace that had magnificent views of Aurae to this dungeon with no sunlight, his lifestyle had leaped off a cliff. Nobles had ordered the prison authorities to make his life a living hell, but the guards there still adored their former king. They took good care of the person who had done so much for their world.

Samuel chuckled. "Holy Angels, you must stop calling me that, boy. If King Malcolm hears that he will have your tongue pulled out."

"Minister Olivier is here to see you."

Samuel got up from his cot and received his childhood friend with a beaming smile. Olivier looked pale and a bunch of grey hairs showed that he had aged many years in the last few days. He seemed taken aback by Samuel's warm welcome. Clearly, he hadn't anticipated that.

"Who am I meeting today, the HighMinister of Aden or an old friend?"

Olivier's face, a portrait of pain and despair, reflected his inner turmoil. "I am no longer the HighMinister. In fact, I am no longer in the Council. A person with a tainted reputation wasn't deemed fit for it. The same Council members, who had pledged to make me the king, threatened to banish me if I didn't give up my post."

"Oh my God! It looks like Malcolm is trying to clean up the Council. Remove all people who pose a threat to his position."

"He turned out to be much sharper than I thought. When I was facing the heat during the trial, he discreetly played his own game. One by one he turned all of my accomplices on his side and asked them to promote his name as the contender for the throne. He offered them much better deals than I did. Those fools thought that Malcolm, being the innocuous and simple guy he pretends to be, will be their puppet and do their bidding for the rest of his life. Some even called him the Accidental King. He skillfully manipulated the Council by remaining in the shadows, but the moment he sat on the throne, he started to show his true colors."

"An accidental King!" Samuel giggled. "You thought you were using him, but it was the other way around. He quietly turned the tables on you and outplayed you in your own game."

"Yes, right at the time when I was in a dire need of his support, the rascal stabbed me in the back and threw me to the wolves."

"I think I perfectly know that feeling. Sounds very familiar to me."

Olivier's eyes welled up. When he spoke words barely came out of his mouth. "I don't know what got into me. I was the fourth son of a palace guard, a boy whom nobles wouldn't even allow getting near them, but you embraced me as a friend. You treated me like your brother. You didn't just include me in the Council but, against the wishes of everyone, made me the HighMinister. And I repaid your love by betraying you."

Olivier fell at Samuel's feet. He was sobbing. "I don't know how I sunk to such depths. I killed Andrews, William, and countless others. I turned into a blood-thirsty demon. I caused a war that killed thousands and consumed a world. All this for a throne which I didn't get in the end. As the HighMinister I was anyhow ruling this world, but the greed to be called the King, that title, that crown is what brought my downfall. I deserve every bit of what has happened to me. I deserve much worst. I should be taken to the town square and lashed every day. I must be tortured to death. Whatever is done to me, I will never be able to repent enough for my sins."