Original Stories Fan Fiction / Realism Fan Fiction ❯ Aqua ❯ Dealings ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter Six

Dealings

 

 

Lackardel searched with a small team of three, other than himself. They had covered most of the Southern quadrant under the Night-n-Gales rule, but there was still no sign of the runaway prince. He took his helmet off and rubbed his forehead in frustration and asked, “Is there any change to the status that we received from the other three groups?”

 

Those that he had taken with him glanced nervously at each other before one shook her head and said, “Sorry, Captain, there's no change. We've covered all four quadrants in a day and a half and we still can't seem to find him. The other search parties reported no change the last time they checked in, but maybe they've found him in the last two hours,” she added, trying to sound optimistic.

 

“Check to see if they have,” he said, sliding his helmet back over his head and flattening his ears so that they didn't get injured by the heavy piece of metal. If I'm lucky I'll be reduced in rank to a foot solider and get my butt handed to me by the lieutenants instead of being banished for life, he thought miserably.

 

“Sir, I'm afraid I have some bad news,” the female informed him, pale faced. She hesitated to tell him what she had learned from the Western quadrant.

 

“Shoot, Arisan, get it over with. It can't be worse than they found the prince's dead body,” he said sarcastically, though he paled at that thought. If that were true, he'd be dead for sure.

 

Arisan swallowed hard as she said, “Its worse. The Western quadrant just informed me that they found someone who tells us that they saw Prince Darain fly through that quadrant and into…” Her voice trailed off as words failed her.

 

“Don't tell me he flew into Letrangra territory,” Lackardel pleaded, even whiter now. Arisan couldn't bring herself to meet her captain's frantic gaze as she nodded. Lackardel took off his helmet and tossed it into empty space as he cursed his stupidity for not watching the prince more closely himself.

 

The four of them floated there for a moment in complete silence in a stunned stupor. “Call the other search parties off, by this time, the Letrangra are sure to have him in their grasp. I'll deliver the news to the king and queen myself and deal with the consequences head on. You guys go back to the barracks and get some well deserved rest,” he said heavily.

 

* * *

 

Erald looked up from the mountain of paperwork on his desk as Lackardel entered his study and kneeled before him, waiting to be acknowledged. “I hope you have good news for a change, Lackardel,” he said, tossing down his quill and standing.

 

Lackardel flinched at his king's hopeful tone. They trust me too much, he reflected sadly, And I will now have to break that trust by telling them that they may never see their only son ever again.

 

“I'm afraid not, sire,” he said quietly, almost hoping that he hadn't been heard. Erald, however, heard every word that he had uttered. “Is he dead?” he asked in a strained voice. “It would be better news than hearing he was in the Letrangra's grip.”

 

“I'm afraid to say that he is in the Letrangra's grip. Those who searched the Western quadrant found someone that say they had seen Prince Darain fly through and into forbidden territory,” he said, clenching his hand into a fist in anger at the thought of Darain being mindlessly tortured.

 

Erald turned stark white and sank back into his chair. He gripped the edges so hard his knuckles turned white as he asked, “What do you plan to do from here? Are you sure that you sources are reliable?”

 

Lackardel lifted his eyes to Erald's and saw a father trying desperately to believe that his son was safe from their mortal enemies. “I'm sorry, sire, but I would trust each and every one of my men with my life. I oversaw their training and selection myself, I've even tested them on several occasions to see where their loyalties lay,” he said in a calm tone.

 

“Where do you plan to go from here, then?”

 

“I will take my strongest spell weavers and illusionists and infiltrate the Letrangra home world and attempt to find and rescue the prince.”

 

Before either could speak another word, a servant came bursting into the study. “W-we've received w-word f-from the L-Letrangra o-on P-Prince Darain's whereabouts. T-they w-wish to h-have a m-meeting with y-you over a s-secure l-line, s-sire,” he gasped out through his exhaustion at having run through out the entire palace searching for the king.

 

Erald and Lackardel glanced at one another as Lackardel got to his feet and helped the servant out of the study before he came back in and closed the door behind him. “Well, sire, what do you wish to do?” he asked in a calm, but strained voice.

 

“I will talk with the Letrangra who claim to have my son,” Erald replied, pressing a button on his desk to project an almost see through screen at eye level above the desk's wooden surface. He folded his fingers underneath his chin and stared coldly at the Letrangra captain that had tormented him in his youth.

 

“You have my son.” It was more of a statement than a question, but the Letrangra captain answered anyways, “Yes, we do.” As always, they had smooth, metallic voices.

 

“Show him to me,” Erald demanded, his face never giving away the range of emotions he felt.

 

The Letrangra captain laughed in his smooth voice before he stepped aside. Behind him sat Prince Darain, bound in chains and beaten bloody. Erald's face tightened some at the way his son appeared, but he said nothing until the Letrangra captain stepped back in front of the screen.

 

“What will it take for you to surrender my son to the Captain of my guard?” he asked in as calm a voice he could muster.

 

“Well… That depends on what he's worth to you as the last heir you can ever produce with your current queen,” the Letrangra captain said mockingly.

 

Erald's face hardened at the memory of Darain's older sister. “What do you ask?” he snapped.

 

“Give up your claim to the Northern and Southern parts of your empire and we'll release him to your…ah…Captain,” he said sneeringly. Lackardel felt his blood boil at the sneer; the Letrangra had never considered him much of a threat, and that was one thing he was determined to use against them if it ever came to a battle.

 

Erald was silent for a moment, weighing his options. There were only some many heirs that a Night-n-Gale female could bear in her lifetime, only one or two had bore more than two and they had died in childbirth. He could let his son die painfully at the hands of the Letrangra, as he had done to Darain's older sister, or he could take another wife and have another two heirs. But, no, that would hurt Taraina, she was the one he loved and he was not willing to risk her or the last child he had with her.

 

“Well?” the Letrangra Captain prompted with a smug look plastered over his features.

 

“Give me a few hours to decide,” Erald asked, knowing full well that what they wanted would be granted. The Letrangra Captain laughed in his smooth, metallic voice and then the screen went blank, but not before he said, “Decide quickly, or you may just see your son in pieces again.”

 

“Lackardel, what are the chances that my son escaped them?” he asked as soon as the floating screen disintegrated.

 

“I-I think the chances are very slim that he managed to outrun an entire battalion of angry Letrangra, sire,” he said honestly. Erald covered his face with his hands for a moment before he sighed and said, “Then we have no choice, I will give up half my empire for my heir, that's all that can be done.” Lackardel was hesitant about voicing his plan, but what was there left to lose.

 

“Sire, the chances are slim, but there is a small chance that that wasn't your son and that Prince Darain escaped to a planet in the Letrangra territory where they have powerful spellcasters that the Letrangra fear and won't go near for that very reason. If you wish it, sire, I will form a small, untraceable, search party and send them into the forbidden territory to attempt to find the prince, meanwhile, you go through with the deal and give up half your empire. At worst, you'll get your son back and then be able to reclaim your lost territory by force,” Lackardel offered.

 

Erald's white ears flicked back to listen to his captain. There was some truth to his words; as it was rumored that the Letrangra held spellcasters that were shape-shifters, ones that they had stolen from the other races and had forced under their rule, but they were just rumors and rumors weren't necessarily true. “Go, form your search party and I will seal the deal with the Letrangra, but be sure that you are ready to receive the prince when I call on you,” he said in a toneless voice.

* * *