Will of a Prince

Chapter 199: Queen of Sophistry

Harold woke up slowly. His muscles ached and his head felt light. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the light around him. As he looked around the small field of golden flowers, he noticed something that made his stomach drop: Doc was nowhere to be seen. He had completely disappeared while Harold was asleep.

Harold ran around the circle in a panic, hoping that Doc was simply in the nearby brush looking for herbs and food. Nothing. He reached for the tracking lens that he had in his eye. However, there was nothing there. Doc must have known that he was a way Harold had found him so fast and searched his body when he was passed out.

"You can’t be serious. I just saved him. This is the end of the world we’re dealing with! Why the hell would he run away?! He just doomed humanity by doing this! Unless..."

Harold came upon a saddened realization. If the marks on Jacob and Maria were real, the graves must have also been real, which means the end times, no matter how long Doc runs away, were destined to come no matter what they did. However, knowing that information, Doc decided to leave as to not damaged the sacred grave of the people he loved. Harold cursed to himself and turned east.

He stretched his sore legs for three minutes before taking off back towards the Paria Empire territory. Strangely, there were no monster to be seen on his way back. It was as if the lands themselves expected his travels and cleared the way for him.

It didn’t take him long before he was back at the dark, steel walls of Paria Kingdom. Harold knocked on the gate loudly.

"OPEN UP! It’s urgent news!"

The gate refused to move. Harold kicked it twice, causing a ringing sound to travel across its surface.

"IT’S ABOUT THE EPIGONES!!"

Suddenly, the doors slowly creaked open. On the other side was none other than Avala. Her presence and demeanor were beyond threatening as usual. She looked down at Harold with disgust.

"Back so soon? Where’s the old fellow? Did you kill him?"

Harold panted on his knees and met her gaze.

"Where are my friends?"

Avala continued looking at Harold with contempt.

"They’re in the palace. Get out of my sight."

"Who the hell shit on your bread this morning? You’ll never get a partner with an attitude like that, you know?"

Avala’s face turned red with anger.

"What did you just say to me?!"

By the time she was about to snap, Harold had already disappeared towards the palace, leaving Avala to fume to herself in the street.

Harold walked in a large royal dining hall where Slimo, Lidia, Jacob, Maria, and the others were all sitting together and eating loudly. Squabee had her arm wrapped around Enki’s neck who looked like he was choking on a piece of meat.

"That was my meat stick! You stole it from me!!"

"Squabee... can’t... breathe!!"

"Good! Maybe you’ll know how it feels to get your food taken!"

Zoey and Serena were eating next to each other. Zoey was eating large helpings of food excitedly, allowing some to splash on to Serena’s face. Serena stared at Zoey as more food kept flying at her.

"Can you eat a little cleaner, please?"

Zoey looked at Serena with her mouth full.

"Wrhat? I can’t herr you."

More food spilled out of her mouth on to the table as she talked. Serena sighed, grabbed a cloth, and started to wipe Zoey’s face.

"You’re a mess sometimes, you know that?"

Zoey began blushing at the gesture but continued to let Serena do her job. She quickly chewed and swallowed her food.

"I just wanted to eat it before someone else grabbed it from me."

’Is it just me, or do they seem closer?’

Harold walked towards the end of the table where Jacob and Maria were eating peacefully together. They were both holding hands under the table while they ate. Jacob noticed Harolds arrival and frowned deeply seeing him return without his grandfather.

"What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Doc can’t be saved."

Everyone stopped eating hearing Harolds proclamation. Slimo stood up from his chair and put a hand on Harold’s shoulder.

"Tell us what happened."

Harold looked at Slimo with a small hint of hesitation. He knew that there was no way he could tell the full story of the graves that he saw.

"I found Doc tied up by a tree with some Epigones. I managed to grab him and run away, but they were somehow able to keep up with my speed perfectly. Well, we kept running and running until we finally came across a beast powerful enough to deal with our attackers and get them off our tail. After that, everything is a bit of a blur. Doc told me that Jacob’s mark is a sign that no matter what happens, his fate has already been decided. In other words, it doesn’t matter how much time we buy you all. We fell asleep together and when I woke up, he was gone."

Everyone remained silent hearing the devastating news of their friend. Harold began walking over to Jacob, slowly pulling out the piece of paper. Jacob stared at it confused as he grabbed it from his hands.

"Doc left me only this message. It’s from your dad, Jacob."

A small anger roared in Jacob’s gut. The horrible memories of his father flashed through his mind in an instant. Jacob crumpled the paper slightly in his hands.

"What the hell could he have possibly left me?"

"I was hoping you could read it and tell us. Doc has read it, but there’s a special enchantment preventing people from sharing its contents. All he said is that it’s the truth about your mom and the truth about Iron Kingdom."

Jacob’s face dropped. He struggled to speak hearing the last sentence.

"Truth about my mom? What was so special about her?"

Harold pointed his finger at the paper.

"Read it."

Jacob looked down at the letter, his fingers slightly trembling as they skimmed the edges. After a short period of hesitation, he decided to finally open it and read its contents.

Dear Jacob,

If you are reading this letter, it could only mean one of two things: Doc has given this to you too early, or he has given this to you too late. I have added this text at the top to tell you that the rest of this letter is written by your mother. For whatever reason, I cannot remember what she has written after this even after rereading, but I know it is important for you to know. Hopefully you still love your mother as much as I do, even after learning the truth. Be strong, son.

Jacob rolled his eyes seeing the last part before continuing.

My dear boy, I hope you are eating well and keeping those, you love safe. Mothers never stop worrying you know! Unfortunately, if you are reading this letter, it means that I have already passed away. The reason I am writing this letter is to tell you and your father something important, something that I have hidden from you both for a long, long time. I am not who I say I am. My name is Rose Strong, and I am the Queen of Sophistry. I have the ability of total deception and illusion, and this can extend to objects that I touch. Throughout my time at Iron Kingdom, I did hundreds of adventures outside of our walls. I met many people in this world worthy enough to be called a friend. However, I also met many of those who were evil enough to call an enemy. Seeing the state of the world outside of our walls, I knew I had to do something about it. Therefore, I imbued Iron Kingdom with my release power, permanently hiding it from the world for years to come. However, the Epigones had found the kingdom just before I managed to hide it. Even as I write this, I know they are hiding on our streets, waiting for the right moment to strike those who they deem worthy enough for their cult. The Monlo Empire got word of our kingdom’s existence from the Epigones as well. Even after sending hundreds of scouts out to find us, only one person was able to lead them in the right direction: my brother, Leo. However, I am sure you have already found this out by now. I understand all of this information may be a lot to take in, but I promise my reason extends beyond that. Jacob, Arthur, this world is dying and there’s something I need you both to do: protect Iron Kingdom at all costs. I am unaware of how much you will know about this world by the time you read this but there’s something special about Iron Kingdom that I need you both to protect with your lives. Underneath the palace lies an infinite pool of liquid called the Blood of Zalo. This is the very last piece the Epigones will come for when they try to activate the Great Calamity. Arthur, I found your pool of blood underneath the street and I am very mad. I will be making you sleep on the floor the next few days, even though you will have no idea why I am mad at you. In that very dungeon you were building your own blood, there is a single drop of liquid that never dries. If you follow that line of liquid exactly three miles straight downward, the blood of Zalo rests. The secret has now been passed on to you both. Please, protect Iron Kingdom. The entire world rests on your shoulders now. Goodbye, my two lovely boys.