Point of view of Kadian Helkar
Several months had passed since we arrived in Clifland, and after our farewell with Mork and Ness, our journey slowed down seriously.
My group and I had to be careful, due to the absurd security and the suffocating controls that Boris had implemented at the borders of each province, forcing us to move with a caution that was wearing my patience thin.
After half a year traveling as merchants, we were finally about to arrive at Chiple, the city that I remembered as the epicenter of chaos.
Shit… if this keeps up, we'll be delayed too much with the other group…. I complained internally, feeling a pang of annoyance seeing how the caravan in which we were infiltrating began to settle on one side of the road, due to the strong storm that had hit the place a couple of days ago.
Still, sitting, plunged in doubt and unable to do anything, I began to seriously consider the idea of ordering my group, which was camouflaged among the crew, to set out on foot toward Chiple, all because of the persistent idea that our trip would be extended by more days, weeks or even months due to a simple storm. Trying to calm down, I breathed deeply, remembering the high risk that awaited us if I did that.
Approaching the window of my room in the wagon, I thought of distracting myself, looking through the transparent glass at how a group of human children played with the snow outside, laughing and jumping oblivious to the silent war being waged in this Kingdom.
Ahh!! This is frustrating! I cursed, feeling helpless again at not being able to do anything more than watch and wait.
Since we had entered the Kingdom, my group posed as merchants seeking to reach the capital, in order to sell products from the Central Continent that we brought with us, and that we had bought in the first city for a high price.
Continuing with our plan, I was forced to hide, due to my traits as a person of the high nobility or royalty, as my white hair, golden eyes and physical traits, quickly betrayed my race to any guard with slightly trained eyes in this Kingdom.
I continued plunged in that cycle of frustration until I heard the sound of the door opening. Glancing, I noticed it was Irisha, my wife, who entered our small room carrying a cup of hot chocolate, whose sweet aroma managed to relax me a bit despite the chaos in my head.
"Here, this will help you feel better." She said softly, sitting by my side while she verified with a quick head movement that no one was listening to us from the outside.
"Thanks." I replied, taking a sip of the hot liquid. "Irisha… what do you think we should do? Should we continue on our own or is it really better to wait for this damn snow to let us move forward?"
Irisha took a sip of her own coffee, remaining thoughtful for a moment before letting out a sigh and looking at me with love.
"Kadian, sometimes victory does not belong to the fastest, but to the one who knows how to wait for the right moment to strike." She began to say, before continuing with concern. "Look love, we must be patient. If we leave this caravan now, we will lose our most valuable cover amidst the rumors going around the caravan."
"Rumors? What rumors?" I asked, unaware of the investigations she made every day.
"They say the guard is on high alert. Because… well… it is rumored that… that the 'Traitor Prince' has been seen in these parts."
"Traitor Prince!?" I let out suddenly, feeling how the offense pierced my chest like a dagger at that crude title.
With anger, I unconsciously squeezed the cup with such force that the ceramic began to crack under my fingers, although luckily, upon noticing my outburst I stopped, before the chocolate spilled.
Breathing deeply, I tried to calm down, as I felt deeply insulted by the words Irisha let out.
"Calm down please…." Irisha whispered, putting her hand over mine so I would let go of the cup before it finished breaking.
"How do you want me to calm down?" I replied in a whisper laden with poison, feeling how my blood boiled. "That trash sits on a throne stained with the blood of my father and my sister, and now it turns out I am the traitor?"
I felt deeply insulted, but what came next was like a bucket of cold water that left me speechless. Irisha looked at me with a sadness I didn't expect, before continuing with what she had discovered in her recent walks through the other wagons of the caravan.
"Kadian, you have to understand it... the people are not just repeating what the castle says. They are actively cooperating with the guard to find you." She said, causing my heart to skip a beat in incredulity. "There are rewards, yes, but the general feeling is not of fear... it is of loyalty toward him."
I couldn't process it. In my mind, during the entire trip from the Central Continent, I had imagined a Kingdom plunged in darkness, with desperate people waiting for their true Prince to return to free them from tyranny. Boris had killed everyone to obtain power, so, how was it impossible for the people to love him?
"It makes no sense... Why would they be on his side?" I asked, feeling a knot in my throat.
"Apparently, Boris has done great things for the Kingdom in these years." Irisha replied, sighing as she pulled back a bit to look at me face to face. "Posing as a novice merchant, I heard a group of merchants from another wagon speak with a fervor that scared me.
They say… that Boris is the 'Reincarnation of the Dragon God'. That it is incredible that someone like he is their ruler and King, that they love him, that they believe he saved Clifland from our father's weakness."
Reincarnation of the Dragon God?If these people truly knew what that trash did, if they could see the massacre he caused in the throne room, they wouldn't think that way in a million years. I thought, keeping the anger in the deepest part of my being, gritting my teeth while I accepted that, if I wanted to win, I first had to understand what the hell was happening.
With Irisha's words spinning in my head and the longing to investigate more about Boris among the low nobles and merchants, we decided to wait. We spent one more week locked in that wagon, enduring the cold and the snow, until finally the weather yielded and the caravan resumed its march.
…
After several more days of travel, we finally arrived at the outskirts of Chiple.
With denial at Boris's supposed change, I began to remember what this place was like while we passed the guard posts without problems. Chiple, the city of chaos, a hole where prostitution, murders and robberies were the daily bread.
I remember how my father and I had tried to change the nature of the city about 50 years ago without success, realizing that it was impossible without causing a massacre, since the criminal groups were so dangerous that they threatened to kill random civilians if the Kingdom intervened.
However, looking through the window as the wagon crossed the main gates, I was left speechless at what I saw.
The Chiple I knew no longer existed. In its place stood an incredibly orderly city, developed and without any trace of the trash that used to cover its streets. It was a modern place, with an infrastructure that even surpassed many main cities of the Central Continent.
Confused and with my mind in a mess, I kept looking through the glass, desperately searching for some trace of disorder, some street fight or the trace of misery I remembered from my last visit. But I found nothing. Chiple looked like a paradise of order under my brother's command, and that reality scared me more than any army Boris could send me.
What the hell did you do, Boris? I thought, feeling how the security in my own mission began to crack at what my eyes saw. No… I refuse, I refuse to believe this is real… I REFUSE!!