by W. C. Jasper
“I’m sure you will try to contribute with prudence and discretion,” said King Jeraash as he walked out of the prison, signalling with his hand to get things started.
Thaymas started following the party, playing his part in escorting the intruders to the courts as he thought to himself, “I wonder if I could somehow observe the interrogation… I’m sure they won’t allow mere guards to witness it… But then again—” as his thoughts were once again interrupted by Prince Jared who had sneaked up on him a second time. He said in a low and comically creepy voice, bouncing his eyebrows, “I bet you’d like to witness the interrogation…” He chuckled and continued with a normal voice, “I’m sure you have guessed by now that I will be keeping you close. In fact, you are going to be my protege… well, one of my proteges.” Smiling with squinted eyes, he signalled him to ride alongside him.
Thaymas’ tongue slipped, “I’m not…” and he quickly shut his mouth. Prince Jared continued looking at him, letting him know that he expected him to continue. Thaymas formed his thoughts better and continued, “I’m just not sure that I am qualified or worthy of being your protege, My Prince…” Prince Jared unleashed a boisterous laughter, “Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Dear little brother of mine, cast away any doubts you have. You are definitely not qualified or worthy.” Thaymas’ eyes widened in surprise as he continued, “But as Brother always says, ‘Destiny often chooses the unqualified and unworthy ones.’ And please don’t take offence. Because that statement is more apt for me than anyone else. And when I say that you are unqualified and unworthy, I am in no way underestimating your talent or potential. Because I assure you, no one sees your potential and talent as I do. Not even Brother. Brother Jeraash is infinitely greater than me. He is superior in almost all things. But when it comes to recognising talent and potential, I am better. Anyway, the point I am making is that destiny has a questionable habit of frequently choosing unqualified and unworthy people like you and me.”
Thaymas stared at Prince Jared riding on his horse and thought to himself that Sathyam had probably fashioned him for the sole purpose of being the greatest warrior the Earth had ever housed. Thaymas thought to himself, “He is something else… He seems to be— and probably is the greatest warrior in all of time as people say. But his arrogance is quite remarkable too. Who sings their own praises like that in their first meeting with someone?!”
Everyone departed for the King’s Courts for the interrogation as the King rode far ahead of everyone else as if he was in a hurry.
Chapter Two
Interrogations And Judgements
As they rode back to the Royal Palace, Prince Jared rode up to General Hana and asked, “How exactly did your encounter with the intruders come about?”
General Hana began a long account of the events and spoke in a manner of stating one fact after another, “I was running up the steps annoyed at being late to the meeting when I heard some noise from the royal residence. I rushed over to investigate it when I saw Queen Maomi standing outside the door with one intruder lying in front of her with a hole in the abdomen of his armour. The other nine intruders stood in front of her with their swords and shields drawn. Their plan was to take the Queen hostage; and just like all other men, they too thought that a woman wouldn’t be able to do anything against a man. As I heard it from the Queen later, he had taken her hostage from behind, with his arm around her neck. She put her hand over her shoulder and grabbed hold of the rear collar of his armour. Lifting him up into the air, she smashed him on the ground before her, and then drove a hole in his armour with her fist. That is when I arrived at the scene. I sprang to her side as she commanded everyone to not interfere. The Queen looked at me and realised I was not going to get away from her and called for her sword. Her sword was brought to her and I pleaded with her to let me handle it. She shot me a look that let me know that I was expecting something that was never going to happen. Realising that I was not going to prevail; I asked her whether I could at least get the five on the right, and the Queen graciously awarded it to me. I noticed a box-shaped device of some sort with pins on both sides lying beside her and picked it up. I have since learned that it was an explosive, one whose sort we have never even heard of before. They obviously never planned on using it inside the Royal Palace, because they knew that after an explosion inside the Royal Palace there was no way for them to even escape the city. But it would have served greatly as a hostage-taking aid. Anyway, it was obvious to us who their ranking officer was from their outfits, so I was making up my mind to attack him first. Just then, suddenly, the Captain hurled a horse carriage weighing around 400 kgs at the Queen when Yaakub jumped in out of nowhere and caught it. He then placed it down to the side as the Queen warned him to stay out of it lest he became a victim of my wrath.”
“Have you ever considered trying to do something about your… rage… issue…?” asked General Thayman with raised eyebrows and an expression that conveyed his lack of intent to offend.
General Hana continued, ignoring him completely, “Now that the Queen knew that the Captain had uncommon strength, she wanted him for herself and said she would take the Captain, and that I could have the rest. She charged at him so fast that she had the back of her left fist in front of his left cheek before he could react. She did not make contact yet; she was gauging him. He stood stunned with a foolish expression on his face, unable to react. It was quite funny, quite amusing… By the way, who is this kid? He seems familiar…”
“He is my son, but we will have time for that later, please continue with the account, General,” said General Thayman.
General Hana continued without skipping a beat, “Yes. As he began to realise what was happening and started to reach for his sword, Queen Maomi used the tip of her sword to knock his helmet into the air. She then jumped up, put her right foot on his left shoulder and kicked off further into the air to catch his helmet and then drew back.” General Hana’s voice started hinting the slightest traces of insanity as she continued, “This was tremendously fun! She was moving with such speed, none of them could see anything that was transpiring.” The insanity in her voice peaked now, “The way these morons were staring about here and there, trying to catch a glimpse of what was transpiring… It was glorious, truly I tell you! Glorious! HA! HA! HA! HA!”
Thaymas wasn’t sure if he should be laughing at or be scared by those last remarks. His brain was unable to choose between fear and confusion and so his face manifested an expression that was a compromise between the two. He looked over at his father and the Prince and noticed that they were not bothered by it at the least and decided that it could be ignored for the time being. General Thayman spoke, “You know… the Prince is faster than the Queen. In fact, I am certain that there is no one on Earth who is faster than him. And yet, I never see you singing praises of your Prince this way… it really is quite disheartening…” followed by a silly grin aimed at the Prince; at which Prince Jared dropped his head down, swinging his head side to side in annoyance with the slightest hint of a concealed blush. General Thayman released a boisterous laughter as General Hana stared at General Thayman in veiled annoyance and disapproval, or at the very least what counted as ‘veiled’ in her mind.
General Hana continued, “Anyway, as I was saying, the buffoons stood frozen, completely unaware of what had transpired. As the Captain stood, stunned still, with his ever so foolish expression plastered all over his face, Queen Maomi stood back and inspected the helmet to understand how strong they were. Once she had a good idea of it, she threw it over to me and threw her sword back to the servant who had brought it to her. The Captain, of course, stood shocked as ever. I think we can be sure that that was the only expression the imbecile was capable of. Anyway, he thought this would be his only opportunity and leapt at the Queen. The others, I assume, were still petrified and thus could not make a move. The Queen waited for him to reach her and as his sword was about to land between her neck and left shoulder, she dodged with a small sidestep to the righ
t and delivered a thundering slap on his left cheek which sent him crashing to the ground so hard that as soon as his face made contact with the ground, four teeth flew out of his mouth. It was magnificent, I tell you!” Once again, Thaymas was befuddled at her demeanour of maniacal joy and looked at the Prince with a puzzled and nervous expression as the Prince shook his head, telling him he should ignore it.
General Hana continued, “He was knocked unconscious with that slap, and Queen Maomi regretted not having shown more restraint. She exclaimed her regret over the short-lived fun and started walking back towards the palace. None of the other eight soldiers had the courage to even move a muscle. That part was fun too! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! Anyway, it was at this point that I started walking towards them to begin my fun. I had decided to exercise better restraint than the Queen so I could have a little more fun. As I put my scythe down, its weight became apparent to them and they took a step back. I realised that there was no point in waiting around anymore, so I launched my attack. I lunged at the one on the far-right first. As you all know, I am not used to exercising restraint, so I ended up holding back too much. The soldier thought that I was just weak and announced loudly, ‘She is just a weak woman, we can take her!’” Her eyebrows rose high as she continued, “Now, this was particularly angering for me…” She shook her head, as if saying, “Right?!” and continued, “I mean they had just seen what the Queen was capable of. They had even witnessed how heavy my scythe was! And yet, suddenly they forget everything?! Typical behaviour of men… That is just simply beyond—! So, anyway, I… uh… I, well, I lost control and I don’t remember much after that.” She quickly added as she remembered something that she had forgotten to mention, “Other than a few screams begging for mercy, of course.”
Thaymas was still far too befuddled with all the information he had taken in, and too amazed and even shaken by the kind of people he was in the presence of at the moment. So, as he rode along these marvellous warriors, he worked hard on internalising all of it and trying to become accustomed to it.
As the party arrived and the orders were given, the courts were set for the interrogation. Within a couple of minutes, all preparations were carried out neatly and swiftly. The Council of Elders were not invited to the interrogation as the King deemed it best to be so. Lord Akula Kiaaran, however, along with the three Generals, was invited at the discretion of the King. Thaymas, of course, being Prince Jared’s protege, was invited to the interrogation as well. The three Generals, Lord Akula, the four head scientists of the Kingdom, and Yaakub were seated on opposite sides with the prisoners in the middle of the courts on their knees, and Thaymas stood by Prince Jared’s seat with hands locked behind his back. The King and Queen sat on their thrones, both identical in every aspect and decorated with gold, platinum, and precious stones of all kinds. The thrones were not grandiose, as King Jeraash detested vanity. Yet, they were elegant in design, and as glorious as the thrones that seated two of the greatest rulers should have been.
Queen Maomi had unblemished, warm golden skin like honey with an olive undertone and perhaps the most beautiful eyes in all the Earth. Her captivating, deep green eyes like an emerald ocean that captured everyone at first sight not only spoke of her kindness, but also proclaimed behemoth strength, authority, and royalty. Her visage was enchantingly beautiful; perhaps unmatched beauty in all the Earth. With a standing height of almost 6 feet, she was marginally shorter than King Jeraash. She had an enchanting figure, much like an hourglass; similar to General Hana, but quite slender, with a glorious, long neck. A female form that appeared to be grace and beauty incarnate, with a spell that could bind any mortal. Her enchanting charm was only matched by the dignity that her eyes and countenance conveyed. Her elegant, long, dark hair with a faint crimson tinge, flowed all the way to her hips like the waves of a busy, yet calm sea. She wore no artificial beautification; and given her beauty, it would have been folly for her to do so. Everyone who looked at her was bound to be taken by her beauty. She wore an elegant, long-flowing, dark green gown; with elegant hangings around the sleeves and decorations in platinum and silver-silk embroidery that proclaimed her royalty and majesty.
The interrogation commenced with the King’s first question in his ever so calm voice, “Do you wish to put us through the trouble of asking you numerous questions one after the other? Or would you be kind enough to give us the information we need?”
The Captain who had taken hostages in the city and was also the tallest of the Gessold intruders responded, “We do not fear any torture you may unleash on us. We will not divulge any information!”
“Jerudia does not torture anyone to extract information,” the King replied swiftly, without any perceivable emotion behind it.
“Not without protest,” added Prince Jared, tilting his head sideways and raising his eyebrows. Shaking his head, he continued, “It really is quite foolish that we do not do so. Wicked people do not deserve the same rights that the innocent do.”
“Enough,” said the King with a completely calm voice. And at once, the Prince lowered his head and restrained himself with a heavy breath.
“It is quite clear that you have no intention to cooperate. And I have no intention of wasting our time,” said the King with his voice still as composed as ever. He continued in a tone that sounded like a statement of facts, “So, since you have chosen to not answer my questions, you will be returned to Gessold by a party that will ensure a safe journey for you all. Captain Yaakub, you will be leading the party.”
Baffled by the King’s response, the second Captain from Gessold spoke, “Whatever would you mean by that? You are simply returning us to our land to be free?”
“Of course,” replied the King, conveying the obviousness of it with his voice, “Jerudia shows dignity to its prisoners as well.”
“The question should be,” said General Thayman, graciously offering his input, “whether your Emperor will show the same grace to you as our King? Will he even believe that we let you go without extracting any information?” with a menacing threat perfectly veiled behind his cordially pleasant smile and deadly charm. And deadly was his charm in every sense of the word. General Thayman continued, “Truth be told, given what I know of your Emperor, I doubt he would let you live even if he were convinced that your bread-gates remained locked.”
The soldiers of Gessold started to frantically look around at their comrades, trembling in fear, as their eyes drowned in confusion and panic.
The Gessold soldiers now proceeded to look at King Jeraash, expecting to see his face lit up. But confusion greeted them when they saw a sombre expression on his kind countenance. Thaymas too, was lost. He could not ascertain whether the King was going to return the soldiers to Gessold out of principle or as an interrogation tactic. Thaymas scanned the faces of the Prince, General Thayman, and everyone in the room; but even Thaymas’ extraordinary eyes and keen perception could not help him solve this mystery. Once the realisation of their doomed fate started to settle into their minds, the soldiers started begging the King to have them imprisoned or executed instead of sending them back to Gessold.
King Jeraash answered solemnly, “I am sorry. But I cannot hold you captive with no purpose. I would be wasting my nation’s resources on foreigners who would be adding no value to my land. As far as your punishment is concerned, I am sure your Emperor will bestow punishment far greater than anything we can. I know that death would be mercy compared to any punishment your Emperor will award you. I despise killing. And I prefer to avoid it unless it is necessary. And as I said, your Emperor will surely award you greater punishment than death. I take no pleasure in doing this, let that be known. But my hands are tied. I repeat, I cannot, in good conscience, waste the resources of my nation on foreigners who add no value to my land.”
“This is vicious!” shouted the taller Captain, “You are doing this out of spite! You are doing this to get us to co-operate in your interrogation… This is dishonourable and wicked.”
&nbs
p; King Jeraash stood up swiftly with his chest pushed out. Like a lion standing on the edge of a cliff, he roared in anger, “Do not speak to me of honour, you spawn of vipers! I am not like your Emperor who dwells in wickedness and breathes lies. If I wanted to force information out of you, I would already have it! If I wished to threaten you with your Emperor’s wrath and punishment, I would outright threaten you with it. The House of Rash-Yaph does not rely on lies, nor does it need to.”
The soldier who had caused the small cut on the child’s arm during the hostage situation sneered insolently, “All this talk of honour, and yet the world knows how your own brother viciously murders people of your own land while you stand by and do nothing about it.”
Prince Jared’s face remained absolutely unresponsive as if he had not heard the words that were just spoken. But this was a prince whose focus in matters of his duties was absolute. He had heard every word; he simply did not care about what had been spoken. The soldier continued, “Someone like you does not even deserve to be called a king—” when he was interrupted by the King, “STOP!”
It was a loud shout, but not one that carried any anger. While most people in the room assumed that it was directed at the soldier, only few knew whom it was meant for. Only few knew that it was meant for the Prince. Only a few eyes were fast enough to see that the Prince’s hands were already on his sword, ready to strike. Would he have cut out the tongue, or the head? That was something no one except the King, Queen, General Thayman, and the Prince himself knew.
