"Steal the Crimson Ring?" asked the puzzled Lord Salam, who had reclined himself back to his chair, and held the armrests very tightly.
"Yes," I replied. "Will you do it? Be quick."
Why am I resorting to such a rough, threatening conversation in the first place? The nature of the Saladians is the answer. They worship Salamander; thus, they are most responsive to pain and fear. I had only resorted to these two stimulations.
My guards are ready to follow any command the instant I order it, including the death sentence. I hand-picked them for this purpose. And the assistant Pia was so shocked that she walked away from me behind her leader Salam. So my theory thus far is correct.
"Can't you think this through again Your Majesty?" asked Lord Salam. "I have kids and a wife who will die out of hunger without my suppo—"
"Be quick," I interrupted. "Taking care of your family is a basic task to me. Or have you forgotten who am I?"
What I am doing is cruel. I can't deny it. But sometimes one has to take a brutal route to avoid a much brutal alternative. What I am doing now is hitting two birds with one stone; harming Lorope and this church at the same time. The saladian church is destabilizing my country. The more it grows, the more people would side towards it and the Lorope Empire. An idiotic king would only allow this church to exist.
"Can't you spare me at least a day to think it through?" said Lord Salam with a stutter. "I promise to reply to you within a single day. No, I will reply to you by morning."
"You have wasted your time and life Lord Salam," I said. "Guards, come here and kill him."
The guards walked toward Lord Salam as they unsheathed their swords. Pia shrieked, and Lord Salam leaped out of his chair and walked behind Pia, hugging her waist tightly. I did not realize Salam was shorter than Pia.
"No, no King Rajid," said the horrified Lord Salam. "I have not done anything wrong have I? Why are you doing this to me?"
"Cut his head off," I said to the two guards. "But do not touch the lady."
A learned man one written that its better for a king to be feared than to be loved. Perhaps I am doing the same...
One guard grabbed lord Salam from his shoulder and pulled him away from Pia. The other guard readied his sword and immediately pierced lord Salam's neck.
Blood splashed everywhere; on the guards' armor and on Pia's face.
The guard separated Lord Salam's head from his body that fell to the floor. Pia shouted in a way that had probably awakened the whole neighborhood. So it should have startled the ten priests clothed in blue under this room.
"Pia," I said. "I will repeat the same question I mentioned to Lord Salam to you; steal the Crimson Ring from Emperor Lustratos or die the same way your master did."
"I will steal it," responded Pia as she walked and hugged my right leg while crying. "I will steal the ring and do whatever you want me to do. But please spare my life, Your Majesty. I am innocent. The man you have just killed forced himself on me and threatened to kill my parents had I not worked for him and obeyed all his orders. You do not know how much suffering I had to go through. How often did he kick me, punch me, and pulled my hair till I begged him to stop."
"Fine," I replied. "If what you said is the truth then I will forgive and compensate you. But if you were, in fact, lying to me, you know what will happen to you. Now let go of my leg."
It is sad that we live in days where I cannot trust anyone's words without confirming them first. Human words are no more than an opinion, and everything we see is just a single perspective of the full truth.
Anyone who had seen this brutal scene would call me nothing but a monster. But, the truth, the other perspectives is far from that.
Lord Salam was a spy. He gave much information about my Kingdom to the Lorope Empire. Lorope surprised us by sending us many warning letters about every weapon or political relation that we tried to develop.
Father simply obeyed and did not attempt to cut the root of the cause, like what I had just done.
Lord Salam further stole from many, needy families with the help of the underground networking with the Lorope Empire. The more theft that happens in my kingdom, the more it benefits Lorope. Had I not killed him right now and jailed him instead, the Lorope spies around the city and perhaps even in my castle would find a quick way to free him.
Pia is perhaps one of these victims which is why I have not done anything but pour fear in her. This should be enough for now.
"Your Majesty." said one of the guards. "What do we do with the head?"
"Give it to me," I said. "Follow me, everyone."
I held the head with my left and opened the door of the room with my right. And once I stepped out of the room, I heard a feminine shout from behind, "Die!"
I turned my head in time to witness a short sword heading towards my body by Pia. I did not expect this so I could not dodge the sword in time. It grazed my left arm, forcing me to drop Lord Salam's head on the ground.
I could not miss this chance. I swiftly kicked Pia's belly with a force that made her fall on the ground and hit the pillars of the stairs. The guards restrained Pia and took hold of her sword.
I quickly peered down the stairs. Luckily the ten priests in blue robes were still drained in their prayers to Salamander. The cracking bonfires worked wonders in absorbing all the noise that occurred thus far. This is a smart trick.
I returned my attention to the restrained Pia. "Why did you attack me?" I asked. "I give you a chance, but you have broken it with your own hands."
"I cannot live without Lord Salam anymore," she replied while crying. "The moment you killed him was also the moment you killed me. He treated me with such respect and generosity that I would have died for his sake. You monster."
I was barely able to contain my laughter.
But after Pia ended her words, she did spit on my face.
The guards looked awestruck when they witnessed this. One guard immediately drew his sword and was about to stab Pia, but I could not let him do that.
"Stop," I ordered.
"But Your Majesty," objected the guard named Rayan who was about to stab Pia. "She worked for a criminal, lied to you, and spat on your face. I do not get it for it is a national offense. Why are you stopping me from killing her?"
"When the offended forgives, all the charges applied on the offender gets washed away," I replied. "Pia you said that your master was generous to you. But was he generous enough to forgive your death sentence? Guards free your restraints on her. Pia, it is up to you now on what do you want to do with your life; you may either work under me or leave this church right away, and I guarantee that in both choices no harm shall reach you."
The guards reluctantly obeyed and unrestrained Pia who herself was staring at me in confusion.
"Are you sane?" she asked. "I could stab you again. I could leak everything that happened today and destroy your reputation as a king. I could even mention the matter to other nations who will use it as a reason to invade your kingdom.
Blood dripped from my left arm from the scar, but I ignored the pain and said, "Pia, I believe in you."
I lowered myself to pick up Lord Salam's head, which was growing colder and drier as I continued descending the stairs.