Troy was no doubt beautiful but somewhat dreary. Even with all, its beauty and glory it lacked joy and freedom. The city was completely silent and desolate at the time of our arrival. Seeing the welcoming at the borders of Troy that looked more like a warning made my stomach form tiny knots. And adding to that, the whole city had to be dangerously quiet and it felt very uncomfortable. If given a choice I probably wouldn't have turned back but with Dolores, that would not even be an option.
"Dolores, I hope you've not gotten in the bad books of Lord Zhai. You're not his enemy, right?" I asked.
Dolores smiled before she responded. "I've never set feet in Troy, neither have I met face to face with Lord Zhai or any of his men, so no. I am not an enemy." She responded and her response gave me some kind of hope.
"Oh. At least we won't have to try hard to impress him, right?" I said to Dolores.
"Hmph. Lord Zhai I heard is a really tough one, so whether or not we are enemies, I think we still need to try hard to impress him or blow our chances of getting him on our side. But... Don't bother your pretty little royal head about it, we'll surely find a way around it." Dolores responded.
All the time, Tyril kept mute and that made me uncomfortable. I wouldn't have bothered if he ever spoke or not but having met him before and knowing that he wasn't the kind of person to keep mute, seeing him do it now is really annoying.
"Come on guys, let's go." Dolores said and led the way.
We got into Troy but didn't see anyone on the road. It was deserted. Not even in the market was a single person found but soon, we came across a man, an old man. Not very old, he looked between 60 to 65 years old.
"Excuse me, sir." Dolores said trying hard to wear her most friendly look.
The old man looked at us before he weirdly smiled at Dolores.
"How can I help you, my child?" He asked.
Dolores scoffed and muttered incoherently. I didn't hear her but I knew she was probably cussing at the old man for calling her his child.
Finally, she spoke up.
"My name is Arya, this is my daughter Karen and my son-in-law, Tom." Dolores started. For the first time, she actually lied about her name.
"Our village was attacked by some hideous monsters, giant monsters that had four hands and two heads. They destroyed our village and left nothing of it but I managed to escape with my household." She said.
The old man looked at her inquisitively without a word and so she continued.
"Please sir, we have come all the way here to settle down and maybe start a new life but we can't do it without the approval of your King." She added.
"Where is your village?" The old man asked.
"I'd rather keep it, undisclosed sir." She responded.
"Well, Troy is not a place to run to. It's not very nice to foreigners. But yet, I'll take you to our King." He said.
"Thank you very much, sir. You can ride my horse while I walk."
"You can actually have mine... Sir..." Tyril finally said something.
"No no no. Keep your horses. I'm not taking you to the King today. This is a day of blood and so the king does not attend to visitors on a day like this." He said.
"Oh. Is that why no one is seen on the road?" Dolores asked.
"Yes." He responded.
"What do you mean by, a day of blood." I asked.
"It is a day of reckoning. All sins are punished on this day and everyone in the kingdom must witness it, to learn a big lesson."
"Interesting. Well, we can go to the king tomorrow then." Dolores said.
"Yes. But I must warn you, some lies are punishable by death and Lord Zhai has his way of seeing through every word one speaks." The man said.
I looked at Dolores knowingly but she didn't even look bothered about it.
"Meet me here tomorrow." The old man said and turned to leave but I stopped him.
"Wait, sir. Please, it's dusk already and we have nowhere to rest our heads." I said.
"It's okay Yo... Karen, I'll find us an inn where we can rest the night." Tyril said.
"You won't find one today. I already told you, this is a day of blood." The old man said.
"Oh."
"Do you have a place for us to stay sir? We don't mind paying twofold whatever it costs." Dolores said.
The old man scanned us before he spoke.
"50 coins." He stretched out his hand as he spoke as if to collect the coins already.
"Come on man, that's a lot." Dolores said.
"It's double the price." The old man simply responded and without any more argument, Tyril gave him the coins from his coin purse.
"Good. Follow me. It's not a very relaxed space but I bet you can manage the night." The old man said.
We all dismounted our horses and dragged them along with us while walking.
"If today is the day of blood and no one is allowed to be outside except maybe when witnessing the execution of sinners, what then are you doing out here?" Dolores asked.
"Well, some people are exempted from some laws." He responded.
"Lord Zhai exempts nobody from his law. I mean no disrespect but you said some lies are punishable by death, so I believe you realize how bad it is to lie against the rules guiding a kingdom." Tyril said.
"You're a smart boy. But why I'm out here is not your business." The old man responded.
"Now, we must hurry and darkness is almost upon us." He added.
The old man finally brought us to the space he spoke of after walking for hours. It was already dark when we got there.
"This is your space for the night. Enjoy it." He said.
"A barn?!" Dolores said in displease.
"The most comfortable around here." The old man responded.
"So we paid 50 gold coins for a space in a barn?" I asked.
"Yes, little one." The old man responded.
"We would rather camp in a bush than rest our heads here. Give us our money back. Keep five out of it." Dolores said.
"Relax people. I sleep in the next barn. Troy is not a nice place to camp in its bushes. That is why the homeless like us must find a place to rest each night." The old man explained.
Dolores, Tyril, and I had a conversation by just exchanging glances before Dolores spoke.
"Fine. We'll sleep here this night but tomorrow morning, you must take us to your King."
"Aye, Captain." The old man responded before he left us alone.
Tyril arranged some sacks we found there and a mat to make a comfortable sleeping position for both Dolores and me.
"What about you?" I asked when he told Dolores and me to sleep there.
"A guard must protect his Queen when she is asleep." He responded.
"But only on the Queen's command, right?" I said to him.
"Don't do this, Your highness, please. I am bound by my oath to always protect all royal blood in Avalor, which extends to you the true Queen of the Golden Empire." He said.
I nodded in response to what he had said and he left to sit outside.
Dolores and I slept off as we already felt tired and had to get ready for our most challenging day tomorrow.
In the middle of the night, I woke up to the noise of someone rummaging through bags and when I slowly opened my eyes, I saw that old man being held by someone in the darkness, a dagger was pointed to his throat and Dolores was nowhere around, so was Tyril...