The guard dragged us out of the palace as if he had long been waiting for that instruction. Even though we plead to Lord Zhai to hear us out, he didn't listen to us. He turned a blind eye and quickly left his throne room.
When we were locked up in the dungeons, I still kept pleading.
"Hey, you can't just toss us into the dungeons like we are nothing. I demand an audience with the King." I said.
"Are you not ashamed that you got arrested in just a day of stepping foot into Troy? Bandits." The guard responded while locking up the dungeon.
"Bandits? You know I'll have your head on a platter when I finally get out of here." I said.
"Karen." Dolores cautioned me by just an eye contact then turned to the guard with a weird smile. "You know, when Lord Zhai ordered you to throw us into the dungeons, I didn't argue, neither did I speak to him. I've heard of Lord Zhai and I know he wouldn't listen to anything at that moment. Now I need you to take this message to him." Dolores spoke with authority. "I am Dolores Mongolia of Devon, the sister of Queen Cleopatra Mongolia and trust me, he doesn't want to be my enemy." Dolores added.
The name Queen Cleopatra Mongolia seemed to ring a bell in the guard's ear and so without any dispute, he nodded and left.
"Do you think he'll actually take that message to Lord Zhai?" I asked Dolores.
"Yeah. He has no choice." She responded.
"But Lord Zhai may not listen. He may really not care who we are."
"Your pessimism has gotten the better of you. Don't you worry Naya, Lord Zhai will stop at nothing to destroy Stefan. He'll understand my message."
I nodded without saying anything more. Tyril was silent the whole time.
In just a few minutes, the guard returned and unlocked the dungeon.
"The king requires your presence in his dinning hall." He said, then led us to the king's dinning hall.
The dinning hall was just after the ceremonial room. It had a long table where Lord Zhai was seated at one end, looking into a scroll.
We made our way in and I cleared my throat to get his attention.
"I'm not blind." He said, then handed the scroll over to his guard and dismissed him, leaving us alone with him. He had some food on the table which may be way too much for us all.
"Dolores Mongolia, huh? Quite an interesting way to get an audience with me." Lord Zhai said.
"I'm not that kind of woman. I tell only the truth and I know you can always tell when someone lies to you so, why would I do that?" Dolores responded.
"Hmm. Please eat." Lord Zhai said.
"Why? Is the food poisoned?" Tyril asked.
"You think I have to hide to kill you?" Lord Zhai asked angrily.
"He's right Tyril. Lord Zhai would gladly execute us before everyone in his Kingdom if he wants us dead." I said.
"I know where the true heir of the golden Empire is. You know without her, you can't defeat Stefan." Dolores went straight to the point.
"I see." Lord Zhai said and carefully landed his gaze on me. "You know where she is or she is right here?" Lord Zhai asked.
Dolores scoffed and mumbled incoherently.
"Well. You have me as your ally. Tell me if you need me to do anything." He said.
"Just like that? You trust us?" I asked in surprise.
"I don't trust you, but I believe you are truly Naya Mongolia." He said.
"It's one of their powers, detecting lies." Dolores muttered to me.
"I'll leave you to eat, and after that my servants will show you to our guest room. You're welcome to Troy. Please, let the servants know if you ever need anything." Lord Zhai said, weirdly with a smile. "And yes, we'll discuss better after you're settled, Princess Naya." He added and left us alone.
"Well, that was easier than I thought." I said.
That day, we were comfortably settled in and were properly taken care of.
Also that night, Lord Zhai got a message from King Stefan, which said:
You have what I desire the most Zhai Zumar. Release the girl to me and half of the golden empire and it's powers will be yours.
Lord Zhai chuckled after he read the letter. "So he really wants them." He mumbled.
The next morning, some of the citizens of Troy came with a complaint about us to Lord Zhai.
"Speak!" Lord Zhai ordered the man and his daughter who had come to complain.
"My Lord. There were intruders in our land who were harbored by Sky." The man spoke.
"Two faced Sky? I heard. They are not intruders but visitors of your Lord." Lord Zhai said.
"My Lord, I regret to say this but... Your... Yo..." He stuttered.
"Come on, speak before your Lord." Lord Zhai said.
"Your visitors killed the sacred birds of Troy. The Drabeens." The man's daughter said.
Lord Zhai was speechless for a moment.
"How did this happen?" He asked.
"We do not know my Lord. We only woke up to meet them eating of it. It was quite difficult for us to come up to you but after realizing that thesame fate that awaited whoever hurt this bird was the same fate that awaited whoever... Whoever saw it and never spoke up. We are sorry my Lord for not speaking up earlier. We had waited for them to be executed yesterday but... They uhm... They turned out to be our Lord's visitors." She said.
The sacred birds were the untouchable birds of the people of Troy. Myth believed their gods to love through these birds. Nobody could ever hurt it, and the penalty for doing so? A merciless... Death... By... Dismemberment.
Since killing the sacred bird was a high offence, the condemned must be drawn and quartered in other words, dismembered.
Dismemberment: dismemberment could be brought about by chaining four horses to the condemned's arms and legs, thus making them pull him apart...