To kill or not to kill? Salem almost laughed. Was the king testing him? Was he trying to frame him up so that he'd commit a crime far worse than what he had done before that made him a convict? This was close to regicide. This was a treason that he could no longer redeem himself from.
"What if I say no?"
Lycus glanced at him with a mirthless smile. "You don't have anything to lose. I don't see why you'd refuse."
Both men tried to analyze what the other was thinking to determine the outcome. Salem's mind branched into hundreds of possible turns of events. Whether he accepted the request or not the king had the power to ruin whatever goodness left in his name. On the other hand, Lycus was very much aware how much of a sneaky son-of-a bitch Salem could be.
"I have one condition, Your Majesty, if you may," Salem murmured, inching his veiled lips close to Lycus' left ear that had a golden triangle earring piercing through the earlobe and the cymba conchae of the ear.
The king's eyes widened upon hearing the condition. His lips curled into a smirk. It was a very atrocious and dirty job that he was making the man do; and of course knowing Salem, if the task was requested by someone wicked, he'd stoop to that level and play it as dirty as he could that even the requestee himself would feel disgusted.
"Get the job done and I'll reward you handsomely. Fail to get me the prince's head and I get to choose three heads from your peers for you to stare at for the rest of your life."
Salem straightened up, preparing to turn away. The king never failed to keep his promise. When he gives a threat, he means it with all his black heart and darkened soul.
"Oh, I expect that you keep this a secret between the two of us."
Salem hummed. Even if he kept this secret to his grave, someone already knew what they talked about and it wasn't because he was eavesdropping. As soon as he stepped down from the last stair, the king coughed.
"Pope Uri, I have been feeling unwell since yesterday. I need to rest."
The pope inclined his head forward, his kind and handsome smile remained. No traces of suspicion could be perceived from his expression.
"Of course King Lycus, would you like me to check your pulse?"
"No, I want to be left alone in my room."
The king stood, descending from his royal seat and entering the door to his office just behind the throne. Rorik gave Salem a desperate glance of curiosity. He was in dire need of the latest gossip as he bounced around Salem like a child excited for a new candy. The doors to the hall were firmly sealed shut after they left.
"What made the mission Curse Level 2 Dragon?"
"The king wants it to be strictly between the two of us."
Rorik scoffed in disbelief. He dragged Kou and Salem into the hoist and slid the door shut. "This concerns the destruction of an entire city! Why does he want it confidential? Will we know if you succeed or not once thousands of people are killed?"
"Tell me cardinal, how many people know of the king being a Swan?"
Rorik grasped Salem's mouth, looking at the walls as if they would suddenly sprout ears. "Are you mad? You shouldn't speak of that inside the royal castle!"
"Swan?" Kou questioned.
"It's a term recently used after scholars discovered how some swans choose their soulmates from the same sex. Scholars even called His Royal Majesty King Kairon a swan because of how much he adored you," Salem explained.
The hoist took them to the ground floor. Rorik grabbed Salem's shoulder the moment they were out of ear's shot. "Why did you bring that question up, Salem?"
The convict stared at the skies, watching a pair of birds gliding freely and playing with each other with no worries other than satisfying their physiological needs.
"There was no love in their marriage yet Queen Briar had always hoped that King Lycus would one day fall in love with her given time and patience. The Queen was born in a strict patriarchal household where it is a woman's duty to produce her spouse an offspring. Her purpose in life is to give birth to the next heir to the throne; that is why she had been placed into immense pressure since their engagement was announced."
Rorik crossed his arms. He was confused and at the same time dying to know what this man had in his wicked mind. "Where are you getting with this?"
Salem sighed. "My point is: how can I kill someone who doesn't exist?"
The royal pair was said to have tried before but the newborn child died in the queen's womb. She was devastated, driven into insanity. Because of her outbursts she was never invited to the royal ball even when she was the significant other of the ruler of this country. The king would come appearing like a bachelor for women to latch on and seduce.
"Kill who? What did Lycus exactly tell you?"
Queen Briar locked herself away in her room. The two did not even sleep in the same chambers. They were estranged from each other. They bowed to be husband and wife in front of the pope but even before death could part them, they were already separated.
For the king at least, the queen was as good as dead to him.
How could there be a prince to slay if they were never able to make him in the first place? Kou stayed silent the entire time Rorik pestered Salem for answers.
King Kairon was a Swan, huh?
Jinx and Karma had been tailing the punctilious, zealous and diligent son of Rorik all around the city. He was tasked by the king to get rid of every bottle of wine in every household with the help of the priests and deacons. The people were sincerely cooperative, putting their entire stock of alcohol in the huge cart dragged by the royal horses.
The two boys helped out, lifting the boxes and placing them in the cart. They expected to be toured and not be slaved around, though they were used to this kind of treatment because of their master.
"Pssh…I wanted to see what the castle looked like from inside," Jinx mumbled.
"It's better this way. With your luck, the castle might collapse the moment you get in. You'll make this country kingless." Karma kept overhearing Jinx's complaints so he had to shut him up in some way.
They arrived at a peculiar temple that was swarmed by tearful females. The architecture was based on a pregnant woman lying on her back. The first building was shaped as a face, the second and third ones were domes representing the breasts that were prepared for lactation. The last infrastructure was her baby bump that was ripened for gestation. Two slanted pillars acted as her legs, framing her womanly entrance that acted as the door to the shrine. A child's statue was built everywhere, even on top of her belly where he was standing on his left tiptoe, reaching for the skies.
"This is the Shrine of Eros. Women from all parts of Canaan come here in order to pray to be blessed with a child and for a safe pregnancy," Theo said, urging the boys to come closer. Karma scowled.
"Who suggested the design? It's…"
"Fascinating?" Theo suggested.
"Terrifying."
The young cardinal laughed. "The first time I saw it I was astonished by how creative it was built but when we had men frequenting more than women and doing things that were maliciously inappropriate, I can no longer pride myself on having this shrine in our city. The only man allowed inside is the Pope. Priestesses and deaconess keep the visits and prayers in order."
"Wo-wow!" Jinx finally managed to release the breath he held in. Karma groaned and rolled his eyes away. The idiot was shaking.
"I presume that he has never held a woman before?" Theo questioned.
"Gee, how'd you find out?" The youngest of the three answered with derision.
"Don't act like you held one, Theo."
A man that seemed the same age as the cardinal came up. His supposed white shirt with the sleeves ripped off was turning brownish from the soil he tilts everyday. His skin was tanned from working under the sun from morning till noon. His chestnut brown hair was drenched with sweat and his green eyes glimmered with exuberance like precious emeralds. Theo's cheeks quickly brimmed with red. He seemed to be in a daze for a few seconds when he made his appearance.
"Conrad, what are you doing here?"
"I'm waiting for Primrose. She wanted to pray for a child."
Theo managed to relieve the redness on his cheeks after a long breath, bringing himself the courage to stare at his hypnotizing eyes. "Perhaps the reason why she hasn't been blessed with one is because the heavens are waiting for her and Adonis to tie the knot."
Conrad shrugged. His cheery expression clouded with chagrin. "I beat the living soul out of Adonis. I found him doing it with another girl in their barn. Primrose didn't want to believe me but pops did. Ever since then, they stopped seeing each other."
Theo lifted his eyebrows in question. "Why would you ask for a child when you don't have anyone to have it with? That's physically impossible."
Conrad scoffed then slapped his childhood friend's shoulder. "This is why you entered the seminary right? You believe in miracles."
Theo clasped his hands against his pelvis. Conrad and him entered the seminary together. Both of them were the top of their class but one day Conrad suddenly dropped and didn't show up to the classes anymore. Theo cried in front of their house, begging him to come back yet Conrad chose to follow his father's footsteps and live a simple and peaceful life, away from all the pressure.
"You know what I learned from miracles, Conrad? It's either heaven's blessing or hell made. In this world, it's mostly the latter."
Primrose walked out of the shrine with unblinking and tearful eyes. Her hope was battered with the words from the priestesses and deaconesses.
'A child must be born out of love, not lust. Rose, you know that Adonis is using you. You are the only one in love.'
What do they know? They weren't the ones in a relationship with him. They were in love. Adonis wouldn't risk his life climbing to her window to see her and make love to her every night. He was sincere. He was serious about her. Her father and her brother were wrong about him. Their neighbors had nothing better to do than to make rumors about him.
"He loves me. I know it. I feel it…" she shakily murmured. If she could only get pregnant then Adonis' family would have no other choice but to make him marry Rose. Their family name was on the line.
"Hello big sister, you seem sad." A young boy was peeking behind the leg of the shrine. He was wearing a red robe made of the finest silk. A crown sat on top of his black hair. A bird was standing calmly on his index finger. His eyelids were powdered with red much like how the members of the royal family do it.
Primrose pulled herself together. She made a gentle approach to the young boy, looking around if there was a mother nearby. She squatted in front of him, oddly mesmerized by how good-looking the child was. He could really pass as the prince of this country.
"What are you doing here all alone?"
The young boy stroked the blue bird's head with his finger. "Eris and I are listening to prayers. You want a baby too, big sister?"