After a day of work with the ants, little Joe was finally home. Spending a few days at other people's houses was really tiring.
The dwarf Finerg had offered to accompany him, and since Joe was already certain of his loyalty, he felt sorry turning him down, especially since he wanted to repay the hospitality he had received from the dwarf. But he had secret things to do, so he insisted to Finerg that there would be a better opportunity for that. Smiling, Finerg agreed.
"Ah! My house again." He sighed as he opened the door and went straight to his room.
Despite his bed and mattress being of low quality, he didn't mind; after all, his father had prepared his little corner with all the care, so he wasn't going to feel prideful because of it.
But to his surprise, when he arrived in his room, he found the little barin chicken on his bed.
And obviously, since it was a feathered animal and came from the chicken coop, his bed was probably crawling with pests from that bird, which would make him itch a lot if he lay down there.
Since it was already night, he decided not to disturb the barin chicken. Seeing that it was getting better was enough to cheer him up.
He grabbed clean clothes and took a quick bucket bath; the water was cold because he didn't want to waste time heating it, as it would take time he didn't want to lose.
Then he got the idea to sleep in his parents' room. Since it had a door, no animals would be sleeping there. As far as he remembered, the last time anyone had slept there had been Ylsean along with his brother, and, as careful as she was, she had left everything well arranged and even perfumed.
So he entered the room, closed the door, and began observing just how simple it was—a room he had never been curious to enter or notice. But now that he was there, he decided to look closely at the details of the place that served as a resting place for those he loved so much.
On the wooden wall in front of him, there was a skin from a wild animal with thick fur he didn't recognize, but it was quite beautiful. And coincidentally, on the floor as a rug, there was a skin identical to the one on the wall.
Wanting to feel the texture of that fur that made the rug so soft, he decided to pull it closer for a better look. Strangely, when he pulled the rug, he felt something catch on it from underneath, and no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't bring it closer to him.
He pulled two more times, but still couldn't, so he decided to investigate what was hooking the rug. To his surprise, he found a small metal latch that secured the door of a small trapdoor.
With great curiosity, he decided to discover what mysteries lay behind that trapdoor. But first, he made sure to lock the room's door well; he didn't want to be caught by surprise by either Van Vil or anyone else. With the lamp lit, he opened the trapdoor and saw that there was a wooden spiral staircase going down.
Carefully, he descended to the bottom of the stairs, where the lamp's light revealed a bed, a chair, and a small table with several drawers. Growing increasingly excited with his discovery, he decided to open one of the drawers to check its contents, but a large envelope on the table caught his attention.
Still hesitant, he locked the trapdoor from the inside and, finding some unlit lamps, lit them, filling the underground room with bright light so he could read more easily.
He picked up the envelope, opened it, and took out a sheet of paper, very different from the ones he used in school, and began to read. It was a letter written in a special handwriting, probably with quills from some rare bird, and stamped with the royal seal of His Majesty, King Alarcki.
"To my esteemed warrior El Don Dim, I assign the following mission. Even if it costs you your life, protect young Di Callieny, and under no pretense may you abandon your mission. Do not allow her to suffer any harm, as she may hold the future of our kingdom and our citizens.
Stay as far away as possible from the royal city and keep in mind that you must avoid drawing attention. If anyone finds clues about you and my spies inform me, I will have you notified, and you are to simply flee your current location, prioritizing your mission to protect this innocent.
Forget that you once had a life of your own, as from now on and perhaps forever, you are in service to the kingdom of Talindore. Use any means you find to keep Di Callieny safe. If you fail in your mission and anyone even so much as touches her, the price you will pay will be with your life.
With no further orders at the moment and with all royal authority at my command; His Majesty King Alarcki."
Thoughts in little Joe's mind turned into an immense whirlwind, and this could explain his father's disappearance, leading him to make some assumptions.
He considered that his father couldn't have had an ordinary life, as it was clear the king ordered this mission to be unending. It was also clear that the king commanded that if anyone touched the person he was protecting, he would have to pay with his life.
"They discovered my father got married to someone—my mother—and if he got married, it means he failed in his mission. If he failed in his mission, then the men who came for him might be the royal guards of the palace, sent by the King to bring him back to face his punishment."
He said to himself.
"In my current situation, would I be able to match strength with the royal guards?" He wondered.
Then, on the wall of that underground room, there was another skin identical to the one upstairs covering the trapdoor's entrance, and looking closely, he noticed there was a map on the skin itself. He tore it from the wall and looked at it for a few moments but couldn't understand anything.
He put it back, trying to place it as it was before, but he left it crooked on the wall. He turned his attention to the remaining drawers of the desk, which had three large drawers on one side and a smaller one on the other. He managed to open only the small drawer, which contained the following book:
"Composition of the Special Royal Guard. The king always maintains control over specially trained soldiers. Among them are those who protect the king, those who hunt and execute under his orders. However, they are the king's last resort for issues not resolved officially. Below is a description of the types of men at his command and their numbers."