Egor reluctantly went to the underground city, admitting that he clearly lacked stamina. Klaus remained in the estate. The news of the capture and bloody execution stirred up the population, and the next day the first messenger from the middle-born arrived.
"I do not intend to talk to pawns. If your master wishes to make a proposal, to join me or to oppose me, then let him come in person."
Over the next few days, Klaus repeated this phrase to dozens of messengers. Apart from a few narrow-minded middle-borns who did not hide their intentions to enter into negotiations with the rebellious prince, the rest of the envoys came secretly.
The letters, which Klaus had not even read, contained no family crests or names of potential allies. The messengers were either soldiers or hired peasants, so that if the message was intercepted, the royal punishment would not fall upon the entire family.
Klaus understood the caution of these people perfectly well, but he was irritated by the fact that all this fuss was taking up too much time. The prince, despite August's protests, gave each messenger a portal ball, the end point of which was his improvised office.
"What if they come to kill you? Have you thought about that?"
"The portal can't carry more than five people. So what should I be afraid of Klaus waved his hand.
"You are too self-confident. You have lost all caution lately!"
"Listen, August. If someone tries to kill me during the negotiations, they will pay for it by exterminating their entire family. Do you think anyone is stupid enough to take the risk?"
"I think you underestimate the fear the king causes them. We do not yet know his plans, and he has not taken any measures in the past three days. I think this should alert you."
"He sent a messenger."
"How come I don't know about this? What did he want?"
"I don't know," the prince shrugged, "I answered him the same as everyone else. If he wants negotiations, let him come himself."
"You really are crazy. Did you give his messenger a portal too?"
"No, of course not. I'm not that stupid. If he wants to offer me something, let him take the usual route. He knows the way here perfectly well."
"I don't know what you're thinking, but I hope you know what you're doing."
"August, I'm doing what you wanted me to do. What are you unhappy with?"
"That you're not thinking with your head much these days," the captain answered and left the office at the moment when a white flash appeared in the room.
"Welcome," the prince smiled, greeting the first brave souls who came to negotiate in person.
***
Egor was alone on the training field. He had been doing his usual exercises for several days, but without Gorald to correct him, scold him, or praise him, the training was a stretch.
The young man sighed, threw aside the dummy lightweight sword and sat down on the floor covered with fresh straw. He took the pistol out of the holster hanging on his belt and weighed it in his hand. It really was light.
Before sending Egor to the underground city, Klaus gave him this unexpected gift, but he did not take into account the fact that the fair-haired guy did not know how to use it at all. Yes, he knew how to shoot. Theoretically. Mostly, his knowledge was based on slot machines where you need to shoot zombies, but a real gun... that's completely different.
Egor tried to shoot at the dummy a couple of times, but out of five attempts he hit the target zero times. He was so inept that he would only be able to shoot someone if it was a monster the size of a house or the target itself came so close to him that there was no chance of missing.
The main reason for his failures was fear. As soon as his finger touched the trigger, his hands began to shake. He imagined a living person in place of the wooden dummy and simply could not shoot calmly. The second reason was his pathological clumsiness.
Even in school, during drawing lessons, where the teacher was so loyal that he gave above average marks to those who simply came to class and did at least something, he could not look at the young man's drawings.
"Gradov, I can't even look at this! You have specially lined paper, a ruler, a compass. How can you do the simplest tasks so crookedly?" he said, giving, with a heavy heart, another average mark for presence.
Egor came to the conclusion that this was the worst weapon he could have, but he did not dare tell Klaus about it, who was firmly convinced that this was an excellent solution for a person who did not know how to use a cold weapon. Egor believed that the best weapon for him would be... nothing. He was not made for bloodshed and could not imagine that he had the courage to kill a person.
He left the room allocated for the training hall and headed to his room. More precisely, to his and Klaus's room, in which he was now very lonely.
"Egor! It's good that I met you. Tell me, can you contact the captain or Mr. Klaus now?" One of the townspeople ran up to him, breathing heavily. He didn't know him, but everyone knew Egor.
"What happened?"
"The prisoner, the one Mr. Klaus brought last time... he... he escaped!"
"How could this happen? He had a collar that suppressed magic!"
"I don't know! Come with me, I'll show you!"
Egor, without thinking, followed the man to the cell where Abel had spent all these days. When he went inside, he really didn't find anyone. The collar was also nowhere to be found.
"How could he escape?" Egor asked in surprise, turning to his companion.
The fugitive stood in the doorway, smiling broadly. He still had the collar on his neck. Abel walked into the cell. Egor backed away. Five more people followed him into the cell, surrounding Egor.
"What are you doing! Grab him, the fair-haired man shouted, but no one reacted."
"And you didn't know what gift I had?" Abel asked in surprise.
"I know, but how..."
"It was reckless of you to send people who didn't have magic to me with food. Tie him up."
The controlled inhabitants of the underground town pounced on Egor, who, no matter how hard he tried, couldn't handle three healthy men, one obese woman, and a teenager who, despite his frail appearance, tied the guy's wrists behind his back with such force that they practically went numb.
"Let me go!"
"Any more requests?"
"How were you able to destroy the collar's effect?"
"Ah, yes. Next time you use someone else's invention, make sure you study it thoroughly. That is, if any of you are still alive."
"What are you talking about?"
"That rope that was fused into my collar does take a lot of strength if you try to use magic, but it releases its properties to do so. If you drain the artifact for a long time and diligently, then eventually the magic in it will run out and it will no longer be able to contain the mage's power. Thanks to my dear brothers, I had more than enough time to drain the collar completely."
"What are you going to do? You're in an underground city! You can't get out of here!"
"Do you think so?" Abel grinned. "But I think it's worth a try. And yes, you'll have to accompany me, so don't flutter around in vain. Save your strength, anti-mage. You." Abel pointed at one of his newly minted subordinates. "Bring one non-mage soldier here."
Egor broke out in a cold sweat. He realized that Abel would be able to get out of here with the help of the soldiers he would enslave. The guy had a communication stone hanging around his neck, but he couldn't use it because his hands were tied. He had a weapon in his holster, but it was useless now, and anyway, Egor wouldn't be able to do anything, even with his hands free.
"What do you need me for? Do you want to exchange me for freedom?"
Abel burst out laughing.
"Exchange? I don't need that. I'll get out of here without hostages. No, Klaus's favorite, I need you for revenge," the highborn's eyes gleamed unkindly.
"So what are you going to do?" Egor asked as calmly as possible, despite the growing panic in his soul.
"I heard the latest news. My brothers have done a great job of annoying His Majesty. I think he will praise me if I deliver such a valuable trophy as you to the palace."
"You're crazy! The king will get rid of you as soon as you show up there!"
"Shut up! My uncle is the only one who saw my potential! How can you say such things! Oh, right! You... I don't know who you are to Klaus, but judging by his behavior, you are a very important thing. Apparently, he has special plans for the antimage, which will not come true, because in just a few days you will be given over to the mercy of the true king of Isorobia!"
"He won't let you reach the capital. He'll find out about everything and catch you."
"Are you sure about that? How will he find out if not a single living soul knows about my escape!"
"You won't be able to hide your escape for long."
"Well, let's check? How soon will my brothers finish their business and return? I heard Klaus said two weeks? How far do you think we can go in that time?"
Egor turned pale. Abel was right. Klaus won't come to the underground city for another eleven days, and when he shows up and discovers Egor is missing, how soon will he realize that Abel is involved? What if the prince decides that Egor got scared and ran away to his world? No, Abel must not be allowed to escape under any circumstances. But what can he do?