"I'm tired. All these negotiations don't suit me at all. Why don't you do it yourself?"
'Klaus, don't act like a little child. You know perfectly well why. You started this mess, now you'll have to clean it up yourself. Although, I admit, the idea wasn't as bad as I thought."
"Yes, but still, it's such a slow process. I'm tired of listening to demands, conditions. And why did I declare this territory temporarily neutral? It would have been a great chance to get rid of all the demanding and arrogant highborn."
"If you do that, you'll doom all your efforts to failure. Who do you think will believe in you after this? Who will risk coming?"
"Yes, I know. Has anyone been to the underground city in the last four days?"
"No. Is something bothering you?"
"Egor. He hasn't contacted me for four days. It worries me."
"And you didn't think that he realized that you are a bloodthirsty monster and ran away to his quiet, calm world?"
"No, I don't think so. He wouldn't have run away, at least not without saying goodbye. Something happened there. If I don't hear from him by the evening, I'll go there myself."
"You can't. If you are so worried about your lover, I'll go and check everything myself. I guarantee that there is nothing serious there."
"I'm not sure that this is... convenient for you?"
"You mean that you sleep with him and not with me? - August chuckled - don't bother your head with it. I perceive this as a temporary obstacle, nothing more. You know, I can wait. That's it, I'm leaving!"
"I'm waiting for news from you. And thank you, August."
"Oh no, no, Klaus. Don't do this! You scare me when you try to show... concern? Politeness? Anyway, I don't know what you're trying to show there, but be kind enough to remain the same arrogant prince with me as before."
Klaus just chuckled and shook his head. He was only now beginning to realize that August always tries to joke when he feels uncomfortable. What could be more inappropriate than going and checking on the safety of the guy who stole your loved one? The prince tried to throw the disturbing thoughts out of his head, as another portal opened in his office.
***
Yes, it was not the most pleasant assignment, but he volunteered to help. He would rather tolerate this bastard from another world for a while than let Klaus jeopardize the plan because of an imaginary danger.
August knocked on the door of the room where Egor was currently living. There was no answer. He opened the door. No one was there. The same was true for the training grounds, the infirmary, the dining room, the bathhouse. He even visited the inventors' wing. No one had seen Egor in the last four days.
August concluded that he had indeed escaped, but something was bothering him. Maybe it was the confidence in Klaus's eyes when he refuted August's version? So the captain decided to ask a little more before telling Klaus such sad news.
Several hours of searching were unsuccessful. In the end, August decided that the only way to be completely sure that he was right was to go to another world, but he immediately dismissed this idea, remembering that there was only one portal that would take him to the right place and it remained with Egor.
The captain returned to the prince's room again and rummaged through the drawers of the table. To his surprise, the very same ball was in one of them. Therefore, Egor really did not escape. Then where is he?
Sitting on the bed, August feverishly thought, but nothing came to his mind. Getting up, he decided that he needed to somehow shake himself up in order to resume the thought process. What could cheer him up better than the face of a hated person? Since one of the most hated had disappeared, he decided to visit the second.
The jail cell was empty. August broke out in a cold sweat. This simply couldn't be happening! He quickly headed to the dining room to find those who fed Abel every day.
"Captain, what are you talking about? The prisoner is still there!" the one who had been visiting Abel for the last few days answered in surprise.
The bitter truth reached August. Somehow, Abel had managed to get rid of the collar, and then, using his abilities, forced non-mages to help with the escape. Egor's disappearance could not be a simple coincidence. Abel had taken him with him.
Cursing loudly, August headed to the wing where the soldiers were usually stationed. Having found out that the small detachment had left the underground city, citing a secret mission from Klaus. No one asked any questions.
August had no doubts about where Abel was heading. This was the worst-case scenario. If August sent a squad right now, they wouldn't have time to catch up with Abel. There was only one option. Shorten the distance using the portals and meet his brother near the capital. This was the only way to not miss them. There was only one entrance to Anatodom. It was risky to approach the enemy camp, but there was no other choice. If Klaus found out what had happened, it would be impossible to stop him.
August took four soldiers with him who possessed magic. Yes, there was little time to choose and those he had to take were not particularly talented, but the captain was guided by the fact that they would still be able to cover him, and his brother would definitely not take them under his control.
According to calculations, Abel could reach the capital no earlier than in five days on horseback. But, given the physical capabilities of his younger brother, the journey would take several days longer. The rebels had several portals in the vicinity of the capital and within its boundaries. Augustus decided not to take risks and not to choose the closest portal at such a time. Four soldiers and he was the limit for the transfer. Consequently, his small detachment would move more slowly. After some thought, he decided to choose a destination half a day from the capital, in a village where they had a small recruiting point.
He could not think of what to say to Klaus, so he decided to carry out a rescue operation secretly. Given the prince's workload, he would hardly notice that the captain was absent for a couple of days. He even discovered the disappearance of his dearest Egor four days later.
He left the communication stone, armed himself with several useful inventions and set off. As soon as they emerged from the portal, they froze. The once quiet village had turned into ashes. The earth had not yet completely cooled down, which meant that the attack had happened quite recently.
"What happened here?" one of the captain's companions was horrified.
"Can't you see it yourself?" he answered sarcastically. "Another devastation."
"But the time for testing magical abilities has not yet begun..."
They walked along what was left of the village. In the center, a makeshift execution square had been set up. There were two piles of charred corpses. One with the villagers, the other with the resistance soldiers. Between the two fire pits, a canvas with the royal coat of arms was stretched out, and on the ground nearby lay the torn and trampled flag of Klaus.
You don't have to be a genius to understand the message.
"They killed everyone," one of the soldiers exhaled, looking at the piles of corpses.
"That's the price of war," August answered detachedly. "You recently became a soldier and have never participated in border skirmishes or in collecting slave labor. It is precisely because we want to spare the inhabitants of Isorobia from such a fate that we sided with Klaus, is it not?"
"Yes, captain, but still, to see such a thing..."
"I understand. Let's go."
"Apparently, they found out that the village was somehow connected with the resistance. How infuriating! We should have left more soldiers for protection. Let's go, we have another goal now. We'll figure this out later."
They didn't stop until they reached a fork in the road. From here, there was only one road that could lead to the capital. There were no shortcuts. The five trained soldiers spread out over the flimsy cover, which included a couple of boulders, a dead tree, and a couple of stunted bushes. Such camouflage would only hide them in pitch darkness, but it was now the middle of the day. So August pulled out a couple of new inventions from his pocket that distorted the air around the one using it, thereby merging it with the surrounding environment.
This method of camouflage had one significant drawback. It didn't work for more than an hour, so August climbed to the very top of a dead tree to spot the travelers from afar.
"You can rest for now. If I give the signal, start the camouflage."
"Do you think they'll show up soon?"
"I have no idea," August sighed.