"Captain, are you sure that our target is heading to the capital?" on the third day of the ambush, one of the soldiers asked, handing out the last supplies of dried meat.
"Yes. That arsehole will definitely decide to hand that little one over to the king as a trophy. He is stupid, pompous, but sometimes he does truly frightening things."
"Maybe someone captured them along the way?"
"I don't think so. It's just that my brother is too weak for such long journeys without a servant. I'm not sure that he has ever sat in the saddle longer than it takes for a simple walk."
"I see something," a voice came from the tree. "Captain, but there are more of them than we thought."
August threw aside his empty flask and deftly climbed up. Indeed, there was movement in the distance, but it was not a small detachment, but a full-fledged procession.
"What the fuck…" cursed August. "Everyone get ready. As soon as you notice the first movement from your shelters, activate camouflage."
After several tense hours, the procession approached a fork. At first, August thought that some high-ranking nobleman had decided to visit the capital accompanied by a couple of hundred soldiers, but he immediately discarded this thought when he saw what was attached to the roof of a large cart.
On the roof stood a pole to which a man was tied. Instead of clothes, he was wrapped in a cloth with the emblem of Klaus. August did not immediately recognize him because of the dirt, blood, and face swollen from beatings, but when someone opened his swollen blue eyes, the captain caught his breath. It was Egor.
The good news is he's still alive. The bad news is, judging by his condition, he won't be for long. August clenched his fists. He hated him, but he never wanted him dead. His personal dislike for the boy was understandable, but August also knew how much he meant to Klaus, and Klaus was everything to Augustus.
As much as he wanted to be in that boy's place, it didn't change the unpleasant fact that if he died, the prince would suffer and perhaps would never be able to open his heart to anyone again. No. August couldn't allow that. Klaus had to be happy.
He gathered his magical power and sent it in waves toward the procession. The ground shook slightly, enough to confuse the horses and shift the direction of the carriage. The ranks began to riot, and the soldiers had to stop.
"What's going on?" Abel looked out the window of the carriage. "Why did you stop?"
Now he looked different than the last time they met. No fear in his eyes, neatly styled hair, clean new clothes. So someone met them on the way. Or did the king already know that Abel was heading his way?
Seeing the face of his younger brother, the captain's eyes turned bloodshot. He sent the earth flying in large waves, knocking down the horses and turning the carriage over. No one saw him and he took advantage of the situation to approach the overturned carriage, simultaneously raising fine dust, disorienting the soldiers.
Someone drew a sword, but they did not find a visible enemy, and because of the dust they were afraid to strike, so as not to injure an ally.
"Hey, are you alive?" August leaned over the log with Egor tightly bound.
The young man opened one eye with effort. The other was completely filled with blood, which was oozing from his head. Egor received this injury during the fall and he was still nauseous.
"Probably a concussion," he said barely audibly. "And also a hallucination, but why is the captain's voice the last thing I hear before I die."
"Eh, it's a shame, you know. I sat in ambush for three days to save you, and you call me a hallucination. Don't strain yourself," he added, cutting the ropes, "you won't see me, I'm under camouflage."
While the dust had not yet settled, August picked Egor up on his shoulder and carried him back to his soldiers.
"One stays to guard him. The rest follow me. We have to get that little freak."
"Yes, captain!"
August pulled out his disguise and handed the stone to Egor.
"Just run some magic through it."
"What about you?"
"The entire land around me is at my mercy, do you think I need this thing?" the captain grinned and returned to the cloud of dust.
Egor felt sick and everything was swimming before his eyes, and the dust columns obscured his vision. All he could do now was lie down. Now he fully understood the cruelty of this world and was grateful that Gorald drove him so mercilessly around the training ground. If not for this, his body would hardly have lasted so long.
He vaguely remembered all the days spent with Abel. After they left the underground city under the pretext of a secret mission, the company spent three days on the road. During this time, Egor was practically unnoticed. During these days, he was hit only once, when he was knocked out before being taken out of the shelter.
The rest of the time, Egor either lay tied up and covered with a cloak across the horse, or lay on the ground during halts. He was fed just enough so that he would not die of hunger. They gave him just enough water so that he would not die of thirst.
When the small detachment reached the first large town, they stopped for the first time at an inn, where Abel, using his abilities, provided himself with a free room, a hot bath, new clothes and hearty food.
Egor and the soldiers spent the night in the stable, surviving on stale bread and water. In the morning, Egor woke up from loud voices. Opening his eyes, he saw several soldiers with the royal insignia, led by Abel.
"Everyone line up," Klaus's brother commanded.
His puppets obeyed his orders without question. No one moved, not even when the head of the first one rolled across the floor. Egor was numb. Everyone he had spent the last few days with fell one after another, and the fact that they were living people was indicated only by the fear and pleading in their eyes, but they were powerless against Abel's commands and met their death without resistance.
"This is the one I told you about. I want to deliver him to the king alive, but I don't care what condition he will be in."
After these words, Egor seemed to have plunged into hell. For the first time, he was beaten until he lost consciousness. When he woke up, he was lying on the floor of a moving carriage. The only thing left on him was a piece of cloth, which was wrapped around him in the Greek manner.
He was beaten several times a day. There was no particular reason for this. These people simply enjoyed watching him suffer. At their first overnight stop, they tied him to a pole next to a common fire. They threw bones at him, laughed, poured water on him.
At their second overnight stop, they simply tied his hands and dragged him along the ground like a dog on a leash, so as to further tweak the sign of Klaus, to stain it with blood. When they got tired of this entertainment, they simply abandoned him, but Egor was no longer able to get up on his own and simply fell asleep.
The worst thing happened on the third day, when the soldiers decided to discuss their love affairs. There were several of them, and then for the first time in these days, Egor cried out loud and begged to stop. When he had no strength left, he mentally imagined Klaus, but what was being done to him now was not at all like the prince's caring touches, his warmth and sense of security.
Egor dreamed of losing consciousness. He could no longer bear this torture. He could not imagine how he would be able to look Klaus in the eyes after this. Now he understood why the prince executed everyone that day. Now Egor dreamed of seeing them executed. He did not want the merciful death that Klaus gave those soldiers. He wanted the prince to torture them until their last breath.
On the fourth day, they did not beat him. Egor thought that he would not have been able to withstand more beatings and rape. He even wanted to be beaten again. He wanted it all to stop. Every day he dreamed of Klaus saving him, but now he dreamed of death.
He was tied to a pole on the roof of the cart. His body was unbearably sore from the previous hellish night, and Egor periodically lost consciousness and came to.
When he hit his head from the fall of the cart, he thought he was going crazy. He still did not believe that he was saved. He was afraid that August would lose and Egor would have to return to that hell again.
"How many of you?" Egor asked hoarsely into the void. He couldn't see the one next to him, but he knew he was there.
"Five, if you count the captain."
"Is Klaus with you?"
"Mr. Klaus doesn't know you were kidnapped. This secret mission of the captain."
Egor began to cry. Five people against a couple hundred soldiers. They were doomed. He wouldn't go back to that hell again. He'd rather kill himself before he got there again. But would he be able to do it?