Power

"Will you believe me if I say that I can easily slip away from here without leaving any hints, do you?", he asked calmly without any threat.

Resel was shocked to the core hearing this. She knew that he can easily kill her or her father and leave without any evidence. She believed him, to be correct she believed in his capabilities for she has seen herself how intelligent and brainy this man was.

She was bathing in cold sweat and fear was evident in her eyes.

Rune watched calmly. He somehow felt bad for treating her like this, but he had someone more important to protect, his sweeties. Remembering about his sweeties made his expression soft. For some reason, he pitied the girl in front of him.

"Miss Resel, you promised me that you will help me but now you are backing away. It's totally on you, whether you want to help me or not but as a friend I would be grateful if you keep our encounter a secret", he said sincerely'. With that, he took out a dagger and placed it in front of the table.

Resel was too scared to speak and the dagger only increased her anxiety.

Rune backed away few steps "I only have this dagger with me as a weapon since weapons are strictly prohibited inside the library. If you want, you can take it with you for your safety and I won't harm you Miss Resel since you offered me your help and that too without any shady motives. I am truly grateful for your assistance and if you want you can back out".

"Don't worry, the patrolling guards will not be back any time soon so you can easily go back to your room without facing any danger "he said sincerely and calmly.

Listening to Rune made Resel uncomfortable.

She was the one who suggested helping him with his stuff earlier but now she was the one backing away. Moreover, he hadn't tried to harm her be it earlier or now. Even at this stage, he gave his only dagger to her and even offered an apology. She knew very well that she can't harm him but with this dagger, she can surely turn him to the council.

This dagger had two meanings to it.

The first one was to apologize to her.

But the second reason spooked her to no end. His dagger also symbolizes his power.

It was a blatant insult to the council. It suggested that even if she turned him to the council, he had many tricks to his sleeves to release himself. This was the most vexing thing as the power of council was no less than lord, but here this man ignored the council like a fly.

Also, his sincere words conflicted her mind.

"Why?", it was a single word, but it contained many curious questions of her.

"If you can give me a sincere reason, I promise to help you", she said while gritting her teeth.

"Leaking this information can cost me my life and my father's life too so I want to know the true reason", Resel said while glaring at him.

Rune took his sweet time to decide whether to tell her or not and in the end decided to tell her.

"I promise to tell you, but I also want a promise that you won't speak a word about it to any other soul".

Resel nodded her head weakly in acknowledgment.

Rune asked her to swear a blood oath. "There is a big conspiracy going in the dark and soon the empire will witness horrific changes. The blue crystal is the key to solve the mystery of conspiracy. The council which you favor so much is the one that is behind all these "Rune sarcastically replied.

Resel'ss mind went blank after listening to him. She wanted to tell herself that this was all false, but she knew inside her heart that this was all true. Every single word said by Rune made her shiver in fear.

"Information about blue crystals can only be found in a locked library", Resel spoke abruptly.

There was no expression on her face, and it made Rune suspicious. As far as he had studied her, she was someone who would not be willing to give in so early, but he hid his suspicion and waited patiently for her to continue.

"I also don't know where the locked library is. Only father knows about it and he won't tell me", she eyed him.

Rune too nodded in acknowledging her words.