19 Watching him sleep.

Late at night Kai slipped out of his room and made his way to the dungeons. He found the guards sleeping. This would normally merit a harsh punishment but this time around Kai just didn't care.

"Leave," he ordered as he kicked one of the snoring men awake.

As soon as the guards realized who the midnight visitor was, they jumped up and looked at Kai in terror.

"Forgive us, Your Highness, we were just..."

"I told you to leave!" Kai didn't like repeating himself.

The men were now stepping from one foot to another while exchanging looks. It seemed they wanted to say something but didn't have the courage.

"Nobody is allowed to see the prisoner," one of the men finally whispered.

"Since when?" Kai asked. He ran into no problems yesterday or the day before.

"The Regent's order came today," the man's voice was trembling.

"What do you think my uncle will do when he finds out you're sleeping on duty?" Kai asked, examining his nails.

He could see that the guards were now caught between a rock and a hard place – whether they chose to let Kai in or not, there would be severe punishment. Their best bet was pretending nothing had happened and keeping their mouths shut. As soon as the men realized that, they took off like the wind.

Kai walked towards Adnan's cell as quietly as he could. He didn't want the man to find out that he came to see him almost every night. For some reason, Kai just couldn't keep away, even though their last conversation didn't go very well.

Kai knew that Adnan blamed him for what had happened to his slave. When his uncle allowed Minn to accompany him for spiritual healing, he was aware that Reo would use the opportunity to kidnap the guy. But Kai didn't think that this nobody was so important to Adnan. So much so that he would openly and so stupidly go against his uncle.

"Why is that man so special to you?" Kai thought as he watched Adnan quietly breathing, curled up on the floor behind bars. Adnan was using the blanket that Kai had brought him earlier. This made Kai really happy for some reason - it was almost as if they were indirectly sharing a bed.

Kai came closer to the bars, hoping that Adnan would turn around and he'd be able to catch a glimpse of his face. But as he did so, he felt a strong smell of alcohol coming from the cell. Kai scratched his head. How did Minn get his hands on wine here? The guards were too cowardly to do anything that wasn't ordered by his uncle. So that could only mean one thing...

Still, it didn't make any sense. Why would Reo Atarian allow the guy whom he despised so much and who had publicly humiliated him to drink wine in his cell? Kai was sure that his uncle wasn't doing it out of the goodness of his heart. There was a sinister reason behind it. With his father's brother, there always was one.

"I'll get you out of here alive," Kai whispered through the bars.

The next morning Kai came to see his uncle at breakfast. Something he had always tried to avoid like the plague.

When Kai entered the dining hall, Reo Atarian was sitting there completely alone behind a giant table and meticulously cutting up his vegetables.

"Uncle," Kai said shortly.

Reo looked up at him and nodded:

"Nephew."

Kai took a seat to the left side of the man and filled his plate. But as soon as he looked at the food in front of him, he realized that he wouldn't be able to keep anything down.

"If you have something to say to me, go on," said the Regent, wiping his mouth. "I don't have much time."

"It's about General Minn," Kai decided not to beat around the bush.

"What about him?"

"I heard what happened. What are you going to do with him?"

"I'm thinking about it. Any ideas, dear nephew?"

"Can you just pardon him this time? Take away his lands, his title.. whatever. Give him to me."

"I already gave you Lox. Are you collecting Generals now?"

Kai ignored the quip.

"Just like Lox, he is one of our best. Do you really want to get rid of him just because of a stupid mistake he made? Are you that afraid of him? If that's the case, I'll make sure he doesn't come after you again."

His uncle suddenly chuckled.

"And how will you make sure of that?"

"I know how to deal with him."

The man shook his head.

"I very much doubt it, nephew. I would actually advise you to stay as far from him as possible."

"He saved my life. Several times now," Kai said quietly.

"I am aware."

"I'm ready to offer you an exchange. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you," said Kai.

His uncle rubbed his forehead, looking slightly annoyed.

"What I want from you... you won't be able to give me."

"I will do anything," Kai clenched his fists. "Just tell me what you need."

His uncle raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"How about you grow up sooner?"

"Please, I'm being serious," Kai rolled his eyes.

"I assure you, I am also very serious. There's nothing I want more than you finally turning 21."

"What will happen then? Will you kill me?"

"Why would I kill you?" his uncle smirked.

The Prince narrowed his eyes.

"Because you know very well - if you don't, you will regret it."

"Going from pleading to threats in less than ten minutes. You're a true Atarian," his uncle said with no expression. He then got up and before leaving the dining hall turned towards Kai again:

"Minn is not your concern. My advice - stay out of it."

Kai watched as the doors closed behind the man and, not able to hold his anger in anymore, threw an empty wine bottle against the wall.

It was clear that his uncle wasn't going to compromise, so Kai had to figure out another way to get Adnan out. Maybe he could break him out of his cell and hide him somewhere... But that would mean starting a full-on war against Reo Atarian. And Kai wasn't ready for it yet – at this point, he wasn't sure he would win.

As soon as the sun went down, he headed out to see Adnan again. This time he wanted to wake him up and actually talk to him. He would ask him to hold on just a bit longer. He would warn him not to accept anything the Regent sent him – no food and definitely no alcohol.

This time there were no guards around. Kai found it weird but, knowing how "good" they were at performing their duties, they might have just decided to wander off for no good reason. Either way, it worked out well for Kai. He headed directly towards Adnan's cell without anybody stopping him.

Only a moment later, he realized something he wasn't anticipating.

The cell was empty - only Kai's blanket was lying deserted on the floor.

"Adnan!" Kai still called out in vain hope that Minn might have just been hiding in one of the corners of the cell.

No such luck.

But Minn couldn't be dead already! His uncle wouldn't go as far as executing him in secret - he would want to make an example out of the rogue General in front of the public. Maybe Adnan managed to escape? But where would he go? Or did his uncle decide to move Adnan to a different location after their talk this morning? The more Kai thought about it, the more confused he got. And he wasn't comfortable with the feeling. Kai needed to know where Adnan was. And he needed to know it now.

Kai left the dungeons and headed to the Southern wing of the palace. He didn't care that it was late – Niki would most likely be up anyway. And even if he wasn't, nobody else could help Kai at this moment, so he didn't have any other choice.

Kai barged into Niki's room without knocking, as he usually did. They didn't have secrets from each other, and Kai didn't think that Niki would mind.

Indeed, Niki wasn't sleeping. He was engrossed in a scroll while former General Lox was standing behind him and brushing his hair. This scene rendered Kai speechless for a moment. How did these two become so close in such a short amount of time?

"What are you doing here?" he finally managed to say, looking at Lox with suspicion.

"My duties," the man responded coldly as he continued running a comb through Niki's white hair.

"Oh, you really go above and beyond," Kai scoffed.

"Just following orders."

"Your orders were to make sure he eats and has clean clothes. You didn't have to move in with him."

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"Don't forget your position, Lox," Kai warned him.

"I remember it very well. Do you still remember yours?" the man gave him a pointed look.

Kai didn't want to get into all of that. Especially not in front of Niki. He frowned and just said:

"Your presence here is unnecessary. Go."

"That's for him to decide," said Lox, pointing at Niki.

Only at that moment did Niki finally notice that Kai was in the room.

"I didn't know you were coming," he said, putting the scroll away.

"I need you to do something for me. Urgently," said Kai.

"Of course," Niki nodded.

"But first, can you ask your loyal servant to leave us?"

Niki blinked a couple of times, as if not quite sure what Kai meant, but after a short pause, he turned to Lox:

"Thank you for all your help today," he said softly.

Former General didn't seem very happy, yet he obeyed the unvoiced request, giving Kai a dark disgruntled look on his way out.

"Location spell," said Kai as soon as the man left.

Niki nodded. Without saying a word he took a small sack off the shelf and put it on the table. Only then did Kai notice how clean and organized Niki's room had become. It seemed the former General's talents lay not only in wielding weapons – he was obviously a great serving maid.

"Whom do you wish to locate?" Niki asked.

"General Adnan Minn."

Niki swallowed loudly and looked up at the Prince as if he wanted to say something.

"Something wrong?" Kai asked.

Niki shook his head and quickly opened the bag. Inside was something that looked like dried hawthorn berries. Niki put three of those in his mouth and swallowed without chewing. After a couple of moments, Niki's body began to shake, and his eyes rolled to the back of his skull. Kai had seen him go through something similar before during other "out-of-the-body" spells, so he wasn't too shocked by what he witnessed. These spells were hard on the spirit, but Niki never complained.

Soon, Niki collapsed, hitting his head on the table, and Kai realized that he had begun his search. All Kai could do now was wait. Even if Adnan was thousands of miles away, Niki would be able to find him.

It seemed almost an eternity passed before Niki moaned and slowly raised his head. Kai promptly grabbed him by the shoulders:

"Where is he?"

Niki rubbed his temples and winced.

"I couldn't find him."

"How can that even be?" Kai exclaimed. "Did the spell fail?"

"No, the spell worked fine."

"Then what's the problem?"

"He is gone."

"Do you mean he's dead?" Kai felt a knot in his stomach.

Niki gave him a somber look.

"No, the person you're looking for is not dead. He's just in a place that can't be located."

"What kind of place would that be?"

"Some kind of netherworld," Niki answered, and just as he opened his mouth to add something else, he suddenly coughed up blood and passed out.