The tortured; Is this how I am going to meet my demise?

"I can not believe you fell for that trick brother ", Elara mockingly teased her brother whilst they were walking back home.

Lorian was speechless at this moment but tried to deter his sister's excitement and enthusiasm, pausing. "It was not even a real fight, we were just sparring and I let you win" he said with a little pride.

Elara's face widened in shock "what!, I clearly just won", dullness clouded her features immediately, showing her displeasure.

Lorian sensing the change in her mood, adjusted his tone "I was only jesting around, didn't mean what I said", Elara folded her arms, gave him a dirty look and looked away from her brother, not happy at all with his humor.

"I apologize, sister", Lorian said, feigning somberness.

Elara forced a smile as they moved along.

As they kept walking, Lorian saw Luna at a distance, his pupil dilated, absorbing her beauty. Elara on the other hand, still a little displeased with her brother, was casually glancing around when her gaze landed on her brother's face.

'What is it that excites my brother', she thought, tracing his gaze to Luna. Excited about the sight of Luna, she left her brother, sprinting towards Luna.

Stretching his right hand towards the running figure of Elara, trying to convey something, "You..." , stupefied by how quickly his sister ditched him.

• Kingdom Of Sibiah •

( • The training site • )

"That'll be all for today".

The training came to a close after several hours.

As the shadows of evening drew nearer, Lucian felt the need to resume his quest but he can't at the moment, because the prospective servants all found themselves feeling famished from the training. They all had to consume something at that point or they might die of hunger.

They all made their way back to their resting halk. As they got closer, they all could perceive the aroma of what though they were expecting but not at that particular place and manner. All but Lucian were amazed by the sight they were met with.

They were in awe when they saw that they've all been served delectable and mouthwatering meals.

They all rushed ferociously like a carnivorous predator ready to pounce on its prey. The meals were not really a new thing to the old palace staffs but it was for sure new to the poor prospective servants. Lucian watched in total disgust as his fellow prospective servants devour the meals in front of them like hungry beasts.

Even though Lucian have never been served that type of food before in his life, he was so reserved and calm as he gently consumed his meal, but he did not really get to absorb the taste of the meal because all he could think of was finding and getting his hands on the sacred book to facilitate his departure from the Kingdom.

After eating to their fill, they all started chitchatting – having inconsequential conversations, accompanied by lots of laughter.

Under Brenton, the mighty dragon's tutelage, Lucian had been taught some light spells but hadn't perfected them yet. One of which is 'sleep spell', but he wasn't sure if the spell would work on people of that number.

He had been screaming 'sleep!, sleep!, sleep!' in his mind for a little while but they just wouldn't keep quiet and sleep peacefully. At this point, Lucian was beginning to boil and all of a sudden he lashed out.

*!SLEEP!*

The place was filled with silence as they all looked at him, abruptly interrupted, they all looked at him collectively. Lucian found himself momentarily speechless as the intensity of multiple gazes bore into him.

'There is an undeniable awkwardness lingering in the air, I think I need to sit'. Lucian inwardly mused as he sheepishly sat back down.

Seeing the interrupter sitting back down, they all carried on with their inconsequential conversations and laughter like nothing ever interrupted them.

After the rising of the moon, nightfall descended. At this very moment the hall began to quiet down as people began to fall asleep one by one except Lucian.

Lucian needn't do anything now because they had all fallen asleep like new born babies. He looked to his right and to his left, glancing around to verify if they were all really asleep.

They were up to sixty in the hall if not more. Their beddings were neatly aligned in straight rows on both sides of the hall, creating a clear division and leaving a spacious pathway in the center.

The row where Lucian's bed is situated is positioned directly opposite the door leading outside. He gently made his way to the door without making a sound, meticulously opening the door.

He stepped outside, turned back, glancing around to make sure he hadn't been seen. After confirming, he quietly shut the door without making a single sound, turned his back against it and made a deep sigh of relief.

"Shall we begin," he said, giving a half-smile.

He brought out the magical compass, looked at it pointing to the north as usual. Lucian began navigating the palace following the direction of the compass whilst dodging the guards patrolling.

He followed the directions of the compass for a while and then stopped, glancing around he thought 'Why does it seem as though I have trod this path previously?'.

He quickly dismissed the thoughts associating the familiarity with the grandeur of the palace. However, he did decide to put a mark on the wall for when he walked past the place again, he would be certain he had not been imagining things.

He proceeded to mark the wall and pressed on with his quest. He navigated the palace again following the compass's direction only to be back at the same place.

He heaved a sigh and said a little loudly, "I have been walking back and forth getting no where, or has this compass lost its true north?".

"who goes there?", having heard a voice from a corner behind them, one of the patrol guards at the back that happened to be patrolling at that particular moment turned back, pointing his hand-held torch forward, threw a question in the air and glanced around as if waiting to see someone or hear a response from someone.

Lucian, upon hearing a voice and sighting an illumination on the ground, paused, patiently waiting for the guards to leave.

The guard that heard something started taking steps forward illuminating his path with the torch. Pressure mounting as Lucian saw the illumination getting brighter on the ground but he stood still and kept his cool.

"Worry not, for it is likely a mere rat. I am certain it has long departed. Let us just proceed with our night vigil without undue concern." One of the other guards said.

The initial guard reasoned with the other guard, "hmmm...that could be true, rats are starting to become a problem around this side of the palace, anyways, let's proceed with our patrol", he turned and walked back to the other guards as they carried on with their duty".

*!sighs!*

Lucian knew he had to conclude his quest for that night lest he'd be caught, not that he could actually be caught, he just didn't want to raise any unnecessary alarm. As he wanted to move, he noticed the compass pointing north towards the wall he had marked but he couldn't dwell on it as he began to retreat back to the hall.

After quietly retreating back to the hall, he walked to his beddings and reclined on it, still pondering on what had just happened.

Lucian brought out and raised the arcane compass to his face as he mused inwardly 'where exactly can this book be?, or has this really lost its true north?. No, I refuse to believe so".

He dropped his hand and shifted to the side, returning the compass back to where he put it before. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Having witnessed Lucian's sneaking out and back in, the strange man who had advised Lucian not to think about stealing when they first stepped into the resting place, snapped open his eyes, musing inwardly 'This man will get himself caught and killed', he heaved a sigh whilst changing positions 'well, it is beyond my concern'.

After pondering for a very short while, he fell asleep too.

...

"The Queen....Our Queen has an hidden child, right?".

Keila's eyes widened in shock after hearing the words coming out of her captor's mouth. She could not believe her ears.

She instantly became circumspect, shaking herself out of the shock and keeping a blank face, mumbling "I am not aware of what you are saying".

Fast-forward to the night time, Keila still hasn't confessed to anything yet, she had been tortured all day.

*!Slaps!*

"Respond to me!", Damon delivered a resounding slap upon her face, anger evident in his voice.

*!Spits!*

Keila kept mute, spitting out blood from the impact of the slap, still not willing to disclose anything whatsoever. Anger mounting as Damon's patience kept running out by the minute.

Damon kept moving back and forth thinking of how to get her to talk without strangling her to death.

Apparently he had sent one of his minions to fill the proprietor in on the findings he had made, but the proprietor (Severus) has been busy with his businesses and other important things.

'Any moment from now he shall arive and he will make her talk, I am confident in this. I do not know how he accomplishes it but he will make you talk', Damon mused inwardly looking at the stubborn woman who looks like life has almost been drained from her body and still refuses to budge. Damon's mouth curved into a sinister smile.

He then signaled the two big men behind her to carry on with the torture.

The two men, not too hefty, moved to her both sides, held on to the rounded woods to continue the torture.

"Arghhhhh!", the pain was unbearable, yet she remained steadfast in withholding the information they badly sought. Despite her ability to end her suffering by revealing the truth, she found herself unable to do so.

Contemplating the reason for their relentless torment, she feared the potential evil actions they might take if they were to discover the truth about the hidden child of the Queen. The evil intentions of her tormentors fueled both her apprehension and her endurance.

Still in the process of being tortured whilst weak, Keila faintly opened her eyes and saw one of her captors minions, whom after walking down to the torture room, went to whisper something to Damon's ears.

Biting a little hard her lower lip, with labored breathing, she groaned inwardly, 'is this how I am going to meet my demise?'.