The Scarlet Phoenix and the Prince of Winter

Chapter Eighty Nine

"Rainha! Wake up!" I could hear the familiar voice in my ear. clearly. It was like this person was talking to me right in my ears. And when I realized that I was already awake I slowly opened my eyes, which was lucky because I think I am in a dire situation. "Thank God, you are awake, I heard the voice again, which was the Crown Prince's. I looked at him who was just lying next to me. "You were moaning in your sleep. I was worried---"

"M-Moaning?" I could not believe what he just told me. Did I really do that? But I guess that is to be expected. I dreamed of that era again and it is already driving me crazy. I can even feel the heavy weight of what I experienced in that dream which felt very real. But it was starting to feel like I was just lucid dreaming again as the sensations from that crazy, long dream are starting to subside. It was slowly being replaced by the metronome-like frequency of the sound coming from the constant motion that the Crown Prince and I were being submerged in. Where are we? Are we inside a moving vehicle?"

The Crown Prince nodded. We were lying side by side on something that feels like an old and stiff mattress. "You were having nightmares. I am glad that you are already fine because we have other problems to solve right now."

I gasped when I remembered what happened before everything became dark. "'Oh yeah! We were attacked! Steffan! He is a traitor!"

"Shhh! Please be quiet, Rainha! They will hear us!" he automatically warned me and I closed my mouth that instant too. I looked around and saw that we were inside a moving enclosed container. At least, that is my theory, as I did not see any windows nor seats here. I think this is one of those snow caravans where merchants use to travel their goods from town to town. There is only one door and it was tightly shut and chains were around the handle of the doors that connect to the other side, which only means that we were locked inside here and that this caravan could only be opened from the outside. I tried to move and get up but I instantly failed. It was only then that I realized that I was chained.

"Steffan and his men tied us," the Crown Prince said, supplying me with the details that I needed to know. "I'm sorry that I could not do anything---"

"It is not your fault, Prince Kao," I cut him because here he was again, trying to be responsible about everything. "It is not your fault if you trusted Steffan. I mean, he was one of your most loyal servants. Of course, your guard was down."

He nodded. At least even if we were chained up like this, they did not cover our mouths so we can still talk, though with minimal voices. "He will pay for this. I will make sure that I will find out who is behind this huge mess. And if my theory is right I think I already know who it is. I just need a confirmation."

"Who it is?" I curiously asked. "Who did all this stuff to us? Who tried to kill you?"

Prince Kao hesitated, but then answered my question. "Who else could it be? There is only one man who would benefit from all of these. He is also the only one that I could think of if I consider how Steffan acted. It is the person ranked higher than me."

"NO!" I hissed with shock. "You mean, it is your father?" I could not even believe the way it sounded when I said it. How could that be possible? Would the King really do all of this if it means that he will have to silence his own son? And wait a minute, does that mean that he is also the person behind my Aunt's a*******n?

"He is the only one who could do all of these," said Prince Koa to me who did not sound pleased at all. And I can understand why he looks and sounds so defeated. He did not expect to be betrayed by his father. And I almost gasped loudly again when I remembered how Nievo looked when he heard that his mother betrayed him in that letter. This was identical. It almost felt like history just repeated itself.

"But h-how---?"

"I am not surprised that he would want to know about your mother's identity," he told me too. "My father is an ambitious man. He would have marveled at the idea that a Snow Gypsy survived and was able to come back here at Aure. And I can see why he kept it a secret. He would look bad if he let the public know what he was trying to find out. That would make him look like an insensitive King. The whole kingdom is at an all-time low, so imagine if that news broke out. ‘The King researched if a dead woman was indeed a Snow Gypsy.’ I could already hear the people's displeasure with that kind of headline."

"I see... But even though that might be true, I still cannot imagine that the King had ordered my a*******n too. If he is the man behind this person called Jack Bloomfire, then it means that he wants to find out if I am indeed a descendant of a Snow Gypsy too."

"That's right," Prince Kao agreed. "I think he believes that using another person who will focus their time on researching and interrogating your family would be advantageous for my father. He must have thought that taking you into custody with everyone's knowledge would make him the bad guy, so he kept everything in the dark. He used a different man to do his bidding. And based on the information that we got from Ralphus, this person named Jack Bloomfire is a high-ranking official that works in the Coalstone Mines at Mt. Kal Ayu. That would make sense. Everything now makes sense."

"You are right!" I said, amazed how the Crown Prince was able to connect the dots immediately. Truly, the Crown Prince is a genius. I would have gotten lost with all the information and circumstances that had come our way if it was me. But he managed to see the bigger picture, and it just made me admire him more. "Steffan and that man called Jack Blommfire... These people are all connected to the King. They must have been following your father's orders all this time!"

"Precisely," said the Crown Prince nodding at me. His face looked grim and I could feel the intensity that he was emitting now. "I thought of the possibility that maybe someone in the Palace is behind all of this, but I never really thought that it would be my own father. I should have known. I should have realized that he did not want me to take the throne as soon as I can and he will cling to it... He will find ways to sit there longer... And the way that he thought of was to search for a Snow Gypsy that would serve as a huge distraction... Maybe he thought that if he is the one who would discover where the Snow Gypsies live, then the people might want him to stay longer as the King."

"That's so selfish of him," I said bravely. "Even if he is the King, he can't just do something like that! He just kidnapped my Aunt! He has committed a crime!"

"Exactly," the Crown Prince agreed at my sudden outburst. "I should have looked closer at the people in my yard. I looked far thinking that I have strangers as enemies. I didn't even notice that Steffan was working for someone else."

"Me too... Who would have thought? He looked so loyal to you. And if you did not notice that something was wrong, then how can anybody else?"

"It makes me so mad," the Crown Prince admitted. "I have never been this angry over a discovery before. It feels like they have insulted my thinking capacity." But even a genius can be fooled. Just like what happened in the past with Nievo, the Crown Prince did not expect that such traitors were just lurking in the dark, waiting for the right moment to strike. "Once I have the chance I will kill Steffan myself."

The Crown Prince was very scary right now that I have to look away even though it is not me that he is mad at. I can feel my whole body tensing up and cowering on its own by just seeing and hearing the Crown Prince express his anger at what just happened. And how can I blame him? Steffan just tried to kill him with those arrows. I even wondered how on earth the Crown Prince was still alive right now. Because if I remember correctly, he was severely wounded that he was coughing up blood. And right now he looked okay.

"Prince Kao, I know that this is a stupid question but may I ask if how long was I asleep? I just can't believe it happened in a blink of an eye."

"It has been four days since I woke up," he revealed and I almost bit my tongue from that shocking information. "And I don't know how long I was unconscious myself. I just woke up in a cabin, and all my wounds were treated. You were sleeping in a bed right next to mine, then some people came and took me, and I passed out again from the wounds that I got. Then the next thing I knew I woke up here in this caravan with you right next to me."

I paused for a moment to digest what I just heard. So we were knocked out cold for a couple of days already? And where are they taking us? Why does it feel like they are bringing us to somewhere that we do not know? "What is going to happen to us, Prince Kao? I am scared..." I could no longer hide what I truly felt. We are in a moving caravan chained like animals ready to be slaughtered and we don't even know where these people are going to bring us to.

"Don't worry, Rainha. I do not think that they want to kill us. They even took care of my wounds. That means that they still need us somehow."

"Well, if this is your father who is behind all of these, then he might really spare your life. But I don't know about me. I have a bad feeling about this."

"That's not going to happen. I will see to it that they will not be able to even touch you."

"Thank you, Prince Kao..." That was the only thing that I can say and I hate myself for not being able to do anything to help him deal with our current situation. If I could just be like the Scarlet Phoenix who was of immense power, maybe I would have already burned down this vehicle and freed ourselves. But I am no deity, so all I could do was wait for something to come our way, maybe like an opening. Maybe once they free us from these chains we can fend them off and escape. That's the only thing that I can think of right now, and I know that a chance like that might not even come to us.

Thankfully, the scary waiting and anticipation were finally over. The caravan stopped and the door opened. Men in cloaks and armors came to take us out. I tried looking at their faces to see if I could recognize at least one of them, but I do not know anyone of them. It made everything scarier. Who are these people? Are they really connected to the King?

They carried us like logs into somewhere and using my peripheral vision I can see that we were in a secluded area. This was like a part of a lonely and empty town where a lot of abandoned houses are standing there like ghosts. It was extremely cold here in the open. It was daylight but my whole face was now numb. There was an underground path that looked the same as the one in Aurville so it made me think of where we were. And then when we reached the underground tunnel and saw the paintings on the walls, I immediately recognized where they were bringing us.

This was a theme park called Mistyland. This was an abandoned theme park as big as Aurville, and this was located just outside of another town called Carmel. This theme park used to be big years ago, but it suddenly stopped its operations when a lot of visitors died here mysteriously some years ago. And just like in Plumba where some tourists disappeared without a trace, those who died here in Mistyland were never found again.

Why did they bring us here? What is their goal? I looked at the Crown Prince who was also being carried by the man next to the one who was carrying me and saw that he was confused too. He had also recognized where we were. I think he also saw the cartoons drawn at the walls... the giant snow animals and children playing in a playground...

And then the men carrying us stopped walking and put us down on the floor. We were now in an empty room. In front of us were two Columbars that gave us warmth, and behind one of those is a man standing, looking at the window in front of him. His back was the one facing us so we could not see who he was, but I could see that he was a tall, muscular man dressed in an attire that screamed wealth.

Is this the person who is responsible for our a*******n?

"You are finally here," said the voice which I could not recognize too. "I have been waiting for you, Rainha Filbuster."

"W-Who are you?" I said, shaking. I was even surprised that I could still speak despite the fear that I was feeling right now. Then the man turned around to face us. "Who are you?" I asked again because I did not know him, though his face felt like I have seen him before somewhere.

"Of course," he said to me smiling. "You would not know me yet. We haven't properly introduced ourselves to each other. My name is Jack Bloomfire."