The Prince of Aragon

CHAPTER TWO: THE REVENGE

“Is that it?” Isla asked in dazed wonder as she stealthily checked the wall which was supposed to be an entrance towards a secret chamber. “Doesn’t look much of a passage to me,” she murmured suspiciously, fiddling uncertainly with the designs.

The engravings were a type of parietal art usually found in cave walls or ceilings and looked quite ancient. It was the design of a sword in the middle of which was stood an evil skull, interlinked with two dragons facing each other in fierce opposition. The right one was light green while the other one was red staring at each other in perfect symmetry.

It had taken them three days poking around and searching in the castle to finally discover the chamber that the witch had mentioned. Cameron and Connor were on watch, and any guard approaching their way would be signaled by a piercing whistle.

“That must be it,” Carter whispered back by thrusting forward the torch he was holding towards the painting for more visibility. “That’s what Sorceress Amara told us anyway. To look for the sword designs on a wall.”

“My mama had visions of sword designs on a wall when she tried to summon the Dà Vita,” the enchantress Amara had prophesized to them with her translucent eyes glowing in the dark as she had invoked a vision with her magical powers.

“Maybe there’s something we need to press to open the chamber?” Isla queried with enthusiasm, moving her long fingers slowly as they traced every curve of the intricate design on the wall.

It had to be there, the concealed passage where the emperor kept his beloved sword, the Dà Vita. Legend proclaimed that the secret behind the Salvatore’s immortality was his sword, yet to determine if it was mere gossip or a reality.

It was past midnight, most of the guards were either on the wake in front of the King’s door or already asleep, which gave Carter and Isla ample time to look for the Dà Vita.

On the day of the competition, Carter had looked forward to seeing the much talked-about sword. However, Salvatore had removed a katana from his sheath, and Carter highly doubted that it was the magical sword that gave Emperor Salvatore his exceptionally long life.

“It will glow in the dark,” she had croaked in that brittle voice of hers. “The sword will call upon you as soon as you hold it, compelling you to kill in order to drain lives from your enemies.”

According to Sorceress Amara, the sword called Dà Vita – which means the Sword of Life had the power to transfer the remaining lives of a person to the one who stabbed him. Amara was the daughter of the sorceress who had woven magic into the weapon, and that was the reason why she knew so much about the source of Emperor Salvatore’s power in the first place. Carter, during his research about Emperor Salvatore’s immortality had stumbled upon the name of Witch Amalia who was unfortunately no longer alive to give the full version. Whatever little information the daughter Amara had; she’d shared with them for the price of ten thousand gold coins.

“Nothing,” Isla muttered in frustration as she dropped her hands in defeat, while Carter started at the intricate designs.

It dawned on Carter then - the dragons were the protector of the sword.  Making them seem like enemies was just a smokescreen – they were working together to keep the sword safe.

“Touch the other dragon’s head,” Carter whispered as he proceeded to do the same with the green dragon, and as soon as Isla touched the red one’s head, an unlocking sound resonated across the room. They turned their heads towards a small opening in the room which seemed like a corridor.

“Follow me,” ordered Carter in a clipped voice as he took the lead as he was in the possession of the flaming torch. With trepidation, they glided sideways through the tight opening.

The corridor ended to a more spacious room which and at the far end, they both saw the metal case at once, which looked more like a small tomb than anything. 

“Wait,” Carter warned when Isla was about to touch the box. “Do you think Emperor Salvatore will leave the sword without security? There must be a catch somehow.”

“You believe? I think that the chamber is secretive enough. Nobody would have guessed how to unlock that passage.”

“I guessed it,” Carter retorted promptly.

Isla shrugged. “Fine, how do we check for security? The case is locked anyway. We don’t have the key to open it…,” she cut off when Carter removed a brooch from his pocket and fumbled with the lock for a whole minute before it finally gave way.

“Where did you learn that?” Isla asked in wonder, but there was no need to answer the rhetorical question when the case opened to reveal a clean and well-kept scabbard.

“Cart! This is it!” she exclaimed feistily. “Finally,” her voice became gruff as the first sign of tears appeared in her eyes. “We’ve finally made it.”

Carter was not one to get emotional though. After so many years hearing the mention of a mythical sword, he doubted that the weapon would live to the expectations. What would be so great about a sword that would help people achieve immortality? He was a firm believer of magic, he’d been a first-hand witness to Sorceress Amara’s skills, but giving so much power to a sword was a bit of a stretch.

“Once you hold it, it will show you the number of years you have left.”

 “Let’s test the words of the witch,” Carter said tightly handing Isla the torch, and he removed the scabbard from the case. With a careful precision, he unveiled the sword and observed it for a long time.

It looked ordinary, though the blades appeared to have been molded with the finest of metals, shining even under the dim light. There was a ruby in-built in the quillon block which glimmered brighter, and the grip was worn out. Carter turned it in his hands, and still nothing was printed on the sword.

“It’s all nonsense,” Carter observed dejectedly, all hope smashing to smithereens.

 “I don’t know. Take a sword position,” Isla suggested.

Carter complied, starting with the on-guard position, holding the sword high in the back with his left foot forward.

“Another one?” Isla peeped in curiously, and they both gasped when the sword suddenly glowed in the dark, emanating a white light which illuminated the whole room. His hands burned but he held on to it with forceful resolution.

Sixty-three, the number glowed on the ruby. Carter threw the sword back to the case when he couldn’t hold on to it any longer.

“Sixty-three?” Isla commented. “That means you have sixty-three years left to live. You die at eighty-nine years old, Cart. The sword shows the number of life remaining.”

“Right,” Carter said in a trembling voice. It was the first time that Isla was seeing him so rattled. “That’s so spooky.”

“Did you feel anything when holding to the weapon?” Isla was curious to know.

Carter shook both his hands to overcome the burning sensation which had come down to a sting. “No, nothing. Just spooked me. Let me try again in case we’re having this wrong.”

Again, he felt the same burning sensation when holding the sword, and the number remained the same.

“Let’s test it on you. I want to make sure we got this right,” he suggested, still trembling from the experience. “It will burn,” he warned, and Isla nodded. When she held the sword copying the facsimile position, the ruby shone to show the number fifty-one.

“Jesus Christ!” Isla shouted, shoving the sword back to the case. “You’re right. This is weird. So, I get to live only until seventy-five.”

“So, this actually works. It really shows the number of lives remaining for the person who holds the sword. I wonder how many years Aldo Salvatore would show when he takes the weapon in his hands?” Carter wondered briefly.

“Considering the number of deaths in his ledger, I could wager that it would be more than a thousand years. That means if I stab you with the sword, your sixty-three years comes in my account, and you die?”

Carter nodded pensively. “And you get to live for sixty-three plus fifty-one years, that is hundred and fourteen years added to your current age. So, to resume if you kill me, you live until hundred and thirty-seven years old.”

“Alright, I get it. So, what happens if you stab me?”

“Well, if I kill you with the sword, I get your fifty-one years added to my eighty-nine, means that I live up to one hundred and forty.”

Isla placed the sword back to the scabbard, closed the case with careful consideration. “That means that if you stab Emperor Salvatore with the sword, whatever life he has in his balance, it will be transferred to you. This is it, Carter. This is how we defeat the undead emperor.”

“How do propose we stab him? He is surrounded by guards all the time. He never travels alone, he’s always on the lookout to kill. My God, that is the reason why he likes to kill children. Babies means a greater number of years to be transferred on his account.”

“We have to find a way. The most essential thing is that we found the sword, the key to his immortality. We’ve got to go for now. We’ll come back for the weapon later. We cannot delay as this will rise the suspicions of the guards.”

“Any luck?” Connor asked when the two joined them in the palatial corridor, and they all walked towards Carter’s room in silence. When the door was locked, Carter and Isla related the whole incident to the two boys who gagged in shock at the unbelievable story.

“Is that it, then?” Cameron asked with frenzied excitement. “The moment we finally get to take revenge on that evil man?”

“Yah, we only need to stab him with the sword with thousands of guards hovering around. Piece of cake,” Carter inferred with sarcasm.

“Why don’t you challenge him for a duel?” Connor suggested helpfully.

“And what about the sword?” Carter asked irritated. “In order to steal the remaining of his life, I need to stab him with the enchanted weapon, remember? Whatever we do, we have to do in in the utmost secrecy, like at this time of the hour when almost everybody is asleep.”

“Then, let’s do it that way,” Isla said resolutely. “Let’s meet up again tomorrow at this time, steal the sword, and stab the sovereign in his sleep while the castle sleeps through the night.”

All three men stared at her in obvious surprise at the audacity, and that streak of deviousness. Out of them four, she was the less eager one to commit assassination, and that was the first time she was suggesting something of that wingspan.

“What if it doesn’t work out? What if someone sees us?” Connor whispered in stricken horror.

“It will work out,” Carter insisted. “We just have to plan the tasks carefully. One of us will stab him, it will have to be me. I am the only one who can be in his chambers at the late hour without giving rise to suspicions. After that, I will call you in…”

“What about the guards? Why would they allow us all inside?” Connor asked biting his nails worriedly.

“That’s where you come in,” Carter indicated towards Isla with his index finger. “Charm them and make them drink something, something laced with laudanum. That will make them sleep. Then you can all come in.”

“Alright,” Connor acquiesced with a nod of his head. “What next?”

“Me and Cameron will displace the King’s body while Isla and Connor will take care of the cleaning up. We have to make sure that not one drop of blood is visible. This has to seem like he died in his sleep. While you do the restoring, we will be changing his clothes, and making him wear a fresh night attire.”

“Cart…,” Cameron began hesitantly. “Are you sure about this?”

“Cam, this is our only chance. We could involve Owen and Alice as well. They could sneak inside after the guards are asleep, but I think it’s too risky to include people from the outside. More risk to get caught.”

A heavy silence weighed in the room. All four seemed to ponder over the possible murder. Finally, Cameron spoke.

“We do it, but not tomorrow. We need to ask Ma to sew a robe same as his Highness usually wears at night. With the same silk, and that might take more time. We need to get a good stock of laudanum as well.”

Carter nodded his approval. “We don’t involve Alice and Owen. We tell them the plan tomorrow. If they can give us any ideas or vouch for ours, it would be great.”

“Have you seen the King’s body? Does he have any wounds from the stab?” Connor asked in frowned concentration.

“No, no wounds,” Carter replied with certainty. “I would have noticed past stab wounds, but for a warrior like him his body is surprisingly scarless.”

Connor nodded. “Good, then. Stabbing him won’t leave any marks then so no one will suspect murder,” he said with certainty. “Let’s do this together,” he thrust his hand forward and the others joined forces with him by mimicking his action.

Sir Owen and Alice Sommerville weren’t too keen on the idea, they thought it was too dangerous. Getting caught would mean death penalty for all their four children. However, Carter managed to convince them that it was the only way to avenge the atrocities that Emperor Salvatore had done towards their families.

The parents had to eventually relent, promising to be near the castle if ever they needed help to flee.

Four nights later, four very svelte figures crept through the darkness of the castle to execute their current plan. Nobody suspected a thing as half of the Kingdom was asleep.

Carter followed out the same path to steal the sword, while Connor and Cameron remained on guard. In the meantime, Isla was charming the guards with her feminine wiles and tricked them into forgetting their royal duty for some alcohol.

In perfect synchrony, all four met in front of the royal bedroom shifting the bodies of the sleeping guards away from the door. With a conspiratorial nod towards each other, they all disappeared inside the chamber of the sleeping emperor. Earlier, Carter had dipped a few drops of laudanum in the monarch’s midnight drink as well, so all the odds were in their favor.

They couldn’t spoil this.

Carter stood in front of the sleeping form, holding the sword above his head in attacking position. Hovering over the body of the unsuspecting emperor, Carter felt the full power of the weapon surge through him.

A moment of indecision seized him as he battled against his conscience whether to go ahead with executing a man, no matter how evil. That was a loaded instant, which made Carter question his own character. Was he a killer?

Then, he revisited back to that time sixteen years ago when he’d opened those same chambers as a child to discover the chopped heads of both his parents flung across the room. That horrific depiction hadn’t left his mind for one second. He’d lived with that nightmare through his entire life.

This was no man. This was a monster.

In the form of an arc, the sword descended towards the sovereign’s body, piercing right through his heart. Gasping the man’s eyes bulged open, the icy blue fading into an almost transparent color as it looked like the life seeped out of him.

For the first time in many many years, Carter Sommerville felt a smashing satisfaction raked through his body at his retribution was finally salvaged. It filled his very soul, and his identity buried under so many layers of deceit and subterfuge surged forward in that moment.

The vengeance of the Crown Prince of Aragon, Prince Novak Juan V was finally assuaged.