Chapter 3 - The Prophets of Truth

A horse galloped into School Town with no rider, it had been running for two days before arriving. It continued through the streets till he reached a blacksmith shop then neighed violently, disturbing the neighborhood. "Yáo?" said Xing as she came out and saw the horse. She was twelve years old and was wearing a craftsman uniform. Her short black and blond hair glittered with sweat as her green eyes looked curiously around. "What are you doing here?" Yáo continued to jump and kicked as he panicked more while Xing tried to comfort the horse.

"Easy, boy, easy." stated Lord Tyron as he came out as well. He grabbed his reins as the horse calmed down. "Now where's my nephew?" he asked, the horse shook his head and whimpered.

"What happened, uncle?" asked Xing.

"Zhōng is in trouble," said Lord Tyron, leading the horse to the back.

"Mr. Fields!" called someone from the front of the shop.

"Coming!" replied Lord Tyron, he tied up Yáo and went back inside the shop with Xing following. "What can I help you with? Your majesty?" he said as he realized who called him.

"So it appears my daughter's message is true, Lord Tyron and Former Princess Xing, you're under arrest." declared Empress Wēi. Guards sprang into action grabbing them before they could react.

"How did you find us?" asked Lord Tyron.

"You can thank your nephew for that." replied Empress Wēi.

"You have him as well?" asked Xing in shock.

"No, but he told my daughter who wrote to me, they're searching for him now," said Empress Wēi.

The guards began dragging them outside as Lord Tyron said, "You mean you don't have him but he told them about us?" Either this was a game or a way for them to flee from the empire.

"He'll come to us, now that we have both of you." said Empress Wēi.

Suddenly a messenger arrow hit the paved street in front of the guards. They looked around to see where it came from but saw no one. A guard picked up the arrow and opened the message, "Come to where your daughter is camping with Lord Tyron, from there we'll take you to the lying former prince." he read.

"Who wrote this?" asked Empress Wēi.

"It doesn't say, your majesty," replied the guard handing the letter to the empress.

"Whoever this person is, your majesty, I'm sure they have him." stated Lord Tyron.

"They?" questioned the empress, looking up at him from the message.

"No one alone can beat my nephew." stated Lord Tyron. "There's more of them, and the person that shot it is one of them."

Lord Tyron, Empress Wēi, and six guards arrived where her daughter was camping just two days later. Captain Howin, was surprised by the speed it took them and went quickly to greet them. "Your majesty," he greeted.

"Where are they?" asked Empress Wēi.

"I sent Lord Zào and Miss Jane home with a few of my guards as their escort. The rest were still looking for the former prince before they showed up. Then we all took turns watching the princess." summarized Captain Howin.

"And where is she?" asked Empress Wēi.

"She's been in her tent since they arrived, it was an uncomfortable feeling for them to look at her." replied Captain Howin.

"If I may, who are they?" asked Lord Tyron, a question that was on his mind.

"They claim they are part of a religion to find the lies to expose the truth." answered Captain Howin.

"The Prophets of Truth," stated Lord Tyron.

Princess Zhen was in her tent thinking back to what happened four days prior. Her dress was torn from running after him. After the smoke disappeared, she chased him before running into white monks passing through. "What we say is true, repent before we find you." they warned as they passed her. She looked down at the ground, she noticed Zhōng did this and so did Captain Howin though she didn't know what to find.

"Your majesty, there you are." stated Captain Howin, he looked tired and exhausted since he was shot down.

"Are you alright?" asked Princess Zhen, standing back up.

"I'll live, your majesty." replied Captain Howin. "I have ten men patrolling the edge, waiting for him to come out

"They won't find him," said a white monk. "We have him already."

"Who are you?" asked Captain Howin, stepping in front of the princess.

"A gentleman with a warning, don't hide your lies otherwise you'll be next." warned the white monk.

Princess Zhen was confused as to how he knew of her secret. She didn't tell anyone, yet he looked directly at her. When they arrived back, three other white monks invited them and her mother to their fortress. "Your majesty, your mother is here." stated Captain Howin, interrupting her thoughts.

"Zhen," declared Empress Wēi as she came out. She gave her daughter a hug and continued, "are you alright? Did he hurt you? Did he tell you anything else?"

"I'm okay, mother, he didn't do anything to me." replied Princess Zhen.

"If I may ask, how did he tell you about where I and his sister were?" asked Lord Tyron.

"We just asked where he and you live, he never told us about her. Then I asked if he ever lied to me and he told us his name." replied Princess Zhen.

"This doesn't make sense, why would he tell two important things about him?" stated Lord Tyron as he pondered on the question.

"Your majesty, it appears your party is here." stated one of three monks coming towards them.

"Do you have the former prince?" asked Empress Wēi as she stood up to speak with them.

"We do, if you, Lord Tyron, your daughter, and the captain come with us, we'll take you to see him." replied the second monk.

"I thought it was just Lord Tyron and I?" stated the empress.

"We said to bring him here, our father would like to see all four of you." replied the third.

"They said to us, that I and the princess can go once you and Lord Tyron arrive, your majesty." whispered Captain Howin to Empress Wēi.

"Very well, take us to him." ordered Empress Wēi.

The group traveled till they reached a lake. On the other side stood a fortress. It was low to avoid being spotted and had only one watchtower. They arrived at the gate as it opened and a man in white robes greeted them. "Welcome, your majesty, to our humble home. I'm Father Shí Huà, the leader of this place." said Father Shí Huà.

"Do you have the former prince?" asked Empress Wēi.

"We do and he's cooperating slowly." replied Father Shí Huà.

"How did you catch him?" asked Lord Tyron.

"A troubled mind is a distracted one." answered Father Shí Huà as he led them inside the gates. It was bare as there was a stable, the chapel, and a door leading to the tower and the fortress's walls. There were more white monks reading their religious books as they tried to understand them while others were dressed like guards. "As you can see, we are humble people," he explained.

"But where is the former prince?" asked Empress Wēi.

"You see your majesty," began Father Shí Huà as they entered the chapel and walked through the pathway between the pews. "While most of the time we're up here, we do have to get our hands dirty as we look for truths of people who lie." he continued to lead them through a door off the pulpit, there was a spiral staircase going down as they continued.

At the bottom was a vast open place under the lake. Princess Zhen's face went pale as she saw tools familiar to her when she was a prisoner. There was even more as people cried in pain from the tortures they endure as the group walked past them. "Is this necessary?" asked Empress Wēi as they watched someone being dipped into hot wax, pleading and telling everything he knows.

"Sometimes a sharp, quick and painful way gets those to talk, others will have long, constant, and dreadful ones till they speak. In this case, that man we picked up was trying to cheat on his wife and lied about it. We confronted him and he lied to us, this was his last chance to talk otherwise it'll be long and painful as the one for the former prince." explained Father Shí Huà.

"What exactly have you been doing to him?" asked Lord Tyron.

"How about you experience it to find out, sir." suggested Father Shí Huà.

"I've been working in the black market and telling the empress everything that was going on to my knowledge. The only thing I kept was where I lived and the fact my nephew and niece were alive." stated Lord Tyron.

"I can see you're not lying, therefore you shouldn't experience it." replied Father Shí Huà. He continued to lead them to a cell a couple of floors further below where the staircase they came from ended. "I only ask if the princess would see him only, she perhaps has the recent memory of what he looked like." he stated.

"There's no way I would forget my nephew's face." stated Lord Tyron.

"If we don't do this, you won't give him to us?" asked Empress Wēi.

"You may have him when we get to know everything about him. He also requested her to see him only." replied Father Shí Huà.

"You could have said that first." suggested Captain Howin, he didn't like this and wanted them to leave soon.

"Very well, I'll respect the former prince's wishes for once." replied Empress Wēi. Princess Zhen looked at her mother, her mother's face reassured her and she went inside the cell.

The cell was dark, with the only light coming from a torch in a cage and a lantern hanging from the dark abyss ceiling. The walls were wet and looked cold, sitting in a corner was a body. The left side of his face was showing as he struggled to open his eyes. He had his swords but looked worn and tired to activate them as he wrapped his arm around them loosely. He groaned as a greeting struggling to even say something. "Well here I am, what do you want?" asked Princess Zhen. Zhōng groaned louder but couldn't get the words out. "It's funny how four years ago, I was like that. Have they introduced you to the hot wax yet? That was painful for me, yet I'm sure you know about that. I couldn't believe you, you were playing as I struggled inside. You never came to see me, was the humiliation of me too much for you to deal with? But unlike you, I came to see you, I came whether you requested or not. To be honest, I feel justified by seeing you like this."

"I… never… knew…" gasped Zhōng, he turned his face to look directly at her. She saw his hair was half burned as the torch caught the other side. His face was black and blue from hits as he struggled to lift his right eye open. He struggled to turn his body as he had a broken leg and was perhaps paralyzed from the waist down. He was breathing heavily as dried blood came from his mouth suggesting broken ribs. "I'm sorry, you need to get out of here." he said in two breaths.

Princess Zhen's face went white from seeing him like this, she couldn't believe it but it was him as his blue eyes danced like fire. Though broken, there was something still inside of him to look strong. "What have they done to you?" asked Princess Zhen in terror. The door banged to let her know it was time, she opened it quickly and left. After the door slammed shut, Zhōng curled back into the corner and closed his eyes.

Father Shí Huà led them back up as Princess Zhen pondered on what she saw. She wanted him to feel her pain years ago, but he looked like he received more. Her face was still pale as her mother and the others asked her what happened as the image of his face was imprinted in her mind. Someone stopped Father Shí Huà and whispered something into his ear, catching his attention. "It appears, I discovered something from you four." he stated as he turned around.

"What did you discover? Ask us and we can tell you if it's true." asked Captain Howin.

"The princess was in prison for two years near the end of the war. Tell me this, your majesty, did you receive a crest of loyalty?" asked Father Shí Huà.

Princess Zhen's face went whiter as she heard the question. "How did he know?" she thought.

"She doesn't have it, I was a bodyguard for the prince throughout the war. I knew people who guarded the prison, I never heard of anyone receiving it." vouched Captain Howin.

"Perhaps, they didn't know or perhaps they lied to you. It's hard to ask them if they are dead." replied Father Shí Huà.

"I may have killed some of them, but when I found my daughter, she didn't look like she received it." defended Empress Wēi.

"Perhaps because she didn't want you to find out. So let me ask again, did you receive the crest of loyalty?" asked Father Shí Huà.

Princess Zhen looked back at him, with a determined face and confidence behind her voice, she said, "No, I didn't."

Father Shí Huà nodded as he collected his thoughts. "Take her away," he ordered. Suddenly, two whips wrapped around Princess Zhen's hip pulling her back down. She screamed before being caught by monks as they grabbed her and began to take her away.

"HEY!!!" shouted both Captain Howin and Lord Tyron as they raced back down the stairs to rescue her. They were stopped by three monks wearing armor and carrying weapons that were blocking their path.

"Let go of me!" cried Princess Zhen.

"As the empress of this empire, I order you to let her go." demanded Empress Wēi.

"And as the head of the religion in this empire, I'll have to ask if you and your two companions could leave. Don't worry, as soon as we get our answers we'll let her go too." stated Father Shí Huà.

"Let me go! Mother!" cried Princess Zhen, being pulled away.

"Don't worry, your highness, we have wax freshly made." called out Father Shí Huà.

"You won't get away with this." warned Empress Wēi.

"Unless you want your daughter to suffer more, you'll do nothing." threaten Father Shí Huà. The three armored monks urged Captain Howin and Lord Tyron back up the stairs. When they reached the empress and Father Shí Huà, they continued up and out of the fortress.

"Mother! Don't leave me! No!" cried Princess Zhen as she watched them go. Her torture was about to begin again.