Shadows in the Valley (5)

– My lords! Please forgive the delay of this humble being. I hope that in your hearts I can find forgiveness for any offense I have committed against you – Valthon said as he knelt with fervor.

Although he couldn't see them, their image was still captured in his head. Three imposing figures sit within the room, wearing armor that resembles a strange but perfect mixture of silver and gold melted together. They wore hoods over their heads, fixed to their shoulders so that the rest of the fabric hung behind their backs simulating a beautiful cape. The fabric, although he could not touch it, seemed to be of unmatched quality, smooth and soft, fresh but resistant, without any stain, a fabric so perfect that he had only glimpsed when he was young on the flag of the Bajal empire.

Everything about them was similar except for two things, their weapons and form of armor. Each one's armor possessed hand-carved patterns, each unique and mysterious. Two of them had armor made up of five scales on the chest which decreased until they reached the waist while the other person had flat armor with a protuberance on the chest. From the shape of these I could swear that this figure belonged to that of a woman.

Their weapons on the other hand seemed simple, the men carried one-handed swords more resembling rapiers due to their thin blade while the woman carried what appeared to be a short wooden staff, shorter even than the swords.

– You can get up. Judging by your reaction you've heard of us. If all mortals were like you, I wouldn't mind going down often. What do you think, Mikella?

The woman who was addressed as Mikella turned quickly to see her companion. Despite not responding, from her body language one could deduce that she was clearly upset by those words.

The man coughed lightly before continuing. – Forget what I said. I don't want to kill the first mortal I don't dislike.

To everyone's amazement, Valthon's face relaxed and he smiled at those present.

– My lords, I present myself to you for the first time. I'm sorry if I didn't respond when I met you, but being present at such a sight my mind disconnected for a moment. Valthon at your services.

With a loud laugh the same man responded – That's how I like it! This is my favorite mortal! Where were you hiding all this time?

In everyone's eyes Valthon truly admired and was humbled by these people but for him, that man's last words released a great burden on his shoulders. Given his words he was able to deduce two important things, these three immortals were before him for a secret matter, to the point that even the mention of their names was prohibited and more importantly. They weren't here to kill him!

One could assume that the mission these immortals were on could be related to their constant collection of mana stones and they were trying to investigate who was behind this but we are talking about immortals, beings that transcend understanding. With a single movement of their hands they could obtain information about who is looking for such a quantity of mana stones and reach out to him to confiscate them and silence everyone involved. 

At least, thanks to this experience Valthon swore in his heart to stop the search for mana stones as soon as possible, indicating to everyone that his collection was enough while in the background he would continue searching for them without alerting anyone.

With a sigh, the other man intervened - I understand that you are the prince of this place, where is the king?

Valthon only felt that fate was playing a joke on him. He had descended from hell where a threat of death caused him to ascend to heaven for a moment only to be dragged again now deeper than before. How could he justify his father's absence? Any guest to the kingdom was informed that the king was in seclusion, sick, or that he had gone out to a banquet a few days ago. The fact that he had asked that despite the excuses that his servants must have given him implied that they knew in advance the internal situation of the kingdom, they knew that their king was nowhere to be found and they wanted to know the truth. And worse, if they had knowledge of their father's disappearance, a situation that only Valthon and his three trusted servants knew about, it meant that they knew about his brothers' disappearance and even worse, his collection of mana stones. 

Valthon did his best to regain his composure, thinking of multiple responses that could get him out of this situation or at least lessen the damage that his words would cause so that at least he would get out of this alive, but before Valthon could say anything, a few words of the same person who saved him once arrived to offer him another breeze in this desert.

– I think I know what happened. You killed them right?

– …

– What do you mean he killed them?

– Easy, he is the third prince, whatever he does he has no right to anything other than to live on what his brother dictates when the future arrives. Also as far as I know his father never gave him any opportunity to prove himself, this way if he died at some point, no one would trust him leaving everything to his brother. Therefore he killed his brother and the king, hid the whole matter and assigned himself the most complicated tasks to generate trust in him, his other brother was only collateral damage. 

– I... a thousand pardons. I beg your forgiveness if my actions have disgusted you.

Valthon couldn't be happier. This person… He was an idiot! Yes, his deduction made sense but at the same time it had too many holes. If he actually carried out an internal coup, wouldn't the king and the first prince have soldiers supporting him? Wouldn't there be a big fight or at least multiple murders inside the castle? Where are the rumors of these murders? The servants talk, rumors spread, if in this case this had happened at the very least it would be an open secret. Also, this happened years ago! By today he has already gained everyone's trust, some have even told him to take the king's seat through a coup d'état and the worst thing is, by refusing they have come to value him even more! He could perfectly start his mandate whenever he wanted, staying as prince in these situations would only make him look like someone weak who is afraid of power, but someone with those characteristics would never dare to murder his family in cold blood, at least he would leave alive his second brother.

Today Valthon understood something. Power doesn't make you omniscient and immortals can be idiots. Of course he wouldn't disagree with idiot number one, for Valthon it was better if he rambled as much as he wanted, plus he was already on his list of pleasant mortals and from what he could deduce in the course of this interaction, idiot number one He is the one with the greatest authority among the three present. Could it be that they are idiots too? Was there a family full of idiotic immortals? If you managed to join them, wouldn't you easily stand out? With enough time and resources he could become an immortal, play his cards right, manipulate this idiot and become his leader, his king, the king of idiots... Wait, that doesn't sound right...

While Valthon's brain once again wandered, the one who appeared to be the leader of the three spoke again.

– Nothing can hide from my eyes. If it weren't for the fact that we are busy right now I would let you follow me and take note of all my knowledge, that way you would become as amazing as I am... It's true! The mission! The reason we are here... Don't ask, we will only stay in your castle for a while, don't tell anyone about our presence, just inform us if you hear anything strange in the area. In the meantime you can serve us with your best food and women... and men - He said while looking at the woman.

A loud screeching noise reached Valthon's ears; he could even claim that he had seen sparks of friction coming out of that woman's glove.

– Forget men… and women too. Prepare rooms for each of us… and come back to mine later.

With these words Valthon knelt once more before leaving the room. He gave instructions to a nearby servant and requested that a hot bath be prepared for him. These last minutes were a torment for him, he felt that he had lost many years of life, he even wondered if this was the way in which the immortals got more time to avoid death. With his head in pieces he headed to his chambers before being stopped once again by his head servant.

By now that exalted look that he had caused him to repudiate him, he wanted to avoid it but considering the situation he let him speak once more.

– My lord, there is important news.

Sighing heavily Valthon indicated that he would continue.

The servant wanted to shout but considering that some walls could hear, he approached the prince and whispered - Mana stones, sir, and many, many of them.

Valthon's face was filled with surprise, he had completely forgotten about that matter. He was about to tell his servant to postpone the search until his brain began to react normally. He swore it was the idiots' fault, most likely their idiocy was contagious, he reminded himself to quickly leave the older idiot's room after visiting him.

– This is an important matter, have them quickly go to the secret room. And hide your cargo!

– My lord… they do not have any cargo.

- None? So how do they transport the stones? Do they have a magic bag?!

– Eam... no sir. 

- So? It's a joke?

– I wouldn't dare! Apparently they are the Moox, they found an ore full of these stones and are willing to negotiate with you.

Happiness was evident on Valthon's face. An ore, one full of mana stones, his dream, his goal, his destiny that was taken from him was finally returned to him. Before running to the Moox representative, his brain reminded him of the last words of his favorite idiot: "Just inform us if you hear anything strange in the area."

They knew it! He was just pretending to be an idiot to play with him! For that reason they never mentioned the mana stones, they knew it from the beginning and every word that came out of their leader's mouth was only to delight them with their torture. How dare he think that an immortal could be so stupid, it was so obvious, they just wanted to see how he ascended to heaven while they once again placed shackles on him and watched him slowly sink into the abyss. How cruel fate is, apparently his future full of greatness ended here.

Rearranging his hairstyle and suit, he spoke the most bittersweet words of his life.

– Take me to him.