45 Chapter 37 (1/2)
Waiting was the worst.
Subsequent news from the Sekania came rarely and each was more disturbing than the previous one. Nailan didn't seem to care. It was not the forced coldness of Lin-Si which deep down, but authentic ignorance, sometimes even boredom. If she had fear of Zarkin somewhere, it was extremely well hidden.
Kalena wasn't happy with the fact that Zarkin's lover lived in their home, but she did not talk with him about it. As long as Nailan stayed away from the workroom, basement, and several other private rooms, she tolerated her presence.
Kalena had rarely stayed home anyway. After the news of the war, she spent almost every spare moment in the palace. She pretended to accept Galaspiael's order but wanted to secure a place in the military ranks. She tried to convince Jun to take her with him, but he refused. And Miella - the only woman in the Silver Guard besides Kalena categorically did not agree to the idea of substitution.
The Silver Guard was the only unit that accepted women in its ranks. If Kalena wanted to get into a regular army, she would have to dress up as a man, which she planned to do. She already got men's clothes and planned to cut her hair later, so that Galaspiael would not become suspicious.
Because the king purposely canceled her training, she spent most of the day with him now. He returned to studying a book about enchantment which he abandoned a long time ago, hoping that this time he would master this forgotten art.
Kalena even let him exercise on herself. She wondered what the enchantment of life energy would look like. She expected pain, the impression of something breaking into her body, but felt nothing like that. When Galaspiael put his hands on her shoulders, she felt as if waking from an unusually long sleep. After each such attempt, she was rested and happy.
”I don't understand. It looked different,” he said, reaching for a jug of clean water. ”I felt that I had hurt Gyeul a lot.”
”Well, for me it's very nice,” she replied with a smile, stretching and laying on the floor. ”I think if you did it every evening, I wouldn't have to sleep at all. I feel so... calmed.”
”And I feel exhausted,” Galaspiael breathed heavily. ”I guess I'm just transferring my energy to you. Some progress in the end, but why so tiny?”
”What did you want to do?”
”To feel your energy and tie it with mine, and then make it flow. I didn't try to send you power.”
”Maybe it's because I'm alive? When you connected with Gyeul and sent your energy to him, he was dead.”
As soon as she said these words, it got really cold even though it was still sunny outside. Kalena almost screamed in fear as the wooden shutter opened loudly and hit the walls. Galaspiael froze with the cup in his hand.
”He has become bolder than usual for several days,” the king confessed. ”He comes here to scare me. Sometimes he haunts me in the dreams, but I can defend myself. He wants to feast on my fear. When I'm alone, it's easy to get my thoughts astray.”
”He shouldn't be allowed here! Why isn't he staying in the Forbidden Zone?”
”He stays. However, he can move to any place using his powers. Don't think of him as a man, because he has ceased to be a long time ago. Fortunately outside the Zone, his abilities are limited, but he's still powerful.”
The most difficult task the king undertook was to get rid of the demon inhabiting the Forbidden Zone. Galaspiael wanted to do it with enchantment, but even if he would have mastered it, he had no idea how to achieve this goal. He kept putting it off for other plans because his terrible ancestor was extremely calm. Recently, however, Gyeul has again reminded everyone of his existence.
”Maybe we have to look for advice somewhere?” She suggested. ”We often think that the Conspiracy destroyed the entire culture before the war, but from time to time we find a scroll or book from ancient times.”
”Even if something like that had survived, we don't know where to look for it,” Galaspiael replied sadly ”
Mastering the enchanting to be able to match with Gyeul will take at least a dozen years, judging by what we've achieved so far... and to think that in the past these skills were common. The minds of our ancestors were much more receptive and open than ours. Gyeul was the greatest man of his times and you can't forget that. Even then the people were afraid of how much knowledge he had.”
”Maybe before getting rid of him, we should force him to share the secret of eternal life?”
”Life?” Galaspiael repeated, and the corners of his mouth trembled slightly. ”This is not life. He pretends to be alive and knows it well, which is why he is so desperate to leave the earth. And to be honest I doubt anyone persuades him to reveal this secret.
*
Zarkin wondered why Jun had told him to come to the Guardsmen training room so late at night.
Although the boy had access to it for a long time, he rarely trained there. If he didn't prepare any poisons, he practiced archery in the garden near Kalena's house.
”You're still running away, but I finally caught you.” The captain smiled triumphantly as Zarkin crossed the threshold and entered the room. ”You are always staying quiet, doing something on your own, you do not draw attention and I forgot about you.”
”I am not quiet at all, you just keep on training others instead of me.”
”The king told me to pay special attention to preparing the guardsmen for war. Everyone should be in the best shape because now you will perform much more dangerous tasks than before.”
”I understand why you spend so much time here now. But I don't need to know how to fight with a sword, I'm an archer.”
”I'm not going to teach you fencing. We will focus on increasing your accuracy. When you shoot, aiming takes you a long time.”
”What's wrong about that?” Zarkin snorted. ”It's not easy to aim well. I don't like shooting fast, it's a waste of arrows.”
”Fast doesn't have to mean shoot blindly. Your skills are good. However, the trained and more experienced archer needs less time to aim than you. But, it's normal, you're not doing well, you're just getting started.”
”Are you trying to insult me? I've been practicing for several years and I'm doing much better than I did at the beginning,” Zarkin fell silent, seeing that Jun was pleased seeing how he managed to upset him. ”But if you want to help me, I am grateful.”
”Perfect. Show me what you can do and I will assess if there is a need to involve Zei in it or maybe I can handle it myself.”
”What?! Is he supposed to teach me?” The boy rolled his eyes. From the beginning, he considered the second guard archer to be his rival, although he never openly admitted it.
”He's better than you.”
”In what way better? He's old and can't see on one eye. He won't stand the hour training, I will learn more on my own than with him.”
”So prove it and stop snapping your tongue!” Demanded the captain. Zarkin took an arrow from his quiver and aimed it. He wanted to do it faster than before, but he didn't hit the center of the shield. He pursed his lips and looked at Jun.
”It was just a warm-up.”
”Shoot like always.”
”You said I was supposed to learn how to shoot faster.”
”Yes.” Jun nodded. ”Nobody will be waiting for you on the battlefield. But show me what you've mastered so far, don't try anything new.”
This time Zarkin hit right in the middle, but he aimed much longer. He tried to get the right spot, and the presence of Jun, looking at his hands, was distracting. Encouraged, he set a new goal, beyond the shield. Another arrow flew out with a whistle and stuck between two spears standing against the opposite wall.
”You've heard praise about your skills many times, I don't like to repeat myself,” the captain muttered as the boy looked at him expectantly.