Deliverance (10 page)

Blaze then put his hands up and did what he
was told, never breaking his glaring gaze from Gavril’s. Once he
sat down, Gavril continued to point his sword at him. After a few
minutes of silence, the door opened once again. Crystal then
entered the room, along with the two rebels from before, and then
they shut the door again.

“All right, Miss Priss,” Blaze remarked,
“What do you want?”

“My name is Crystal,” Crystal corrected.

“Well pardon me, then,” Blaze muttered.

Crystal approached him cautiously, but
confidently. She looked at Gavril and said, “You can put your sword
away, Gavril; he won’t be any trouble.”

Gavril nodded and did as he was told. He
replaced his sword into its sheath on his belt.

“Anyway,” said Crystal, now talking to
Blaze, “I have brought you here because I believe you can be a
valuable asset to our cause. I would like to ask you, Prince Blaze,
to join Deliverance.”

To everyone’s surprise, Blaze burst into
laughter. Crystal remained straight-faced, amusing Blaze
further.

“You’re serious? I am the son of your mortal
enemy and you want to be friends?” he blurted out and the laughed
again.

“If you value your tongue, you will stop
ridiculing our leader this instant,” Gavril growled.

“It’s all right, Gavril,” replied Crystal.
She then spoke to Blaze again, “I know you find the idea of joining
us ridiculous, and I figured you would.” She then moved closer and
continued, “However, I have seen what this man you call ‘father’
has done, and I saw the look of betrayal on your face when he said
those things in the City of Magi. You can say it didn’t upset you,
but you and I both know you’d be lying. Believe me, the best thing
you can do to make him pay for that would be to join us.”

By this point, Blaze had stopped laughing
and just stared at Crystal with his icy stare. He finally muttered
with a sly smile, “I don’t know. After all, how can you trust me to
keep your secrets? And another thing, what’s in it for me?”

“Showing your father that you are not
‘useless,’ contrary to what he believes. Imagine his reaction when
he realizes that you, the son he tossed aside, helped in bring
forth his demise. He will be alone and powerless, and he will have
us, aided by you of course, to thank for it,” Crystal
countered.

There was a long pause. Blaze was not
smirking anymore and was looking up at the ceiling and leaning back
casually in the chair, deep in thought.

“So, I can get revenge on my bastard of a
father by either becoming your lackey or throwing caution to the
wind and going on a dangerous and perhaps impossible mission to
kill him myself. Either take orders or go on a suicide mission.
Choices, choices,” he muttered to himself.

“If you are going to be reckless, forget
it.” Gavril retorted, “The last thing we need is you endangering
our fighters to protect your pride.”

Blaze glared at him and remarked, “I don’t
need your lectures about honor and all that crap, old man.”

Gavril gripped the hilt of his sword tightly
and resisted the urge to draw it. Blaze then looked at Crystal.

“Even I know where the limit is. I know that
storming that castle on my own will just get me killed, and the
last thing I want is for my father to look down at my bleeding body
and laugh and gloat about always winning,” he stated.

Crystal straightened up and asked, “So
you’ll join us, then?”

Blaze sighed and answered, “I suppose I’ll
tag along with you people for now, but I don’t want to be held
back. The second I get my shot, I will kill my father. After that,
I want nothing more to do with you or anyone else in this place. I
will take the throne in Daldussa and you rebels can have Cierith
back. Although, I don’t know how you will manage without the royal
family.”

“What do you mean?” asked Crystal.

“They’re all dead, aren’t they? Who will
take the throne of Cierith once you get the kingdom back? Did you
even think of that?” Blaze asked.

Crystal let out a little laugh and replied,
“Of course we did.”

“Here is your first lesson, Prince.” said
Gavril, “The king and queen are indeed dead. However, that night,
their daughter, Princess Amelia Atteberry, escaped.”

“And she was killed in a small village three
days later. My father’s troops tracked her and the general of the
Cierith army to the village and burned the place to the ground. A
soldier came forward, claimed responsibility for her death, and
presented her bloody doll to my father and claimed to have killed
her,” replied Blaze.

Gavril chuckled and replied, “I’m afraid
that story is not completely true, Prince.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“It’s true that Amelia was in the village
when it was attacked, but she was not killed. You see, some of the
villagers served their kingdom well and hid her in their cellar and
covered the door with a rug. Most of the villagers were killed, but
the general and some of the escaping soldiers of Cierith killed the
invaders. During the battle outside, the princess sustained a cut
on her arm from debris falling on her which bled onto her doll. One
of the soldiers then disguised himself in a dead Daldussan
soldier’s armor and when Bogdan arrived with his troops, the
imposter soldier then claimed that he killed the princess and then
presented the doll to the king. It was all a trick to make Bogdan
believe that she was dead so that he would stop looking for her.
The princess, you see, is still alive and well to this day, and she
is using a new name and waiting for the time she can take the
throne in her father’s place,” explained Gavril.

“So where is she then?” asked Blaze.

Gavril paused briefly to see if Blaze would
realize the answer to his own question. When the prince still
looked confused, Gavril shook his head and answered, “Standing
right in front of you.”

Blaze’s head snapped to Crystal’s direction.
She had a soft, but serious expression on her face and she never
took her eyes off of him. Blaze suddenly had a feeling of anxiety;
it made sense that a little girl whose parents were killed would
grow up training to go after their murderer, and that she would
lead others to do the same.

“And the general . . .?” he asked.

“Has never left her side,” Crystal replied,
turning to Gavril’s direction and smiling.

The old man smiled back and proudly stated,
“He still honors his best friend’s wish to protect his little
daughter to this day.”

Blaze rolled his eyes and spoke, “All right
then, I get the whole point of this now. She’s the princess, and
the old guy is the general and she’s leading people to take the
kingdom back. That’s all fine and dandy, but if you don’t mind, I’d
like some time to think to myself. Can you all be so kind as to get
the hell out? I’ve had enough of this touchy feely crap for one
day.”

“Very well, Blaze,” Crystal responded.

“I will bring you new clothes later.” said
Gavril, still a little peeved by the prince’s attitude, “You need
to blend in with the common folk as much as you can. Maybe even cut
your hair.”

“Whatever,” Blaze uttered back. As if the
general had room to talk with that long mane of his.

The rebels then left the room and Blaze was
left alone. He heard the door lock behind them. Figures, he
thought. Why would they trust him right away? The rebel leader just
revealed her deepest, darkest secret to a man who hates her guts.
Of course, he didn’t really consider himself very trustworthy to
begin with. All he hoped was that those rebels would give him time
to train outside with his sword, if they even kept it for him. He
wanted to be sure that when he faced his father, he would be ready
to slice the bastard’s head open.

CHAPTER 6

The clothes Gavril brought to Blaze was
hardly “new” like he said they would be. In walked the general with
a pile of hand-me-downs folded neatly in one arm and carrying a
pair of brown boots in the other.

“I know it’s not what you are used to
wearing, Prince,” he said when he saw Blaze’s displeased
expression, “but it is necessary for you not to look like a prince
at this point. These are some old training clothes of mine. I
apologize if they don’t fit well, but it was all I could find.”

Gavril gently laid the clothes on the bed
and the boots on the floor. Then another rebel, the dwarf from the
chamber, came in and set a sword and small dagger onto the bed.

“If it was up to me, you wouldn’t get any
bloody weapons!” the dwarf grumbled.

“We need to let him train so that he may aid
us in battles. We have plenty of people to watch him, Sigurd. You
can help them if you want,” Gavril explained.

The dwarf grumbled more under his breath and
left the room, glaring at Blaze.

“Where is my sword?” asked Blaze.

“Since it has the Daldussan emblem on it, if
you use it in public, it would defeat the purpose of wearing a
disguise. Soldiers would be able to spot you instantly with that
blade,” replied Gavril.

“You didn’t answer my question. Where IS
it?” Blaze replied.

“Don’t worry. I have it stored away safely.
When this is all over, you will get it back. I promise it will be
taken care of,” Gavril answered.

“Don’t waste your pity, old man,” the prince
muttered.

“I am not, believe me. It was Crystal who
ordered us to give you new equipment. If it was up to me, you would
only hold a sword under my supervision. She must see something in
you that none of us do,” Gavril remarked.

“More than what’s even there,” Blaze
muttered, mostly to himself.

“Go ahead and get dressed, Blaze. Crystal
will be coming by later to show you to the training ground,” said
Gavril.

“Fine,” replied Blaze.

When Gavril left the room, Blaze unfolded
each article of clothing and examined them. There was a white,
short-sleeved shirt and a faded blue jacket with rolled up,
elbow-length sleeves and light, metal shoulder armor on it. The
trousers were a light brown color, and there was a pair of gloves
and a pair of boots that were all a darker brown.

The sword that the dwarf brought in was
attached to a dark brown belt with a gold buckle. The sword itself
had a faded gold hilt with dark blue leather wrapped around the
handle. The sheath was a dull metal that was also colored dark blue
with gold trim. The dagger had a leather sheath and was small
enough to be able to hide in his boot.

Blaze then began to change out of his old
clothes. He removed his vest and tunic, and when he felt his hair
fall onto his bare shoulders, he then remembered what Gavril said
about cutting it. He did not initially want to do it, just for the
fact that he hated the idea of doing what that old man told him to,
but then he realized that his father would most likely put up
wanted posters that would picture him with his long hair. He
figured Gavril must have told him to cut it for that reason, so he
then made up his mind.

Blaze picked up the dagger, removed the
sheath, and examined the blade. It was fairly sharp, indicating
that it had not been used much. He spotted the tall mirror on the
other side of the room and approached it with the dagger. The glass
was pretty dirty, but he could see well enough. He braced the
dagger in his main hand, held his hair at the base of his neck with
the other, and sliced through the hair with the dagger.

For several minutes, Blaze stood in front of
the mirror slicing away his hair and his long, black strands
littered the floor around his feet. He did his best to make the
strands even, but they still came out messy and stuck outward. When
it was the length he desired, he began snipping off little strands
until he decided it was good enough.

Blaze then took a step back and examined his
handiwork. Before, his hair draped over his shoulders in board
straight strands. Now it was shorter than his chin and the strands
where jagged around his angular jaw; this made his jaw look more
pronounced as well as make his neck look thicker. The hair on the
back of his head was more jagged and spiked out a little on the
ends. His hair had not been so short since he was fifteen, and so
after eight years of long hair, he had forgotten how thick it
was.

The prince shook his hands through his hair
and brushed his shoulders to get the loose strands to fall to the
floor. Once they had all fallen to the floor, he returned to the
bed and finished changing.

Despite what Gavril said, Blaze was
surprised to find that the clothes fit him almost perfectly. He
also thought they would look dumb on him, but he looked in the
mirror again and admitted to himself that it wasn’t that bad. I’ll
manage, he thought. Now all he had to do was wait for the princess
to show up so he can get some fresh air for a change. He had felt
cramped in that room long enough.

****

Later that evening, Crystal had called a
meeting for the rebels to discuss the plans to find the Gaull
shards. After giving it some thought and realizing that he could
help with planning, Crystal decided that Blaze should attend the
meeting as well.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Crystal?”
Thaddeus asked.

“Thaddeus has a point; we can’t exactly
trust the son of our enemy,” added Kerali.

“I understand your concerns, but I have
faith that all of you can keep Blaze under control should he snap,”
replied Crystal.

“Believe me, I can unload all of my arrows
into his body in less than five seconds,” Kerali claimed.

“I don’t doubt it,” Crystal admitted.

Once everyone began to get ready for the
meeting, Crystal left to go to Blaze’s room. Two other rebel men
accompanied her even though she didn’t think it was necessary. Once
down the hall from Blaze’s room, she turned to the other two and
said, “You two may wait here; I won’t be long.”