Chapter 2: The Man In Chains.

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The Man In Chains.

A red sun rising over a bloody mountain. The symbol of the kindom Briyagi , Ruled by the cruel king Silas luminus.

Four were soldiers, the foremost bearing the banner. They were in blood red armor, or parts of it, at least, what they still had was tatard and bloodied, coated in fresh mud. As they kneeled, water and mud dripping from their clothes, the townsfolk whispered in fear, for the men of Brigayi were feared as much as their King.

Injured men far away from their kingdom, quite brave Gurdet had to admit .

And then there was the fifth man.

The muddiest and bloodiest of all five, he stumbled along in their centre, a prisoner, rope tied tight around his throat, dragged and yanked back urging him to move, with each step he took Gurdet could see he was in pain. The man’s feet were bare and scraped,leaving prints of blood upon the stone.

"More light..." Xena whispered quietly to Vogrid, uneasiness slipping into her voice.

The soldiers Stopped when they reached the foot of the stairs leading up to the dais where Gurdet and his daughter were. He recognised the banner-man , Xoca, if he recalled correctly. He would know those dead eyes anywhere. Their prisoner stopped too, muddy, shaggy hair covering his face,He was without weapons and armor, but he looked strong , he looked different from how a prisoner would typically look.

Why would a prisoner be dragged by four military men before a king?

"...You’re a long way from home," Durget says, loud and authoritative, his gaze meeting that of the banner-man, all eyes turned to look at him, All eyes turned to face the King of Crade, sitting with authority, looking down at his guests.

"...Your Majesty, King Gurdet, Princess Xena," xoca greeted, bowing his head reluctantly, he shouldn’t be bowing to anyone other than his king. "We bring greetings from King Silas."

"So few of you?," Gurdet stated mockingly, the nobles whispering in agreement,"Should I be insulted that your King thinks so little of our friendship?"

"Begging your....pardon, your majesty,"Xoca retorts flatly, "We were a large number, but we ran into trouble upon the river to the south. Many of our men may have been swept downstream."

"That river is prone to flash floods ..." Gurdet shrugs in agreement, "And though I am sorry for the loss of your comrades, I must ask, greetings aside...For what, do my daughter and I owe the pleasure of your company?" He held out a hand to Xena, she takes his hand, rising from the throne to stand with her father at the stone steps.

"Hmm..." he hummed,glancing down at the prisoner, "...And who might this delightful creature be?"

Once again the room was silent, broken by a roaring thunder, Gurdet cocked a brow at Xoca, waiting for a better explanation. Instead Xoca violently yanked the rope he was holding, sending the prisoner face-first into the ground, he let out a loud groan, deep. The crowd erupts in whispers again, the prisoner grunts and cry of pain still echoing off the walls. Xena looks away at the cruel display.

"And how is he supposed to answer me now?" Gurdet answers flatly, his eyes narrowing. "Cut him free."

"Your majesty; he’s dangerous..."

" So why have you brought him to me?" he cuts in, making room for no argument. He was a king, and he didn’t trust anything that had root in Briyagi. "Cut him free."

The four soldiers exchanged eye contact, hesitant, one of them finally stepping foward, holding a dirty knife as he cuts the rope binding the prisoners throat and wrists. He lays there on the stone, groaning in pain as he struggles to keep his arms at his side.

Suddenly he lunched foward, quick even with his injuries, reaching for the knife that was used to set him free. The crowd lets out gasps, Xena covers her mouth with her hand, Gurdet watching in amusement at the display of strength. The prisoner twists the Briyagi soldiers wrist, forcing him to drop the blade, as it hits the floor. He scrambles to his feet, kneeling back down in pain as his bleeding soles betrays him.

And even as one of the Briyagi men kicked him to his knees; even as one of them brought the heavy hilt of a blade down on his hand and forced him to yield the stolen weapon, Gurdet caught a flash of brilliant red eyes peering out from under that matted hair. Red eyes that glimmered in the torchlight; red eyes burning with a kind of life that had never been birthed by Silas Luminous.

The boots that the soldiers wore must have been heavy, and the kicks none too kind, but the prisoner didn’t cry out. His head bowed and hands planted into the ground,shaking but refusing to give out.

"Speak," Gurdet commanded casually, "Or have they cut your tongue out?"

It was a hoarse whisper, a thick, raspy growl, but Gurdet heard it, just as his daughter had heard it. And Gurdet couldn’t help but feel an impressed smirk spread across his face as he understood.

"Knobi...Frost," the man wheezed, and then let out one shuddering breath to steady his voice to repeat, stronger this time, "...My name is Knobi Frost."

It was Xena who broke the silence that followed.

"Knobi Frost?" she whispered, almost in disbelief, slowly moving down the stairs to stand beside her father. Even then, she had to look up at him in confirmation, "...The prince?"

"He’s no prince, your majesty," one of Silas’s men snickered, a snide smirk plastered across his face, apparently unable to resist delivering a kick in the ribs to his motionless charge.

"He is," Gurdet corrected softly, rubbing his chin mostly to conceal his smile from his daughter. Oh, Silas played a very good game, didn’t he? It really was so inappropriate to laugh now but really, he had to give the man some credit... He truly never could have imagined this. "...And I must ask, is he the sole reason that your King sent you here?"

"Making sure he was delivered to you was his only order, your majesty," Xoca answered, giving Gurdet all the confirmation he required. Putting on his most polite smile, he beckoned for Montrel to come forward.

" –And this is your king’s idea of a formal escort?" he remarked mockingly, gesturing at the ropes, "Although I suppose King Luminous didn’t see any need in asking that the young prince be delivered unharmed?"

"He tried to escape," Xoca answered flatly.

" –And I can’t think why," Gurdet replied just as flatly.

"He tried to kill us."

"And again, I can’t for the life of me think why he would want to do such a thing," he shot back, his voice light but his eyes sharp, he’d noticed the bruises and the cuts and way the skin on this Khobi’s wrists was rubbed raw. "...He did put up quite the fight though, it would seem, did he bite your finger off?" he added, addressing the snide-smirked man with grey hair –the one nursing a bandaged hand that appeared to be missing a finger. The smirk faded.

"No, your majesty. That was...something else."

"Hmm," Gurdet rumbled as Montrel fidgeted at his side, warily eyeing the man still panting on his knees, "It’s strange, but you really do hear a lot about Briyagi men missing fingers. One day I’m really going to have to puzzle that out, you know." He could tell that Xena was curious and full of questions, but restricting herself to simply staring down at the prince who had been dragged to her castle like some kind of condemned wretch.

"Montrel," Gurdet called almost cheerfully, something that had his officer looking almost insultingly concerned, "Would you please find my lovely nephew?" He was greeted with a raised eyebrow in response.

"...Are you actually talking about the prince?" Montrel deadpanned, "...Or do you have another nephew I should be searching for?"

"Find Loac ," Gurdet ordered. He ignored the aggrieved, ’not again’ look the soldier gave him.

"Even if I find him, he won’t come," the blond warned him.

"Tell him I have a surprise for him," the king says.

"That usually gets his attention." Montrel nodded, signalling to some of his men to join in the hunt. Gurdet was about to readdress the Briyagi men, when he felt Xena’s hand upon his arm, gripping far tighter than was polite.

"You’re not...seriously going to do what I think you are?" she whispered, and Gurdet was forced to look down into those bright green eyes suddenly laced with a spark of fear. The hand on him tightened, pleading against it. "You can’t do that, father...look at him!" Her voice a soft whisper, and she turned to look at the man on the floor.

"Look at him. He’s..." Even she, with all the intelligence of a noble schooling, didn’t have the words to describe how this prince looked. And it was true; he was unkempt and dressed like a street rat, covered in blood and bruises and was kneeling in a most hangdog expression...but Xena hadn’t seen those eyes.

"...I don’t want...your pity..." he suddenly growled; drawing all eyes back to him. "If you’ve brought me here to kill me, then just do it." Gurdet sort of wished he was still sitting so that he could have the joy of resting his chin in his hands as he surveyed this young man. There was something almost admirable and stupidly defiant he was.

"Kill you?" Gurdet scoffed, barking out a laugh, "What use is there in killing you, hmm?

"I have something much worse in mind."