others nodded in agreement, and still others showed no emotion."Well, apparently some of them can't wait to go out and plunge into adventure ..." said the king with a smile and lowered his arms again. "Good, but before you go, one of my advisors will explain everything else to you!"
Etenor pointed to a plump man with a full beard who was sitting to his right and sat down.
The fat advisor stood up. "Well, I want to explain everything you still need to know. Let's start ..."
But Alec was no longer listening. Rather, what preoccupied him was what the poachers were all about and what else was behind them. The whole thing struck him as highly suspicious. Why did the poachers hunt the dragons? Because of the skin, bones and teeth? There were many black magicians who would pay a high price for this, but that couldn't be the reason, could it? If it were, the poachers would certainly not have started now, and not so many at once. There was only one plausible explanation for this.The term "poacher" was just an excuse to cover up something. In truth there was something else behind it! The poachers had probably been sent by someone who was after the dragons. Maybe even the whole kingdom !! If so, the King had to take immediate action that would destroy the heart of the problem! So why was he sending such good warriors to take down some poachers when something much more important was on the agenda?
Alec tried not to worry about it any further, so he looked over at Ryoe, who gave him a meaningful look: his friend had exactly the same thoughts as him.
Ryoe wondered if this could be an adventure that would finally tear him out of the monotonous everyday life. Since he lived here at the king's court, he spent his time improving his sword skills with Alec, sometimes helping the farmers in the fields and going on a few small trips to the surrounding area.It wasn't a bad life here, but Ryoe wanted a change and so this assignment came in handy.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but when he looked up, the advisor was just sending the warriors away with the words "May you bring glory to our country!"
Alec immediately jumped up, hoping he hadn't missed anything important. He was about to leave the room with Ryoe when the little servant who had brought the brooch earlier held him by the arm.
"Wait, my prince!" He said softly and let go of Alec's arm again. "The king has instructed me to tell you that you, and your friend, should visit him in his private chambers immediately!"
"All right!" Alec replied and nodded to the servant, who made a slight bow and disappeared the next moment. The young man took another quick look at the place where the servant had just disappeared. "A creepy person," he thought, then turned to the door to leave."Mh, why do you think he wants to speak to us?" Ryoe asked as they were climbing the stairs to the king's apartments.
"I don't know!" Replied Alec. "Maybe because we were late for the meeting?"
"I don't think he's going to have us called to his room because of that! That was just a minor matter, after all!"
"Yes, I don't think that's why he called us here ..."
"Then why did you say that this is the reason?", Ryoe asked a bit puzzled.
"I don't really know myself!" Laughed Alec. "I was standing a little next to me!"
Ryoe just grinned at him and then stopped in front of the massive wooden door to the king's apartments. He knocked vigorously twice and the two were invited in by the sinister servant who had just brought them the king's message. Alec walked slowly into the room. They were in the king's study. It was square and not particularly large. A small desk stood by the south-facing window, in front of which sat a large, softly upholstered ebony chair.The many wall shelves housed all kinds of interesting books. The small room looked a bit overcrowded, but the king apparently felt at home here. Three doors led to further rooms, which, however, remained hidden from most people in the castle. Even Alec had only ever entered one of these three rooms: the bedroom. He knew just as little about the other two rooms as the rest of the people in the castle.
The king greeted the two young men and assigned them two hard but sturdy wooden chairs, where he himself sat on the soft chair in front of his desk. But instead of explaining his concern to Alec and Ryoe, he turned to a piece of parchment that he had placed on his desk. He began to write eagerly, making his guests wait unnecessarily long.
Alec and Ryoe glanced at each other nervously, hoping the king would turn to them soon, but he made no move about that.Only when the two began to doubt that the king would talk to them at all today did he put his quill aside.
"Well, I'm sure you want to know why I called you here!" He asked calmly, as if he didn't care that he had kept them waiting for so long.
"Yeah!" Ryoe replied impatiently, leaning forward in his chair a little. "We have been waiting for your answer for quite a while now!"
"I'm sorry that I kept you waiting, but this letter had to be sent as soon as possible.", Etenor said calmly and smiled at Ryoe, who now looked a bit sullen. "He is for a friend. I am informing him of our current situation with this letter," he added as an explanation.
"Our current situation?" Alec asked curiously. "Isn't it actually about the dragons at Minjar ?!"
"Well," began the king. "Not only about that, it also affects humans, dwarves and elves.The danger has grown larger than we expected. "
"I knew it," thought Alec with a mischievous grin on his face. It's about more than just saving the dragons.
"Does that mean the threat doesn't just come from the poachers?" He asked cautiously. He didn't want to reveal too much of his guess. "I mean, if even the elves and dwarves are threatened, then we can't have a handful of humans hunting wild dragons, can we ?!"
Etenor put a hand on the back of the chair and said, "Very good. You saw that well, and I guess Ryoe made a similar guess, didn't you? We are actually dealing with a greater force here using the poachers as an excuse used." added the king with a smile. Ryoe's eyes widened and Alec could just say a loud "Where ... ?!" suppress.
Although he knew his father very well, he hadn't expected Etenor to guess his intent so quickly.Alec didn't really want to tell him about his suspicions, but now he had figured it out on his own. Sometimes it was better not to reveal any of your intentions or assumptions to other people, because this way you might, with feigned ignorance, receive important information that the other person thought you couldn't do anything with it as an ignorant person.
This involuntary enlightenment had completely upset Ryoe. He wondered what to say next, but Etenor got ahead of him.
"Well, I think it's time to tell you guys why I called you here. I-"
"One question before you start!" Ryoe pressed out between his teeth.
"Yes?"
"Should ... you shouldn't give the letter to a messenger instead of leaving it lying around on your desk when it's so important! It should get to your friend as soon as possible!"
The king smiled gently. "No, it won't be necessary to give him a messenger, because you should bring the letter to him.""What ?!" Alec asked incredulously. "I thought we would go to Minjar and help the dragons there!"
What does that mean again? He asked himself. Then why were we in the congregation at all ?! He repeated the question aloud.
"Well," said the king again. "I thought you should listen to what I told the warriors in the congregation. I was sure you could imagine that there was more to it than that, and I was not wrong with that assumption!"
"But ... didn't the others who attended the meeting suspect? I mean, they're not stupid!"
Etenor sighed and said, "Sure some will have made a guess similar to yours, but that is irrelevant in this case. These warriors have been trained to carry out orders without asking questions. They would not come before me or any of my advisers and mine Questioning authority as king because, in their opinion, I gave them an insane order.That would break their oath. "
Alec and Ryoe were silent.
"Alright. I think your questions are resolved for now?", He asked briefly and continued: "Well, I will now explain my knowledge to you about the person who sent the poachers." He paused for a moment and closed his eyes .
"The man who threatens our friends, the dragons, is a powerful black magician who appeared in this world many years ago. It would take far too much time to tell his entire story, which is not available to us. A lot can but I will tell you about him. His name is Nefas! "
Alec inadvertently winced at the sound of the name. It was an old term that meant something like "Evil" and Alec had the feeling that this man was just that.
"I don't think I have to say anything else, do I?" Etenor asked quietly.
Ryoe shook his head. You really didn't have to know more about him. The young man lowered his eyes when the king gave him a piercing look."And next?" Said Ryoe, not lifting his head. “What do you want from us?” His courtesy was completely drowned out by the excitement in his words.
The king took the letter from his desk and held it in front of the two young men. The parchment smelled fresh.
"Nefas probably sent the poachers to exterminate the dragons and is threatening the entire community of the 13th Kingdom! I want you to take this letter to a friend who will inform you about your further path. But I can tell you one thing : Your job is not only to deliver this letter, you will surely enter the halls of our dwarf friends and those of the elves. "When the king had finished, a thousand questions were buzzing around in Alec's head. He tried to summarize them in the most important way.
"Nefas wants to exterminate the dragons? But in such a clumsy way? I mean these poachers will never be able to kill all dragons!""That's right. It's just a guess.