Chapter 119 Ancient faction’s legal defeat

Chapter 119 Ancient faction’s legal defeat


“The representatives have been located,” Seth said as he handed the files over to Lucien. 

Lucien groaned, closing his eyes momentarily. “Tell me about it. Forget the paperwork for a second.” 

Seth's eyes widened in surprise, but he chose not to say anything. “They are on their way to the East. You could send the men now and stop them.” 

Lucien nodded. “Makes a lot of sense, but I have a better idea. Sit.” He pointed at the chair in front of him. 

Seth eyed him suspiciously. “I think I would rather remain standing.” 

“It's an order, Seth.” Lucien curled his lips, his voice firmer than usual. 

Seth shrugged before taking his seat. “What's so important that you can't say while I stand. I'm your subordinate, remember?” 

“The plan,” Lucien ignored him. “Defeating these three would mean that the battle is not over. At least not yet.” 

“How?” Seth asked, confused. 

“It's going to be an exact repetition of what happened a thousand years ago that has led to the many losses of lives.” 

“Are you going somewhere with this?” Seth asked impatiently. “They're merely passing by. The earlier we get to them, the better for all of us.” 

“Patience doesn't seem to be your forté, does it?” Lucien smirked. “All I'm saying is rather than wipe them out, why don't we sign an agreement and then, wipe them out.” 

“Ah,” Seth gave him a knowing smile. “I see what you intend to do. Making sure history doesn't repeat itself a third time.” 

“Yup,” Lucien said simply, his mind working fast, waiting for Seth to ask the most important question. 

“Who do you have in mind?” Seth finally asked, realising that Lucien wasn't going to say anything. 

“Lord Benneth,” Lucien said with a small smile. 

Seth released his breath, realising that he had been holding them. For a split second, he'd feared that Lucien was about to send him on an official assignment, tying him down. 

“And you,” Lucien said with a smile that indicated he knew what he was doing. 

Seth raised a brow. “Your Majesty.” His voice was laced with frustration. “I'm not sure that's a good idea.” 

“I'm sure it is.” Lucien gave him a knowing and confident smile. “Your mind works wonders, Seth. I shouldn't have to tell you this.” 

“No you shouldn't. And let me guess, Lord Benneth is only a front. You need me there by myself.” 

Lucien nodded as if Seth had just figured out the most intelligent thing in the century. “You should stop hiding too.” He muttered lowly, but Seth heard him. 

“I'm not,” He retorted harshly, realising himself. “I'm sorry, I just…” he sighed in frustration. 

“It's okay, Seth. You'll get used to it, soon enough.”

Seth shook his head in refusal. Lucien was his friend, but he was first King. He needed to choose his words wisely. “You don't understand. This is not what I need.” 

Lucien curled his lips. He'd figured they were going to have this conversation sooner or later. Sooner had to be now. “What do you need, Seth?” 

Seth sighed, looking away, his fingers clenched. He'd shied away from this question all his life, so he didn't know how to answer the question.

“Okay,” Lucien shook his head pitifully. “Who are you, Seth? I guess this is an easier question.”

Seth looked at him, hurt in his eyes. “I'm a wanderer. Satisfied with that?” 

Lucien nodded. “But that's not who you are, Seth. We both know that.” He had to tread wisely here. 

“Okay,” he exhaled. “Do this for me, and when it's done, you can choose to leave.” 

Seth narrowed his eyes, shaking his head. “Yeah, sure. Like it's that easy.” 

Lucien shrugged. “It's my word, Seth.” 

Both men fell into deep silence, each of them enamoured by their own thoughts. 

“Okay.” Seth nodded. “I'll do it. What's the plan?” Lucien gave a smile of triumph. He shoved a map in front of Seth, shrugging as the other man squinted at him. 

“You cunning man. You knew I was gonna accept it all along.” 

A firm smirk was plastered on Lucien's face. “Knowing is an understatement. I've known you for a while, Seth.”

“Yeah yeah.” Seth waved his jokes away, his expression turning serious. “Tell me, what am I doing for you?” 

Lucien pointed at an island on the map. “This is their endgame. This island. The one close to the northern lights.” 

“Hard to say.” Seth squinted, studying the information on the map. “Where did you get this? My most experienced men could not get this.” He glanced at Lucien in amazement. 

Lucien shrugged.  “You have your resources and I guess I have mine.”

Seth nodded with a smile. “That's comforting.” His attention returned to the map in front of him. 

“The men's last location was here.” He pointed to another spot close to the Eastern border. “That's a long journey to take considering they could go straight to the North. 

Lucien's nod was that of respect. It had taken him about a day and a half to figure out but he could see Seth cracking the code in a few minutes. 

“That's not right,” Seth continued to mutter to themselves. “Except?” His eyes lit up before dimming almost immediately. “No,” he shook his head. “It's a far stretch.”

Lucien looked at his friend in amazement. “What is?”

“Never mind.” Seth waved it away, but sighed when he realised that Lucien wouldn't give up. 

He pointed at the map. “It's basically an assumption.” He began, putting out a disclaimer in case his findings turned out false. 

“What I'm saying is, they escaped. These three elders, halfway into the ritual, after realizing that the tides were turning against them.”

Lucien nodded, urging him. 

“What if,” Seth hesitated. “Just what if the plan was to visit the magical forest to treat themselves before returning to the Island where they are located?”

Lucien nodded. “Your what-ifs are correct, Seth.” He pointed to an undisclosed site on the map. “Look at this, and this.” He pointed to another spot at the far end of the map. “What do you think connects them?”

Seth studied the map, looking at Lucien's reference. His eyes widened. “The river. This cannot be.” He stood up in amazement, clutching his sword. 

“They plan to regroup and then storm while we're rebuilding. But before that, the river would give them a perfect cover-up.”

He frowned. “And worse, if we were sending spies, we would lose them. No spy would want to lose their lives in the magical forest, especially without being properly armed.”

His forehead bulged with veins. He was clearly pissed. “We need to stop them, Lucien. And we need to do it now.”

Lucien nodded, his eyes filled with respect for the man seated in front of him. “Which is exactly why we're not going to stop them.”

Seth was confused. “Why? This is one of the best times to stop them.” Lucien was saying the exact opposite of what he'd just said. “These men need to be stopped before they enter the magical forest, Lucien. Last I checked, they were weak.”

“Yes, they are, but doing that adds nothing to us. Instead, they would go and come back in a thousand years. It would be a full circle.” Lucien said, speaking calmly, a stark contrast from Seth's agitated expression. 

“What is your plan?” Seth asked, still not realising where Lucien was going with all these. He was impatient. 

“Trail them till they are gathered and get a treaty out of them. A signed copy that gives us an advantage.”

“Easier said than done.” Seth grimaced. “Especially after they've regrouped. That's more or less a suicide mission.”

Lucien chuckled. “How about we kidnap some high-ranking members of the ancient faction. Helps solve the mystery of the edge.” A mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. 

“Okay, sounds more interesting.” He folded the map into his bag. “Where's the interception site?” He looked ready to move. 

Lucien shook his head. “Not now, Seth. We move in two days. We don't want them knowing.” 

“Where?” Seth pushed. He needed to know what he was signing up for. 

“Just before the forest, Seth. After the river.” Lucien spoke, watching his friend's reaction. 

“A perfect place to set up and wait. Makes sense.” He grunted. “I'll take my leave now.” He made for the door. 

Lucien nodded, holding himself not to speak further. He had an inkling that Seth would not return to the palace when all had settled down. 

He shook his head, willing his mind to move to the situation that mattered most. The ancient faction’s defeat had to be smooth. His eyes moved to one of the journals on the shelf. 

He moved to it with definite precision. If he was going to have a successful rule, then he needed to take care of all the possible threats that were threatening to spring up from their hiding places.