Chapter 82 The secret that is chained behind the walls
"Then you should come with me; I want to know more about her," Ezra commanded. His words were heavy, like a door swinging open to a room Yuki wasn't supposed to enter.
But Yuki did not move. He looked back at the temple, where small, frightened faces peered from behind the stone walls.
"I cannot leave this place," Yuki said softly. "Without me, they cannot survive."
He looked Ezra in the eye, his voice becoming firm. "But you cannot take her with you. I am her protector. I will keep her safe from the dragons who thirst for her power."
Ezra’s face darkened. A shadow of anger crossed his features as he frowned, his patience finally snapping. With a roar of frustration, he lunged forward, lashing out at the one person standing in his way.
"I am not thirsty for her power," Ezra shouted, his voice cracking with a sudden, raw heat. He stepped closer, his face tight with a desperate kind of honesty. "I just want to protect her from that monster."
Yuki didn't flinch. Instead, a slow, cold smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth. It wasn't a smile of joy; it was the look of someone who knew a secret the other had yet to learn.
"Don't you want to use her for your own ends?" Yuki asked. He tilted his head slightly, his eyes shifting toward the shadows.
He wasn't looking at Ezra anymore. He was looking at Raymond.
Ezra followed Yuki’s gaze and spun around. He caught Raymond sneaking a look, his eyes darting away too late. Caught in the act, Raymond stumbled back, his face turning pale as he muttered something under his breath.
"What is he saying?" Ezra asked, his voice low and dangerous. He kept his eyes locked on Raymond, who was still trembling from his stumble.
"I have no idea, my King," Raymond stammered. He tried to bow, hoping to close the conversation and hide his fear. "
"Tell him," Yuki challenged, his eyes cutting through the silence. "Tell him what you really want to do with her."
Raymond opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. His face twisted in a silent scream of pain. It was as if his lips were sewn shut by an invisible thread, held tight by a magic far older than Ezra’s crown.
He carried a secret so big it had stolen his voice.
Yuki watched him struggle, his smirk fading into something colder. He knew that some secrets were not just hidden they were locked away with chains that no man could break.
"What am I hearing, Raymond?" Ezra’s voice was like low thunder.
Raymond could not look him in the eye. He looked down at the dirt.
"My King, this place is not for such words," Raymond whispered, his voice trembling like a leaf in the wind. "If the monster hears us, his fury will be greater than before."
Raymond tried to soften the tension, acting as if he were only worried for their safety. But his eyes gave him away. They darted toward the shadows, filled with a terror that had nothing to do with the woods around them.
Ezra did not move. He stood firm.
It was clear that there was a huge secret Raymond was holding inside his heart.
"Do not give me a reason to do something I cannot resist," Ezra warned. He widened his tired, bloodshot eyes, staring straight into Raymond’s soul.
Even though Ezra was exhausted his body heavy from the journey and his mind frayed by lies the fire of his authority had not gone out. He still had the nerve to make Raymond regret every word he had ever hidden.
The air turned cold. Raymond felt the weight of a King who was done being patient.
"My King, I am just a pawn in everything," Raymond whispered, his voice shaking. He swallowed hard, forcing the words past his dry throat. "If you really want to know... ask King Wayne."
Raymond gulped down his fear, finally letting out the one truth Ezra never wanted to hear.
"He is making excuses," Yuki said, his voice cutting through Raymond’s panic like a cold wind. "A man like him would never let the truth out so easily."
Yuki stepped forward, the wooden tip of his staff rising until it pointed directly at Ezra’s heart. "With that horror burning in your chest, you can leave her here. She does not belong to your world of lies."
The air grew heavy with the threat of a fight. But then, a sound broke the silence—a sound so small and fragile it stopped them both.
"Do.... do.... not.... worry about it," a shaking voice whispered.
The words came from right against Ezra’s chest. Ezra’s breath hitched. He froze,
"I want... t... t... to kn...o...w what... more... they a...re hiding from me..."
The whisper was so thin it barely stirred the air, but it hit Ezra harder than any blow from a sword. Esperanza’s eyes flickered for a second filled with a haunting hunger for the truth before they slipped shut once more. Her head fell back, her strength spent.
"Esperanza, look at me!" Ezra’s voice lost its kingly edge, replaced by a raw, desperate fear