NOVEL NEXT Chapter 227: "I found wings"
It did not take long for Agusa to return, carrying the massive white eagle over his shoulder. His face was smeared with dirt, his golden hair tangled with leaves, and his breath was uneven from the trek through the woods. He walked hurriedly toward the village, where Henry was still inspecting the farmland behind the houses. Meanwhile, the rest of the soldiers remained in the village center, tending to their horses and preparing for their return to Hidden Stone City.
"My liege… I retrieved it," Agusa called, straightening his posture despite his labored breath.
At his dirty figure, Zahra, standing beside the king with her usual stern expression, let the faintest smirk slip onto her lips. It was gone in an instant, but Agusa caught it. He had no idea what had amused her, but it didn’t matter. He had completed his task, that alone brought a small sense of satisfaction.
Henry turned his gaze toward the bird in Agusa’s arms. The eagle’s wings hung limp, its body still, but its chest faintly rose and fell. Blood stained its pristine white feathers where the arrow had struck, but the wound was not fatal. The bird was still alive.
"Well done" - Henry said, stepping closer. His sharp gray eyes swept over the eagle’s body, searching for any sign of a message. There were no straps, no markings, nothing attached to its legs or tied to its wings.
"Maybe it’s hidden," he muttered.
Without hesitation, he gripped the eagle’s beak and forced it open. At that moment, the bird’s eyes snapped wide, and a piercing screech ripped through the air, like metal grinding against metal, startling a few of the horses. It thrashed in Agusa’s grip, its talons scraping against his leather armor as it struggled wildly. However, it was too weak break free.
Henry didn’t flinch. He forced his fingers deeper into the bird’s mouth - "There it is." - he said, pulling out a small rolled-up strip of leather, slick with saliva. The moment his grip loosened, the bird lunged, its beak snapping toward his fingers in a final act of defiance.
However, before it could even touch the king, a silver flash cut through the air, followed by a sickening wet sound.
Blood sprayed in an arc, warm against the cold air. Agusa flinched as the crimson splattered across his face and chest, drenching his whole body. The eagle’s severed head tumbled to the ground, its body twitching once before going limp in his grasp.
He barely had time to react before his gaze snapped to Leier. She was already sheathing her short sword, her expression unreadable, as if the kill had been nothing more than a reflex.
Henry exhaled, shaking off the drops of blood that smeared his fingers before turning his attention to her. "That wasn’t necessary," he said with a sigh.
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Leier’s blue eye remained fixed on him, without an ounce of regret - "It tried to touch you, my liege. I couldn’t allow it. We don’t know who sent it and the people further south are dangerous. If it was carrying a spell, an enchantment, or even a curse, letting it make contact would have been a risk to your health."
Henry studied her for a moment, then sighed. She had a point. He wasn’t in the mood to argue over it. Instead, his gaze flicked to Agusa. Blood dripped from his chin. His golden hair, already tangled with dirt and leaves, was now streaked with red.
"You should go clean yourself up." - Henry said, unable to hide the disgust in his tone.
Agusa wiped a hand across his face, only to smear the blood further. He let out a slow breath and muttered - "Understood, my liege" - before turning to leave. The satisfaction of completing the mission given by the king long gone.
Without another glance, Henry extended the rolled leather toward Leier. "Read it for me" - he said, his voice calm, though his fingers absently brushed against his coat, trying to rid it of the blood as if the sensation of it on his skin was an annoyance.
Leier took the strip, unrolling it with practiced precision as her eye quickly scanned the inked message. After a brief moment, she explained the content of the letter - "The sender will arrive within two days, my liege. They are requesting to be received at the castle of Hidden Stone." - She paused, then added - "They also won’t be coming alone. The message states that the person in question will bring an entourage, a dozen people."
A silence settled between them as Henry absorbed the information, his expression unreadable. The firelight from the village cast shifting shadows across his features, but the gleam in his gray eyes showed that his mind was already working ahead.
"Then," he finally said, a slow smile forming on his lips, "we should prepare a banquet, should we not?"
The former queen of Aritreia, standing a few steps away with Zahra at her side, felt an uneasy shiver creep down her spine. The word banquet carried an ominous feeling, something was bound to happen.
-x-
Beyond the coral reef that protected Frostwave Bay, Iosif gazed across the open sea, his eyes filled with something Ella hadn’t seen in years…hope. It was quiet, but it burned with an intensity that couldn’t be ignored. For so long, he had been bound by the weight of his loss, trapped in a body that no longer moved as it once had. One that required help to move. Yet now, with the endless horizon stretching before him, that despair seemed to fade, replaced by something else.
"Ella…" His voice was low, meant only for her ears, unwilling to break the happiness of the cheering sailors. "Can you feel it?" He closed his eyes, letting the salty wind rush over him.
Ella turned to him, noticing the rare serenity on her husband’s face. A smile crept onto her lips. "I can feel it."
No further words were needed. She understood. The sea had given him something land never could, freedom. Here, he wasn’t a man confined to a chair. Here, he could move without chains.
"I found my legs," Iosif murmured to himself, the wind carrying his voice away into the vastness of the open water. "No… I found wings."