216 The An

Loyalty was a queer construct. There were as many loyal men as there were stars huddling in the night sky. Loyalty wasn't rare as every man is loyal to something. Loyalty wasn't a gem, hard-earned and polished. It was more like water- common but essential. A man can only drink from but a single cup of loyalty at a time.

Hyde knew that. The others too. They were drinking from different cups of loyalty. Some were loyal to hate- those whose honor had been trampled by Castonians. The foolish ones were loyal to their nation- a strange thing as believing in an idea is anything but genius. The smarter ones were loyal to Wismarine gold- at least those people knew how to put their faith on something more… tangible. But Hyde, he was smart. He knew how the world is. He knew that a man would die if a man slacked. There was nothing more dangerous than giving your loyalty to something or someone else. Hyde was loyal only to himself.

Hyde rolled the sliced piece of basilisk root in leaf. After a sprinkle of salt and lime, it was ready to be chewed. The root was soft on his teeth. The juice oozed into his throat. A sudden ecstasy filled him. With a grunt he handed the bowl of sliced basilisk roots to the merchant. The merchant did the same and the two of them indulged in the feeling.

"Do you know the story behind this thing we are enjoying?" Asked the merchant

"I am a mere consumer" Hyde said, still closing his eyes "I consume, not think about stories"

"But this product harbors such an interesting story"

"Enlighten me then"

The merchant spitted the sliced root before speaking "The Basilisk plant only grows in the south where the climate permits. It is a beautiful plant, large with leaves spreading like domes. But who would have thought that a plant as beautiful as the Basilisk has a dark secret"

Hyde smiled "A dark secret huh? Two words interesting on their own. When combined, it draws curiosity. Tell me about this secret then"

"Ants" The merchant smiled back "Red ants think themselves as wise for seeking partnership with the Basilisk plant. The ants would defend the basilisk plant from other insects and the plant would give the ants shelter. That would work, for a time, until the Basilisk plant has grown large enough to make poison for insects. The ants would be killed, tossed like dirt. The secretion from the roots we are indulging right now contains the same poison that killed the ants. Don't worry, it's safe."

"The ants trusted the Basilisk plant and paid the price. Such a folly"

"Yes, their sin is trust"

"Wrong" Hyde shook his head "Their sin is being weak. They are weak and they couldn't do anything. They couldn't do anything and so they died. Weakness meant death. True to the ants and true to us humans"

The merchant smiled at him for a long time. His white teeth with two golden incisors showed. The merchant put a hand into his pocket and produced a paper.

"Words are being sung by our partners in the south. Apparently a host of Castonians are marching as reinforcements to their monarchs. With the war in Tulosa over, the Castonian legions are free to…be of service"

"How many" Hyde asked, sucking his teeth for the remnants of the juice of the root.

"Two legions. Roar and Tear were the names. The other two would reinforce the Union's exploits in Calgari but they are not our problems. Our problems are Roar and Tear. Crack men, further experienced by their adventure in Tulosa. I know that you understand that this means a lot. Ten thousand Castonians is a problem"

"Of course" Hyde said "King Timothy and Queen Lucia entered Canton with just twice that number of soldiers, four legions, but they are already on the brink of conquering the whole Kingdom"

"So are you changing your loyalty again?"

"You know me well. Be careful. Not many who knows me well still breathes" Hyde rose. The world was dancing. He must have consumed too much juice of the Basilisk root. He supported his body with one hand and massaged his head with the other. "I will not. Wismar is still more powerful. Sarah Wismar is a terrifying enemy and a good ally. She promised me Coldford once everything has settled"

But a betrayal against Sarah Wismar could be a possibility, Hyde thought. Nothing is for certain. Alliances change all the time. Loyalty is a fading thing. A wise man would see where the bird of fate perches. If the Union prevails in the future, Hyde wouldn't hesitate to change sides.

Hyde walked to the window. Heraldshome, the capital city of Canton, was filled with melodies of singing bards and drunkards. It was already dark and this would continue deep into the night. Foolish people, Hyde thought. They would rather sing and indulge in the merrymaking rather than better themselves.

He looked back to the merchant. "We should tell the Wismarine Princess. I will…" Hyde creased his forehead "where is that letter from our spies?"

The merchant looked at the table "I handed it to you"

"I didn't take it"

A single snap was then heard. The snap was followed by the loud ramming of the locked door. Six rams the door suffered before it broke. Splinters flew like arrows. Hyde was allowed a moment of shock before armed men burst into the room with swords drawn.

One of the men hit him in the stomach. Hyde felt dizzy. His already dancing world shook and faded for a moment. When he regained his vision, he was already on the ground with his hands tied. The merchant was also the same but was unconscious.

He looked at the armed men and discovered that they are Castonians. He couldn't be more sure of their black chainmail armors.

"Let me go!" Hyde shouted "I am a noble. I deserve respect you fool! I repeat, I am a noble!"

"You will be a dead noble soon" Somebody said. Hyde then saw it. A man erupted from the shadows. He was wearing a black coat and a black hat. A cane was on his hand.

"Who.."

"A foe" The man produced a piece of paper "I am your foe. You just betrayed the Union. So you were spying for Sarah Wismar. That was not wise"

"I didn't.."

"Hmmm but this letter says otherwise. A report about the movement of the Castonian legions huh? How original. Drag him to the dungeon with his accomplice. You will await trial but you shouldn't have hope that you will evade execution. This letter is a heavy evidence against you"

"No!" Hyde shouted as he was being dragged "I am loyal to the Union. You are making a great mistake by doing this to me"

The man with the hat didn't even spare him a glance. He just disappeared in the darkness.

*********

"Idiots" Timothy said after Shadow reported regarding the spies "Sixteen treacherous idiots"

"Eight" Lucia said, huddling on his arm "We still don't have evidence for the rest" She looked at Shadow "Leave us"

"Then excuse me Your Majesty" Shadow said and disappeared.

Timothy stared at the candle slowly being consumed by the flame "Like what you said, we still need evidence for the other eight. But I think we can already say that what Sarah wrote in the letter were facts. The sixteen names were of her spies. We can now put forward our hypothesis as fact"

"Yes" Lucia's small voice calmed him. She leaned on his arm "This is a strange situation we are in"

"Strange indeed. I never thought that this could be possible. She is our enemy but we want the same thing"

"So should we dance to her tune? She thinks that doing this would benefit her in the future"

"Yes" Timothy said "But she will taste defeat soon. True defeat. We will make her realize that when playing with us, not even the grandest of schemes would work"

Lucia chuckled and kissed him. It felt warm and good. Timothy tried to chase after her lips when they parted but was too late.

"You are too serious" She said, all smiles "She is playing a game with us. Shouldn't games be fun?"

"Yes but this is getting dull. Whatever she is doing, it's getting dull"

"Then let me make it fun for you"

Timothy grinned. He grabbed Lucia's waist closer and kissed her belly "You will?"

She laughed "Not that way!" She held both his cheeks "Seriously though, let's just enjoy this. Sarah may think she's playing with us but we will laugh back at her. The Feast of a Thousand Songs will soon come. She will again attempt something and she will again reveal her plans to us. This time, let's make it a little more interesting"

"Yes" Timothy agreed deep inside his heart. This strange situation with Sarah Wismar bugged him. It was a little insulting that the Wismarine Princess was playing with them. But he shouldn't brood.

Lucia sat on his lap. Her hair smells like grapes tonight. Timothy loved it and hoped she's not too tired for making love.

Lucia leaned back and whispered to his ears, "I think she's going to have us assassinated during the festival"