Chapter 135 - Into the Tunnel

The movements got nearer and nearer. In Zenia's estimate, there were at least seven men. She had no idea who they were. She and Vaughn got down slowly from Thunderbolt and waited patiently. They should not act hastily without verifying first the identity of the men. They could be night hunters looking for some wild beast meat to take home.

The men were getting closer and closer to where Zenia and Vaughn were hiding. Zenia lightly stroke Thunderbolt's head as if telling him something, and then she tapped his side. Thunderbolt suddenly jumped off and walked in circles in front of the men, drawing their attention.

The men were startled and stiffened to their spots. Although the color of the horse was a bit off, they could see that Thunderbolt was a fine beast. Thunderbolt neighed and walked slowly away from the men. He trod the path where the men left their horses. The men could already be searching for a beast to hunt even before Zenia and Vaughn came to the place.

"What a fine horse!"

The men ran off to where their horses were located and rode their respective horses. Thunderbolt neighed once more and galloped away.

"Follow that horse! We can sell it at a good price!"

The men were excited as they rode away from Zenia and Vaughn.

"It's a good thing that they are just night hunters. Where do you think they are now?"

"You mean Ruvin and the others?"

"Yes."

"They probably killed Lucio already and left Damien's men."

"Did you say something to Zeze?"

Vaughn gave his wife a puzzled look.

"Well, I was wondering why he did not go with us."

Vaughn recalled how Zekiah told him that he would be the one to take care of Lucio. He added that he could only be contented if he was the one who would kill Lucio in case they needed to flee. Vaughn realized that his younger brother-in-law was far from being  unskilled in martial arts  as Zenia had thought.

"I guess he wanted to see for himself that everything would go according to plan." Vaughn felt a bit guilty, but he also knew that Zekiah did not want Zenia to know that he had been practicing martial arts.

"Hmm, that makes sense. Zeze always gets worried about the littlest things." Zenia chuckled a bit.

Vaughn could not tell her that her brothers always treated the matters that involved her as something big. They did not want any mishap that would implicate or harm Zenia in the future.

"What should we do now? We don't have a horse."

Clip, clop, clip, clop.

They heard the sound of horse hooves slowly heading to their direction. They hid and waited.

Zenia's eyes widened when she saw the horse. "Quicksilver!"

Vaughn flashed a wide grin. They could ride Quicksilver together this time.

"Now, we have a horse. We should go."

Zenia shook her head, "Thunderbolt will return soon. If you want, you can go ahead. I need to wait for him. That horse has a temper. If he finds out that I suddenly left without him, he might destroy everything in his path when he speeds up to find me."

Vaughn did not doubt Zenia's words. He already knew that Thunderbolt sometimes looked like Zenia's other  brother . He would protect his  sister  at all costs.

Vaughn shot daggers at Quicksilver. Why did he go find him in Gretia when he was supposed to return to the secret stable? Did he somehow get infected by Thunderbolt's attachment to his master? Quicksilver would normally return to his secret stable where he would wait for Vaughn. 

"Come to think of it, I don't think I saw Brownie in the stable of our manor. I should ask Big Brother next time if he put Brownie on training."

"Your big ap… I mean Big Brother also trains horses?"

"Yup. He even tried to train our dog when we were little." Zenia chuckled when she recalled those days.

"What happened?"

Zenia looked at Vaughn, "The dog left us in a hurry."

They both laughed out loud as if they were the only ones who inhabited the whole continent. Vaughn liked spending time with Zenia just like that – no worries and no care. But, he was not someone irresponsible. He knew that he could only be truly at ease when he got rid of those who'd like to bring harm to the people and things he cared about.

Clip, clop, clip, clop.

"Oh, Thunderbolt is here too." 

Vaughn could hear the sound of horse hooves, but he could not clearly see if it was indeed Thunderbolt. His eyes widened when the image of a majestic horse finally came into full view. It was Thunderbolt!

"How did you know that it's him?"

"I don't know, I just know by my heartbeat."

"How?"

"Exactly as I've said it. The beating of my heart right now is in rhythm with the sound he makes while walking. It never fails."

Zenia rode Thunderbolt and Vaughn did the same with Quicksilver. He had no words to describe the bond between Zenia and Thunderbolt. It was like they were – twins…

Vaughn took the lead in finding the secret tunnel. They rarely used it and the surroundings changed a lot. 

"Hey, do you think the Ninth Prince has a spy in every household of the noble families? I mean, just look at what happened to Ruvin's case. You all believe that the Ninth Prince does not know that place, how come it has been infiltrated?"

Vaughn was in deep thought. They should start designing a new plan to strengthen their defenses. Zenia was right.  

They traveled for an hour, and he smiled when he saw that the Oaktree was still there.

"We're here!"

The opening of the tunnel was concealed behind the poisonous plants. No one dared approach it for fear of being poisoned to death. But the plants were harmless and just looked like the poisonous ones that people feared. It was the Head Pharmacist who helped Vaughn developed such plants. He remembered the one he named after Zenia. He looked at his wife and decided that it was not the proper time to show it to her.

Vaughn used his sword to part the plants covering the entrance of the tunnel as their horses walked slowly. Zenia couldn't believe her eyes when she saw how huge the opening was.

"Whoa, it's a huge tunnel. You can take cover here in case of an emergency. But, you need a large boulder and a very strong man to help you cover the opening."

Vaughn gave it some thought and said, "Not bad."

"What is?"

"What you just said about this tunnel. It's huge enough to shelter our men and us if there's chaos. We can turn this into a secret base."

"This belongs to Ruvin's family, isn't it?"

Vaughn got closer to Zenia and suddenly kissed her on the lips.

"My wife, I can take it from Ruvin's family if I want to." He gave her a sinister smile.

"You really are a rogue." Zenia clicked her tongue.

"I can be more shameless if you want," Vaughn whispered in her ears.

Zenia's ear turned red and her cheeks felt hot. She pushed him lightly away from her and nudged Thunderbolt to run.

"I'm not talking to you anymore!"

Vaughn chuckled and nudged Quicksilver to run after his wife.

* * * * *

Redivo and the old man prayed that something bad would happen to Verone en route to the Palace of the Crown Prince. Whatever evil scheme they thought, it would implicate the Crown Prince's people. The Ninth Prince would surely take the opportunity to attack Vaughn and convince the King and the Kingdom Officials that the Crown Prince ordered it. In the worst-case scenario, they might even put the blame on Zenia. Their reason could be she was jealous of the second wife that she wanted Verone dead.

"Can't you think of anything? You're my great-grandson's most trusted attendant and you can't come up with something?" The frustration in the old man's tone was obvious, but Redivo could not really think of anything else.

A gate guard suddenly dashed at the old master's quarters. Redivo and the old man were startled. It was already midnight, who would drop in at an unearthly hour?

The guard was gasping for breath when he reported, "Sir, Ms. Verone is at the gate."

The old man and Redivo looked at each other, and then looked at the direction of the gate.