Chapter 674: Open up(1)
Three men strode through the gutted halls of what had once been the heart of Herculia’s grandeur—the royal palace of a fallen dynasty.
Now it echoed like a mausoleum, hollow and stripped of splendor. Where once tapestries depicted triumphs, bare stone walls loomed naked and scuffed. Chandeliers were gone, their brass skeletons wrenched from the ceiling.
Even the candle-holders had vanished, along with the thick woven carpets that once muffled footsteps. Nothing remained but dust, faded outlines, and the faint perfume of dignity long since looted.
Yet the trio walking those desecrated halls held no reverence. They moved with the swagger of men who had earned the right to desecrate. The heroes of Yarzat, the top heads of the military power of a rising star, and today, they weren’t headed for a council or a feast.
They were on their way to abduct a prince from his desk.
"Remind me," grunted Egil, his lean frame flexing as he twisted his neck until it cracked like dry twigs. "When was the last time he actually did anything with us? I’m startin’ to think he’s holdin’ a grudge."
Jarza, tall and muscular like a lance carved from obsidian, cast a sideways glance at him, "Maybe because he’s been working," he replied, his tone like iron dipped in vinegar. "Unlike you, who’s spent the last three weeks drinking anything that fizzes and bedding anything that breathes. Or doesn’t. I’m not sure anymore."
Egil snorted, unbothered. "I earned my indulgence. ’’
Jarza rolled his eyes. "You haven’t earned anything. Try sorting quartermasters, managing levies, filing grain requisitions, disciplining the troops for a bit. That’s what command means, I have helped Alph with his work . You don’t do any of those, I still wonder why Alph is so lenient with you."
’’Benefits of friendship,’’ Egil said with a smirk
"Still," Asag cut in, voice low and smooth as oil, "He has a point."
Both men turned to him. The smallest of the three, Asag, was neither towering nor heavily built, but he had shown everybody at Aracina what mettle he was made of.