Chapter 14 - Father's Foe

"Has he delivered his messages?" Julia felt awkward. She couldn't move very close to Michael. She stood close to the entrance of the stables.

The conversation she had with James was already haunting her. Though she had not decided to divulge that to Michael. It was making her feel like she was betraying him already.

"Who?" Michael asked smiling. He was obviously happy.

Julia wondered what made him so happy. Maybe Gawel had fed him lies.

"Your spy in Northlake" Julia didn't smile. She kept a straight face. She was uncomfortable.

"I heard you were there with them, so you already know what happened" Michael was still smiling broadly.

Julia was now sure Gawel had lied to him.

"If he told you the truth, you won't be this happy" she said turning away from him. She was becoming more awkward as each moments passed.

"Is the truth the cause of your sobriety" Michael walked to the new direction of her glance to look into her eyes.

"Yes" she lied.

"Then I'm sure I was also told the truth but your presence is enough to make all sadness fall from concern" he laughed loudly probably with the hope of amusing Julia.

"And which truth were you told?" she asked with her straight unsmiling face. She was not moved by Michael's laughter.

"You didn't find the man you went after, and in details. The place was deserted" he said happily again.

Julia finally smiled. Gawel did not narrate the part where he was caught. She wouldn't say anything about that because it would provoke Michael's thought.

"You are smiling now!" he exclaimed happily.

"You have been told the absolute truth" she maintained.

"This makes me think of it, how do you know about Gawel being there. He is invisible and how did you know I sent him?" Michael asked with curiosity all over his face. He pulled Julia closer.

Julia was frightened. Michael wouldn't back off until she would give an explanation, a reasonable one.

"I have a lot of tricks, I can't be fooled with some easy tricks" Julia smiled, she only said that after quickly composing herself.

"Are you challenging me to run a trick on you because I do not see you as a tricky someone" he pressed her thumb within his fingers.

"I do not seem as someone tricky. Have you thought about why you bought me with so much money or why you sent me on this errand of spying?" she asked.

"Then you must have tricked me not to know you are tricky" he laughed. "What is the next step right now. Is he riding to south lake to meet another sage?" he joked.

Michael kept getting close to get the words out of her mouth that the journey to Northlake was a trap. She breathed in deep. She needed to be careful and think properly before spilling mindlessly.

Michael was now all over her. He hugged her tight and kissed her. That was overwhelming for her. It was obstructing her thought.

She pulled away from him and turned away.

"He is too sad and weak to plan right now. He is still grieving about his fruitless journey" she answered him.

"Let's forget about him. It seems you are also sharing his grief right now. I have noticed you since I came in. You have been pulling back" Michael said without moving closer to her like he would have done.

"I felt uncomfortable with you" Julia confessed.

"And do you know why that is happening? There are only two possible reasons for that" Michael said confidently.

Julia stared into his eyes expecting where he would turn his words.

"It is either you are keeping some things from me or you are now falling in love with my enemy. Which of them is it?" he asked sternly but was smiling.

She was not sure if that was a joke or he was serious but whichever it was. He was right. She was uncomfortable because of the secrets she was keeping from him.

"It is the latter. I have fallen in love with your enemy" she joked and smiled broadly.

"I have a way to change that. You just need to trust me" he grabbed her hand and pulled her close again. He lifted her off the ground with her face a little above his head.

"It is normal to fall in love with someone you spend most of your time with but once you remember the stables and what we do here. It will clear off instantly" he waved off his hand and whistled.

"So what do we do in the stables?" she chuckled.

"Like what we are doing right now" he put her down. He dropped on his knees and put his head underneath her dress, between her legs.

Julia moaned weakly and grabbed his head.

***************

"This chamber is not safe to discuss anything. It is like telling Michael directly what we intended to do" Harold complained.

"Are you here to whine about Julia?" James wouldn't take any of this from him right now. His protest against her was becoming unbearable.

"This is not whining. It is to ensure the success of what we are set out to do and not sabotaging our own plan because of some affection" Harold continued with his objections.

James paused for a while. He just stared at him. He didn't feel like having any trouble with him. He didn't want to sabotage the plan like he said.

"I have sent her somewhere far. She won't be back not until after an hour" he said calmly.

"You just don't understand what is glaring before your eyes" Harold grumbled.

James closed his eyes tight to tell him he was angry.

"Okay, we need to find a man, a sorcerer. His name is Quentin" Harold had definitely picked the cue.

"Find the man, like we did in Northlake. Is this another trap for Julia?" James fumed.

"No. This is the real plan. Quentin will tell us everything we needed to do and know. He was here when your father became the Alpha King" he explained further.

"Quentin?" James remembered the name. He had surely heard it before. "The banished sorcerer?" he recollected fully.

"Exactly, I heard he was a friend to your father. A handy friend" Harold lauded to impress him.

"The enemy of my father is my enemy. I won't be in bed with him" James retorted furiously.

"Yes, he is your father's enemy. But I am sure he is not an enemy to the throne. And no one knows the exact reason why he was banished till today. I will say your father is unjust in that area as he is in other area" Harold's words were sinking in James and was making impact.

James was taught not to interact with enemies and Harold was putting him in that line right now.

"Are you saying he was banished to prevent me from attaining the throne?" James shook his head. That was reasonable and convincing.

"I think he was banished not to take sides. Because his side will surely win" Harold disclosed and smiled.

"His side will surely win?" James asked again. "This is not supposed to be a race. The heir should take the throne automatically" he said sadly.

"I already told you. Your father was unjust in many areas. He might be your enemy while Quentin might be your friend" Harold asserted.

"If his side will surely win. Then his side should be by my side" James said sternly.

He had decided. He needed to forget his father's teachings. His father was obviously one of his enemies.

"Where do we find him?" he asked Harold.

"No one knows where he is but I have been making some findings and I think I am close" Harold seemed trying not to divulge his findings.

"Your findings must have taken you to somewhere" James insisted.

"You need to trust me on this, because I won't be saying anything else that could jeopardize this" he resisted.

James realized why Harold was being like this. He was being wary of Julia finding out. That wasn't a problem. The problem would be not to find Quentin.

"When do we move?" he asked.

"That is also going to be a secret" Harold contended.

"I don't care what you keep secret or not. What matters is finding Quentin without wasting much time" he held Harold's head with both hands.

"And I promise you this is the way to do that" Harold nodded to assure him. He walked out as James let go of him.

"Father, you have been so mean to me" he soliloquized.

His father must have been feeding him bad lies about Quentin to prevent them from meeting each other. It seemed Quentin was banished specifically to prevent James from ascending the throne.

He hated himself for not realizing this since a long time ago.

Anyway, all that had become a thing of the past now. He was sure he would become the Alpha King once they can locate Quentin.