The Journey Back

''Sent!' While the journey back to Persia was ongoing, Prince Bane called his girlfriend's name several times but she hardly responded.

Sent was dazed. She stared ahead of her, looking into thin air and gazing at nothing as she wondered what would have become of her if she had spent more time in that barn that she was kept in.

Sent had heard loud and clear when McGuire told Roger to feed her to the servants at the Vandersar palace when she was at her dirtiest, and she could only wonder what would have become of her if Prince Bane did not show up when he did.

She would have become nothing but a rag doll for those servants possibly for the rest of the year.

''Sent!'' Bane called and nudged at her to respond and eventually, Sent turned around to look at him.

''What did they do to you in that palace?'' Bane could see how dirty and unkempt Sent was, but he did not let it bother him as it would make Sent feel a stigma about whatever had happened to her.

Sent could not speak. She would rather be quiet as she did not want to reveal the gory details of her last forty-eight hours in the Vandersar Palace in Magus.

''They just locked me up, nothing much.'' When Sent opened her mouth to speak, the entire vehicle drenched in her mouth odour so much that even Prince Bane who tried to spare Sent embarrasment the entire time, coughed and gasped for air.

''Are you sure? They only locked you up, that's all? Where were you locked up at?'' Prince Bane wanted to know more especially the reason why Sent's mouth smelled so badly but he quickly waved at her not to bother speaking up anymore.

''You know what? Don't worry. I'll find out what happened when we get to Persia and we have cleaned you up. Just take a rest for now and try to remove your mind from whatever you kight have gone through in Magus.'' Bane advised Sent and then he eyed his uncle Xavier who just kept a straight face, not wanting to be involved in the embarrasing situation at hand.

The rest of the journey to Magus was done in silence.

''Take her in and clean her up very well. Make sure you do a thorough job.'' As soon as Prince Bane and his entourage arrived at Persia, he instructed Sent's servants on what to do, and they were delighted to see their mistress after a long time even though they also wondered what on earth had happened to her.

''I will skin those Princes alive. Let's just wait for Sent to recover from whatever trauma they must have put her through. I swear, I will take their so called Usylon wife and make her to undergo worse than Sent must have gone through while she was there.'' Prince Bane was pacing in his throne room as he spoke.

Xavier had an idea of what must have happened to Sent, but he refrained from saying anything to the Prince.

''You have to take it easy at this time. Be very tactical concerning anything you want to do at this time, that is my only advice.'' Xavier told Prince Bane.

''Those Princes look like they are ready for everything, you know? They appear to me as if they would go above and beyond to get the treaty.'' Prince Bane was pacing.

''What would happen if they become a state of their own anyway? I have given it a thought and I have come to the conclusion that we don't stand to lose anything. Have you thought of that? We might just get along at the end of the day. When I looked at you in the midst of the Princes, I saw a force to reckon with. Maybe we can all just get along.'' Xavier appeared to have given up on the fight for Persia to be a sovereign kingdom.

''I beg your pardon?'' Prince Bane could not believe what he had just heard from the mouth of his uncle.

''Uncle Xavier, if not that you are my Uncle and I have seen you in so many ways advocating for the supremacy of Persia, I would have tagged you a traitor and charged you for treason for making such a statement.'' Prince Bane tried to control himself from getting upset.

''I understand you clearly my Prince and dear nephew. As much as Persia is known for its supremacy and has been so for long, whatever has a beginning has an end. That is one thing you should know, okay? I was seriously against Magus leaving the eight kingdoms but with what I saw at the Vandersar palace today...'' Xavier started to shake his head.

Prince Bane heaved in a tired sigh.

''The girl is an Usylon for crying out loud. You saw and heard her ead the sacred code, translating it right in front of us. With that skill alone, she will unlock a lot of powers that can shake the foundation of Persia. Nobody stands a chance against a chosen one like the Usylon girl and that is why the decree states that as soon as an Usulon gets married to the Vandersar Princes, their powers will double and they will have no enemies because nobody will want to fight against the strongest force on the surface of the earth.''

''Uncle Xavier, I can't believe that you are the person sounding like this. Since when did you ever admit deafeat?''

''It's not about defeat, Bane, it's about facts and history. The girl is a dangerous person to be seen as a foe, okay? That's what I am trying to point out to you and nothing else.''

''There is nothing that cannot be handled if one decides on it. The girl, whether she can read a code or not, as of now, is still under the rulership of Persia.''

While Xavier and Prince Bane were having this dialogue, Sent walked in.