The Spear of Destiny

by Slawomir Rapala

Table of Contents
Part 4 appears
in this issue.

chapter 5 of 5

A Hole in the World

The black curtains were drawn tightly and allowed no light to penetrate into the Royal Chambers. The entire Palace mourned the Queen and silence was its new ruler. But in this darkness and silence, the King’s eyes burnt bright, shining like two wicked torches. He stood motionless facing the window. Yanush lingered behind him like a shadow.

“Did you capture him?” the King’s voice broke the ghastly silence.

“We caught nearly all of his comrades, Your Highness.”

“Hang them all,” the King’s eyes fixed on a rectangular piece of cold stone placed near the window by the sculptor who visited before. Serena’s tomb was ready now and it would be placed over her grave today. It was simple, yet powerful in its message. Her name was chiseled into it. Diovinius could not tear his eyes away from it, thinking how brutal the stone was, how cold and dispassionate. Why could the stone not cry? He touched his cheeks, but they were dry.

“Did you capture him, though?” the King reached towards the tomb and touched it, savoring its distant coolness in a painful attempt to unite with his wife’s spirit which remained bound to the earth.

“No, Your Highness. He disappeared.”

Diovinius slowly turned and his weary eyes found Yanush. He approached him with a weighted step of an old man and put his hand on his arm. The Captain looked into the King’s face with sadness. Grief had dug itself deep into the features of Diovinius’ face and gripped his heart as well. His hair and beard turned gray over the last few days, but his thoughts remained black.

“Ready my horse, Yanush.” His voice was hoarse.

“Your Highness?”

“My wife is gone, murdered by a cowardly hand,” the King said quietly. “We’ll hunt the murderer down. We’ll find this... Aezubah.” The name dripped from his tongue like venom.

Color slowly came back to the King’s ashen face. He straightened his back and put the hand on the hilt of his sword. He looked at his Captain and said, his voice now firm and steady: “The world’s not big enough for him to hide. We’ll hunt him down.”