4. Anxious
Summary: Calista's been kidnapped, and Arganan worries as he realizes what's going to happen next.
Yurick and Mirania were nowhere to be found, and presumed kidnapped by the Gurak.
The same went for Calista, Dagran and Zael.
Damn it! It went exactly as it was going to happen! Arganan winced as he sat at his desk, clasping his hands together as he did his best to match up the current events with the visions he'd once seen. He got himself healed by a few mages that were up, so he knew he'd be fine, but what about Calista and the others? What if they were severely harmed upon being captured? I failed to stop Zangurak from kidnapping Calista, thus resulting in Zael and Dagran going after her, and now all of them are probably being whisked away one of the Gurak ships by now because they all got kidnapped or the like!
He'd asked General Asthar to meet him at his office immediately, after he gave orders to have the castle repaired as soon as possible, as well as all the wounded being tended to and so on. At least the Gurak were gone at this point, but Arganan intended to make sure Calista got back safely. He had to send some of his soldiers after them, and…
Wait. He paused, frowning. This situation felt oddly familiar to him, from the visions he had when he previously hit his head. I sent out Asthar and Therius to help recover Calista along with a bunch of the other knights –I know she ends up coming back mostly fine, and same with Zael and Dagran and two of their other friends, but what happened afterwards?
The sound of Jirall accusing the mercenaries of conspiring with the Gurak to take Calista away rang in the back of his mind.
But that shouldn't happen! Jirall isn't even engaged to Calista anymore because I turned down the offer long ago!
But it could still happen in a similar manner. He argued with himself, nose wrinkling at recalling Jirall trying to get Syrenne and Lowell imprisoned over false accusations. He might try to use it to get into my good graces…not that I want his grubby hands in this situation, especially with him already trying to arrest Syrenne and Lowell earlier.
And the rumors of JIrall supposedly killing a hundred Gurak during the invasion sounded false, and Arganan swore to investigate that at some point much sooner than later. There was no way that man slew the Gurak. Jirall never fought anyone with a sword as far as I know for sure…
"Count?" A servant entered. "General Asthar is here to speak with you as you requested."
"Send him in." Arganan ordered, and the servant did so. Asthar walked in alone, giving him a light bow in greeting.
"Count." Asthar seemed fairly calm, despite everything that just happened less than a day ago. Then again, Arganan presumed it was expected of him, considering his past status as the Imperial Supreme Commander. "I presume this is about Lady Calista?"
"Yes. I received word that she is confirmed to be missing for sure. I had the guards search the beach for her, where Zangurak took her." Arganan frowned, thinking of Zael and Dagran. "I sent two of the mercenaries contracted to me, Zael and Dagran, after them to rescue her. Considering that they haven't been found, it's likely that they were captured as well. I need you, Sir Therius and some of our knights to start preparations to go after them as soon as possible."
"Understood." Asthar nodded. He paused, and then asked, "Is there anything else on your mind?"
"Finding out my niece is kidnapped isn't exactly helpful." Arganan admitted, frowning. "And finding out that the mercenaries I contracted being possibly kidnapped along with her is also not helpful."
He saw Asthar frown. "Apologies. I meant no offense."
"None taken."
A wry smile played on Asthar's lips as he heard that reassurance. "I hope you don't mind me speaking freely on this, Count, but I overheard you speaking with Lord Jirall earlier about the mercenaries he accused of kidnapping. It's not often I see that sort of thing occur."
"Well, it should." A sigh left Arganan at that as he recalled all the yelling he'd done at Jirall already so far. "I'm not about to let people be wrongfully accused of something they didn't commit."
"I appreciate you trying to halt any insubordination." A light chuckle left the other at that. "Nipping it in the bud before it can make anything worse."
"I can only do my best." Removing Jirall from the castle too soon was not an option, sadly, or else Arganan would take it. It would be different if Jirall had committed several crimes, though giving false accusations would at least ruin his reputation a bit as he deserved. "I just hope that Calista and the others will be okay."
Damn it…. Arganan knew it was his fault – what Therius and Asthar suggested earlier, when the Gurak first invaded, probably made more sense – if I'd let Asthar and Therius protect me while Zael just took Calista, would this have ended differently this time around or…? looked up at the General, swallowing. "General?"
Asthar blinked, locked gazes with his. "Yes?"
"You were right, earlier. I should have taken your and Sir Therius' advice earlier. It's my fault that Calista was taken." Arganan frowned as he recalled the confrontation with Zangurak, how Calista surrendered herself and pleaded for her uncle and Zael's lives. "She didn't want me to get hurt, and Zangurak threatened to take my and Zael's lives if she didn't go along with him. I should've at least asked you, or Therius, to accompany her or both of us, and then…maybe…"
Maybe she would be here right now, instead of being kidnapped.
"Count." Asthar locked eyes with his, and Arganan swallowed again as the other looked at him with a softening gaze, as if he understood how he felt. "There's only so much you can blame yourself for. And if you keep yourself in the past, you cannot move forward. All we can do now is do what we can to bring Calista and the others back safely, and I will do what I can."
Asthar's words were soothing, gentle, but there was an undercurrent of familiarity, like he experienced something similar before. Arganan nodded once.
"Thank you, General." He managed. "Do what you must. Go across the sea to get Calista and the others back safely. But don't die."
A soft chuckle left Asthar at that, before a smile flickered across his face. "I've been good at surviving so far, Count, I assure you."
If only Arganan could tell Asthar that he was fated to die at some point, if he didn't do whatever it was needed to stop it.
General Asthar, Sir Therius, and the other knights were sent to go retrieve Calista and bring her back safe, as well as anyone else captured by the Gurak. Arganan knew that it was likely that Dagran, Zael, Yurick and Mirania were all captured by the Gurak given their missing statuses, if not outright killed already. There was only so much Arganan could do, however – in the meanwhile, he had to hold down the fort here at the castle.
The wounded were already tended to or still being tended to, repairs were already starting, and Arganan slowly made his way to his own bedchamber to sleep for the night. There were guards and other knights speaking with each other, and he overheard something of interest.
"Did you hear? Lord Jirall had that poor fellow arrested for claiming he ran away from the Gurak!"
"What?! Are you serious?"
Arganan raised a brow, stilling as he overheard the two guards converse, before his gaze snapped towards them, calling to them immediately. "You, there."
The guard stiffened, bowing as he turned to face them. "Yes, sir?"
"Was he the only one? How many people were arrested by Jirall based on claiming that he ran away from the Gurak during their invasion, earlier?"
"Er…" The guard cleared his throat, before answering, "Many, sir. All of them claimed he was running away from the Gurak, but he claimed to be slaying them."
"Oh, really?" Arganan raised a brow. Interesting. "Lead me to all of these people immediately. I would like to speak with them to learn about the truth of the situation."
He had to find out the truth behind Jirall's claims, and his trying to imprison anyone that saw him. He knew that Jirall couldn't get him arrested, for obvious reasons, and Calista and Zael were out of the running considering that they were missing right now.
At least he had something to occupy himself with while Calista was gone – though he worried for her, at the back of his mind, the very least he could do was right a few wrongs, here in his own castle.
