Habdlan was in his office, working on his family's affairs and their domains, when the door opened. A servant entered without asking for permission. Habdlan lifted up his head from his desk full of documents.
'His Majesty, Prince Seigmur Van Telas.'
Seigmur entered the office. Habdlan arose nervously to receive the prince with a deep bow. The prince sat in the comfortable leather chair in front of the desk.
'Your Majesty, what brings you to my humble home?'
Seigmur did not answer; he just pointed behind him toward the door.
'Ahem!' Habdlan cleared his throat, and after a penetrating look, the servant went out and closed the door.
'I need your help to deal with the De Vonder family. I have understood that you are very good friends with Uruk,' the prince explained once that they were alone.
'It is true, your Majesty; he likes to go to the arena and to other socially active places; we have that in common.'
'I won't fuck around, Habdlan. The Vonder's are very important for my future. Unfortunately, my sister is trying to put her clutches on them, and Tamalor has become a problem.'
'Your Majesty, I'm sorry to hear that, but I don't know how I can be of assistance.'
'Cut the crap, Habdlan. I think we can make a profitable deal for both of you. Tamalor has been conspiring with Heigdal; that old fart supports Mable. They plan to eliminate Xavier so that the two young magicians take refuge under Tamalor's wings, who will lead them straight to the princess hands.'
Habdlan's face became serious; the glow of the gold coins could be seen in his eyes. The prince smiled.
'What do I gain from this, Your Majesty?'
'Farpas,' the pince replied, making Habdlan open his eyes in surprise.
'Farpas?'
The prince nodded. 'In a week, Tamalor will send the Vonders on a well-paid subjugation mission. During that mission, Garland the Red will kill Xavier. All I need is for you to give Uruk some clue that Tamalor is guilty and that I've been protecting them'
'I can do that, but will it work?'
'Maybe the Vonders will seek revenge on Tamalor; if there is enough pressure, we could execute him, or we will allow the young Vonder to put an end to his life. The Vonders would be grateful to us. In any case, Xavier de Vonder has proven to be difficult to kill. If the assassination attempt fails, the Vonder will be grateful to us for warning them. One way or another. We'll have them under our control.'
'I understand your majesty. It will be my honor to help you achieve your goals.'
Habdlan was all smiles. The prince rose from his chair and left Habdlan's residence. The next day, Habdlan visited the Vonders.
'Hey, Habdlan. What are you doing around here?' Temma asked.
'I need to talk to Uruk for a moment.'
'Come on in.'
Habdlan entered the humble dwelling and, without sitting down, went straight to the point.
'Listen to me. Yesterday, I spoke to His Majesty the Third Prince. There's something you need to know. I know that Tamalor is your friend; he is my friend too, but you can't trust him at all. The prince's informants have heard things in the palace. Tamalor is making many contacts with the princess' faction. We don't know what's going on, but they're plotting something. My relationship with Uruk seems to put me in the spotlight, so it's best if we don't see each other for a while. At least until you know who your allies and enemies are, be careful.′
'I understand,' replied Xavier to the news. 'Thank the prince on our behalf.'
Habdlan wanted to add more tension than was necessary and immediately left the house. After his departure, the De Vonder laughed.
'Thus is life in the nobility, a cutthroat life. During my years as a criminal, I've seen this hundreds of times. Murders, conspiracies, and blackmail are part of the very life of the high society. If we want to be immune to this, we have to mass a great fortune and then run away from here and leave this rat nest behind.'
A week later, the Vonders were given a subjugation mission. South of Telasa, in the abandoned citadel of Etlec. The citadel was a historic place no one dared to go to, not even the criminals. The shadow of Van Vatnik's legend still frightened the surrounding locals. According to the official story, Van Vatnik gave his last breath in that citadel and died at the hands of the brave members of the magician's royal court.
'I got the spies,' said Moger, coming out of the ruins of the citadel in the company of another hooded man.
Uruk had already killed the coachman.
'It is not surprising; Tamalor will want to make sure that the work is done,' added Xavier. 'Boys, clean this up; I'll stay with Theo.'
The three brothers entered the citadel. As in previous missions, their fire magic devastated the area, and the destroyed ruins of the citadel became even more deteriorated than before.
'Now what?' asked Theo.
'Simple. From now on, you will be Garland the Red. We'll take you prisoner to bring Tamalor down, and once we have him trapped, you'll return to Orphen. We then say that we have executed you, and we make Tamalor pay us a fortune,' replied Xavier.
Moger returned to Orphen, where he ended up carrying out a massacre, both at the "La Carnaza" brothel and in the "El Bajo Fondo" tavern. Uruk drove the carriage, and Xavier, Temma, and Theo traveled inside. They stopped in the nearby village where they had left the Tumulos carriage. They were all hooded, so the spies ran to inform Tamalor that the three men had fulfilled their mission and were returning.
Temma, Xavier, and Theo traveled in the carriage of Tumulos to the Fuera de Mola. Uruk secretly traveled to Farpas, to Habdlan's domains.
'You were right, my friend. Garland the Red tried to murder Uncle Xavier during Etlec's mission— Uruk told him while they were drinking tea.
'Heavens be blessed; everything went well.' Habdlan pretended to be relieved.
'I need a favor.'
'Whatever you need, Uruk, whatever you need'
'Contact the prince. Tell him to attend a party at Tamalor's house. Tell him to make sure that the princess comes too'
'What are you going to do?'
'We'll make Tamalor pay.'
'Uruk, the high society would not take the gesture very well. It's not a smart move' advised Habdlan, fearing the worst.
'They tried to murder a member of our family. We will not let it pass, even if we have to become enemies with the entire dinasty. I know you understand. You also have a family of your own. You've done us a great favor, and I want you to know that you can count on us if the situation were the other way around.' For a minute, Habdlan felt moved.
'I understand; I will contact His Majesty.'
'Thank you, my friend,' smiled Uruk as he was heading for the exit.
'I'm sorry, Tamalor, but business is business; your friendship is not as valuable as a citadel.' Habdlan wrote a letter and sent it to the prince with one of his most trustworthy messengers.
Xavier traveled with Temma to Farpas and met Tamalor.
'I can't still believe Garland the Red tried to kill you. He must have been hired by someone from the crown, a tower master, or maybe Fillode. You are making a lot of enemies, my friends.'
'Unfortunatelly, you are right, Tamalor. Luckily, we have friends like you.' Xavier and Temma smiled.
'By the way, I'd like to ask you for a favor.'
'Of course, if it is within my means, I will help you.'
'We would like to give a demonstration of strength. We would like to celebrate a party in honor of our enemies. Could you lend us your mansion for the event? Relax; we'll cover the expenses.' Xavier took out several bags of gold and put them on the table.
'That is a lot of gold,' said Tamalor, astonished.
'Uruk is too violent. We couldn't extract any information from Garland. But we found a lot of gold in his pockets and those of his men. Garland alone had more than five hundred gold coins. Probably the payment for our head.'
"My gold," thought Tamalor. 'Don't worry about the money; I'll make the arrangements for a party worthy of the royalty, so we will prove to your enemies that you are not alone. The Van Trell House will always support you.'
'Thank you, my friend,' replied Xavier at the emotional moment.
They talked a little about trivial things, and then they left.
About three days later, the large hall of Tamalor's mansion was filled with nobles and royalty.
'Where is Uruk?' asked Prince Seigmur.
'He is a savage,' replied Temma, while biting a piece of raw meat. 'He heard that there was a great black basilisk wandering in Morr's jungle and went after it. He said he'd come a few hours late.'
The mention of a black basilisk surprised people; the reptiles were rare and dangerous.
'That sure does sound like Uruk,' said Habdlan, laughing.
'It will be easy with his magic to destroy that reptile,' said the princess.
Habdlan was still laughing. 'No way, Your Majesty. Uruk never uses his magic to fight; he likes the physical challenge and the feeling of hitting things with his knuckles. You should visit the arena one day and see him in action. It is a surprising spectacle.' Habdlan began to narrate Uruk's deeds in the arena.
A servant approached Xavier and said something to his ear.
'Attention, please,' cried Xavier into the room while clicking on a cup with a spoon. 'Thank you for coming to this celebration. Thanks to our good friend Tamalor for allowing us to use his mansion to celebrate this event' Tamalor raised his cup in recognition of Xavier's words as he smiled.
'This feast is to honor our enemies,' these words aroused confusion and surprise among the attendees. 'A few days ago, our family was hired by Tamalor to deal with a miasma nucleus in Etlec. There was a surprise waiting for me there. Someone paid a well-known killer to take my life. Fortunately, good friends like Prince Seigmor warned us to be careful.'
The smile on Tamalor's face changed a little, but he recovered it immediately.
'To hire a murderer like Garland the Red is very expensive, isn't it, Tamalor?' said Xavier.
More murmuring and surprise were heard in the room.
'I suppose. I couldn't say for sure,' replied Tamalor, with some nervousness. He looked at the prince and Habdlan. Their serious and unfaced faces warned him of the danger he was in. "I have been betrayed."
"Now I understand," thought the princess, looking at her brother, Xavier, and Tamalor.
The main door of the living room suddenly opened. Uruk was entering, carrying a tied-up man as if he were a weightless feather. The man was covered from foot to head. Tamalor began to sweat.
'Fortunately, my nephews are almost invincible. We eliminated all the criminals and managed to capture their leader. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to one of the most ruthless murderers and the largest drug dealer on the continent. Garland, the red one.'
The man whom Uruk had thrown to the ground rose up. Theo knew how to act like Garland the Red; he had played the part for years. Uruk removed the mask from Theo, who looked at everyone in the room like a caged animal who wanted to attack. Even in this situation, he conveyed a fierceness and aggression that surprised the nobles.
"This is not Garland; it is one of his men," thought Tamalor. He was about to open his mouth when he realized something. "Shit, if I reveal that this is not Garland, they will ask themselves how I know it. I'm fucked; my only option is to pretend that I don't know anything or run away from here." Slowly, Tamalor began to move, taking advantage of the distraction created by the false Garland.
'Where are you going, Tamalor?' The voice of Temma resounded in the room and made everyone turn toward Tamalor. The rumors and the gossip began once more.
'What is your name?' asked Xavier to Garland, who remained silent.
Uruk approached with a smile, showing his sharp teeth.
'Garland. Everybody knows it' he yelled to the room. 'I am the one who sells you your precious basilisk blood; isn't that right, Lord of Duero?'
The nobles moved away from Fillode. Many of them showed faces of surprise and disgust.
'What a shame,' said one of the nobles, looking at Fillode.
'Hey! As if you weren't a big client, Mrs Van Meloni. I suppose now you will have no one to provide you with the green basilisk blood for your orgies, you have to be a little sleepy to tolerate all that abuse.' Theo's words proved his veracity as Garland; he knew all the partners and clients of the true Garland. Mrs. Van Meloni became pale in the sight of the other nobles.
'Ahem!' Xavier drew attention to himself. 'I am not interested in knowing who your clients are,' said Xavier to the joy of the room. 'I just want to know who hired you to kill me.'
'If I tell you, will you let me live?'
'I swear to you for the honor of my family that I will not kill you,' replied Xavier.
'Tch, Tamalor Van Trell,' Garland announced.
'Lies!' cried Tamalor.
′ He contacted me through Jaffar de Lerca. We met in the vicinity of the Morr jungle. His knigths were present.′
Tamalor seemed increasingly pale, sweaty, and desperate. The third prince looked at the members of the court who always accompanied the princess. 'Interrogate the knights,' ordered the prince.
Uruk approached Garland, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him up as if he were as light as a leaf.
"What is going on?" Though Theo confused, as he saw Uruk's face smiling and struggled to free himself, he could not breathe. "Fuck." Uruk squeezed his hand, Theo's neck emitted a cracking sound, and his body lost tension. His arms fell inert on both sides of his body. Uruk used his fire magic in direct contact with the corpse. The body immediately burned with a fire so intense that it became ashes in seconds. After recovering from the shock, the nobles began to whisper and gossip. Uruk approached the table and took a piece of meat. The nobles looked at him in fear.
'Uncle Xavier promised not to kill him. I promised nothing,' said Uruk while eating.
'Well, Lord Tamalor, can you explain why you wanted to kill me?'
'That man was lying. I never...' Tamalor's body burned to ashes.
Everyone looked at the princess. One of the court members who accompanied her had raised his hand and used his fire magic to incinerate Tamalor.
'Tamalor knights have confirmed their involvement in this painful conspiracy,' said the princess. 'An unpleasant event' the princess turned around and left the mansion.
'solved, with Garland and Tamalor dead, no one will ever know of our involvement in this matter. Well done, sister; now you better go before things get worse for you,' Seigmur thought, drinking some wine.
'This was unpleasant indeed,' said the prince. 'I will personally make sure that the Vonder are well rewarded for this insult.'
'Thank you for your interest and cooperation with our family, your majesty. I assure you that you can count on us for whatever you need,' Xavier said with a smile. "I'll take care of you soon."
'It is the duty of all members of the nobility to ensure that people without dignity like Tamalor do not cling to positions of power. Sometimes we fail in the attempt, as you can see. I hope that doesn't change your family's view of the dynasty.'
'Not at all, Your Majesty; we have friends like you and the honorable Mr. Habdlan. Friends who we can trust our backs to.'
The prince approached Xavier and offered him his hand. 'Stop calling me Majesty.' Xavier shook the prince's hand. 'Excuse me, Seigmur.'
The feast ended shortly afterwards, much to the relief of all the nobles. A few days later, by royal decree, the van Trell family was deprived of their noble title. Habdlan became lord of Farpas, and the Vonder were rewarded with the mansion and lands of the Van Ferra family.