An alliance with a powerful person is never safe.

-Phaedrus

"Forgive me, my lord, I failed you."

The agitated royal servant said while facing the bermuda grass near his shoes, head still bowing in front of Lysander and hands have tightening gripped in his either side, he was covered with brown cloth for disguise. Yet Lysander only sighed deeply. Contemplating.

"The prince was nowhere to be found my lord, the last sightings of the crown prince he was going to the mines inside the dark forest a week ago accompanied by his finest horse and few royal guards."

The dark forest and the mines were indeed mysterious and dangerous. Everyone in the kingdom knew the scary rumors about the dark forest. Lysander was well informed though and in fact he knew the stories inside were actually true.

When he was still the captain of the royal guards, he never missed to report to the king on how many beggars, commoners and even nobles were missing inside the dark forest. And as if the king has been always bored to hear such repetative news from him, the king would ask for wine or something that will definetely distract himself.

Lysander was always mad at those despicable scenarios, and hated himself by forcing to stay calm in front of the king but he can't do anything other than that, especially when the king forbid him to explore the forest to further investigate.

"I wouldn't risk to lose my talented captain of the guards for such dangerous task."

Lysander was irritated with those words of the king. But now when the prince himself actually entered the forest. Now, it was different.

He was totally intrigued and confused about what inside the dangerous mines nowadays that might actually convinced the prince and his royal highness to explore it. The kingdom already has its own mines under the tall mountains of its own that earned profits higher than any other kingdoms.

Why now? Why explore the mines inside the dangerous dark forest instead? For more gold? Where to use it then? War? That might be true, besides no one knew the extent of the current king greediness. But what was the deal of the prince to go after the mines this time? Considering he always contradicts his father. Perhaps... to investigate?

"How was the king, anyway."

There was a short pause before the servant answered him and composed  himself. However, his words stumble and voice trembled. "Never been better my lord."

Strong words but Lysander can sensed the lie beneath the servant words. The king is indeed bedridden.

Lysander fished-out a bag of gold inside his pocket and handed it to the servant. For a split second, he wanted to ask something about the princess but his lips suddenly tighten. "I'm glad to see you again, Damian. You did a great job."

The servant's eyes widened when he measured the heaviness of the bag. Indeed it was a fortune. He immediately looked at Lysander who smile politely at him. Yet he could read the other task in Lysander's eyes. No one will ever know about this meeting.

The servant only nodded yet a small smile crossed at his face, though small it reached the servant's eyes, then suddenly his eyes caught the old man a few meters away from them.

"You have company?"

Lysander briefly looked over his shoulder. "My footman." He simply said.

The servant nodded again, briefly bowed down to him for the last time, then threw an odd glance at the smiling old man and finally took his leave without glancing back.

The day hasn't yet finished but Lysander had received multiple mind-blowing news that increased his worries and headache. Yet he felt something wasn't right in here, something kept bothering his mind ever since he set foot in this kingdom. But there was one thing he was certainly sure.

There was a real threat directed towards the royal family. Subconsciously, he grabbed the prince's letter inside his pocket to maintained his composure and calm his senses as well but it was hard.

"That was the expression of my friend when he was thinking too hard. You absolutely resembled him in so many ways, you could passed as one of his elligitimate child if ever he has any."

Lysander was glad he'd quickly removed his clan emblem before he gave the cloth to the old man. He doesn't want to risk or to show off his clan reputation to a mere stranger, and if he ended up in the dungeon or done something foolish along the path he was going to take. He doesn't want to drag his family name with him.

"Aren't you curious who was the man I'd talked to, awhile ago?"

"Are you going to share if I ask?" The old man countered and scratched his ears before he transfered his gazed at the palace.

Lysander didn't answer, instead he looked at the old man direction but the old man gray eyes kept staring at the palace, the cat was nowhere to be seen and there was something in the old man's eyes that wasn't there before, something like weariness and concerned playing in his gray eyes. Lysander then followed his gaze.

"Aren't you curious why the king kept building the towers around his palace?"

For his own pleasure what else. But Lysander didn't voice it out. Yet the question lingered to him, deeply.

The towers were indeed marvelous, yet Lysander had noticed something he didn't notice before. He looked closely at the towers. The arrangement with a strange alignment and patterns around the palace that if you were to connect them, you can form a figure. He had realized it just now.

"How long you've been here?"

The old man sighed deeply and fixed his new cloth around his body. "Long enough to watch the blood moon in my first night at the streets, and long enough to built this horrible manly smell of mine."

It was almost a month Lysander said to himself when he had seen the blood moon in the middle of the sea on the way here. Lysander could remember how creepy yet beautiful it was. Indeed one of the mysterious phenomenon he had witnessed in a lifetime. He could still remembered how he felt, the goosebumps and the cold air.

"You said you going to meet a friend. Yes."

"Yes. But I guessed she was too busy lecturing a bunch of stubborn priestesses in the shrine. I'd heard some of the girls were too destructive and hard-headed. That wasn't an easy task for any old woman."

"Priestess." Lysander murmured to himself.

He transferred his gaze beyond the dark forest to the tall mountains of the east, where the mysterious and holy shrine of Aumanda the symbol of peace in the land of Uria might be located. Lysander heard a bunch of rumors about the shrine, the majority of the priestesses was orphan he expected that while some were directly offered by their own relatives to serve the sun goddess. But Lysander hasn't seen it yet, the shrine. He only knew about the shrine only because of the princess obsession on it. But to actually meet and interact with a priestess, he never done such a thing.

Yet this man, this old strange man with the odd scar, he'd already met one and had a chance to befriend with one."

"Why not go there and meet her instead."

The old man gave him an amused look as if he said something absurd or he gone insane. "The shrine is a mysterious place and only the chosen people is meant to find it, but even though I find it. I can't see her in this kind of state."

Lysander blinked and halted himself to ask further about the shrine, he doesn't want to look foolish than he already has. Instead, he only nodded as if to say he understood even though he was surprised to hear such things. "We already have an agreement about the nice bath and a suffer."

"But clothing?" The old man looked intently at him.

"I could easily arrange that for you. But first, let me know your name."

The old man gave him a long and seizing look. "What do you want besides information, young lord."

Lysander countered the old man gazed upon him. "I told you earlier, a beggar with lots of knowledge inside a foreign land was a dangerous life to live."

"So..."

Lysander's eyes sharpen and he shifted in his feet. "I want to keep that information hidden at all cost."

"And?" Obvious boredom was evident in the old man's voice that doubled the headache in Lysander's head.

"And because I have a heart for a needy."

Then there was silence.

Until the old man's lips quivered a moment before he blasted a crunchy laughed while watching the red face of Lysander. "You stayed long enough at Pheonicious to even adapt their odd perception, my lord. Beware, someone might use it against you."

Indeed true, because who could have thought the brutes inside the Arena with the threatening body, with each man had a massive strength equivalent to three strong horses and most especially masters of all martial arts had the softest heart for the needy. If people with the likes of his king would know about this side of Pheonicians, they will surely use it against them for sure. Yet, Lysander didn't miss the words 'my lord' in the middle of the old man sentence. And immediately hid his triumphant smile.

"So where do you want to display your newly hired footman, my lord." The old man straightened his posture and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Lysander's smile grew wider, his oceanic blue eyes shone with meaningful lights towards the old man.

"At the mines inside the heart of the dark forest."