Mael had a fair impression of kingdom Vatham. He had heard his mother speak about it once or twice when she was alive. He had listened to her describe the kingdom and its breathtaking magnificence, luring his heart and mind towards the place. However, whenever he had expressed his desire to visit the place, his mother brushed him off and diverted his attention to other matters.

The young prince let out a sigh. Who knew he would be visiting the great land this way, hiding from the world wishing to find a way to meet the Queen of Vatham?

"You might be able to enter the kingdom, Your Highness." Lukariah's voice brought Mael out of his thoughts. "Since your mother, Her Majesty and the Queen of Vatham were friends, there might be a possibility that they would allow you in."

Mael just let out a faint smile. He was not convinced. Unless he entered the kingdom and met the Queen herself, he was unwilling to believe that he had a chance. Already, he was in despair and he was unwilling to put all his hope and see it shatter when the situation did proceed the way he wanted.

The fire in the torch started to flicker loudly, casting shadows on the walls of the passage as they walked along the way.

"We need to leave from here quickly, Your Highness. The flame in the torch will not be able to sustain for long." Lukariah glanced behind the young prince. He was uncertain how long they had walked and how far away they were from the exit. He could only hope that they were closer to the outskirts of the kingdom and they would make it out alive from the secret passage.

Mael nodded lightly at the only man he could trust at that moment. "How far away are we from the outskirts of our kingdom?"

"I am not sure, Your Highness." Lukariah pursed his lips in worry. Nobody knew about the secret passage except the members of the royal family. So, he did not know how long the pathway was and....His hands turned cold when he thought of the next possibility.

'No, I cannot allow the Asra to get to Prince Mael. I cannot.' Lukariah shook his head and clutched his sword tight while his eyes sparkled with resolve.

Mael too was filled with indignation. But at that moment, all he had in mind was to save himself and his knight. So, he quickened his footsteps, trying to keep himself calm all the while.

Meanwhile, Selke stared at the now dead man in front of him, his eyes blazing with fury. This was his first failure after he had started to command the Asra and he could not bear it. This was unacceptable to him.

Other than the winds howling and the owls hooting in a faraway distance, not a sound was heard. The warriors too did not dare breathe loudly lest they should irk their commander.

Selke ran his narrowed eyes around and all the man instinctively lowered their heads at once. They had never seen their commander this furious before and unknowingly, they started to pray for their lives.

"I will not accept this failure," Selke shouted, his domineering tone sending chills down his men's spines. "Prince Mael was mine to kill and I will kill him today even if I have to destroy my own army to do it."

Some of the older men who were well versed with their commander's behavior stiffened at once. The man was not jesting and he indeed intended to kill them if they hindered his plans. Silently, they hoped for the young prince to be caught so that they could save themselves.

Selke ran his eyes around before he turned to the men who were still kneeling before him. "Where did the prince go?"

"My Lord, just as we entered his room, we saw him and his guard, Lukariah escape into the secret passage." One of the men, who was at the front, answered him honestly. He kept his eyes focused on the ground, not daring to meet the menacing man in the eye.

"And?" Selke discerned that there was more to it and he strode towards the man slowly, not caring if his actions were overwhelming him.

"And.." The man trembled and he almost had a fright when his commander squatted in front of him and held his jaw, forcing him to look at him.

"And?" Selke stressed again and raised his brows at him.

"And we tried to open the secret passage. But..." The man was finding it difficult to speak a word as time passed. His commander was frightening when irked and now, he resembled the devil himself. Lethal and impossibly demonic.

"But we could not open the passage. It was as though the door was locked from inside." The man somehow managed to speak the words amidst the torture he was going through and instinctively lowered his eyes when the commander let go of him.

"I will not allow the prince to escape today. We need to catch him and we will catch him for sure. Warriors." Selke shouted, forgetting everything he had done until a moment ago and all the men stood still in their places. Even the ones who were kneeling behind him stood up and held on to their weapons, prepared to follow his orders right away.

"Where does this secret passage leads to?" Selke again questioned the men who were kneeling a moment ago.

"My Lord, usually, the secret passages lead to the jungle or the kingdom borders."

He heard someone from the group speak and Selke thought about it for a moment. "Search for them everywhere. Start from the kingdom borders. The jungle is not a wise choice right now for they will not be able to escape from the wild animals. I presume the young prince and his guard are attempting to flee to another kingdom."

Selke mounted on his horse and pulled on the reigns. "I will not let them see the sunrise tomorrow. The Iarlaiths clan will end today and I will make sure of it."

"My Lord," One of the men stopped him just as he was about to leave the place. "What do we do about the maids and servants of the castle?"

Selke glanced at the castle before he let out a cold smile. "Kill them all. They are done serving their purpose in this world."