The evening was quiet for everyone living in Winstrova except for those involved in something treacherous. Punishment of treason was nothing except death. Each time, a new example would form whenever such acts happened.

The man recalled how his friend had been hanged drawn and quartered. It was wonderful of him that he had not taken his name, then, whereas he had named majority of their companions. Maybe he had forgotten his name. But his associates also seemed to have forgotten him.

They had decided to leave in the morning. They did not bother waiting for him to arrive although he was carrying food and water. Perhaps, a terrible situation had arrived so quickly that they did not mind leaving without the things necessary for their survival.

Life comes first. Everything else can be achieved later.

The running man had thrown away the food he had stolen from villagers. Doing so increased his speed but wherever he went, he could hear hounds. He thought his days were over when he heard neighing. He stopped running any further as he heard a horse being whipped.

For a moment, he thought of playing dead. He even had rolled on floor but got up, foreseeing no positive outcome.

He was all alone, surrounded by bloodthirsty dogs and loyal soldiers.

"Don’t worry." a man got down from his horse, holding his abdomen, "Your friends would be caught soon too."

"Uzmaen!" a soldier from distance said, "Don’t go near him. He may have weapons."

"We have better than his." Uzmaen glanced back.

Then he shifted his attention at the cornered individual, "You have invited a great travesty upon yourself by conspiring to kill the king."

The man did not deny. Although it was too late, he had seen the face of realization.

"What were you?" Uzmaen asked.

No answer.

"They abandoned you. Hmm…." Uzmaen said, "You must have been insignificant for them. Look, you are barefoot."

"They betrayed me." he sobbed.

"Now this is the time for you to betray them."

His sobbing vanished. Uzmen was quick to notice a refusal written over his face.

"Let me give you a good reason to do so." Uzmaen revolved around him, "How about mercy?"

The man looked at him.

"Oh, don’t be so full of hope." Uzmaen said, "I was talking about a blow of mercy."

"I had told you, he wouldn't agree." another solider said from his horse.

"I would have, if I were him." another said, "Last time when a traitor was executed, everything went wrong. But King Lacroix loved it. Drunk man and his fetish…. I would not be started if he demands the same with you. It won't go wrong but painfully right from here."

"You heard him?" Uzmaen said.

The man nodded.

"Good, even we feel better when someone opens their mouth without some torture." Uzmaen patted him on his sweat drenched back, "Now tell me. Where had your group planned to leave?"

"They are still in Winstrova. They haven’t left this place."

"Why wouldn’t your group try to flee from here even at this point?"

"Leaving Winstrova was never in our plan no matter how worse conditions were to become. We wanted King Lacroix killed in any condition."

"How many of you are in the group?"

"Half a dozen. There are even women to -"

"To seduce their ways out of trouble." Uzmaen garnered some laughs saying so.

He also laughed at his own joke until he grasped his stomach again. His breathing became thin. Nevertheless, he recovered soon.

"How did you plan to kill the king?" Uzmaen asked, coughing.

"Sorcery. I don't know what kind of sorcery it is."

Uzmaen took his hand to his abdomen again. This time he brought out a shiny knife and sliced the man's throat. The assassin held his slit throat and fell on his knees.

Uzmaen wiped his dagger on the dead man's cloth, "Who knows if he was playing a trick of a magical ambush at us."

"I don’t think these sorcerers are capable of doing an ambush. They ran away from us." a soldier said.

"They don’t need to harm us. King Lacroix is their target." Uzmaen put his knife back, "Those assassins are bound to come near the capital city someday."

"For the wedding?"

"Hmm…" Uzmaen scratched his chin, "My spies shall look for suspicious people in this kingdom."

"Should we let King Lacroix know about this?"

"No. Keep this away from him as much as possible. Tell Jehaule and ministers about this conspiracy." Uzmaen said, "And impale this body in the city gate."