Several days after returning to Conrella, the King demanded to know what was going on as he hadn't heard news of Mahnu, just the news of Sedric not being found.

"Marcus! If you know something, please tell me!" King Richard stated, using his authority, which was rarely used upon his good friend.

Upon their trip back to Conrella, King Richard had talked to Marcus and they had become closer, but at this point in time he wasn’t thinking of their friendship, but of the fact that he had not heard anything about his beloved Mahnu!

He had been unable to stop himself from thinking of the worst-case scenarios that could happen to her…What if Sedric was going to go after her, now that he had gone? What if she is taken captive? What if…She was hurt!?

Marcus looked down, unable to meet His Majesty's eyes. He had been trying to prepare himself for this very question for days, but still failed to feel that way…

That was because…

"Tell me!" King Richard yelled.

"…Reports stopped coming in two days ago, I don't know what is transpiring, Your Majesty." Marcus could only tell the truth…He could only…Watch and hope that His Majesty does not loss himself to this news…

"Dammit!" The King left the room and started walking, Marcus following and having a bad feeling...

"Your Majesty?" Marcus asked, already feeling like that the King was already acting different, just after hearing one sentence…

"I'm going to Bena!"

This response…Marcus started to feel anger grow inside of him, "But...You just returned to Conrella. You have..."

"Enough!" The King yelled. He stopped walking and leaned against a pillar along the path, "Why are there no reports...What happened?"

Marcus breathed in, seeing that the King had stopped, it gave him some hope that His Majesty won’t do something rash, "The last report announced that Mahnu had started to travel here, that they had made it to the first rest point with no problems. They planned to continue to travel here and return one week from departure."

The King turned to him with a questioning look. "But the knights wouldn't have gotten there yet...Why did they leave without extra protection?"

Marcus silently cursed those who had made this decision, "The report didn't say."

"Why didn't you tell me?" The King asked Marcus. Didn’t he know how important Mahnu was to him?

Marcus sighed, "Your Majesty, I didn't think much was wrong and that a report should arrive at any minute. But if there were a problem, how would you act? Bad enough to hit the Queen again?"

King Richard stared at Marcus with wide eyes. "You...Refused to report to me...Because of how I might act?"

Marcus bowed, "Yes, Your Majesty."

The King went to strike him but remembered his words.

‘Bad enough to hit the Queen again?’

Wouldn’t Marcus be right if I were to hit him right now? Dammit!

Lowering his arm, he felt himself start to tremble and he clenched his hands together to try and stop it!

He couldn’t blame Marcus, yet…

Mahnu was just too damned important to hold in this information! What if she was being followed!? What if, right now, she was in so much trouble that I wouldn’t ever get to see her again!?

What if Marcus told me as soon as he knew, and we were able to stop some calamity from happening!?

It was at this time that King Richard could not hold in his anger!

If he were to find out that something happens and that he could have acted earlier…

"Replace yourself and get out of my sight!" The King walked away, leaving Marcus mortified.

Wind blew across his face, a servant walked passed seeing his bowed figure, yet didn’t say anything…But all this was not seen by Marcus. His whole life seemed to have cracked and he didn’t know what was happening…The tight rope that connected him to reality was damaged, his existence, his goal…Shattered…

A few moments past but Marcus was still bowed and unmoving.

His King...Abandoned him...

Had he done something so terribly wrong to lose his position of Leader of the Loyal Royal Knights?

He was loyal! He was trying to do what was best for His King and Kralaide.

Even though…Even though His Majesty had been angry, and it was evidently heard, but how could he be that angry that he had done this!?

Marcus stood up straight and wished to know why, which part of what he did, was so wrong that he is now replaced. His family, for generations, had been the leader…He knew of nothing else, this was his life!

He was born to serve His Majesty with his entire being…

Lost…Shattered…

As anger rose to the point of being unable to continue being the close friend and defensive person that he used to be, Marcus fell into a vortex of strange new feelings…Of hate and doubt…And so, his thoughts completely changed with his anger…

It was obvious to him, that everything changed when the King had met Mahnu…Mahnu has been controlling the King all this time!

It's all...Mahnu's fault!

If she hadn't of entered into the King’s life in the first place, the King would be as he was before he met her and not someone that became temperamental. It is my duty to protect His Majesty the King, even protect him from Mahnu! And how could something like this happen? How can Kralaide continue with this type of threat!? What would happen to the Queen, if Mahnu were to get jealous? What would happen to the Crowned Prince, if Mahnu suddenly wanted her future child to be on the throne instead! She mustn't be with the King, she mustn't come back and help bring Kralaide to ruins!

…Rational thought had disappeared when he was ‘abandoned’, Marcus now did not think of any type of future or any type of loss that could potentially occur…His vortex had seemed to swallow him up whole…

Dropping his leader’s gear, that was unique to his status, he left it on the ground and raced to get a horse.

He knew he was angry! He knew he wasn't thinking straight but he continued on his new journey that took him out of Conrella…

…To never return alive…

***

The King sighed. Did I take it too far? Marcus has been loyal all this time and he is still loyal with what he had said. He wanted to protect me and by that, Kralaide. How can I make him give up his post for that?

…It was a bad, spontaneous decision and the King already regretted it.

He had been angry, yes! Angry to the point of stating one sentence without even thinking twice about it!

His emotions had played out through him completely!

It wasn’t often that King Richard would feel so emotional that he would do something like this, because he just simply can’t do that as a King…Yet, here he was, being immature and temperamental!

Isn’t that what Marcus was afraid off! And he’d done it! He’d done exactly what he shouldn’t have!

Regret washed through him like a ripping wind and King Richard felt completely in the wrong! He wanted to make it up to Marcus straight away and deal with this properly!

It had only been a matter of minutes, since storming away from Marcus, and look at himself! He had just wasted this time of finding a solution to Mahnu’s problem, because he had been too angry!

Again…He remembered why a King could not act out his emotions and decided to watch himself from now on…

Quickly getting up from his seat, the King looked for Marcus but couldn't find him. The guards hadn't seen him come this way, so King Richard walked back to where he last saw him and stopped.

He had not readied himself at all to see the sight before him…

On the ground was his knights’ attire, abandoned. For a knight...To abandon...

Silence came across the King as he stood there in utter astonishment…That same regretful feeling rooted itself deep into his heart and it made it hard for him to breath…

Marcus was his right-hand man, his left-hand man, his brother, his father…His friend…

How, after everything he’s done…How could he have treated him like this!?

Just in one action through emotions, had he ruined everything?

Finally, feeling himself want to rush to fix what he’d done, King Richard quickly wondered upon what to do!

The King then ran to the closest guard and asked him the direction that Marcus had left in. He was really worried now, for Marcus to do such a thing...Was he going to end his life? Would I never see him again, would I ever speak to him again?

The King followed the trail that Marcus left behind and stared at the horse stable in disbelieve. Has he lost his closest friend? Is he really...Gone?

The King tried to act but couldn't do or say anything for the moment.

He's gone...

What...Is he going to do?

A guard interrupted his thoughts and finally he started to think calmly, "We need to get Marcus back."

…It's all my fault…

Marcus was already on his way to Bena, to find Mahnu.

Not knowing in the least upon what he was going to do yet, Marcus just rode his horse in anger.

Abandoned...Was he truly not worth anything in His Majesty's eyes!?

The anger did not diminish, instead it seemed to boil hotter and hotter inside of him...Thoughts upon his future actions or rage had not yet surfaced in his mind at all…He was doing just as the King had done and used his emotions to decide…All he knew though, was that everything started to change when Mahnu became more then the Savior of Mankind and the Betrayer of God’s to His Majesty!

When Mahnu became His Majesty’s woman…The King changed…

***

Two days passed and Marcus finally saw Mahnu's carriage, that had stopped alongside the road towards the capital. People were bunched close together and there were a few guards that guarded the small area, a few meters apart from one another. Since they were closer to Conrella now, there were more hedges and trees around but…To angry to even question why this sight looked strange, Marcus continued, with one goal in his mind.

Mahnu notices Marcus's thoughts and for a moment, grows weak at the knees in pure terror!

Even seeing glimpses upon why Marcus felt this way, she still asked herself why…Why is he like this!?

This person was like a stranger to her…Someone plainly wanting to hurt her, was not the Marcus that she knew!

"Mahnu?"

Trying to calm down, Mahnu looked at William, trying ever so hard to keep the horror out of her eyes and face.

They were already in a predicament, with Sedric's men that have nearly surrounded them. But now, it seemed another problem has arisen…A dark problem…A problem that she had to find a solution for right now! This very moment…

From what she feels, Marcus didn't seem to be thinking straight, so Mahnu couldn't depend on his help. But...He did want to take her away...Which seemed to be quite an important solution to her other problem…

Sedric's men were all here for her. Having surrounded them while on the carriage, they had traveled until they could travel no further and basically have been stuck since. At first, there were only ten of Sedric’s men following them, then there was twenty, but Mahnu heard the thoughts of Sedric’s men and they were willing to wait to have more people to catch her. Recently, they reached approximately fifty people and Sedric himself was on the way, so they were going to wait for their master before attacking…

…And the innocent lives of these other people in her group…What if they were killed, just because of her?

Mahnu looked around, she could possibly save these people, by going with Marcus...But...His thoughts...They were dark, ruthless and a raging mess. With his one goal already known to her, would it still be wise to go with him knowing all this?

Mahnu quickly tried to make a choice. Lives were on her shoulders, including her own…

Would Sedric’s men leave these other people alone, if she were to go with Marcus? Would they…Be safe?

The humans in her entourage were quite a number, reaching forty or fifty. There weren’t all guards, like William, some probably wouldn’t even be able to defend themselves!

Feeling them already being a bit skittish, because they knew they were being surrounded, Mahnu could only see one choice.

…And this choice reminded her of when she had taken the box and gone into Brackan, alone.

Sacrifices…Wasn’t that what she always was? Sacrificed her own kind, her power, her time, effort, and now, her future with her loved one…Their own child…Her mortal life…

…Sacrifice…Was that the bane of her existence? Was this the end? Her destiny?

Mahnu wanted to hope that the Marcus she knew could be there, somewhere inside of him. Her hope for that was small because of his hatred…Anger…But she needed to rely on that hope to have courage to leave with him…

It was like he had been holding it in for many years. That he hadn’t vented his rage at any point in his life and now…All of it had overpowered the man she had once known…And this rage…Was all directed at her!

I’m sorry Richard, Mahnu cried out inside her heart…

…I may not come back this time…

With a broken and bleeding heart, Mahnu strengthened her resolve, to once again become the sacrifice to save lives.

If she wouldn’t do this, she would regret it!

There was…No choice…

"William." Mahnu said softly, "Don't follow us until Sedric's men are gone."

"Mahnu? What are you talking about?" William looked at her curiously.

He had no idea that Marcus was coming towards them or of his intentions towards Mahnu, so his confusion was understandable, just, Mahnu didn’t have time for it!

It was then that Marcus rode up to Mahnu, and immediately demanded, "Come with me!"

Mahnu looked at William sadly and put her hand towards Marcus.

He pulled her savagely towards himself and galloped off without another word, leaving a confused William behind as he watched Mahnu go towards the east with his leader.

…What’s going on?

***