SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Fifteen
Gabriel and Jasper looked at the young boy that they had taken under their wing a few days ago. It had been in another abandoned village. The two of them had left the neighboring kingdom to go back into the Dark Lady’s empire to try to find a way to rescue Seraphina after thirteen years or so. The boy had said his name was James but he had no memories of who he was or why he had been in the village. Gabriel and Jasper both noticed that James looked a lot like Victor. They wondered if Victor had ended up with another woman after the Dark Lady had secured her grip on an empty empire.
It wouldn’t surprise them if Victor had. Survivors who had fled the empire after they had would talk about how a man that fit Victor’s description had risen through the ranks to become the Dark Lady’s right hand. Each time he had heard about that, Gabriel would grit his teeth together and silently curse Victor. It was because of his brother that Seraphina had been captured and was still a prisoner of the Dark Lady.
Each time Gabriel looked at James, he was reminded of a future that had been lost for him and Seraphina. He had secretly hoped that after the war had ended, if Seraphina and he were still alive of course, that the two of them would have children together.
Gabriel wondered why Victor would abandon James if James was really his son? Was it because Victor had wanted a child only with Seraphina? Was it his way of saying that James was a mistake and that he didn’t want kids? Gabriel had spent several days in the abandoned village that they had found James in. He had hoped that being there would explain to him why Victor had chosen that village to abandon James in.
“Are you going to question James again to see if he remembers anything now?” Jasper asked. He knew that Gabriel would though already. Gabriel had done it once a day. He wished that Gabriel would stop though with the questioning. James hadn’t given them anything useful in the last few days. He seriously doubted that James had anything of use when it came to his memories.
Gabriel nodded. “Each day if that’s what it takes.” He answered. “He might remember something that will help us even if he doesn’t know it yet.” He refused to stop questioning James. He would do it each day until he was reunited with Seraphina. That was all that mattered to him. James kept saying that he didn’t know anything about Seraphina or Victor or even about the war but that could change eventually and he wanted to make sure that he got the information as quickly as possible.
Jasper sighed before shaking his head. “I seriously doubt that James will be able to give you anything new.” He told Gabriel. Couldn’t Gabriel see that? James hadn’t given them anything new and Jasper had a feeling that James would never recover his memories. Gabriel had tried already with a memory restoring spell but whatever it was that had affected James was a lot more powerful than Gabriel’s spell.
Gabriel managed not to groan. “I have to do this Jasper.” He told his friend. “Each day that Seraphina and I are apart, the greater chance that something bad will happen to her.” He just wanted to get back to being with Seraphina. He looked around the village. “Keep an eye open for Black Hands.” He told Jasper. “This won’t take too long.” He went over to James.
Jasper sighed again. There was no talking Gabriel out of this. The best he could do was to help out with keeping an eye open for Black Hands. Ever since the empire had been empty, the Black Hands had started to camp along the borders and capture boys and young men who strayed too close to the border. The neighboring kingdoms had threatened to declare war but the Dark Lady had sent even more Black Hands to the borders until the kingdoms quickly backed off.
Jasper sat down on a large rock and looked both ways. The Black Hands hadn’t been seen in a few days since they had been in the empire. He wondered if the Black Hands had been ordered back to the fortresses and the palace. If that was the case, the Dark Lady might have been getting ready to invade the neighboring kingdoms. If that was true, it would be the best chance to get to Seraphina from the dungeons. He looked at Gabriel and James. He could tell the young boy wasn’t giving Gabriel what he wanted.
Jasper looked in the direction of the Dark Lady’s palace. How large was the Black Hand now? He was sure that they had done severe damage back during the time of the Resistance. He knew that they had destroyed several supply wagons and had killed hundreds if not thousands of Black Hands. But in the last thirteen years since the Resistance had disbanded and had fled, he was certain that the Black Hand had started capturing young men again. He could imagine that the Black Hand was large again if not even larger.
He heard Gabriel join him. “So did James tell you anything new?” Jasper asked.
Gabriel glared at Jasper. “I didn’t get anything new.” He growled. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t give up yet.” Gabriel looked in the direction of the Dark Lady’s palace as well. “I will never give up on finding Seraphina.” He fingered his promise ring. For all he knew, Seraphina could be dead but he wouldn’t ever give up nor would he ever be able to move on from her.
Jasper looked at Gabriel. “I know you want to be with Seraphina but questioning that boy repeatedly won’t get you that.” He told Gabriel. “James doesn’t have any memories of his past and you constantly asking him to remember what he can’t won’t help you with finding your way back to Seraphina.” He couldn’t keep it back anymore. They had already wasted ten days with Gabriel questioning the boy constantly in the village that they had found him in. Couldn’t Gabriel see that they couldn’t be able to move on yet until he was able to move on from questioning James? “All we can do now is keep moving towards the Dark Lady’s palace.” Jasper added.
Gabriel sighed. He knew that Jasper was right but that didn’t mean that he had to like it. “We should get going then.” He told Jasper before standing up. He looked at James. “You’ll be coming with us.” He told James. “It’s not safe for you to be here alone.” He looked back in the direction of the Dark Lady’s palace. It was time to get to Seraphina.