"The king is here."
The voice was weak, lazy. It almost sounded like soone who had just woken up from a deep slumber.
And when the owner of that voice appeared in Rachel and Caliste’s sight, the two of them couldn’t help but frown at what they saw. The king of the dwarves, the past hero of the world, Thorin could barely even walk on his own, his back all hunched over.
’Is this really Thorin?’ Caliste thought with almost pity. He looked on the verge of dying, which made sense since he was probably over 100 years old by now. Still, Caliste hadn’t expected to see him in such a state.
Thorin walked up to his majestic throne, adorned in gold and gems, and sat down in it as he struggled to keep his eyes open.
The advisor imdiately whispered in his ear. However, all he got in return was a wave of the king’s hand, dismissing the advisor at once.
"Can I know your nas?" he said with his very sick voice.
"My na is Rachel."
"Mine is Caliste."
The king shook his head as he closed his eyes. "Caliste?" He blinked a few tis as he pronounced that na. "You’re still alive, but how? D-didn’t we kill you so ti ago?"
Caliste’s eyes widened as the king uttered those words. Thorin seed quite confused due to his old age. He was even thinking that Caliste was still alive, and it gave Caliste the idea of maybe using that lack of clarity to get so information from him. But he would have to be alone with the king, and he doubted that anyone would ever allow such a thing.
"Ah, he’s not. He just has the sa na as him," the advisor quickly corrected.
Thorin shook his head, his eyes squinting. "No, no... that can’t be right. I-it’s him."
Everyone began laughing nervously, including Caliste. It was a good thing that Thorin was on the verge of dentia because no one believed him as he said this. However, it would have been much different if he were still healthy. Caliste wasn’t sure what his old friend was seeing. But... he had noticed sothing.
"No, sir. You’re probably hallucinating again. This is the son of the Demon King."
Thorin opened his mouth and quickly closed it as he seed to accept the truth spoken by the advisor, only briefly nodding, unable to look away from Caliste as things continued.
"We are here about the matter inside the cave. We got word that strange magic runes have appeared and that unusual disappearances have started to happen over the past week."
The king’s advisor gritted his teeth in annoyance as the king seed to have fallen silent. It appeared it would be him who would be taking over from here.
"That’s right. We have discovered a new tunnel inside the cave that is filled with minerals, and while we were hoping to mine a lot of them, sothing quite strange happened: dwarves who work inside the tunnel end up disappearing at random tis."
"Do you have any idea why sothing like this is happening?" Caliste asked.
"No, we haven’t figured out anything. But if you want, we can go there right away. I will show you. You might be able to understand sothing that we missed."
But just as Caliste was about to accept, Thorin, who had been silent, continued to frown, his gaze on Caliste deepening in intensity.
"Y-you’re him... you have to be," he murmured as if it was an old man’s rambling.
Everyone inside the throne room ignored him, everyone but Caliste, who knew the truth. He understood that talking with the old man would prove to be quite... interesting. He would need so ti with him in the near future.
"I-I want to speak with him. Bring him to ."
Thorin continued to speak, and everyone was surprised as he asked to speak with Caliste alone. The most shocking thing about all this was the fact that the king had not asked to see anyone in a few years. In fact, for the past years, due to his age and sickness, the king had not been out of his room much. So, for him to act in such a way because of a na was troubling for most inside the throne room.
"Are you sure, sir?" the advisor asked in an annoyed tone.
While he was the one with a rational mind, he was only an advisor. If the king really wanted sothing, then he would have no choice but to comply at the end of the day.
"Yes. I need to talk with him."
Caliste didn’t react outwardly; however, he was quite happy inside as he would be able to have a conversation with Thorin earlier than he had believed.
Strangely, he didn’t feel anger or hate as he watched Thorin, which had been quite different compared to Luther, whom he had wanted to rip apart. Because of his state, Caliste seed to feel quite differently about him.
The advisor nodded as he gave orders to everyone inside the room, leaving only Caliste and Thorin alone with each other as they looked into each other’s eyes for a few monts.
"Call for if you need help. The king seems to think you are soone else," the advisor said as he closed the main door behind him.
Then, silence took over the room for a few seconds as the king called for Caliste to get closer. He could not stand up from his seat, so he only signaled with his hand and his voice.
"Co to , please."
Caliste wasn’t sure what to think as he began walking toward the throne while Thorin observed him up and down.
"You’ve changed physically. But it’s still you. I can feel it..."
Caliste wasn’t sure what to think. However, he knew that it was a good opportunity to get so information on what happened after his death. Thorin was old and troubled.
"I’m sorry, but I’m not the one you think I am," Caliste said. "I’m not the traitor from the past."
But then, the next words coming out of Thorin’s mouth shocked Caliste to his very core.
"Traitor?" He shook his head. "The Caliste I knew was never a traitor..."
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