...At dawn, in the hall before the judgnt stage, the people gathered to hear the king's final verdict. Moldovar was there, bound with a wooden stock around his neck and his hands chained. This was no ordinary judgnt, for many knew Moldovar as a good man, and the death sentence didn't seem to fit soone who had served so righteously.
In those monts on the stage, he was shouted at by so, especially the relatives of his deceased friend, who blad him for a cri he didn't commit. And while he was there, he seed to be looking for sothing—hoping to catch a glimpse, even on his last day, of the face of a baby born from a queen's secret betrayal to the king. Whyte was his child. And he, too, had betrayed the king due to a mont of temptation.
The bell rang, signaling the death trial. At that point, Harthur had not yet co out of his room, seemingly finding it difficult to make a decision.
And when it was ti for the judgnt, he first wrote a ssage for Moldovar on a small piece of paper. Then, on the judgnt stage, he spoke.
"From the renowned and powerful nation of Moonatoria, and as the King, I hereby nullify the death sentence!" Everyone was shocked, but Moldovar's loved ones rejoiced.
"This man's sin is grave, no other sentence can match his cri!" shouted Mr. Solthuan, one of the leaders of the protest against Moldovar.
Azonia looked down from a palace veranda, assisted by servants, gently shielded from the sun and fanned. She held the baby, who was sleeping peacefully.
The high-ranking council mbers stood and spoke. "His sentence cannot be nullified because he violated our law, and under the law of Moonatoria, he must die!"
"You cannot cover up the victim's justice; Moldovar must die!" said Mr. Solthuan. "Anyone who sins, under the law of Moonatoria, is not judged by who they are or their identity," he added.
"Listen, I will sentence this man to a new judgnt!" Harthur said. The people around them fell silent. The council mbers were confused.
Trumpets sounded. A soldier rushed to the stage, holding a scroll.
"You're giving a new sentence without going through our eting?"
"This is an outrage to our ordinance and our law."
"This is not formal!"
"It's because the accused is his friend!" so whispered. "We are sure he is doing this to save a friend."
Azonia made a sound from above to draw the people's attention. "Why are you annoyed? You intelligent people who do nothing but sit and talk—are you really using your brains, or just judgnt?"
"Who is that audacious woman?"
"The new Queen of Moonatoria!" Lancaster shouted. "Give your respects!"
Harthur spoke and unrolled the scroll in front of the council mbers for them to read.
"My new sentence for Moldovar..."
The council leaders looked at each other, seemingly studying it for a mont.
"Moldovar will leave the nation of Moonatoria and be considered an enemy. Anyone who ntions his na, anyone who speaks about him... will be killed!"
"Horrible!"
"From this day on, he will be released, but this is also the last day he will be recognized. If he ever returns here or is seen stepping foot on this land, he must be killed. But if you disregard this command, you will be hanged and considered an accomplice and spy of this nation."
"On this day, he will be marked." A soldier imdiately arrived, holding a heated iron.
Moldovar's loved ones were crying, unable to accept what was about to be done to him.
"It's ti to brand him!" a soldier shouted. Two soldiers approached Moldovar and roughly brought him to the front of the stage. The soldier raised the iron, boasting to the crowd.
Harthur approached Moldovar and secretly placed the letter inside his clothes. He held him by the shoulder in a gesture of goodbye.
And after that, a soldier stepped forward and imdiately held Moldovar's head, tilting it to the side. He asured his neck to place a mark.
Moldovar cried out and groaned in extre pain. "This man is marked now!" shouted the man who branded him.
"Who are you now? I don't know you?" the man mocked.
Moldovar felt dizzy from the imnse pain. And the soldiers were already pulling him toward the outside of Moonatoria, to be chased by the ferocious yakals. He could hear the cries of the people there. He tried to reach for them, but the soldiers were forcibly pulling him away.
"Moldovar!" nca cried. "I love you!!!" An admission of love in the midst of a crumbling wall or during a flood.
"Take her too!" another soldier shouted. "She wants to die!"
"No!!!!" Moldovar scread in horror. "She's not guilty!!! Don't involve her!"
"The sentence was just announced, but that woman acted foolishly."
"Why did you endanger yourself? nca, you shouldn't have done that." Moldovar cried.
"I love you, Moldovar. If you're going to die anyway, it's better that we die together!"
"Go on! Do you see that forest? Run there as fast as you can. Because if you don't, these five yakals will bite into your bodies!" the lead soldier said with a taunting tone.
"And when the second day cos, if we see you still in that forest and you're still alive, we will finish your lives... Do you understand?"
"Rember this... I will return to this place with my revenge!" Moldovar passionately vowed.
"That's if you survive in a world where all nations will hate you!" Lancaster was watching and imdiately responded.
"I'll give you a 'clue' before you leave..." Lancaster said. "But I hope you won't be surprised."
"I know you have sothing to do with this..."
"Are you accusing us?" said Harrison. "Who is this man barking at us?"
"Since your life is already ruined... And you have nowhere else to go, why don't we just tell this dog... that the once-tattered cloth that was welcod into the kingdom was used to wipe your smooth armor, and that cloth beca as shiny as gold!" Lancaster said. "And here..." he gave him a baby's outfit. "That will be the clue we can give you."
"This outfit..." He shook his head slightly and stared at it intensely, clenching his fist.
"It looks like he liked what you gave him, Lancaster," said Harrison. "Instead of being surprised, it seems he knows about this?"
"That doesn't matter anymore... as long as we've said this thing... even if he cos back here to take revenge, he still can't do anything because everyone knows he's been marked," Lancaster said softly to Harrison.
Lancaster signaled the soldier to release Moldovar and nca. And when they got to the middle, the yakal dogs were released.
"You're a stray dog now... woof worfff!!!" Woeffelon mocked.
"Go on!!" the soldier shouted. "Release them!!!"
"Go! Run! Faster!!!" other soldiers shouted.
"I might just let go of the yakal I'm holding that's struggling!" another soldier holding the yakals' chains yelled.
"Not yet!" The soldier raised an open hand, signaling a delay. At this point, Moldovar and nca were running as fast as they could. nca struggled, but with Moldovar's help, she managed.
"Hold on to , nca!!!"
"Don't worry about , Moldovar... No matter what happens... save yourself, I'll die to save you."
"No, we'll both live."
nca planned to be bait for the yakals so they wouldn't chase Moldovar, but she was willing to risk her life.
"Don't stop!" Moldovar said, shocked to see what nca intended to do.
"Go on, Moldovar... Run!" nca said, crying.
"No... Don't just stand there."
"Go on! Get past that red flag..."
"Listen to , you don't need to sacrifice yourself to save . We will both face those jackals... Trust , we can get past this."
"Moldovar, you don't understand, no one survives those yakals."
"Rember, I was a leader, and I know those jackals will recognize ." Moldovar had great confidence that he could ta those yakals because during his ti as a leader, he always fed them, petted them, and all the dogs in Moonatoria seed gentle with him.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Trust !"
When the soldiers saw that Moldovar and nca seed to have stopped moving at the red flag.
"Look, it's like they don't want to go past the red flag?" said the soldier holding a telescope.
"Release them!" the superior soldier shouted, imdiately clenching his fist, a gesture to allow the yakals to be released.
They were aggressive, like lightning bolts, moving with incredible speed. "They haven't been fed for three days. I'm sure they're starving. There's no doubt they'll pounce on the ones we let escape."
"Not only that, they'll eat them from flesh to bone... Hahaha!!!"
When Moldovar and nca saw the yakals kicking up dust from their speed, nca panicked, but Moldovar was brave enough to face them.
"Run faster, nca, we need to hide in that mountain."
"There's not enough ti, Moldovar... We can't both reach it..." nca cried. "I need to stay here so you can escape..."
"How many tis do I have to tell you, you don't need to sacrifice yourself for ... Trust that we can defeat those jackals. Even if I can't ta them or they don't recognize ... we'll fight with all our courage!" he encouraged nca.
Moldovar rembered a strange dream he once had, a vivid dream where a giant dog spoke to him.
"In ti, I will make you the leader of the Canis. All dogs will be your soldiers, and they will consider you their king. They will all follow you, and in due ti, you and I will beco one." And since he had that dream, his sense of sll had beco sharp, and the dogs there, whether shy or fierce, would beco gentle with him when he touched or spoke to them.
That's why Moldovar was so confident that he could also ta the yakals, especially since they already knew him.
They reached the foot of the mountain as fast as they could, just enough to not be noticed by the Moonatoria soldiers, but unfortunately, the yakals caught up to them.
Moldovar stopped nca from screaming or creating a commotion that would cause an attack.
"Just stay there!" he stopped her, but the yakals still slowly walked toward them, circling as if looking for an opportunity to attack. They could hear the thunder-like growls from their mouths, wanting to pounce, but because Moldovar was calm and knew their every move, there was no tension.
"We can't just talk our way out of this. Think, they're dogs, so it's useless if we don't fight back."
"Shhh... don't look them in the eye... just look at their paws, tails, and ears. Don't run either!" Moldovar knew that when dogs get angry or can't recognize a person by their sll, they beco irritable. Dogs beco violent when looked in the eye, especially if they don't know the person. A dog's approach is a way of recognizing a person, but if the person runs, they can't recognize them, so they often attack. And yakals, being used to eating at, beco aggressive when they see a person is afraid. "Don't be afraid, nca."
"What's your plan for them? They haven't been fed for three days, so there's no doubt they're hungry!" nca said, barely able to contain her fear. Her knees were trembling.
"Listen to , I am Moldovar, the forr leader of the soldiers in the kingdom of Moonatoria. I am asking you... let us go."
The yakals stopped circling and stood in front of them, as if they understood Moldovar. From the corner of the forest, other dogs erged, not ordinary dogs, but with beautiful fur, and they approached Moldovar. Three of the dogs brought a captured animal and gave it to the five yakals. They ate it, and their mouths were stained with blood.
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