"What is going on?"
Javier breathed out and raised his head at Ismael, who was walking ahead of him after they left the courtroom. He picked up his pace until the two of them were walking side by side.
"Brother, you don't seem surprised about it," he pointed out, gazing at Ismael's side profile, only to see the latter's unfazed expression. "It's you?" he asked in disbelief. "Was it your…"
"If you think this is over… it's not." Ismael simply cast him an indifferent side-eye. "It's far from over."
"What do you mean by that?" Javier looked around cautiously, as his voice was lower than a second ago. And yet, Ismael remained silent as they headed back to the inner palace.
His pair of silver eyes were sharp, glinting dangerously, but it was still hard to read what this expression truly meant. That was why Javier, no matter how he studied his brother's expression, couldn't make up what was going on inside the third prince's mind.
Carlos's sentence should be something they should celebrate, but it seemed Ismael wasn't happy. Not that he showed clear disapproval either.
"Javier," Ismael called after minutes of silence and as they entered the back of the inner palace, where there were no people around. "Send people to watch over the group who will escort the eighth prince."
The fourth prince knitted his brows as he gazed at Ismael's unchanging countenance. "Why do you — you don't mean you will ambush them and help our brother flee?"
There was a long silence between the two, increasing anxiety for Javier. His eyes were round and wide, in utter disbelief at the order he just heard.
"Brother, hold on. You said you barely emerged from this scheme. If you send your men to —" Javier halted from speaking and walking, gazing at Ismael's back, wide-eyed.
Ismael slowly stopped in his steps as he turned around to face the shocked Javier, who seemed to have grasped his plans.
"A small unit of the fourth prince." Ismael unhesitatingly clarified, meaning he didn't have to put his name on the stake since the people he meant were Javier's men.
"What…?"
"Do you have trust in me, brother?" asked Ismael, tilting his head while Javier scoffed.
"I do, of course! However, what about you? Do you have trust in me? Or are you…"
"I already told you, Javier. I still trust you, but if you truly see me as someone fit for the title, wasn't my safety your priority?" he blinked almost innocently. "I had risked and still risking things I do not want to lose, brother. With my current disposition, I cannot act on my own and can only rely on you."
Ismael advanced on Javier's standpoint and placed a hand over the latter's shoulder. He looked him in the eye, nodding encouragingly.
"I won't give out this order if I know it will be dangerous for you," he continued solemnly. "Trust me… blindly, Javier. It may sound ridiculous, but that's all you need to do and I will assure you the rewards for it will be handsome."
Javier swallowed down a mouthful of air that echoed in his ear. He looked at Ismael while the latter tapped his shoulder before he turned around to leave.
Trust him blindly? Not that Javier didn't trust Ismael even before, but he never trusted him blindly. Why would he? Doing that also meant having his other foot in the grave. Look what happened to Carlos! Javier was always the person who didn't want to risk it all and leave room for himself if things went from bad to worse.
But now, Ismael was basically asking him to ride or die with him and become his mindless tool. A decision he had to make between himself and Ismael. The third prince wasn't welcoming warm people who couldn't entirely devote themselves to him, just like before.
He balled his hands into a tight fist until they trembled. For the longest time, Javier stood there as if his foot were nailed to the ground, staring in the direction where Ismael went to.
"No matter how you twist it…" he whispered, lowering his eyes as he felt his blood run cold. "… you trust no one anymore."
********
Meanwhile, in the prison where Carlos was locked in…
After his trial, Carlos was still dragged aggressively back to his cell. He gazed through the metal bars as the piercing sound of metal rang in his ear while the knights locked his cell.
"Fucking…" he spat out in ridicule, exchanging glare with the knight before the latter walked away with a few of them. This time, however, they didn't take away the torch outside the cell, giving Carlos some light. Neither did they bind his hands and feet.
"Hah…" Carlos laughed under his breath, dragging himself until his back was up against the concrete wall. He spread his leg on the dirty straws on the floor, eyes fixated ahead and through the metal bars.
'Will she come?' he wondered, swaying his feet sideways as he waited for Aries to come. 'I didn't think the situation will be just as she said, but well… Ismael didn't seem surprised at the verdict. Did he perhaps get the crown princess on our side and he didn't tell us?'
Myriads of questions hovered over the eighth prince's head while waiting for Aries to make an appearance. Although she didn't say she would see him, it was only logical for her to visit him before they escort him to an isolated place where he would repent for his sins his entire life.
'There must be a plan…' he thought. His eyes glinted as he narrowed his eyes, thinking of his 'deceased' sons. 'I will avenge them.'
Carlos was certain Aries had a plan since she went to him and manipulated the verdict. Also, by this, she already declared she favored Ismael and not the crown prince, her husband. Knowing Joaquin, they all wouldn't be safe if they didn't go all out.
'What's taking her…' he narrowed his eyes, trying to see what was beyond the heavy darkness where the light from the torch couldn't reach. He could hear footsteps; there were many of them. Soon, a small unit of five knights stood on the other side of the cell.
"What are you doing?" asked Carlos, seeing the knights unlock the cell until they opened it aggressively. "Hey! What the —"
Not a single one of them answered him as if they were mute while Carlos yelled and resisted, but to no avail. The knights dragged him out of the cell, holding his arms securely. But when Carlos was growing aggressive at the uncertainty of the situation, they had no choice but to knock him out.
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