CHAPTER 8 "Everyone Believed the King's Father Was Deadā¦ Until the Black Stallion Led Leila to a Man Buried Alive for Twenty Years."
The next morning, Leila made a decision no one expected.
She refused to prepare for war.
Instead...
She saddled the black stallion.
Only three people rode with her:
The old monk.
The captain of the royal guards.
And the stable master who had protected her since childhood.
"Where are we going?" the captain asked.
Leila looked toward the endless desert.
"To find the impossible."
The journey lasted three days.
Sandstorms nearly buried them alive.
Water ran dangerously low.
Even the horses struggled.
Then...
The black stallion suddenly stopped.
It refused to move another step.
Instead, it struck the ground repeatedly with its hoof.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The old monk's eyes widened.
"Dig."
The soldiers began removing layers of sand.
Hours later...
Their shovels struck stone.
Hidden beneath the desert was an enormous iron door covered in the royal crest.
The forgotten entrance slowly opened.
A staircase disappeared deep underground.
Cold air rushed upward.
Leila lit a torch.
The group descended in silence.
The underground chamber was enormous.
Ancient banners still hung from the walls.
Food stores had long turned to dust.
Broken weapons lay scattered across the floor.
Then they heard breathing.
Very slow.
Very weak.
At the end of the chamber sat an old man with long white hair and a thick beard.
Chains surrounded him.
Yet his posture remained proud.
He slowly opened his eyes.
The black stallion immediately walked forward.
Then...
To everyone's amazement...
The mighty horse knelt.
The old man's weathered hand gently rested on its head.
"My old friend..."
he whispered.
Tears filled Leila's eyes.
"You know him?"
The old man smiled sadly.
"I raised him from the day he was born."
Leila's voice trembled.
"Who are you?"
The old man looked directly into her eyes.
For several long seconds...
Neither of them spoke.
Finally...
He reached into the torn sleeve of his robe and removed half of a silver pendant.
Leila gasped.
Around her neck hung the other half.
The two pieces fit together perfectly.
The old monk fell to his knees.
"Your Majesty..."
The captain followed.
Then the stable master.
Leila could barely breathe.
"No..."
The old man smiled through tears.
"My daughter..."
"I've waited twenty years to meet you again."
Leila collapsed into his arms.
Everyone believed King Amir had died the night the royal family fell.
But he had never died.
The Falcon Empire had imprisoned him beneath the desert...
Keeping him alive...
Because only he knew the location of something they had searched for over two decades.
As father and daughter embraced for the first time since she was a baby...
A low rumble echoed through the underground chamber.
The old king's face suddenly changed.
"They've found us."
Above them...
The sound of hundreds of soldiers echoed across the stone ceiling.
The Falcon Empire had arrived.
And this time...
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They weren't coming for the throne.
They were coming for the last king who knew the secret capable of destroying them forever.
