Last King of Kings

Chapter 25: On last minute

Jalinus disappeared quickly with his men and Yazdegerd was left standing there together with Rostam.

"My spahbed, I forgot one thing."

"To not muster soldiers from Mesopotamia?"

Yazdegerd looked at Rostam in surprise. But it wasn't that surprising at all. After all, Rostam was an experienced commander and general.

"Yes, please do not do that."

Of course, if they left Mesopotamia defenseless, Arabs would take the opportunity to carve themselves some rich land that Mesopotamia is. Yazdegerd was very well aware that the civil war he was about to ignite would be a great opportunity for Arabs to attack. But there was no other way in his mind. To centralize the power meant to remove the opposition, even if that meant plunging the country into civil war. And, after all, it was his empire. It was sure that Arabs will attack as soon as they'll hear of the civil war. And he had to stop them. Not defeat them. Stop them. Stop them from conquering too much land. And as soon as he won the civil war, he would focus on Arabs and ultimately crush them. That was his plan. It looked great in his mind, but nothing is without its problems, right? What can go wrong will go wrong, and in this plan there was plenty of thing that could go wrong.

Jalinus rode as fast as he could, his men surrounding him and riding alongside. The messenger departed few hours before them and should be able to make it to Ectabana by the night. But he and his men weren't as quick, so they'll be there tomorrow morning at best, and they would've to ride all night with only short stops. The only thing on his mind was the given order to ensure Bashir's and reincarnate's safety. And so they rode, rode with their full might and power.

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They arrived at Ectabana a while before noon. They immediately set for the tavern Bashir should be in. They asked around, being discreet and not mentioning they act on Shahanshah's orders. They disguised themselves as a band of mercenaries searching for a place to stay at. After a while, some good soul pointed them in the right direction. They rode, not quicky, galloping their horses in the general direction. When they arrived in front of the tavern, Jalinus and three other men entered. Rest stayed outside, keeping their horses and belongings safe. Jalinus headed towards the bar, where a man, presumably owner, stood.

"Greetings, good people. How can I help you? We have food plenty and rooms to spare! Just ask!"

The owner was obviously very social man, greeting them just as they entered. But Jalinus had no time for this, using, maybe misusing his authority.

"In what room does man named Bashir stay? Quickly now!"

Owner was obviously surprised and intimidated.

"Good sir, I can't tell you that."

"Yes, you can. And you will. Now hurry. An old man with a child. Where do they stay? What room?"

Owner started losing his nerves.

"Sir, please, stop. Or I'll have the guards called."

Jalinus had enough.

"I am the hazarbed in the service of our Shahanshah. If you think the guards will stop me, feel free to call them. If not, answer."

Owner, being all the more surprised and now scared started shaking. He understood that he's playing with fire and decided to answer.

"He's staying in the room upstairs, second on the right side. But he should be coming here every while for lunch."

Jalinus ignored the startled and scared owner and immediately ran upstairs with his men. If Bashir hadn't come to lunch yet, he could be in danger. Jalinus hoped that they won't be late and that they'll arrive sooner than any threat. But he also counted with the option of finding both dead or under attack. If that would be the case, he didn't know what he would do. Not only would he fail his Shahanshah, but he would also let two innocent people die, and with them, the Shahanshah's plan. He hoped he wouldn't have to cope with such a failure.

They rushed in front of the door, only to find them locked. But that wasn't a problem. They knocked on the door, calling for him.

"Sir Bashir, it is me, Jalinus, Shahanshah's hazarbed. I have come to lead you out of here."

No answer. He tried again.

"Hello, Sir Bashir?"

Still, no answer. Just as he was going to give the order to ram the door, he heard a familiar voice.

"Sir Jalinus? What are you doing here?"

Jalinus was dumbfounded. In front of him, in front of the door, stood Bashir and the small reincarnate. He massaged his eyes to make sure he isn't hallucinating, but they seemed to be real. He had so many questions, but threw them away. He had more important thing to worry about. In the meanwhile, Bashir started unlocking the door. He opened them and stood on the side, as if inviting Jalinus and his company inside. At that moment, an arrow flew through the opened door, impaling the soldiers standing in from of them. Jalinus quickly closed the door and picked the reincarnate up.

"We have to run, sir Bashir. Horses are outside, but we have to go quickly."

Bashir seemed to grasp the situation at hand quickly, nodding and following Jalinus. They ran downstairs and quickly left the inn. Shield by the soldiers, Bashir sat on the horse with one soldier while reincarnate was with Jalinus. It was sad to say, but reincarnate was of bigger importance than Bashir was. And Bashir seemed to understand it perfectly. They rode as fast as they could, heading toward the city gates. Although the threat was most likely gone already, Jalinus didn't want to take the chances. If he could prevent Bashir's and reincarnate's death, he would do everything in his power to at least try. When they rushed through the city gates, soldiers were looking after them and muttering something to themselves. Jalinus was glad they made it out of the city. Now, that they had Bashir and reincarnate sound and safe, the only thing that was left for them to do was to return back. Back to their Shahanshah.