Chapter 88. Like a man left alone in the ruins
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"There hasn't been much movement so far."
"Really?"
Hashad twitched the corners of his mouth in disapproval.
He guessed they (Kayan & Ihedia) weren’t in love after all.
Ever since the banquet, news of Ihedia had been the talk of the town, even beyond the palace.
If the Black Wolf's spies were still in the capital, there was no way Kayan didn't know about it.
Hashad let out a small sigh and frowned.
Perhaps she wasn't good enough to use as bait.
He couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance.
A nagging suspicion, always present in his mind, made it impossible for him to let go of it completely.
On the surface, Kayan's indifference was not so strange.
'It's true that the slave he’s been favored with has done something outrageous, and it's natural if he feels betrayed, but .................. I'm still reluctant.'
Did that mean Kayan wasn’t interested in whose blood was in Ihedia’s belly?
Since they lived together for a while, surely the thought that it could be his child must have crossed his mind.
Or perhaps he knew Ihedia had been taking contraceptives so she must not want to have his children.
In that case, Kayan's decision not to seek out Ihedia was not a strange one.
But Hashad couldn't shake the unpleasant feeling that he had missed something.
His musings were interrupted by the voice of the aide.
"There have been reports of a strange beast sighting in the waters of the Apeso’s springs."
"A strange beast?"
"A wolf with black fur, but it's a bit.................."
"What is it?"
"It was so big, they said it didn't look like a normal wolf."
All this fuss over a wolf.
Hashad raised an eyebrow, annoyed by the whole thing.
"Do I really need to know that now?"
"Sire, I'm sorry."
The aide tensed at the sharp look in Hashad's eyes.
Piecing together what he'd heard, the wolf was not simply a large beast.
A creature taller than a human, with pitch-black fur and blue eyes.
It was more like a Hirpus, the spirit of Anut.
But common sense told him that such a divine being could not possibly exist.
Perhaps the soldier was sleepy and seeing things.
The aide decided to stop offending the emperor with his tales.
***
As the news of Kayan's treachery spread throughout Anut, the people were divided.
Those who believed that Kayan had always known he would rebel, and those who believed that the loyalist must have been falsely accused.
The latter couldn't openly criticize the imperial family for fear of being labeled a traitor, but they secretly blamed the emperor for abandoning his loyalty in hopes that Kayan wouldn't be caught.
Many of the warriors who trusted and followed him felt the same way.
Governed by the logic of power, the Anut warriors did not unconditionally support the Emperor.
Their respect for Hashad, a wolf clan who had never fought on the battlefield and who had inherited the throne on a whim, was as shallow as paper.
This had nothing to do with loyalty to the emperor.
Kayan's exploits, on the other hand, were comparable to those of Rakil and Odant, and they brought dazzling honor to Anut.
He may have been a notorious murderous maniac to his enemies, but to the countless Anuts who loved their country, he was a man to be admired and looked up to.
In the beginning, Hashad's quickness put the Black Wolves at a disadvantage, but as time went on, the tables turned.
If Kayan had been caught by Hashad in the nick of time, the Black Wolf's lineage would have been severed.
The Black Wolves had gathered in their second home, the southeastern region of Kimaz, and were moving in a prescribed sequence.
Kayan had counted every eventuality and had hypothesized and planned for it.
The Emperor's cunning betrayal of those who had served his country so loyally stirred the Black Wolf's pent-up anger.
The members of the organization were motivated by the fact that they finally had a chance to defeat the Emperor, who looked down on the Black Wolf.
They believed that as long as Kayan Bayate, the god of war, was present, the Black Wolf could not be defeated.
And Kayan did not betray their faith.
Every fight was about taking advantage of the opponent's confusion and breaking their momentum.
Using key bases he had secretly set up across the country, Kayan spread the word of Hashad's crimes among the people.
At the same time, he made contact with Tachigang, the leader of the Golden Wolves, and forged an alliance.
As expected, Tachigang was deeply unhappy with the Emperor's arbitrary behavior and did not want to see Kayan ousted from power.
With everything in place, Kayan raised an army in the name of hunting down the man who had murdered the former Emperor.
In some ways, this was similar to Gakhran, but the evidence the Black Wolf had obtained caused great anguish among the key Anut leaders.
But again, the lack of a clear motive for Hashad to kill the former Emperor made it difficult for a third party to take sides.
Kayan's reputation and Hashad's orthodoxy were at odds, and it was unclear who would prevail in the current situation.
Soon afterward, Kayan succeeded in cutting off the supply lines to the capital.
It was enough to turn the tide of the outnumbered situation.
That alone was a huge blow to the Emperor's army.
Hashad quickly pressed the people for supplies.
The emperor's behavior toward his own people was disgusting.
The Emperor's army was killed even before they set foot on Kayan's base.
Hashad, accustomed to sitting in the comfort of his throne and listening to reports recited to him, was no match for Kayan, who had spent half his life on the battlefield.
He always outnumbered Hashad.
The black wolves scoured the terrain of Kimaz, easily repelling the Emperor's army with fewer men.
It was a miraculous victory, but Kayan's eyes remained as dull as those of a man left in ruins.
***
Kayan was in his command center, meeting with his staff.
Spread out on the long wooden table was a military map with Black Wolf's coded names.
As they were discussing which of the military hotspots on the map might be suitable for diversionary operation, an officer burst through the door and whispered something in Kayan's ear.
"We'll postpone the meeting for now."
Kayan followed the officer out the door.
Their paths crossed at Kayan's barracks, the most secretive part of the base.
Inside, a young man was waiting for him.
As soon as the man saw Kayan, he dropped to one knee and offered the most respectful greeting according to traditional Anut etiquette.
"Greetings, Lord Kayan of the Black Wolf, the bravest warrior of the Anut. I am Adua Hematan."
A sharp light flashed in Kayan's eyes.
Hematan.
It was the last name of Cheshul, Emperor Rakil's chamberlain and the last holder of the will he had left behind.
Hashad and Kayan had followed in Cheshul's footsteps to find it, but they hadn't gotten much of a lead.
Cheshul and his family had died in an accident long ago.
Of course, the murder was disguised as an accident, and Hashad was the only one who could have been responsible.
Kayan searched for the youngest son, the only surviving member of Cheshul's family, but was unable to find any information about him.
Perhaps something had happened to him while he was on the run and he had lost his life, and just when Kayan had all but given up on tracking down Cheshul's son, he came to him.
The news of Kayan's rebellion and confrontation with the Emperor must have seemed like a last chance for Adua.
If Kayan was defeated in this fight, Adua would be a fugitive forever.
Adua sought out Kayan for one reason.
The late Emperor's will.
If it fell into Kayan's hands, Hashad would lose its only claim to legitimacy.
As Kayan suspected, Adua held out what he was carrying before Kayan.
It would contain a decree that Hashad would be dethroned as Crown Prince and replaced by Elgon.
Kayan accepted it with a dry gesture.
***
Hashad's authority was greatly shaken when the Emperor's secret will was made public.
Hashad was furious, claiming that it too was a forgery, but not everyone was so quick to believe him.
Instead, one by one, many turned against him.
The greatest reward for the late Emperor's will was Leom the Blue Wolf, the centerpiece of the Western Powers.
He had always been lukewarm to Kayan's appeasement, but when he saw the paper in the late Emperor's handwriting and seal, he was enraged.
Leom was Rakil's most loyal servant.
So he had silently obeyed Hashad's orders to protect the late Emperor's only bloodline, even if he had doubts.
But when the truth of the late Emperor's death became clear, he didn't hesitate to take Kayan's hand.
This gave Kayan the military power in the west that had been troubling him.
And so Kayan slowly prepared for the day when he would march on the imperial palace.
***
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