Elena made her way to her grandfather's study. After being in the castle for weeks, she
could finally navigate her way around it. She arrived at the big mahogany doors and knocked,
waiting for permission to come in.
"Enter." The king called out almost immediately. Elena slowly opened the door and
peeped inside. The king was already facing her.
"Elena, come in. We have been waiting for you."
Elena looked at her uncle, who had a weird smile as he stood next to the king. She
scrunched her brows, curious as she entered the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
"Is there a problem?" She asked.
"Whatever gave you that idea?" Her grandfather exclaimed as if even the thought of it
was evil.
She turned to face Wazir. "The way Wazir is looking at me right now." She still hadn't
gotten used to calling Wazir her uncle, and when he noticed her discomfort, he told her that she
could continue calling him as she had; he didn't mind.
Wazir chuckled, walking over to where she stood. "Is it wrong to smile now?" He said,
placing a hand over her shoulder.
"When it's with you it's suspicious. You always have that smile on your face whenever
you did something to Forest."
"Ah!" Wazir exclaimed, his eyes filled with mirth. "But that's different. Unlike what I
planned for Forest, yours is good news."
"I can't believe you're boasting about tormenting Forest."
"Better get used to it." The king's murmured drily from his seat.
"My questionable actions are not the reason I called for you today. Do you want to have a
seat?" He asked, already nudging her towards the seat opposite the king. She sat down, facing the
king, and watched as Wazir made his way back to his previous position.
"So, I was talking with father about the issue of your training." He started.
"My training?" Elena asked, curious.
"Wazir told me all about it." The king explained softly. "Your quest for revenge and
power. He said you are extremely gifted with the sword, and unfortunately, he isn't skilled
enough to raise your potential." Elena's face remained curious, not understanding where the
discussion was going.
"Father did some research." Wazir continued. "He looked far and wide for the best of the
best."
"Why couldn't you just pair me up with your head of guards?" Elena reasoned.
"If you could defeat Wazir in a week, defeating the head of guards would be a piece of
cake for you." The king declared.
"Why is that?"
"Well, because the King's head of guards has never been able to defeat me," Wazir said,
proudly puffing his chest and raising his head, a smug smile etched his face. The king rolled his
eyes.
"So, who did you find?" Elena questioned, slowly becoming excited. The king and Wazir
both looked at each other, then turned back to face her, both answering her simultaneously.
"Old Porv."
"Old Porv."
Elena stared blankly. "Who is that?"
"The greatest sword fighter ever! His sword fighting skills are said to rival gods, and it's
so beautiful and powerful it's like he was a god. His sword dance looks like magic, and he kills
without the victim even knowing when he made a move!" Wazir exclaimed excitedly. Even
Elena couldn't help but be excited about how he described her soon–to–be sword master.
Giddy with excitement, she continued her questions. "Where is he?"
At that, their expressions dropped, becoming less excited.
"Well, you see, that's the bad news."
"You never said there was bad news," Elena said, slowly frowning.
"It's not bad news per se..." The king quickly cut in. "It's just that the location of the
sword master may not be what you expect."
Elena frowned. "He doesn't live in Neba?" She asked. The King and Wazir shook their
heads. She looked at them, silently urging them to go on with their news.
"So it turns out that this master is a very secluded person." The king started. "But we
were able to narrow down the last places he was found."
"And that is where?"
"Northern and Southern part of the kingdom of Tush."
Elena's eyes widened. "The kingdom of Tush? That's very far!" She exclaimed.
"We know." The king replied, nodding his head. "But I think it would be a great
opportunity for you not only to explore but to learn great skills as well."
Elena remained silent, going over the news she had just heard. She couldn't deny that she
had always wanted to travel, but her dream only consisted of two kingdoms, the Kingdom of
Neba and Pres. She had never thought of going to Tush as the kingdom was very close to the
Blood Kingdom, the same kingdom she was trying desperately hard not to go to. She also
couldn't deny that the opportunity excited her. For her to see another world different from the
one she was used to. She wondered how her journey would be. Suddenly, she thought of
something important.
"What of grandmother?"
"She knows," Wazir answered while the king's face transformed into a doting one.
"She does? But she didn't tell me-"
"Probably not to scare you." The king cut in. "And I do know that despite your travels,
you would find a way to write a message to her, wouldn't you?" Elena remained silent.
"Would she be okay?" She asked almost as a whisper. Wazir gave a loud laugh.
"Your grandmother is not as weak as she might seem. Besides, you are only going for a
month."
"What of Mac, Forest?" She asked nervously.
"They have all been taken care of," Wazir said, nonchalantly waving his hands.
"Although Forest was adamant that he followed you, Mac gave his blessings. He tried so hard to
hide his sadness, but don't worry, I would take care of him while I'm still here." He beat his chest
proudly as an oath. "You can count on me." Elena smiled sadly.
"I would still need to see them all before I leave though."
"Great! It is settled. Once you're done, you start packing your needed belongings." Wazir
expressed excitedly.
"Wait!" Elena called out. "When do I leave?"
"I have gathered some of my men to escort you." The king answered.
"You leave at first light."
*****
The Kingdom of Pres.
The King's Castle...
The king watched as his wife ran towards the strange man she called her brother,
engulfing him in a tight hug.
"When did you return?" She heard him ask. "I missed you so much."
The strange man pulled away from her hug, smiling dotingly at her.
"Navina... You look well." The man said, calling the queen by her name. "We have a lot
of catching up to do, but first we have business with your husband..." He stated, glancing at the
king.
"I do not know who you are, but because you are my wife's brother, I would respect you
and welcome you to this kingdom. But please, stop the pandemonium you are causing."
"We have come to collect our debt from you." The man continued, totally ignoring what
the king said. The king heaved a sigh. He was angry at the lack of respect they were showing
him, but he knew he had to tread lightly because they were not ordinary people.
"What debt?" He asked. "I cannot remember owing you any debt."
"Do you remember when you came to us to ask for power to defeat your brothers? Have
you forgotten who assisted you during your civil war?"
"What? I never-"
"Brother," the queen quickly cut it. "It wouldn't hurt if we could all rest first and get to
know each other. Let us leave this discussion for later okay?" She said, trying to end the
discussion.
The man looked at his sister and noticed that she was signalling something. He scrunched
his brows but gave in.
"Very well. We can discuss this later." He said, emphasizing the last word. The queen
smiled brightly and sighed.
"Good. Then, let me arrange rooms for you and your men. You must have had a long
journey coming here."
"We have been in your kingdom for a while now." The king looked at them, not knowing
how to feel about that information.
"Really?" The queen exclaimed, smiling even brightly. "Why didn't you come over
earlier?" The man replied to her with a mysterious smile, saying nothing after.
"Follow me." She called out, strolling out of the throne room. Once they left the building,
the king took in his environment. There were groaning guards in each area, and not a single one
was touched by those men yet; there he stood while his wife led them out to make room for
them. The king didn't know why, but that was probably the first time he was suspicious of his
wife.
"Ugghhh," he grunted, holding his head at the sudden bout of headache that attacked him.
He had been feeling like that for a while now, and he had no idea why. He had gone to several
doctors to know what was ailing him, but none could tell what was wrong with him. He didn't
want to tell his wife as he didn't want her to worry. But if it was a terminal thing, he would have
to prepare a new king, and for that to happen, he had to betroth his beloved daughter.
He wondered about his first daughter. He shook his head when he thought of her escape.
The chit better be dead, else he would be the one to kill her.
*****
The kingdom of Tush.
Northern town...
After breakfast, they all went back to their rooms to rest. Calhoun thought about how he
would go ahead and look for a bride as he lay on his bed. He wanted to find a bride without
exposing his identity as the Blood king. After much thinking, he went out of his room to look for
the old man. He arrived at the base of the stairs and found Firoza laying atop a couch languidly, a
familiar book in her hands. Upon seeing Calhoun, she sat up immediately, dropping the book on
her lap.
"Sir Calhoun, do you need anything?" Calhoun looked around the living room,
wondering where the old man went.
"Have you seen the old man?"
"He left for his shop not too long ago."
"Hmm," Calhoun grunted, nodding his head as he made his way out to find the old man.
"Would you like me to follow you?" Firoza quickly asked.
"No. No need. I would be able to find the way myself."
"Oh okay," Firoza replied, looking strangely sullen.
Calhoun left the house, closing the door tightly behind him, ignoring the harsh noise it
made. He walked the stone path, climbed the archway, and followed the path that led out of the
forest. At the forest entrance, he walked further till he reached the alleyway between two walls.
He walked down that alley and continued for a while before reaching the back of the old man's
shop where he had first met him. Coming around the shop, he found the old man in the same
position he had met him the day before, asleep.
"Old man?" Calhoun called, startling the old man and causing him to land like a heap
again. He straightened, a huge smile on his face as if he hadn't just embarrassed himself. Calhoun
was beginning to think that this wasn't the first time it had happened to him.
"Oh, my guest! This is a surprise! None of my guests has ever visited me before. What
brings you here?"
Calhoun wanted to point out that he and his group were his first guests, as he told, but
something told him that would be a waste of time, so he opted to ignore the statement.
"I have some questions that I would love you to help me with." Calhoun started. "But on
my way here, I just realized that we haven't introduced ourselves, except you're comfortable with
me calling you old man?"
"Oh no, not at all." The man replied with a chuckle. "My name is James Porv, but you
can call me Old Porv. Old Porv is fine." The man replied, a strange glint in his eyes.