Queen Navina's brother walked around the room, hands folded tightly across his chest.
He was pacing about, taking in the information that his sister had just told him.
"You know that this is a big problem." He started. "If the elders find out about this, things
are going to head south." The room fell into another deep silence, the severity of the information
clouding what would have been a joyful meet.
"You know," the queen said slowly. "Now that I think of it, I do believe that the leaders
knew of my incident." Her brother turned to face her.
"What makes you say that?"
"Think about it. They were the ones who trained the chosen and taught her how to control
her powers. Wouldn't they also know how to tell when a person is being controlled by her? After
being with her for such a long time, I doubt they wouldn't recognize the signs."
Her brother nodded his head, placing his fingers on his chin as he thought deeply.
"What you are saying does make sense." He replied after a while. "If this is true as you
say, then that means there was a purpose for it." She nodded her head, sitting straight.
"They probably thought it was a good opportunity to take control of Neba without having
to stress themselves much. I do wonder though, why I wasn't told of this achievement."
"You are smart, brother. They probably knew that you would understand the situation
when you get here. And here you are."
"Yes," her brother said, straightening. "But we have a lot to do. Thanks to this
information, our plans have changed. Tell your husband that some friends would be coming
over."
Queen Navina stood up, her hands landing by her side. "He is probably still not
comfortable from the unique entrance you made earlier."
Her brother walked towards her, a mysterious smile on his face. "Apologize to him then.
Tell him that it comes from me and as a way to repay his kindness, how about I make his
kingdom the strongest of the four kingdoms?"
*****
The Kingdom of Tush.
Southern Border town…
It was night by the time they arrived at the kingdom. There were few people on the
streets, and from the way they were walking or dressed, Elena immediately surmised that they
were night workers or drunkards. There was no light except for that of the moon, which was
bright enough for Elena to view her path. They trotted slowly atop their horse, checking out their
environment while wary.
The town was strangely quiet, and except for the obscene words uttered from the mouths
of the prostitutes, nothing else could be heard. Not even a cry of a bird.
"Sweetheart, why don't you come down here and have a good time?" A male prostitute
called out. "I can assure you that it's one you would never forget." He said, his dirty smile
illuminated by the moon's rays. Elena trotted past the prostitute, making sure not to have eye
contact with him. Forest, who had put on a hood earlier, joined her pace right behind her.
When they had finally reached a reasonable distance into the town, Elena jumped off her
horse, holding tightly unto its reins. They walked a little bit farther into the city and came upon a
building that was strangely lit and bustling with customers in the dark and quiet town.
Elena tied her horse to a pole next to the building and went inside with Forest right
behind her. Just by the building entrance, they were overwhelmed by the noise and the smell of
harsh alcohol and piss. There were torches hung at every corner of the room, displaying the
environment brightly. Night workers were seen everywhere showing their assets, and some of
them worked as waiters. Elena moved deeper into the crowd, her hands tightly clasped with
Forest. As the crowd was thick, she didn't want to miss him or get lost. They walked to the
bartender, and before she could have a seat, a rowdy man pushed her away and took the chair for
himself, not bothering to look at her.
Elena was not used to places like that, so she stood quietly till she could grab the
bartender's attention. After a while of being pushed and grabbed, the bartender was finally close
enough for her to call.
"Good day, sir." She whispered a bit loudly. The bartender stopped what he was doing
and looked at her, shock and suspicion etched on his face.
"Yer not from around here are ya?" The man questioned straightforwardly. Before Elena
could answer, he continued,
" 'cause I can't remember da last time I was properly' greeted with respect! Come on lass.
What are ya doin' in a place like this?"
His accent was thick, and Elena found it hard to grasp what he said.
"We are looking for an inn." She concluded. Rather go straight to the point than drag her
time here. People were beginning to look at her and Forest strangely.
"Oh, an inn ya say? Ya have come to the right place. We are an inn!"
Elena beamed, happy despite her situation. "Okay. Can you please tell us how much for a
room?"
"30 pieces of gold."
Elena's eyes widened in shock, not expecting that amount just for a night. Before she
could reply, she was pushed back by Forest, who took her place facing the counter.
"Thirty pieces? Are you trying to rip us off? I'll offer you 15 pieces last."
"Ha boy, ya drive a hard bargain." The bartender said, wiping off a cup.
"Make that 20 pieces and we have a deal."
"10 pieces." Forest forced. The bartender frowned, and Elena grew nervous, holding
tightly onto Forest's arms and silently signalling for him to give in.
"Make it 16 pieces then," the man said with a scowl.
"You have a deal," Forest exclaimed, smiling hugely. "We would be taking two rooms,
one for me and one for her."
The bartender nodded, going over to his shelf and picking up a new jug of wine. He
walked back to them and tilted his head towards a figure behind them.
"Ya see dat rotund woman? De one who keeps shouting and makin' a hell of a noise? Go
meet her, and she would lead ya to ya rooms."
"Thank you!" Forest replied, already making his way toward her. Elena dragged him back
and whispered into his ear.
"What of our horses?"
Forest looked back at the bartender as if remembering something, and he called out,
"Sir, what about an extra 10 gold coins for both our horses?" He asked with a weird
smile.
The bartender looked at him with a scowl, pausing what he was doing. "Make that 12 and
we have a deal."
"Deal." Forest agreed immediately. "Our horses are tied to the pole outside this bar."
Not waiting for the bartender to reply, he dragged Elena and headed for the woman the
bartender had described. The woman was round, perfectly fitting the rotund description the
bartender had given her. Her hair was folded up in a bun covered by a hairnet. She had put on
outlandish makeup; her lipstick was redder than necessary, and her blush made her look like she
was bleeding. When she shouted, Elena could notice the glint of the gold tooth in her front teeth.
She also had a heavy ring on her left index finger which she occasionally touched.
"Ma'am? Ma'am!" Forest called out, trying to get her attention. It was a futile attempt as
she was busy harassing the young night workers who she claimed hadn't paid their dues. She was
still in the middle of berating one when Forest couldn't take it anymore and walked over to her,
pushing her victim out of his way.
"What da hell did ya do dat for?" The woman shouted. With a pleasing smile which
Forest used to charm ladies back at the restaurant, he asked the woman.
"We just rented an inn. Can you please take us to our rooms?"
Elena could see that the woman was utterly taken with Forest. Her eyes, which were once
bursting with anger, were filled with awe and reverence. Elena couldn't blame her. Forest was
that handsome. She was glad he never used his charms on her. The woman stood up and
indirectly checked herself, wiping the creases of her dress, making sure that she looked
appropriate before she could speak with Forest. As Forest still had his hood on, not many people
could see his face, making them wonder what had caused the woman to change her attitude.
"Yes, yes. We do have a few rooms. Come, I'll lead you there." The woman's eyes
latched solely on Forest, and Elena suspected that the woman hadn't noticed her at all.
Following the woman, they both were drawn into the thick crowd, and as they neared a
stairway, they came upon a male prostitute she had earlier seen, servicing a woman who looked
like she had reached the ninth level of heaven. With a blush, Elena removed her sight from them
and focused on the path they were taking. The stairway became darker the farther they climbed
it, and Elena could hear some obscene sounds and moans coming from the far corner. They
reached a passageway lit up by only two torches, and the woman led them a bit down, stopping
at the front of a door.
"Here you are, the best room at our inn. You can have it." Her expression was of one
looking for praise for doing a good job. Forest ignored her and turned to face Elena.
"You can have this one." He said. Elena looked at him and back at the woman, who was
already scowling.
"Who is she? Ya didn't tell me ya were bringing a woman!" She almost screamed. Elena
almost felt insulted. She suspected that the woman hadn't noticed her, but she didn't know what
to think after confirming her suspicions.
Rolling his eyes, Forest replied the woman with a dry look. "She is my sister." The
woman's countenance changed immediately to a doting one. It was almost comical the way she
could easily switch her expressions.
"Oh, run along then. I'll give ya brother de room next to ya, okay?" She said. Her smile
would have been warm had she not put on the makeup smeared heavily on her face. Now that
they were closer, Elena could see that the makeup was coming off her face due to sweating. It
looked like her skin was peeling.
Elena nodded her head and looked at Forest. "I want to see your room first." She
whispered. The woman smiled again, a bit reluctantly this time, and took forest to a room two
doors from hers. It wasn't that far off from where her room was, and the distance was acceptable.
Forest opened his room, and Elena looked inside, inspecting it. It was clean and neat, with just a
bed and a small chair by the side. A lamp was placed by the far end of the room on a small stool,
and despite the usual arrangement, it lit up the room nicely.
"Ya like the room, right?" The woman called from behind them. Forest turned to face the
woman and gave him another one of his most charming smiles.
"Yes, I love it. Thank you."
The woman was enraptured.
"I'll bring up breakfast for ya early morning. Is that alright with ya?"
"Yes. I appreciate that. Goodnight."
The woman left them there, walking out of the passage with a dreamy look on her face.
Finally left alone, Forest looked at Elena and brought his hood down.
"Let's go check out your room." They walked back towards the room given to Elena and
opened its door. It was a bit bigger than the one given to Forest, and its furnishings were more
elegant. Unlike Forest's, which had only a small lamp stool and a side chair, Elena's room had a
side desk, a much larger lamp stool, and a wider bed. Coming closer to the bed, she recognized
the fabric used on it. It was poor quality silk, but it did well to enhance the room. Its colour was
beige, just like the colour of her wall, whereas the colour of Forest's room was lighter grey.
"This is a nice room," Forest exclaimed, humming softly. Elena turned to face him.
"Are you sure you don't want to have it?"
"No. You can take it." Forest replied.