by Jamie Gandy
The heat of his breath burns against the back of my neck, sending shockwaves of fear throughout my entire body. I whirl around to face the Ifrits and gasp in horror at the demonic being standing, or better yet, hovering above me. His soulless yellow eyes glare down at me like I am a piece of meat to be consumed. His long red clawed hand reaches out for me, sliding around my throat to lift me up off the cave floor. I try to scream for help, but no sound escapes. Dread more powerful than any emotion I have ever experienced, more than the heartache of losing my mother, ripples inside of me. In an act of desperation, I jerk my knee forward and slam it hard into his chin. The impact makes his grip on me release, giving me enough time to dash towards the adjoining room. A wave of relief is just about to wrap around me, until I see the Chimera and Cerberus emerge from within the shadows. The relief quickly evaporates.
“There is no turning back now. We have you trapped, and your precious Prince is not here to save you.” I turn to face the Ifrits and swallow hard as he draws closer to me. “Are you ready to get devoured?” The sliva of the gnashing fangs of the six heads of the two beasts behind me showers me. With each step he takes closer to me, I take a step back, closer to the hungry monsters. “Your time is up, boy!” I feel the pressure of fangs from six different mouths clamp down on my body and there is nothing I can do to stop it or fight it. “Sebastian, help me!!!” I use the last of my energy to call out to the one person I know would save me… if only he could. “Sebastian, help me!!!”
“Hector, wake up, brother. I am right here, just wake up!” I feel him start to shake me, forcing my eyes to blink open in the dimly lit room. I quickly sit up in bed, my heart racing so fast I can barely breathe. He carefully strokes my back in hopes to sooth me. His concerned expression gleaming in the lantern light. I gasp for air for a couple of seconds before I am able to regain my composure. Sebastian stands up and moves to the pitcher of water on the nightstand to fill up the glass. He hands it to me when he sits back down. I take the offered drink and gulp it down.
“Are you okay now?” The dim fire light flickers off his amber eyes, making them look almost intimidating.
“I think so. Thanks, Sebastian…” I quietly reply. Although my tone must not convince him, because he leans forward a little to level his eyes on me.
“I know you better than anyone else, Hector, what are you not telling me? You have not woken up from a nightmare in over five years, that I know of anyway. What happened in that cave to have made you so scared? Did you see the spirit that the bandit told us about?” he questions me. I know he does not ask just because he wants to know about what was inside the cave, he asks so he can help me, in the only way he can.
‘I can tell him about the monsters, just not about that demonic sword,’ I reason with myself. I set the glass of nearly empty water on the nightstand and exhale a tired sigh. “It was more than just a spirit,” I begin slowly. “Do you remember the stories mom used to tell us about there being angels, demons and mythical beings that can never truly be explained? Like the Unicorn?” When I see him nod his head in answer to my question I continue on. “There was one such creature, among a Chimera and Cerberus, that looked like a demon, he called himself Ifrits. They were terrifying…” I look towards the window in our chamber and swallow hard to keep the fear from making my voice tremble.
“Chimera and Cerberus? No way!” he quietly gasps in shock. After a minute in silence he seems to connect the two links. “Why would they let you and the Prince live?”
I carefully consider how to explain this part without breaking my promise to the Prince. “They were guarding something very valuable and incredibly evil, beneath the cave. They allowed us to go, because we were not worth their time…” I shrug my shoulders a bit helplessly. I hate lying to my brother, but what choice do I have? I exhale a tired sigh.
“I know I am safe now… but I just… cannot shake that helpless and terrified feeling that keeps suffocating me. The eyes of the Ifrits…. Honestly if the Prince was not there the Chimera and Cerberus likely would have devoured me.”
When I look back at my brother his head is slightly tilted to the side, his gaze narrowed with confusion. “Why would the Prince have made a difference in those beasts harming you or not?” he inquires.
“It was… just a feeling I got. He was not afraid of them at all. He is a lot braver than I am, that is for sure. I would have turned around and bolted out of there instantly if it was not for the Prince being there with me. Sir Adir and Gideon must constantly have to get him out of trouble because of him wanting to explore.”
“I would not want their position,” he smirks. “I am sorry I was not there for you, brother… I am sorry that you had to be put in that situation.” He lowers his head, as if bowing in apology. “I should have been there sooner for you.”
“You were there for me, brother. You fought those bandits, and you were the one that found Lady Catherine and returned her to the Castle before guiding the Knights to rescue the Prince and I,” I exclaim.
“I could have been there sooner…. If you had died… if you had been devoured by those beasts…“ his words trail off, his voice still laced with shame.
I reach out my hand and rest it on his shoulder, prompting his gaze to return to me. “Sebastian, I am alive, that is all that matters. I am safe… maybe a bit more scared than I was before, but I am alive.” I slide an arm around his neck and lean forward until our foreheads are slightly touching each other. “Thank you for coming for me, and for not giving up.”
“I will always come for you, brother. I will always be on your side, no matter what,” his reassuring words wrap around me.
“I know you are, even in my nightmare I knew you would come for me and save me.” I smile at him.
“That is what brothers are for. You are safe now, Hector.”
After a couple minutes longer talking, he stands up and walks over to his bed that is pressed to the opposite wall as mine. “Try to get some more sleep, if possible.” He lays down after burning out the lantern. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” I repeat. I lay my head back down on the pillow, I do feel better, more comfortable by his presence. I close my eyes, as I do the sound of my mother’s sweet voice fills my mind. Reciting an old scripture, ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.’ I remember how my mother patted me on the top of the head and smiled her glorious smile. ‘Son, whenever you are backed into a corner with no way out, or you have to travel into the valley. Always remember that He is with you, He will be your strength.’ A warmth spreads throughout my body at the memory. ‘I miss you, mother…’ As the thought flows through my mind, I drift off back to sleep.
Chapter Fourteen:
♔ Kage Tora: ♚
I hear a knock on the door to my temporary chamber, stirring me from my deep, peaceful sleep. “Prince, it is time to get up,” I hear Gideon’s voice call. “I am coming in.” I cover my head with the pillow as he walks into the room and opens the curtains.
“Gideon, I command you to go away, this instant,” I warn him. He ignores me.
He walks over to the bed and picks the pillow off my head and tosses it aside. “Come on, you need to get ready. Miss Gloria has prepared us breakfast before we head back to the Castle.”
“I just want five more minutes, is that too much to ask for?” I protest. I huff out a groan as I sit up and rub my eyes. “You are fired from your job as my guard, now go bother someone else.”
Gideon’s responding laughter mocks my command. “Sure, whatever you desire.” He walks across to where my clothes hang. He grabs them and carries them to the bed to lay them down. “One of the maidservants cleaned your clothes, so get changed. I will wait right outside.”
Once he is gone, I mutter under my breath as I force myself to slide my legs over the side of the bed and stand up. It does not take me long to change. Once I am dressed, I go over to my wash bowl and freshen up
before walking over to the door. I push it open and instantly see Gideon waiting. “I would hate having your job,” I comment half-heartedly.
“I completely concur, Prince. Lording over people would be too hard for me.” His smile is just as mocking as it had been a few minutes ago. “Come on, the others are waiting for you.”
“You know, Gideon, sometimes you are insufferable,” I chide him. We walk the rest of the way in silence until we enter the dining hall. The large table, which had not been even half full last night, is now. The two seats left are meant for Gideon and me. I seat myself at the same chair as last night, at the head, however opposite of me, way on the other side, sits a muscular man that is so tall and stoutly that he reminds me of a grizzly bear I saw him one time on a trip to LionsShield. He bows his head to me, along with everyone else at the table. When his dark brown eyes lock on me, I wonder how many people around the table get intimidated by the look he gives them. His dirty blonde hair reaches just beyond his shoulder blades.
“Good morning, Your Highness.”
“Good morning, Sir Alexander,” I return his greeting. I nod to the men around the table, a mix of TigersKeep Knights and FoxGuard Knights. My eyes fall on the man to Alexander’s right, he is not as tall, even just sitting in the chair, then the Head Knight, but he is almost equally as muscular. His hair is curly brown that barely touches the nip of his neck. Unlike his leader, his eyes hold a great deal of kindness in their blue gaze. “Good morning, Sir Isaac.”
“It is good to see you, Your Highness,” Isaac replies.
“I assume Sir Adir has already spoken to you about why we are here?” I glance at Adir, who sits on my other side. Next to him Hector and Sebastian reside.
“Yes, we talked last night. Your men did FoxGuard a big favor for getting rid of those bandits, you have our thanks,” Alexander comments. “We are indebted to you, Your Highness.”
“There is no need for that. The safety of FoxGuard is dearly important to me. I may still only be the Prince of Kallai, but what happens to the people of my Country matters to me. I am just glad Sir Adir and his men were able to help FoxGuard.” I shift my gaze up to Arial as she fills my empty glass with orange juice. I nod my appreciation to her before taking the glass. I lift it high up, everyone else follows suit. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
I am just putting my glass back down after taking a drink when a little girl bursts into the dining hall and runs right up to Isaac. “Sir Isaac, who are all these men? I have never seen them before!”
Isaac gently pats the little girl on the top of the head before motioning towards me. “That is the Prince of our Kingdom, Iris. One day he will be the King,” he explains.
Her big adorable green eyes widen as she stares at me in shock. “Really? That is sooo cool! Can I be your Princess one day?”
I can hear both Sebastian and Hector forcing themselves not to burst out with laughter. I rise from my chair and walk the whole table length to stand in front of the little girl. “I cannot promise such a position to just anyone, especially not until I know their name.”
Her cheeks turn bright pink as she looks up at me. “My name is Iris Sinopa. I will be six years old very soon.” She nods her head confidently. “Now that you know my name can I become your Princess?” the way she asks makes my smile grow even more. However, before I can answer her, the sound of her name being called interrupts us.
“Iris! How many times have I told you not to charge in on Sir Alexander when he is dining with his men!” the blonde-haired girl that walks into the room scolds Iris. She does not stop walking up to us until she catches sight of me. Her eyes widen in shock. “You are the Prince?”
I nod my head to answer her. “Yes.”
“He is the Prince of all Kallai! One day he will become King. I just asked him if I could be his Princess one day, when I am older,” Iris chirps excitedly. I cannot stop myself from laughing with her.
“Come on, sister, be reasonable,” she lightly chastises her. Her smile, like her little sister’s, is radiant, and the blush that colors her cheeks makes my heart skip a beat. “I am sorry for her intrusion, Prince.” She bows her head in apology to me.
“Do not worry about it,” I reply. I watch her as she turns to usher her sister out of the room. “Wait, what is your name?”
She halts at the door to look at me. “Seren, Seren Sinopa.” They both bow their heads at me before disappearing out of the room.
“That was unnecessary, Your Highness. You did not need to entertain her,” Alexander remarks. Part of me wants to ignore him, but instead, I lightly shrug my shoulders as I return to my seat. “I have a sister, whom I am very close to, so it was just natural.”
“It was very kind of you, Your Highness,” Isaac praises.
I nod at him. The idle chatter that starts up during our breakfast is pretty uninteresting, but the food is wonderful. Once we finish up, we head out of the dining hall and go to the stables. Where the boy from last night already has our horses saddled for us.
“Thank you again for allowing us to stay here,” Adir comments.
“It is us that should thank you, you did us a huge favor in getting rid of those bandits.” I watch as Adir and Isaac clasp hands and shake them. “If you ever need anything, do not hesitate to ask us.”
I mount Dovah before turning the stallion to face Alexander. “Until next time,” I wait for them to finish their bow before I whirl my mount around, facing my Knights. “Let’s go home!” I nudge Dovah forward and he instantly kicks off the ground and sends us galloping out of the FoxGuard gates. Adir and the others following close behind on their own respective steeds.
The ride back to TigersKeep takes a lot longer than I would have liked, but when we eventually reach the wonderful Castle we trot into the inner courtyard. “Thank the Creator!” I hear my sister praise before I even see her. The moment I dismount Dovah she is in my arms, with her arms flying around my neck. “You idiot, you scared me half to death! I was starting to think I was never going to see you again!” I can feel several hot teardrops slide down her cheeks, tracing my own. When I gently ease her back, I smile down at her.
“I am okay, Esther. I am very sorry that I worried you so much. I am safe now,” I reassure her. I look past my sister to my cousin as she runs over to hug me.
“Cousin, I am so relieved that you are back!” she says.
“Me too.”
When she eases out of my embrace, I notice the look of relief cross her face when her eyes fall on Sebastian. I raise a curious eyebrow but decide to ignore it for the time being.
“Thank the Creator!” I whirl my head around at the sound of my mother’s cry. I watch in shock as she runs towards me with open arms. In all my years I have never, ever seen her act anything but dignified in the face of any situation, especially in public where her loyal subjects are observing her. Her arms are constricting around my shoulders before I can register it. “Thank You, Almighty Creator for bringing my son back safely.”
The warmth and depth of her emotional tone comforts me. I know I should probably feel embarrassed, that I should push her away and simply smile at her. However, I love her far too much to be disrespectful to her open affection. Ignoring the eyes watching the both of us, I wrap my arms around her and hug her. “I am safe, mother, you have nothing to fear now,” I whisper into her ear.
“Let us take this elsewhere.” I ease back from her embrace when I hear my father’s voice. I can see the brief look of disapproval in his navy blue gaze. As he turns to lead the way into the inner Castle my mother turns her attention to Adir.
“Sir Adir, thank you for bringing my son home safely.” She bows to her Knight before following after my father.
Esther walks at my side as we follow our parents through the halls. “He was really mad when I returned to the Castle. He spent over an hourglass scolding me,” she whispers only loud enough for me to hear her. I swallow back the sudden lump in the back of my throat. “I would bet he is going to d
o the same thing to you.”
I exhale a tired sigh. When we reach the Throne Room our father does not turn to face us until he takes his seat on the Throne. At this moment his eyes bore down on me. “Care to explain why you went off and got not only yourself, but your sister and cousin in danger? Praise the Creator you are all alive, but we all could have been burying your bodies right now! You are not in a position to be as reckless as this, Kage!” He stretches out his massive arm to point a finger at me. “You are the heir to Kallai, you will be King one day. The future of our Kingdom is in your hands, you cannot afford to be this childish!” the deepness of his warning sounds like a fierce growl.
I want to cringe; I want to coward back and hide from his anger. However, I refuse to show such weakness in front of him, especially after facing off with the Ifrits. “I know what my role is for this Kingdom. I will admit that I was foolish, I irresponsibly put Esther, Catherine, along with the Duke’s sons, in harm’s way. For that, I am deeply sorry, not to you, but to them. Their lives are precious to me, not because I am their ruler, but because they are my friends.” I glance over at my mother to see the genuine smile lifting her lips at my boldness. “I will not be as reckless next time. I will do my best to avoid putting their lives in danger again. I do promise you that.” My dark navy gaze is locked with the same colored eyes of my father, as my King’s. I know the fierce challenge burning in them are equally as commanding in my own eyes.
“Like father, like son,” I finally hear the laughter of my mother break the tension rising in the Throne Room. She walks up to the side of the Throne and affectionately rests a hand along my father’s shoulder. In response, his anger is tamed. He leans back against the Throne and wraps his arms around his chest. “It is like looking into a mirror, is it not dear?”
He huffs out a breath of air in annoyance. “Unfortunately.”
I feel Esther slide her hand inside my own to gently squeeze it. “Relax, brother.”
”Your father is angry simply because he does not want anything to happen to either one of you, ever. It is not just because Kallai depends on both of your survival, but because you are his precious children. He is too proud of a man to confess such emotions, but it is the truth.” She leans down and places a kiss on his cheek before she breaks the distance between us. “And as for me, I love you two with everything I am. If anything were to happen to either of you I do not know how I could keep living.” She wraps an arm around me, and the other around Esther to hug us both. “I love you, my beloved children. Please never scare me like this again.”
