AN AMBER DAWN CREPT INTO THE EMBRACING ARMS OF the horizon, but unlike other days, the sun had awoken exhausted, weak from the dizziness of the lurking fog. A slight overcast towered over the land, yet there was no rain but only a small drizzle from the reigning mist begotten by the bastard fog. In the air was the smell of damp moss, and the scent of a passing thunderstorm played against the wind. The birds lay hidden in the womb of the trees, and the typical morning critters were not seen wandering about performing their daily meanderings but rather stood at the edges of the forest waiting to see what the day was to bring forth.
The greenness of the trees had been eaten up by the ambiguity of the fog, and the vibrant hill-land pastures leading up to the palace gates were characterized by a sense of mourning, as if the many acres of grass and dirt were weeping the death of beauty. The palace itself had lost all its majesty; the fog had caused grime to build up and molest the vibrancy it once had.
A few yards from the palace gates, a large, shapeless mass sprinted across the landscape. Elba and Luca carried the prince between them as they neared the palace gates.
“Quickly, we must get the prince to Torum,” Elba said.
But as they neared the entrance, Luca spotted a man running up their way.
“A Massangah,” Luca said, slowing down.
Massangahs were the official messengers of the Order, dressed in the brightest garments of red and gold. The Massangah slowed his pace as he approached the fallen Jubahn.
“Prince Luca, I bring a message from the Servantu Alta. You are to report immediately to the main hall for the pronouncement of exile.” After delivering the message, the man disappeared among the shadows of the dawn’s embrace.
Luca turned to Elba, and she sensed his worries. “Are you okay, young master?”
“I… I don’t know what’s going to happen to me,” Luca said. “I just wish things weren’t moving so fast.”
“I don’t think the pronunciation of exile will mean that you’ll be exiled immediately,” Elba tried to set his mind at ease, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Go now, my little prince. I’ll take care of your father. Come back when you have finished your business.”
“Thanks, Elba,” Luca said as he turned and made his way to the school.
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