It took the carriage almost an hour before we finally reached a pair of tall steel gates blocking the path. Two guards wielding spears stepped forward to confirm with the driver before tapping the bottom ends of their spears on the ground. In an instant, some kind of magic activated that made the gates make way for the carriage to enter.
I pressed my face against the window to watch in amazement as the steel gates slid to either side for entry and then automatically slid back in place as soon as we entered.
“Amazing...” I whispered in amazement by the sight.
While I am getting used to my unnatural situation, I’m still amazed to see magic each time it’s used. The concept of magic is something that can only be seen in animations or graphics on screen in playing games or watching videos. The closest thing to what could be considered magic is the mobile phones everyone use but they still only operate because of the signal towers located everywhere.
“I need to figure out how to use magic later on, otherwise, I’ll be in deep trouble,” I thought firmly.
I’m in a world filled with magic while its people carry weapons freely in broad daylight in public. Here it’s a common place for these kinds of things and to survive, one must be a master of them or be a master of being able to use alternative methods to survive.; the job called jack-of-all-trades.
“Well, at least I know I can use magic considering I seemed to have learnt the magic those guards used on that mad man earlier. The only question is… how?” I thought and contemplated before shrugging my shoulders to deal with it later.
While I was deep in thought, the carriage transported us for a few minutes before steadily slowing down until finally stopping. I felt the jerk of the carriage coming to a stop, and I looked out of the window to see a large scale garden with a path around the fountain located in the middle.
The driver jumped off the carriage and hurried over to open the carriage doors before dutifully stepping back with his head bowed a little. The princess looked at me and smiled momentarily before rising to her feet and getting off the carriage followed by her two maids. I exited the carriage last, and I met a sight that truly amazed me.
In front of me, there was a long line of maids and butlers standing on either side, creating a pathway in the process. They all had their heads bowed respectfully as the princess slowly walked towards the entrance of the castle while moving gracefully. It amazed me only for a moment before I lifted my head up to look at the castle.
“Incredible...” I whispered quietly in awe.
It looked spectacular with the stone walls constructed neatly with a clear design in mind that gave off an air of royalty. In all of my life, I have never seen such a life sized majestic looking castle before. Of course, I have seen castle illustrated in books, animated in videos and even ones decorated in amusement parks for visitor attraction.
“I never understood why people go crazy over castles, but seeing one first hand makes sense,” I thought, smiling softly as I continued to gaze at the castle.
“Um… Excuse me,” said a voice from close by, and I tore my eyes away to look at the maid talking to me. “The princess wishes for you to follow her.”
“Ah. Sure,” I said and nodded once before jogging my way until I reached her.
The princess is waiting for me just inside the castle and once I joined her, she smiled once before turning around to continue walking. I fell behind her and the maids that brought up her read while looking curiously around at the interior of the castle.
The interior of the castle is, as expected from standing outside, very large with the ceiling so far high above me. The walls were decorated with paintings of, what I assumed to be, the previous rulers of this kingdom. There were even miniature statues of their versions that all had a sword held firmly in their stone hands with smaller figures gawking over their majesty.
“This is so ridiculous!” I thought, struggling to keep myself from laughing at the silliness.
As we walked past, there were a lot of soldiers positioned around every corner of the castle but that’s only natural. I, on the other hand, did not like this fact one bit because they kept giving me these angry looks that made me avert my eyes. At first, I thought they were doing this because they were wary of me being a stranger and all but it’s still uncomfortable to be stared down like that.
Remembering a recurring event of something similar happening in few of the stories I read, I almost felt like replying, “Calm down, you lot! I don’t plan on doing anything to your princess,” but I remained silent. In fact, I’m fooling myself by trying to avoid thinking about the princess proposing to me.
“She proposed to marry me as a princess of the kingdom and not as someone that has affection for me,” I thought and almost felt like crying. “I mean, this is the first time in my life I got confessed to by a girl and it turned out to be not from the heart.”
I almost felt like crying from thinking like that, but I managed to retain my feelings. Knowing this exact reason is why I shut down my feelings and continued to move forward because there was no choice. I’m in a world I knew next to nothing about and there’s even the chance the princess is up to something. To survive, logic and reasoning play an important and while it is sad to say, emotions will only hold me back.
“Oh well. I’ll have to make a decision eventually after I meet with the king,” I thought firmly.
A few minutes later, we came to a stop and because I was deep in thought, I accidentally bumped into a maid. Realising what I did, I quickly backed away and waved my hand at her in a gesture of sorry.
“Ah. Ah. I’m sorry,” I said, blinking in surprise.
The maid turned around and gave me a blank look before nodding in acceptance of my apology. As she turned to face the front, however, I caught the fleeting of a moment glimpse of her face, and I became started to see a slight blush appear on her face..
“Huh?” I thought, feeling thoroughly confused by this. “Why is she blushing…? What’s with that reaction…?”
Before I could think more about it, however, the large doors slowly swung open in front of us. The next moment, I heard a loud voice announce our entry for everyone there to hear.
“Princess Aimi Rashwan has returned!”
When we entered the room, I was very amazed to find the room to be very large and on top of that, there were many people assembled there. These were probably the ministers, earls and those with royalty in their bloodline. The room was was more like a Colosseum with the king seated at the front while the seats of the spectators positioned around us, making it seem like the speakers is literally in the centre of attention.
I nervously gulped because all this attention was unnerving, but the maids held me back by my shoulders. It looked like the princess had given them orders to keep me from entering the spotlight until it was my turn. I felt reassured and while feeling a little nervous, I paid attention to the princess.
“I have returned, father!” she said, speaking to the man sitting on the throne chair.
“Yes. How were things at the area of the disturbance?” the king asked in a deep voice that was full of power and authority.
I was a little taken aback because I thought the king was some sort of weak guy because that was the impression I got of him out of his daughter. As it turned out, he’s different in person and it made me feel a little uncomfortable because I have to be very careful. It’s also a bit difficult to try and figure out what kind of man he is considering he’s sitting far away from me to make out his face.
“I’ll probably get to see him closer when I step into the spotlight, but… I don’t want to draw too much attention just to see his face,” I thought and chuckled to myself.
“It has been a fine visit and the problem is simply an internal discord between husband and wife. He attempted to ransom in exchange for her life and that is why I decided to see what I can do about it.”
Her words caused the people seated around to exclaim in surprise and anger.
“Ransom for a woman?! That’s absurd!”
“Is that man drunk?!”
“What were the knights doing when all of this is happening?!”
The princess raised an eyebrow slightly at the opening words of one of the ministers and raised her voice a little before speaking in a firm voice.
“The adventurers and knights were doing their best to keep the woman safe while trying to calm the man down while I was on my way. By the time I arrived, however, the problem’s been solved thanks to the man standing behind me.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
With that, she turned around and gestured at the men who is standing a little inside the shadows of the spotlight. Her words caused a stir within the crowd and they turned to look at me, which caused me to gulp nervously.
“Go to her,” the maid next to me whispered in a quiet voice.
“Oh!” I said, surprised because I had no idea that I am supposed to do that.
So, I took a deep breath and breathed out deeply before walking out into the spotlight. I did my best to keep a cool expression on my face while inwardly I felt very nervous with all the stares I am receiving. It’s nothing to do with my dislike for attention, but it’s mainly due to the scrutiny that these people were looking at me with. Even right now, I can imagine these people trying to size me up and determine just how strong, useful and knowledgeable I am for them.
“I better be careful, otherwise, I have no idea what these idiots will pull one me,” I thought cautiously while glancing sideways at them.
I finally reached the spot where the princess was standing, which was like a podium, and looked at her. She was softly at me and nodded her head once to reassure me about the whole situation. I, for my part, am not too sure to take her reassurance seriously, but I decided to trust her for now.
Facing the front, I finally saw the king’s face, and I was amazed to find how young he looked. At the same time, a window popped up in front of me that showed the details of the king.
Name:
Arkus Rashwan
Race:
Human
Title:
King
The position of a king is non-existent in my society which is modern in comparison to this world, so all I had were these illustrations and picture of what kings looked like in the middle ages. So, I imagined the king to be old with a bear and all, but the king before me is quite opposite to it.
He looked young and very youthful with a kind face that seemed incapable of bringing harm to anyone. Looking at his body, however, I noticed that he was a little overweight which made him probably sit with his back leaning against the throne chair. The crown on his head looked spectacular with diamond jewels embedded onto its surface.
“I see. So, this man solved that problem with relative difficulty?” the king asked, his voice deep and powerful, quite different to the kind of voice someone with such a kind face would have.
The princess nodded and she gestured for a knight from beside the maids to walk forward. He walked forward and unravelled a piece of scroll he was carrying before retelling the events that occurred between the mad man and me. It took him a few short minutes to explain before folding the scroll up and bowing before taking his leave.
“That is interesting, however,” the king began, and I noticed that he was giving me a sharp look that was filled with seriousness, “on the off chance that the man reached first and the woman was killed?”
As the king pointed that serious issue like the princess did previously, the rest of the crowd jumped in and began shouting their disapproval.
“That’s right! This man took a great risk at the cost of that pregnant woman’s life!”
“He is insane and must be punished for his foolish act!”
“What were the knights doing letting these sort of people disrupt our peaceful balance?!”
Their complaints rained like a shower of unpleasant commentary, but I didn’t care one bit. It’s true that the woman’s life would’ve been at great risk if the mad man reacted faster, but there was no time to think. If I didn’t act then, there was no telling what ridiculous behaviour that man might’ve shown and put his wife and unborn child into greater danger.
At that moment, the princess came to my rescue and said in a loud voice, “Yes! You’re all correct! He took a great risk! He even gambled with her life, but it was worth it. The woman is rescued, and the man has been imprisoned. No one was hurt during the cause except for him.”
As she finished, she pointed at my wrapped up hand and the place a wrapping was placed on my cheek. After receiving them, I felt a slight twinge of pain from my hand and cheek where I got cut, but they’re not a major harm to me.
The room went silent with everyone taking note of the wrappings placed one my hand and cheek. They were speechless because they were not sure of how to side this away and it made me inwardly smile. I am satisfied to see them sit there struggling for words to put me down. It’s the same with the bullies at my school, watching them get a dose of their own medicine is very pleasing to watch.
“Although, it’s a bit sadistic now that I think about it,” I thought and inwardly chuckled.
The king remained silent as if he was giving the chance for the others to speak and when finally it revealed that there was no one to speak, he finally sighed.
“Just what are you getting at, Aimi?” her asked her, looking shrewdly at her with a knowing look on his face.
She looked back at him with a firm look and replied, “What I’m trying to do is to save my kingdom by choosing… to marry this man.”
There was a sudden burst of outrage at her words and the people began shouting to make it clear their shock and dismay. I glanced around in amusement to see their utter shock while feeling sadness deep within once more because of how purposeful her love is instead of being romantic at all.
“Silence!” the king roared, his powerful deep voice echoing within the room and instantly silence fell. He glanced around at everyone with anger on his face before looking calmly back down at his daughter and said, “Explain.”
The princess smiled serenely up at her father and stated, “Father… and the minsters too… We all know that you risked it all and gambled away our kingdom’s assets. This man also risked a pregnant woman’s life and gambled it by rushing to her rescue, but he succeeded in saving her life. To me, you and him are not that different, but he succeeded in saving one life while you put the entire kingdom and its people in danger.”
Once again, her words sparked a range of outbursts from people all around us. I made a frown on my face while looking around at them as I couldn’t believe how stupid and ridiculous these people were. I mean, they behave like they’re five-years-old or something judging from their lack of composure and control over their emotions.
“Not that different?!”
“How dare you compare a measly low life commoner with his majesty?!”
“The king did what he must against the opponent and he lost fair and square!”
“The opponent is just strong and there’s no denying that fact!”
“We already developed a solution, so your interference is unacceptable!”
Not a single finger or voice was raised in defence of the princess and it made me feel very angry. It’s like a mob discriminating against someone because they have opposing feelings instead of listening and considering them. It’s infuriating to witness this because no matter the world, these things are always there and this unfairness is unforgivable.
So, I threw away my caution to the wind and said loudly, “Really? You developed a solution? By doing what? Selling away the princess of this kingdom to a neighbouring kingdom so that they solve your problems? Is that the solution you’re speaking off?!”
My voice can be loud when I want it to be and it was loud enough to make them shut their mouths. They hung their mouths open in shock and the princess turned to look at me in surprise.
I am going to state it clear that I am doing this not because I have feelings for her or anything. I mean, sure, I like her as a girl and all, but there’s no point in having it when my feelings are not returned, or rather, not even noticed. Instead, I’m doing this for myself because I couldn’t stand by and watch as one woman, princess or not, being bombed like this by these bastards.
One of the crowd members recovered a bit and slowly said, “Y-Y-You… H-H-How… dare you…?!”
I let my anger lead me, so I shouted, “I dare because I have a voice and the right to speak!”
Once again, there was silence within the room and this one lasted only for a few short seconds before the king asked, “What’s your confidence for you to speak like that?”
I remained silent for a moment while staring at him while gathering my thoughts before I replied, “I’m confident I will be heard and understood... because I’m trying to help the princess.”
Those were my honest words as I felt because, while I didn’t trust the other, I had some faith in the king. I know I should be more cautious, but the king gave off this strange air of trustworthy and more important of all, good judgement. This is all just based off my instincts and intuition because they’ve haven’t been proven wrong.
The people seated around erupted once more, but this time, the king merely raised his hand to stop them. Even the princess looked at me with an amazed look on her face which made me really want to smile at her, but I remained silent while staring back at the king. For some odd reason, however, he stared at me with a newly developed look of interest on his face.
The king suddenly chuckled and said, “The young are so caring and follow where their heart leads while the adults use their intuition and reasoning to move forward. Putting aside my role as king, I must choose the marriage of my daughter wisely for her life depends on it.”
He looked down at us and said, “We choose a man of a friendly kingdom that swore to help us in our time of need, but she choose someone else who, according to her, fits the role of our savour.”
I blinked at him in surprise and thought, “What the hell? The way he’s saying it is almost like he’s ridiculing everything she said about me! Oh man…! Don’t tell me I’m wrong about him…! D-Did I make a blind blunder…?!”
I was too shocked to open my mouth to speak, so I just stood there and stared at him in surprise. The princess, however, chuckled as if she found those words to be a joke which I couldn’t believe. Looking at her and back at the king, I became amazed to find that he was smiling at me with an interested look on his face.
The king suddenly declared, “Boy! What is your name?”
I was momentarily startled before I replying, “Uh… I’m Ram Shankar.”
“I see.” The king nodded once in recognition and asked, “Ram, do you have a weapon?”
“Nope,” I replied flatly.
“No weapon? Then, how did you defeat your opponent? Did your weapon break while fighting him?”
I found his question to be funny and chuckled as I said, “No. I just used my speed and skills to defeat him.”
“Mmm. Intriguing,” the king said and smiled at me which was friendlier than before. He looked around at everyone for a moment before declaring in a loud voice, “I, Arkus Rashwan, King of the Rashwan Kingdom, declare that if Ram Shankar be faced with a challenge and if he passes it, I will allow my daughter to be married to him.”
“What?!”
“Your majesty! You’re not serious?!”
While everyone was taken aback and astonished, the princess was surprised and she said, “Father...!”
The thought of the marriage made me feel very happy despite my feeling of regret lingering a bit. One thing being that the princess is doing this for the kingdom instead of truly loving me and another because this is happening without my parent’s knowledge.
I mean, most boys and girls would just go out, make love and get married without considering about their parents, but being so far away from my world kind of isolated me and made me wish my parent’s were with me in this important times. Anyway, before I could think more about the marriage part, however, I suddenly realised something that the king said caused worry to rise within me.
“Challenge? What kind of challenge will that be?” I asked the king while feeling a bit nervous.
The king smiled at me, but his eyes glinted dangerously and it caused cold sweat to form on my skin as he said, “The Challenge of Death.”