"Royal Sister, we mustn't!" A small child of doll-like beauty and porcelain skin waved his tiny arms in panic and hurriedly shouted. "Father will scold us!"
His companion, a teenage girl, shot him an amused look and gently patted his head. "Worry not, little brother," she consoled. She then wore a proud expression on her face and harrumphed. "We shall not be caught!"
"Hurry up." Not giving the boy a chance to complain, she grabbed him by his hand and dragged him to join her in her folly. The two children sneaked past the soldiers and maids dotting the palace corridors and soon arrived at an unassuming dead-end.
"Royal Sister!" cried the boy.
"Shush!" hushed the teenage girl. She released her grip on her smaller sibling and walked toward the portrait-covered wall in front of her. She stopped before a particular portrait, ignoring all others, depicting the scene of sunrise dawning upon the capital city. Standing on her tiptoes, she stretched her dainty finger and pushed the right corner of the portrait's frame. Against all odds, the frame sank in and the quiet sound of mechanical wheels echoed.
"It was true!" exclaimed the teenage girl; face flushed with exhilaration and adventure. She then turned around and beckoned her younger brother. "Come here, quickly! Else I will leave you alone and go."
The boy looked torn. On one hand, he feared being punished by his father whilst on the other; he too was overcome by a feeling of adventure. In the end, it was the latter feeling that prevailed. Uselessly tiptoeing, he arrived next to his sister. Just in time, the wall on their right revealed a crawlspace that led into unknown places.
"Quick! Before it closes!" cried the teenage girl. She then entered the crawlspace on her fours first before urging her younger brother to follow. "Follow me!"
Unwilling to be left behind, he followed. The wall soon closed and the two children were overcome by thick darkness.
"Royal sister!" screamed the boy, afraid of the dark. Though similarly afraid, the teenage girl forced herself to remain calm. She patted the darkness to find the younger boy's head and assured him upon finding it.
"Be not afraid. Here, grab onto my dress and follow me," she said, mustering all the courage in her heart. The boy tearfully nodded before following her instructions.
Trapped in complete darkness, the two children had no choice but to crawl along the passageway. The teenage girl bumped her small head against the stone wall many times during the blind adventure. The dull pain on her head nearly brought the young girl to tears. However, she did not allow herself to cry; she did not want to startle her timid younger brother.
An inordinate amount of time passed when finally, the two children found a light at the end of the tunnel. Joyous, they hastened their limbs and soon arrived at the source of light. The source, they discovered, was a metal mesh that overlooked a familiar room; their Royal Father's office.
The two children revelled in joy. Just as they were about to complete their innocent prank by howling a fierce howl to startle their father, they held their tongue. The sound of argument arrived at their ears.
"Royal Brother, please! Please, please, please! I beg you!" cried their Royal Uncle, Rodriguez, on his knees. His face was a tear-ridden mess and his hands grabbed at their Royal Father's legs. He possessed none of his usual elegance and imperial grace at the moment. "Please just grant me this one request!"
From where the children sat, they were unable to view their father's expression. However, the tone of his following words caused the two children to tense up with fear.
"I refuse." His voice was infinitely cold and utterly ruthless.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"ROYAL BROTHER!" cried Rodriguez once again. He then clambered forward and begged in an even more humiliating fashion. "Please! I've never once asked anything of you before! Please, please! Please grant me this one request. I swear to disappear after that. I promise to never return. You will never hear a single squeak from me."
Slap! The sound of a crisp slap echoed. Rodriguez's cry stopped and his body came to a still.
"What gall! You dare request this and that too, to me!? What gave you such courage? What possessed you to think that I would possibly agree!? Bastard!" He slapped him once more. "You are the shame of our family! A stain upon our name! Do not dare call yourself my brother! Degenerate cur!"
Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! The emperor seemed to lose himself to his anger. He continued to strike Rodriguez's immobile self.
"Do you think I dare not to have you beheaded!?" howled the emperor. He then spat upon his brother and said, "Leave this instant and disappear from my sight! If I so much as catch sight of a strand of your hair, I will have you struck down then and there, and feed your body to the dogs! Leave!" He flourished and kicked Rodriguez to remove him from his legs.
Rodriguez lifelessly fell. His pride and self-esteem had utterly crumbled after being insulted, slapped, kicked, and spat upon. His eyes looked hollow and blank. Stumbling onto his feet, he pressed on his broken rib and bowed. "I will never appear before your eyes ever again," he said.
Utterly furious, the emperor harrumphed and did not give him a reply. Rodriguez turned around and left the office.
The two children, who had witnessed this incident, held their breaths in fear that they would be heard by their furious father. They then quickly turned around and scrambled in the direction of their earlier passage, dropping their idea for the prank. It was only after exiting the crawlspace and appearing once again in the corridors of the palace outside, did the fear in their hearts receded.
The teenage girl wore an unusually solemn expression on her face as she turned around to severely warn her brother. "Do not ever mention this to anyone! It is best that you forget what you saw today!"
The smaller boy absentmindedly nodded his head. Unlike his sister, he wasn't too familiar with the quarrel and only understood that his Royal Father was furious about something. Fearing his father's anger, he resolved to forget everything.
Being smart and incisive, the teenage girl appeared to have somewhat pieced together the truth behind this incident. Her head fell to hide the complicated expressions on her face as she too resolved to forget everything that happened today.
Alas, little did anyone know that this was the incident that stoked the fires of treason within Rodriguez's heart.
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Alexandros woke up with a severe headache tearing through his mind. The pain was so intense that it was akin to someone stabbing dozens of knives into his brain and twisting them. The boy emperor screamed and writhed on his bed as he fought against the pain. Eventually, the headache seemed to recede and Alexandros was left a sweaty, panting mess.
His chest heaved furiously as he lay staring at the tent's roof. Images and memories slowly and painfully filtered into his conscious mind, reminding him of when and where he was.
The memories assembled themselves after a while and Alexandros remembered the events that had occurred.
"Master and I arrived at the Iron Rhino Tribe to rescue Teacher Wuzhi… There, we saw the Iron Rhino tribesmen slaughtering each other. Master and I were then attacked by the enemy tribe's people. I was struck on the back of my head by a shaman and lost consciousness."
"Where… am I?" Alexandros' face paled. He then threw aside the blankets covering his body and ran outside the tent. He then stopped upon seeing a familiar scene.
Half-naked Hielanders were running around with tense yet excited expressions. Alexandros noticed warriors sharpening their blades, slaves loading carriages, and shamans chanting and blessing the battle-ready men.
Unable to answer his curiosity, he stopped one of the hurrying Hielanders and asked, "What's going on? Why is everyone busy making war preparations?"
The man shot a dumbfounded look towards Alexandros. "Haven't you heard? We are going to war with the Lowlands!"
At his reply, Alexandros could not help but blurt out. "What about the Iron Rhino Tribe?"
"What about them?" the man arrogantly rebutted. "Those traitorous dogs have been wiped out by the esteemed Mountain King and her forces! Those bastards sold their souls to devils and were intending to summon forth the Great Evils to wreak havoc upon the Hielands. Fortunately, the wise Mountain King noticed their heresy and stopped them before the Great Evils could be summoned."
"It's just a shame that the devils, in a last-ditch attempt, struck the Mountain King with all their nefarious strength and heavily wounded her. The shamans say that it will take weeks for the Mountain King to awaken."
Alexandros frowned. "If the Mountain King is unconscious, who gave the orders to prepare for war?"
The stranger gazed at Alexandros as if he was gazing at an idiot. He then cleared his throat and proudly answered. "Why, it was given by 'Great Warrior' Wuzhi, of course!"