Chapter-7

Anticipation

“Hmm? I guess there was one after all…”, said a man sitting on a throne deep inside a shadow in a dark room.

“Did you feel that too?”, asked a brave sounding youth sitting on another throne next to the former.

“Isn’t that impossible?”, croaked a woman sitting on a throne far on the other side of the man.

“Hmm…”, said another man sitting between the woman and the former man. That one sounded very majestic that it could have doubled the eerie atmosphere and coldness felt in the room.

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation.

“General Rustom seeks audience with the great monarchs.”, said a soldier guarding the door from the other side.

“Let him in.”, said the man who started the conversation.

The huge door opened slightly and a man full in heavy armor entered and bowed before marching in steady and confident steps. He stopped and got down on one knee while his eyes were glued to the ground.

After a breath or two have passed, the man spoke, “Oh great monarchs, a group of my men intercepted a man while taking a stroll around the bushes outside of the central domain.”

Silence took over the room for a moment or two before it was interrupted by the woman sitting on the left most throne.

She said, “What does that have to do with you coming all the way here to the hall of the monarchs?”

After hesitating the general talked again, “He was accompanied by a member of the azure dragon clan and he told them he wanted to meet with you, oh great monarchs.”

He raised his eyes to try to look at the monarchs because there was no reply, but what he got in response was a look that said ‘then what?’ with a hint of grimace in their eyes.

He immediately returned his gaze to the floor and continued with his report.

“They were not strong enough to resist the soldiers and they cooperated and are now imprisoned in the western prison house. They had a third member with them, she is a human girl about 11 years old.”

The room then turned to the natural eerie atmosphere it always has. After a silent 10 seconds or so, the talkative one among the four monarchs started talking.

“I say we give him an audience.”, he said a tone of inquiry mixed in his words.

“Me too.”, said the woman monarch.

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“If he is that weak as they say, I say we should too.”, said the youth before the three turned to look in the direction of the quiet monarch.

After a moment or two, the quiet monarch shifted position on his seat and gestured his approval.

“I will be leaving to bring the prisoners, oh great monarchs.”, said the general before getting up and bowing, then he turned and left.

*** *** ***

Alfonse’s POV

I waited in the hall they brought me to with Lyna and Zero for about 3 hours. I thought the house was meant to be a prison for high class people when they committed crimes, but for me, it was cozy as hell.

‘If somebody provided me with daily food, internet and two loving wives, I wouldn’t mind to be stuck in here until the day I die.’, I thought seriously before laughing inwardly at my thoughts.

I was sitting on the sofa comfortably with my hands stretched both ways. Zero had changed to a human form, which surprised the hell out of me by the way, and he was standing straight like he was guarding the hall with his back facing the walls adjacent to the door.

His hair was amethyst color, with blue eyes and a smooth white skin. The edges of his face were pretty noticeable because of how perfectly they lined. He was surprisingly handsome.

Lyna has woke up just before we ran into those people that captured us. She has been looking at me with distrust and resentment since then.

“Hey Zero, You said that they wouldn’t know who I am and that’s why they are treating me like this?”, I asked the dragon while still looking at Lyna’s distrusting eyes.

“My lord, you should have let me kill those bastards for disrespecting your highness.”, Zero said seriously.

“No, it’s okay, if you had killed those minions, the one’s at the top would have come, and we would be in a bigger trouble.”, I said before continuing, “But why did you say they wouldn’t recognize who I am?”

Zero was silent before he said, “Those soldiers that found us were young, about 200 years of age, they were probably born here after the gates to the celestial world disappeared.”

A moment after that, the door opened and two soldiers appeared. All the soldiers I have seen here had pretty decent equipment. Flashy armor and all. They must be living a good life

“You have been granted permission to enter the hall of the monarchs, but only you will have to go and both the azure dragon and the child are to stay here.”, said the right most soldier.

“And why do they have to stay here?”, I asked him with a tone of annoyance on my voice.

“In case you disrespect the monarchs or try anything funny, they will be used as hostage.”, he said then went silent.

There was no choice but to obey to begin with.

“Let’s go! We don’t want to make the monarchs wait for too long.”, I said while getting up from the sofa and going past them to the hallway outside the door. The two soldiers with flashy armor followed after me while the two guards outside closed the door and stood guards there.

We were camping in the forest before the soldiers found us. The entry point to the lands of nirvana was unknown, that’s why we decided to camp and try to look for it. We didn’t anticipate to be found first by them. Zero tried to fight them but I stopped him.

The soldiers grabbed us and tied us except for Lyna. They didn’t tie her because they thought she wasn’t a threat to them.

After they brought us to the palace, the general, Rustom was his name I suppose, saw us and immediately told them to loosen the ropes binding me. I thought he did that because he recognized me but he didn’t.

‘If he did, he wouldn’t just loosen the bindings, he would have fallen on his face to apologize.’, I thought.

The walk to the monarch’s hall was longer than I thought. Finally, we were standing in front of the door to the hall.

I didn’t know what to expect past those doors.

‘Would they recognize me as monarch, or kill me. This feels just like when we were about to collect our marks on the organization’s private academy. If we failed, we were punished.’, I thought while holding my breath.

What I was about to come across past that door, would decide my fate.