Javaid smirked.
He moved to the center of the field, he looked around the forest intently. He took a deep breath and began to twirl his hands in a rhythmic motion, his eyes were shut. It was as if a folk song was playing but only he could hear it. He stretched his hands towards a part of the forest and drew his hands towards himself. Out of that part of the forest came a man and son, holding their throats struggling for breath. They crawled on the ground towards them.
Javaid looked on in admiration at his son.
The man and his son were pushed forward by a force they could not control. Cedric brought his rhythmic dance to a halt as he brought them before the feet of his father.
“Look here father”, Cedric smiled with pride, “It was nothing to worry about”
Javaid clapped his hands and looked at his Cedric with so much pride in his eyes, “Well done my son, Well done! You have done so well. I am proud of you”
Cedric bowed, “Thank you father”
“Today you have proven yourself a worthy heir to the throne of Salvador, indeed…”
“Please have mercy, spare me and my son”, the man pleaded, tears in his eyes.
Javaid glared at the old man for a short while with apparent disgust, then he walked towards the horses, “Kill them off!”
Cedric didn’t move immediately, he ran after Javaid, “Father!”
“Kill them off!”
“But father, what have they done?”, Cedric looked back at them, “It is just a father and a son spending time together…just like we are…”
Javaid spun almost immediately, flashing a perfectly manicured finger adorned with diamond rings at Cedric, “Don’t you ever Cedric!”, Javaid shouted, “Don’t you ever compare me with peasants. I am the king of kings and no other king can be compared to me let alone mere peasants.
“My apologies father”, Cedric apologized, “We should just let them go…”
“I do not want to!”
“Father...”
“You can not be a weakling son, you are a member of the blood race!, you are heir to the throne of Salvador, you are my heir! Would you not for once prove you are my son!”
“What exactly have they done?”
Javaid looked at his son, “Really?, You do not know?”
“Obviously that is why I asked”, Cedric replied.
“He happened to be in the same place as the greatest king in all of the earth”, Javaid retorted, he was livid with anger, “He could not come pay his allegiance. The mere fact that he happened to be in the same place as I king Javaid is enough for me to have his head”, Javaid replied pacing back and forth, “And while we were having a conversation, he dared to interrupt me! Such insolence!. Who gave him the temerity to disregard me in such a demeaning manner?”
Cedric placed his hand on his father’s arm, “Father let it slide!”
“Don’t you tell me that too!”, Javaid retorted shoving Cedric’s hand of his arm, “Let me show you how it is done Cedric!”, he stormed towards the man and his son. He raised his hand up, the man levitated off the ground, the man struggled against the invisible hold. Javaid with his hand, he squeezed the life out of the man without actually touching me. The man struggled, he flung his legs, his hands clasped around his neck. His veins threatened to pop as they strained against taut skin. Sweat poured down his body.
“Father!”, the little boy cried.
“Father!”, Cedric shouted.
Javaid released his hold on the man oblivious to the pleas around him. His limp body fell to the ground drained of life. His body was white drained of life, his eyes still held fear even in death.
“This is how it works Cedric, you are a member of the blood race, you possess the power to freeze or drain out the blood of your enemy”, Javaid placed his hands on the shoulders of Cedric, “The most beautiful part of it is having to watch your enemy struggle to their death”
Cedric looked at his father, his chest heaved. He was speechless, he was terrified.
“Kill the boy Cedric! let's get out of here”, Javaid said.
“I can not kill him father. He has done nothing to us, he is not threat to…”
“As expected”, Javaid smiled bitterly, “You are a weakling compared to your sister…”
“Enough with the comparisons father!”, Cedric shouted in anger, “I am tired of it!”
“Then prove it Cedric!”, Javaid shouted, “Prove you are the better person, prove that your sister is no match for you at all”, He leaned further towards Cedric, “You know it is the truth Cedric. I am afraid when you are a king, the throne will be taken from you”, Javaid walked away for a while and stopped and turned to him “You are a disappointment Cedric”
He was not gone far when he heard Cedric draw his sword out of his sheath. He stopped and turned to him, “Not the sword Cedric, not the sword. Let it come from inside of you, I want to see your powers. Not some small magic trick, I want to see the full extent of your powers when your enemy is at your feet!”, he growled, “Make your father proud”
“Please don’t…hu…hurt me, help my father sire, please I beg you”, the small boy begged, tears gushing out from his eyes. The boy pushed the dead body of his father trying to rouse them, “Father won’t wake up now, someone has got to take me home, Father! Father! Father please”, the boy pleaded.
Cedric tried to drown out the pleas of the young boy, he had never killed an innocent person.
“Kill him son”, Javaid barked in anger.
Cedric just like his father, lifted the little boy up with a mere gesture of his hand. He fought back the tears that threatened to spill, not willing to show weakness not in front of his father again. The boy struggled, he held on to his neck, his eyes turned red, “Please, please, don’t kill me”,
Cedric looked away, he lifted his hand and squeezed. The boy cried out aloud, his blood slowly froze, his eyes sunk into his pockets. Cedric tossed him away with a mere wave of his hand, he dropped the boy on top his father.
“I am proud to be your father, I am proud to call you my heir”, Javaid smiled. He ruffled his hair.
Cedric felt emotionless after he tossed the boy, he stared at his father with a murderous look in his eyes, “That felt good father”, he twisted his neck, he studied his fingers like he was unable to believe he had done what he did, “Really good”
Javaid embraced him, “You have proven yourself son, you are one of us indeed”
Cedric smiled, “I will not let you down father”
“I think we are done here”, Javaid announced.
Cedric bowed and walked towards the horses.
“Of course you won’t Cedric. The transition is complete, my reign of terror is not over”, Javaid whispered under his breath.
“How was your hunting trip with father?”, Aileen rushed towards him the moment he arrived at the stables.“Good”, he said in a cryptic manner.“Just good?”, she inquired, “Surely there’s more?”He didn’t say a word to her, he continued to tend to his horse Buckley. He unsaddled it and meticulously brushed his body.Aileen was having none of it, “Come on Cedric, spill the beans already do not ignore me. You and father rarely go out leisurely, if it is not a war or…”“Why is that?”, he cut her off harshly.She stared at him surprisingly, she knew he merely tolerated her but never had he raised his voice at her, “Cedric…”, she called out in a whisp
***“You know what it is like don’t you?”, she rambled on, “It is like he is a different person. Like I don’t even know my own brother…”Kalliste merely nodded. The walk had her listening to Aileen’s pathetic monologue and her nodding in understanding or rather pretending to nod in understanding. If Cedric had treated her badly for any reason it was most likely that she deserved it. She was not one to wish ill on anyone but Aileen deserved all the ills that came her way. She was a wicked…“I am such a sweet person, I do not deserve to be treated like this, not by anyone let alone my own brother”, Aileen’s high pitched melodramatic voice cut through her thoughts.
“…she has not had anything to eat the whole day your highness. She has been tucked in bed all day, refuses to speak to anyone and we are worried. This is not her usual behavior and so I…”Ceric waved a hand at the maid to stop her from talking, “Let me see her”The guard at the door, knocked briefly, announced Cedric’s presence and opened the door to him.Cedric strolled into the chambers, his hand behind his back. His eyes strayed for a while before they settle on Kalliste who was curled up in a ball under the sheets, “Leave us alone"The maids scurried out leaving the room.Cedric walked towards the dresser and studied the candelabra, he ran his fingers tip over the smooth golden surface. He had picked it out with his mother many years ago. He managed a small smile, “What is the matter Kalliste?”She did not reply.“Wh
“Edgar! Edgar! Please you have to help me. My child has gone missing please!”Cleopatra thought she was hearing voices in her head again or it was one of her visions that appeared real. It was not until she heard a loud bang on the door did she realize the cries where coming from the real world. She swiftly shot up from bed, this was not an unusual occurrence in Averna. She was used to waking up earlier than usual because Edgar was Averna's physician. Most emergencies happened at night but this was different, she thought. She has heard something about a missing child. She stared out of the window and it was so dark outside, she groaned, it was not dawn yet.Cleopatra walked to the mirror and stared at her reflection, her hair was ruffled courtesy of a cold bad night sleep. She quickly put on a woolen sweater over her long night dress so she wouldn’t freeze to d
***It had been a while since the volunteers set out in search of Priscilla. Cleopatra sat on the floor next to Edgar, a blanket draped around her shoulders as she gingerly sipped from the cup in her hands. It was nearly dawn, the people gathered around had increased.Not too long after it happened, the story of how she had been in Priscilla’s head was on the lips of everyone. Many people stole glances in her direction but when she turned to meet their gaze they would turn away. She hope Priscilla was found, maybe their attention would be diverted she thought to herself.“Are you alright Cleopatra?”, Edgar asked.She nodded.“
***After the talk with his mother Cedric had left feeling dirty and disgusted with himself. He took a shower and scrubbed thoroughly hoping to wash away the guilt he felt but he had come out sore and the guilt still weighed heavily in his heart.He opted for archery, anything to get his mind off his current dilemma. There was a dummy target a few yards away form him. On a normal day he was a good archer probably the best there was in all of Salvador. Today however was not a normal day and today he was not the best. He had shot a host of arrows and save for one that had hit the outstretched arm of the dummy, the arrows had flown in to the forest. A couple of guards ran back and forth fetching the arrows but his aim seemed to worsen more and more after every shot. He tried one more
***Cedric leisurely strode into the throne room, his father was pacing about around his throne, “Father”, he called out to him drawing his attention.Javaid turned around when he saw Cedric he beamed with smiles, “My son”, he walked towards him. When he got to Cedric, he pulled him into a hug, “I inquired on your whereabouts, the guards informed me you had gone to see the royal artist”“Yes”, Cedric answered, “I wanted a new painting done but thanks to Aileen I won’t be getting one”Javaid chuckled, “Let me guess she killed him?”“It is not that hard to figure out”, Cedric answered dryly.&
Aileen had on a red blouse and leather pants with knee high leather boots. She walked towards the royal stable. Cedric stood while some guards helped him wear his royal armor, a crown sat on his head as always.“Brother”, she called out to him when she got to where he stood.“Aileen”She smiled excitedly, “I got your message, where are we going?”“Routine patrol around Salvador to ensure all of dad's subject are in line”, he answered, then he turned to the guards, “Saddle Stefan…”, he turned to her quizzically.“Penelope”, she answered the unasked question , “I will ride her”“I thought it would be nice for us to take a ride, we never get time these days”, he looked at her, “It