The night crawled faster than Prince Zaeius thought. Insects of the night started singing melodies outside the house. The cold night breeze seeped through his room's wooden wall.
And here he is now, lying on his bed, drained and exhausted. His eyes were closed but his mind won't let him sleep. He couldn't believe everything.
Everything that Keir had told him.
He took a quick sigh trying to exhale out the raging mixed emotions since Keir told him everything. He got all the answers. Yet now, he's stuck on how to deal with those. Especially that he's mind had split into two. Half of it believed. Half of it refused to do so. But only he believed because of the believable ones.
There's so much thoughts that keep on running inside his head. Most of it were Keir's words.
"Got any news?" King Astius' voice felt terrifying as he asked the troops in front of him. They were a mix of soldiers and guards. Nervousness and fear were written on their eyes. Stood on either side of him were two soldiers and on the far left was the royal adviser. "Still none of them, your majesty." A soldier forwarded, politely bowing his head in front of the king. The king clenched his jaw as his hands balled into fists furiously. They've been searching for eternity but still no news about the prince. "Useless!" His hands loosened and swiftly grabbed a sword from the soldier beside him. He shoved it on the soldier's throat in front of him. A crimson fluid leaked out of it as the pitiful man seizured on the shiny floor of the royal hall, slowly losing his br
Prince Zaeius woke up as the way too cold morning breeze filtered inside his nostrils. It pierces the skin on his face like a splash of icy water that he couldn't even feel the tip of his nose. It wasn't the one he used to wake up with yesterday. And then, a sudden flash of realization displayed inside his head. He remembered lying himself in a pile of thick dried grass as he his strength gave up from too much exhaustion. This was the time when he forced his eyelids to separate from each other, giving him a hazy vision at first that if he didn't scratch it with the back of his hand, he won't be able to see clearly. But the same scene greeted his drowsy eyes, though the differences could be pointed out easily. A wooden ceiling but a lot more older than the other one he saw yesterday. The cobwebs were even more thicker looking like curt
The radiance from the luxurious chandeliers resembled of great elegance fit for royals; queued with delicate distance in the middle of the vast ornamental plaster ceiling which came in red velvet color while the carved floral designs were highlighted with different shades of peach. The torches sprouting on each of eight enormous marble pillars contributed an amazing glow, perfectly blending the existing radiance. Below the torches, there were swords hanged around each pillars for emergency purposes. They sparkled at the fire swaying to and fro coming from the torches. Of course, the kingdom's signature lily lanterns were present, too; aligned around each four corners of the ceiling but were made in a more glamorous way. However, this festive ambiance above was nothing compared to the lingering heavy atmosphere on the occupied seats below. 
Those who were in the front line stormed to attack first. But the giant serpent just ignored their blows even if they had given it all of their strength. Its sharp eyes were eyeing the vulnerable king. Instead, it only made the monster furious for blocking its way to the prey. With one mighty swing on its head, bodies flew at a great distance in the air, landing themselves brutally on the pillars and walls, bones torn into pieces with their pale skin and mouth sprayed with hot crimson liquid. Even the stone seats were pulverized into tiny bricks. "Its here for the king! Quick! Get his majesty out of here!" Doctor Bai ordered the court maidens along with the four soldiers and two most skilled elders to escort the king through the exit door. Once the monster heard this, it slithered swiftly towards the king who was now escorted to escape. In a snap, the precious t
"Ya, old scum! Someone's here to see ya!" Gurr, the head of jail guards came in with two other men dressed in faded grey vests and old combat boots which resembled a lower position than him each man carried a torch to light the dark tunnel through the jail. Gurr was referring to the newly admitted prisoner who was now curled in an unsettling sleep inside the cell on a bare, dirty and hard ground. It was Mon. But Mon didn't hear anything as he was drowning himself in a deep sleep. He had a rough day yesterday that even the freezing temperature of the jail didn't bother him. And what prize would it bring him to stay awake? All he could see were dark boring walls of the cave between the small gaps of the cold iron bars that had taken away his right of freedom. And the groans of pain and hunger from his fe
There was a moment of silence inside the place as the bright light of flames danced gently to its own burning, serene rhythm. Ado's Adam's apple bobbed up and down as his eyes were filled with uneasiness, anxiously shifting from direction to direction. Obviously, trying to avoid Mon's scrutinizing gaze probably trying to guess what Ado was going to reveal. It took Aso a couple of deep breaths before he heard his own voice vibrating inside his throat out of his mouth. "I failed you, Mon. I betrayed you. I don't wish to be forgiven by you; I know I don't deserve it but I really am sorry. I've been haunted by my guilty conscience ever since... ever since the king had asked me to do it." Ado's head hung down, low and heavy with guilt. Ado had been expecting to be slapped with words of anger,
The sun had risen at its highest peak as the giant ball of fire itself in the floating middle of the vast, clear blue sky. Everyone had taken shelter under the roofs of their homes to avoid being fried without oil under the sizzling temperature outside. However, the hardworking farmers who bathed on their own sweats only had the guts to battle the intense heat. Some were plowing their fields. Some were mourning about their crops' curling leaves as their usual green color slowly turned into hopeless brown. But no matter how strikingly bright and hellishly burning outside, the jail remained eternally dark and incomparably freezing. It was like the jail was made of snow. Mon couldn't take his eyes off the gloomy face of the other prisoners behind him, clinging their pitiful hands unto the cold iron bars of the jail. Their faces were painted with hopelessness and
The awaited day has come. As the sand in the hourglass started pouring down, a huge crowd poured inside the great arena, suiting themselves wherever they want just to have a perfect view on the trial ground. Almost everyone in the kingdom were there to witness a gruesome punishment for a simple mistake that shouldn't have come at this point. A simple mistake that shouldn't take on a punishment as heavy as treason, rebellion or murder. But in a snap, the rules of the king had changed. Where as long as someone violates his rules, where a crime is that serious or not, a fair punishment should be applied. A fair punishment in the eyes of law but an unfair one in the eyes of the public. The people were still in great awe of this sudden change and couldn't fathom that the king h