Kareivis: Warrior

CHAPTER 10: THE TRUE FACE OF A PRINCESS

Asmenu had no time to process the fact that he had not only been spirited into his room, but he was also in full royal armour or any other thought for that matter because the guard that had been sent to him entered along with his four attendants. The young prince did not speak he merely nodded his head and followed the guard. His attendants made room for him and after he had passed, they followed. Asmenu could sense something different. He was not at all himself. Part of him was missing. He stopped, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt like he was being led, being guided to someone or something. His minds’ eye followed his intuition. He followed it straight to the west wing of the palace. The west wing was strictly f*******n to any citizen or servant of Shaylaian as it was the dwelling of the Elders of Shaylaian. It was also where the Inatum (receiving jumper bay) of the Channidae was situated. With this eye he could see an incorporeal version of himself moving toward the entrance of the west wing. His mind accelerated and merged with the incorporeal version of himself. It was dark and cold and lonely. Like the kind of place, one would go if one was consumed by despair. His incorporeal self was fast, and he made his way to the heart of the west wing in a split second.

“…you have seen her. Spoken to her, haven’t you?” said a voice that sounded like a heart breaking. He almost cried just by hearing the strange voice.

“I can smell her on you. Her energy is bewitching. But why do you insist on defying me when you know the consequences? Why?” the voice continued. It sounded like sad pain combined with lonely despair. As Asmenu drew nearer he could see that the voice was addressing his teacher, Master Tendai and his angry training avatar.

“Surely you must have known that I let you live so that you could be of use to me. Why must you force my hand?” “My apologies Highness, but surely you must’ve known where my loyalties lie. Your brother has always been and will always remain my master. And delivering the girl to you would be a betrayal of the sacred bond I shared with him.” the avatar responded.

“Alright then, if an excruciating death is your desire, then I will grant it to you. But first I shall take my memories back. And I will ensure that I do so in the most torturous way possible.” When the mysterious voice said this his voice changed. It became cold and bitter and ferocious. Almost as if the voice belonged to two different entities.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha… If I had not raised you personally, I would almost be afraid. I am not afraid of you. Nor am I afraid of death. Besides, what you seek is no longer with me. I have given it away. Carrying that burden around was quite exhausting…” Skydas looked at Tendai who was composed as always showing no emotion. Then he looked at Tendai’s avatar who seemed to be enjoying himself. He had the same look he always had whenever his training simulations were mercilessly defeating them. The look of pure satisfaction and twisted pleasure.

“…Highness, if I may. Let the torturing and murdering commence, I have had such a tiresome existence. I’m sure even you have some galaxies to conquer and innocent lives to destroy and all that evil stuff.” Tendai’s avatar said nonchalantly while carelessly waving his hands in the air. “Aargh…!” the voice growled. His one growl sent tremors all over Shaylaian. His energy was oddly familiar to Asmenu. “…I do apologise for my outburst. I am not accustomed to not getting my way. And I was looking forward to killing you. But I just concluded that you are telling the truth. I realise that this changes everything. I do not particularly like change. So, I will not kill you, not yet anyway. But I will -however, throw you in the deepest, darkest, coldest hole there is in Channidae. You will never see another Shaylaian sunrise ever again. Or any other sun for that matter…” the voice paused mid-sentence.

“…interesting. We seem to have an audience. Mxm, mxm, mxm, nobody likes a nosy busybody, Asmenu.” just then Asmenu felt a wave of energy that forcefully pushed him back into his corporeal body. And for a moment he felt as though he had a brain freeze. He closed his eyes and gently touched his head while trying to figure out where he was. When he opened his eyes, he saw that they were about to board the transporter to Inthia. Inthia was situated near the boundary of Keeper territory because that is where her colonies were. This meant that it was a significant distance from Shaylaian and Channidae. A distance that would require them to use the stasis pods. As soon as Asmenu entered his pod, he could hear the voice of the mysterious girl calling to him. He saw her standing on a podium addressing a crowd of students; she was graceful, insightful and confident. Even though there seemed to be some who had no respect for her, she seemed to be able to command respect effortlessly. He saw a young boy with a suspect looking face express his love and his intention to marry her. He did not like the boy, but he wanted the best for her, and she truly seemed elated. He watched as she was ambushed, and he burned with rage at the thought of anyone laying a finger on her. He continued watching as she was betrayed, and her heart shattered into pieces. He felt truly helpless. He was just a vapour in the wind and there was nothing he could do. For a while he wallowed in his or rather her helplessness. But he remembered that in his time of need she had reached out to him, and she had taken away all his pain. So, he listened for her voice. He found it in the training simulator. He followed her until she was back on Inthia and finally he made his presence known to her. They talked about everything including Tendai and the mysterious voice. She even promised to help him find Tendai. Then she was taken away by her brother. He followed at a distance as the most enchanting princess in existence took to the floor with her brother. As he watched her in his incorporeal form, his physical form was smiling like a child who had been given a special toy. The guard who had been watching over them saw this and he decided to open Asmenu’s pod to see if there was anything wrong. Once Asmenu was awake he decided not to return to stasis. Instead, he and the guard went to the training room in the lower deck, where the guard insisted on pestering him regarding what he was smiling about whilst in stasis. A course had already been set and the transporter was on autopilot. This meant that the guard could move away from the monitors. But when he did this, he neglected to see all the alerts warning him of an impending collision with a meteor storm. And by the time he was aware it was too late to change course, the collision with the storm woke Asmenu’s attendants, the pilot and the rest of the guards. The pilot then attempted to force jump the transporter to a nearby planet but because of the damage sustained to the transporter they crash landed on an unknown planet with no jump gate. The sheer force with which Asmenu felt when the transporter landed rippled onto Muhali who was about to board a carrier to one of the colony planets known as Rammenu. “…Asmenu!!!” she exclaimed as she turned and looked back as if he was behind her. At that time Muhali was accompanied by her attendant Rehsa, by masters Kilnus and Varens, by the masked soldier and by ten other soldiers who were her personal guard appointed especially to her by her father. She had spoken neither to Varens nor Kilnus since their return from Thyatira. The brothers had made several attempts to talk to her but Muhali would not give them an ear. When they saw the concern on her face, they manoeuvred their way close to her, so they could talk to her. Their efforts did not yield any return as the masked soldier intercepted her before they could reach her. He took her by the hand and pulled her aside and he said to her: “Mano perlas, there are only three individuals besides her highness who know of this name. I know of what she is thinking. I humbly beg that she put those thoughts out of her mind. For now, my gem has a friend who needs her full attention. After we have fulfilled her promise to him then we will worry about Asmenu…” He smiled gently at her and with his hand still holding hers he led her back to the group where they found Vesma and Lietus saying their final goodbyes to Varens and Kilnus. Muhali looked aside as she passed them, and she boarded the carrier. Vesma ran after her and thrusted herself on Muhali’s back to give her a farewell hug as she whispered: “…stay safe my sister. And please promise me that you will return home just as you are. I know you very well. You will not hesitate to give your own life for them. But remember this, my life is tied to yours and if you die; I shall die along with you.” Vesma let go of her sister long enough for Muhali to turn around and see her face. She took both of Vesma’s hands and kissed them. After a short silence Muhali responded saying: “I give you my word my princess that I will return to you alive and well with all of our people in the same condition as well.” A guard came and announced that Vesma and Lietus must leave the jump area so that the technicians could begin with preparations for the initial jump process. Muhali watched as her sister left hand in hand with the one who took her love away from her and she wondered if the same could happen with her sister. As Varens and Kilnus boarded the carrier they noticed that the masked soldier was getting off. Kilnus did not ask anything as he was glad that he would finally be able to talk to Muhali about their last encounter. But Varens could not hold in the burning jealousy he felt each time he saw the soldier close to Muhali and so he asked: “…is he not coming along with us?” This question bothered Muhali very much because she knew the reason behind it. “You need not concern yourself with such things Master Varens because it looks like we will not be leaving yet. Allow me to educate you a little. The carrier we are about to board has been stripped of any Zion technology that was built in it. The technicians and I have worked through the night creating an entirely new model carrier with no artificial life on it whatsoever. Instead of worrying about who is coming with us you should have noticed that there has been a malfunction with the carrier. Those are the skills we need with us for this mission.” Muhali said as she signalled for everyone to get off the carrier. She pointed them in the direction of a testing chamber where she normally went to observe test runs of any updates in their jumping system. She however did not go with them. She went to the jump control tower to help fix the problem with the carrier. When Sky saw that Muhali was at a safe distance and that she was distracted by the problem with the carrier he moved close to Varens and he said: “…to answer your question Master Varens, yes, it is true that I will not be accompanying you to Rammenu. But do not fool yourselves, that you cannot see me does not mean I will not be present. For you see I am Muhali’s shadow, it has been that way since she was a child. If you cannot see her tears, it is because they are on my face. If you cannot see her pain, it is because I carry it for her. If you cannot find her weakness it is because she has entrusted me with it. And if you are unable to unravel all her mysteries it is because I am the vault that protects them. But you my young masters I know all your secrets. I do not care who your father is. Try to harm my precious gem in any way, shape or form and I will end you.” Varens and Kilnus looked at one another as they began to wonder who the soldier was that he could speak to them with such effrontery. Especially considering that he was a mere soldier and they were the pureblood sons of the highly revered Commander Kilnus. Kilnus was not the kind of person to let anyone speak to him in such a manner. He quickly responded: “And just who are you to make such a request? Whose son are you that you can address us so impudently?” “Me? I am just the only son of King Kariai; I am brother to Muhali and Vesma. I Masters Kilnus and Varens am the commander in training of the royal armies of Inthia. I am Prince Skydas of the royal house of Kareivis.” As he spoke the mask on his face retracted to the back of his ear and the colour of his eyes cleared up the purple to show a rich amber colour just like Muhali’s eyes. Satisfied with the shock and fear he had managed to instil in the young masters, Sky turned his attention to his sister Muhali who was coming toward them. She entered the room and she said: “…it will take time to fix the problem. And time is what we do not have.” Sky walked over tHe hugged her and whispered conspiratorially in her ear. Her posture changed instantly. She squared her shoulders, held her head higher with complete confidence. She stepped out of the observation room and faced the carrier. She lifted her hand slowly and directed the inside of her palm at it. In response the carrier lifted in the air on its own. A few moments later Zion appeared and notified them that he had run a final diagnostic and the results had shown that the carrier had been cleared to make the jump. He also informed them that Sky was needed at the Terce (Alpha) facility immediately. With that Sky wasted no time, he blew a kiss to Muhali. His armour began to glow as he vanished from before their very eyes. Muhali shook her head at her brother’s antagonizing antics. With Sky gone, the remainder of the group boarded the carrier to head to Rammenu. As soon as the jumper docked at the Inatum (receiving jumper bay) of Rammenu, five soldiers had been waiting for Muhali’s arrival. They had five cases with them and they boarded the jumper as well. But that was not what was most peculiar to Varens and Kilnus. These two purebloods had never given thought to the kind of individual that Muhali was. All they knew was that she had always been by Vesma’s side, always at her beck and call. But now that they were witnesses of her true nature they were left in awe. She was awarded great respect by anyone they encountered. Even though the people knew that the two young men were the commander’s sons they did not care for such information. The two masters may have been sons of a commander but all their lives they had made no effort to go to the people and acquaint themselves with the ones they would one day serve. And on the contrary Muhali had spent half of her lifetime getting to know the people that she commanded; she knew them by name and rank. She knew their families and aspirations. While on Rammenu the people gathered around her just so that they could get the opportunity to meet her. She never sneered at the sight of them. Their presence gave her joy and she delighted in meeting their children, their parents and their neighbours. To each person she gave her full attention. She hugged them and listened to their stories before bidding them all farewell. “The princess would like you to know that from Rammenu onward we will no longer be using the jump gates; the surge in energy levels is too high for the Channidae to not notice. We do not want to call any unnecessary attention to ourselves. You may each go to your hibernation pods. I will show you the way.” Rehsa announced. “If it pleases my princess I would like to stay and be of some assistance to her…” said Kilnus as he stood up and moved to the command centre where Muhali had been working since the carriers’ departure from Rammenu. He did not stop there he continued saying: “I beg for my princess to be patient with me. I am not familiar with the significance of the cases that have been brought on board as they were not in the briefing that we were given by Zionas and Rehsa. I beg for her tolerance if it is not my place to ask.” Muhali had been looking down concentrating on the work she was doing on the command centre. And when she heard his words she looked up. She stared at Kilnus and using her index finger she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she responded: “No need to apologise Master Kilnus, it is a valid question. You are right these cases were not in the initial briefings. As I said before this carrier has no artificial intelligent life interfaced in its system. And consequently, it utilises more energy than usual. Therefore, there is a need to interface it with its own unique jump gate that will be entirely independent of a secondary gate of the destination planet.” Varens was intrigued and unsettled by Kilnus sudden change in behaviour. He had never been civil toward Muhali let alone acknowledged her as a princess. So, he too decided to stay and watch the events unfold. “I understand my princess, but it seems that if my princess wants to build such a device, she will want to make it as small as possible. Does it require the use of all the material on all five cases?” Varens watched closely as something that rarely happened began to take place. Muhali let her guard down toward Kilnus and he let his guard down toward Muhali. “A very good observation Master Kilnus, you are correct again. The device I am building will only require the use of two cases.” “And what are the other three for?” asked Varens. Muhali hesitated before answering as she realised that she was talking to the young masters of the house of Kilnus, but she finally answered: “Err… This carrier is not only a transporter. It is also a rescue vessel. If you have noticed, you will realise that this carrier is unusually large for a normal transporter. The one case carries bands like the ones you wear but different in function. The bands in this case will be used to allow our people to jump from their prison on Zeme to this vessel. Just like how you saw the soldier jump without using a ship. The other two cases carry material to build my hover board and a special device that will allow me to upgrade the Antrinis-Yuda system on Zeme to be slightly more advanced and to function more like Zionas.” Little by little the young masters caught a glimpse of Muhali’s true nature. They began to see her as more than just a servant to Vesma. They watched Muhali as she interfaced the carrier with its very own jump gate. And when the time to jump to Zeme’s Pirmas site approached the young masters stood up and began to make their way to their hibernation pods. Before they got there Varens had something to say to his older brother. When they were walking Varens leaped in front of his brother blocking his path. Kilnus did not say anything he just moved from side to side attempting to find enough space to pass, but Varens would not allow it. Finally, Kilnus stopped attempting to find a way through he looked at his brother with a defeated demeanour and he said nothing. Seeing that his brother was being oblique and would not easily confess what he was up to, Varens then said: “What is the meaning of this brother? What are you doing?” Kilnus knew exactly what his brother was referring to. He could not bring himself to divulge the events surrounding the altercation that took place between himself and Muhali. His guilt had made him develop a liking of sorts toward the young princess. What was he to tell his younger brother? Would he tell him that he connived and plotted to ruin the relationship between Varens and Muhali only to turn around and accept her later? With all these questions looming in his mind Kilnus attempted as much as possible to behave like his usual self as he answered his brother: “Brother, we have been selected as the new council of Inthia. We cannot afford to wage war against Muhali now. This is our opportunity to prove to the people of Inthia that we are more than capable of protecting them. You saw how the people of Rammenu revered her, but after this mission’s success it will be us they will adore not her. You would do well to learn as much as you can and learn fast brother. There is no time for your petty jealousies.”