ROYAL BLOOD

HISTORY

He ran with the bundle in his hand and got out of the forest. He stopped and cried his heart out pushing the bundle close to his heart. Wisteria spoke no more. She could feel sad vibrations coming out of Lore. His eyes glistened and expressed pain. The sadness in his voice chased her mirth away. Lore couldn't stop himself from thinking about that helpless boy.

"We should head out." Leo said breaking the silence.

Lore nodded. They had no plans, no clue of where Grivald could be. Rufus knew nothing too. The only thing they knew was that Grivald could come around in the flea market to run errands.

--

In a dark and room with a dimly lit candle on a table, Grivald was helping Gary stack his books. He looked at Gary with different thoughts revolving in his mind. He watched in silence as Gary pulled out dusty old books from a box nearby.

Grivald cleared his throat and asked Gary, "What do you keep reading all day and night?"

Gary placed the books on the table carefully and replied, "They are beyond your understandings."

"I might understand if you tell me what it's about."

"I have preserved these books for a long time. They hold precious writings of Wyot."

"Wyot- the magician?"

"He is not an ordinary magician, my boy. He was the greatest. The finest black magician in history."

"You never told me that he worked with black arts."

"What would you do even if I had told you?"

Grivald kept quiet and replied, "Nothing."

Gary noticed uneasiness and confusion in Grivald's face so he continued, "Wyot was born in the family of witches. Back then, they had a small community of witches and wizards who kept their powers and identity in secret. They never told the outer world their true self because the King back then; Dravite, believed that witches only brought curse and bad luck. However, they were not like that. The group of witches and wizards never misused their magic. Some of them worked as physicians. They used spells and special herbs to cure people and the King was very impressed by them and their works so, he hired one of them; Adelaide Ruby as the Royal Physician. In time, they cured many people but unfortunately had failed some. But Dravite never suspected anything. Even if the witches failed in their tasks, Dravite would appreciate their efforts in trying to save the dead's life. The witches and wizards never told Dravite where they lived because once it was revealed, their secrets would come out and so would their heads. The Queen; Violane was a very sensible, smart and an understanding queen. Whenever the witches treated their patients, they always asked for isolation and worked in private. One day the Queen happened to enter one of the chambers while the witches were treating the King and the Queen's first child. To her surprise, Violane saw the witches chanting and casting spells on the child. The witches were taken aback when they saw Violane standing there. They tried to convince her that it wasn't what it looked like and that they always did this to treat people. Violane did not react because her mother was a witch herself so, she vowed to protect and keep their identity secret. The witches were very happy and blessed her with success and happiness. They told her where they lived and Violane visited them almost every day and spent most of her time learning magic and the way of how they sustained their lives. When the King asked Violane where she went every day, she would answer saying that she visited the people and spend some time with them. Dravite would smile and would not question her further. But the Royal guard; Frank, was suspicious of the Queen's behavior. One day, he followed the Queen as she headed out to meet the witches. Frank was surprised because the Queen didn't stop by the people's homes. Instead she went inside the woods. Violane felt being followed by someone and she kept looking back but Frank was smart and hid well. He followed her quietly and saw her reach the witches' place. Frank saw Adelaide hugging Violane. He lingered around for a while and saw their secrets. He saw the Queen reading scripts, mixing herbs and creating what looked like; potions. Frank quickly ran back to the castle and informed the King. Dravite was shocked upon hearing that but doubted Frank saying Violane would never betray him but Frank insisted upon going back and checking the woods. So, the King with his men and Frank guiding them, mounted their horses and rushed into the woods. On the other hand, Violane felt strange. She trusted her guts and told Adelaide, "I've been sensing something strange. While coming here I thought I was being followed and I felt like there was a presence."

Adelaide smiled and said, "It is nothing, my Queen. It must be in your head because you're keeping this as a secret and the fear might have played games with your head."

Violane smiled back but soon, the King and his men marched into their territory. Adelaide and Violane stood up with fear and looked at the King. The other witches and wizards started running away. There was panic, chaos and fear everywhere. The King ordered his men to destroy their homes. Adelaide tried to stop the guards by casting spells to fight them. Wyot was twelve at the time. He watched as the guards set the houses on fire on by one and people trying to run away.

"Capture them all and bring them here. Do not let anyone escape." The King commanded his guards.

Wyot gulped and went inside. The guards had not yet reached his hut so, he gathered up his mother's books, writings, potions, everything he could grasp his hands on and tied it into a bundle. He carried it close to his chest and ran. Other people were running as well so he tried to flee with the crowd. Fortunately, he was fast and he ran into the thick forest. Unfortunately, the guards caught all of the other witches, wizards and their children. Wyot was lucky enough to survive. But he did not run away before taking a last look of his mother's face. He watched from the thickets of the trees as the guards made everyone kneel down in front of Dravite. Adelaide looked amongst the crowd for her son but couldn't find him. Dravite got down his horse and Violane grabbed his arms crying and begging him to excuse their lives. Dravite pushed her on the ground and said, "You are not my Queen anymore. You know of nothing but to speak lies and betray the Kingdom."

Violane got up and said, "And what harm did they do the Kingdom? You despise them for no reason. They are harmless. They helped the people survive including our child."

"They hid their true self." Dravite shouted.

"If they had not hidden their identity you would have killed them nevertheless." Violane yelled back.

"How dare you raise your voice at the King?" Dravite yelled. He ordered his men to place Violane amongst the witches and said, "I will not let a liar live in this Kingdom."

The guards hesitated but had no other option than to force the Queen to kneel down. Violane grunted and cried but the guards overpowered her and she knelt before the King.

"What a shame!" Adelaide cried. The King turned towards her and she continued, "If you really loved the Queen, you would not have done this!"

"You, do not teach me what shame is!" Dravite yelled at her.

"We helped your Kingdom survive! You could at least show us mercy! If we meant harm then we would have already done something before." Adelaide screamed.

"My father was killed by people of your kind. You will see nothing but my wrath."

"You are killing innocents as a revenge. What a weak ruler."

The guards brought their spears close to her face as soon as they heard that.

"Your Majesty, we should kill them all so that none of their blood remains." Frank whispered in Dravite's ears.

Adelaide looked towards the woods and noticed her son hiding. Wyot met eyes with his mother; Adelaide and tears rolled down. Adelaide smiled at him and mouthed, 'Go'. Wyot nodded and before he could run, Dravite's men severed everybody's heads one by one including the Queen's. Wyot ran and ran crying his Grivald felt bad. He paused for a moment and asked Gary, "What happened to Wyot then?"