The Other Side

Chapter 7: The Feast

I found the Crown Prince sitting at the edge of the table filled with different foods that I have only seen in my life at that time.

I do not exactly know what is happening, what he was thinking, but all that I wanted to do was to escape the palace.

“You may sit. All of you.” He said to us.

I hid my grin when I saw all of my contenders stealing places from each other just to avoid the chairs near the Crown Prince.

But my grin was gone when I saw that only one chair was left, and it was right beside Prince Zale.

I grumbled inside, hesitating to sit beside the Prince. I also blamed myself for just grinning.

The Crown Prince looked coldly at me, and I felt an icy wind came through me, shivering through his gaze.

“What else could you be waiting for? You always caught my attention with that clumsiness of yours.” He said to me, insulting me for what I am doing, standing still.

I blushed out of shame and hurriedly sat beside him for the fear that he might do something awful to me again.

What a foul mouth he really has! Still grumbling inside, I insisted calmness to my heart.

And I looked and smiled pleasantly at the Crown Prince.

But he showed no emotion to me.

What a cold as ice kind of Prince!

The servant of Prince Zale said, “You may start eating mighty warriors!” Then he went through the door, leaving the us with the Prince.

I took the golden utensils and started doing what has been told of us. “Hmmm!” My eyes widened in amusement.

The delicacies in the palace were all superb!

“Now that you have tasted that the food is well served,” Said the Crown Prince which made me blushed once more, “I will start to where this meeting needs to end.”

We stared at the Crown Prince as this will be the first time that he talked casually at us.

“What you have experienced in the training place was a necessity for the endurance of a true warrior. In order to become a powerful one, you need to suffer, and for you not to easily give up. If the hardships that you experienced there made you want to give up, what else could you not stand? And how were you able to protect people if in the first place you intended to escape?” The Crown Prince put an emphasis to those words.

I coughed loudly to the words of Prince Zale, making them look at me.

“You are considered special warriors of the palace. You are different from the rest of the warriors serving these place. And you have missions onto why you were accepted in this place.” Prince Zale said.

When he said those words, I felt like a fire has been ignited deep within my heart.

It’s like a hope has been called to birth in place.

“After this gathering, I command all of you to get back to the training ground.” Prince Zale instructed once more.

We all answered in harmony, “We received your order, your majesty.”

When we are done with the feast, we found the servant waiting for us outside, and he guided us to go back to the training room.

“ELENA,” I said smilingly when she went to approach me while we are still fighting against the unusual maggots.

She helped me get rid of the multiple maggots coming through me before she ever got to my place.

“What can you say to the Crown Prince's order?” I asked, waiting for a positive response that might change my decision as well.

Elena laughed. “Even though his words are convincingly true, what we see in us here are more important to his teachings.”

“In short?” I asked her.

“The escape plan continues.” She winked again.

I think deeply while we headed to the corner of that training place where the shields and swords are being kept.

We gather them and put neatly in place.

“Why do you still want to escape though he said an important matter like that?” Remembering the hope that I felt with the Crown Prince’s words.

“I used to live in a place where manipulation is everywhere. Some will say that they will change, encourage people but in what you see with their lives, they aren’t really changing. So is with Crown Prince's words.” Her face filled with sorrow.

“What?” I asked her again.

“I found the Crown Prince's words manipulative to use us for his own gain.” She looked me in the eyes seriously.

I was stunned.

Could that be so?...

“I was also indignant onto why he was not allowing us to train our powerful creatures even to see them.” Elena clenched her jaw.

The idea that gave me too much sorrow for Eureka has been a friend to me.

ONE of the servants of Prince Zale went in through the place and lead us to our different domatios so we could rest for that day.

But Elena’s words sank deep in my heart to keep an eye at Prince Zale and to observe his actions even more.

THE next day, we elevated our trainings to higher level.

What we need to overcome were powerful creatures as huge as the trees coming from everywhere.

We keep on slashing the powerful creatures whose faces were like the wolves but the body of cheetahs and still had wings that they fly.

It’s like they’re endless.

We didn't eat for lunch. I was waiting for some snacks on the afternoon but there were none.

On dinner we were not called as well.

The servant of the Crown Prince who always assist us in training, went on the night and lead us towards our domatios.

But when I and Elena were the only ones left with the servant, we talked together and she said, “I told you it was like that. What would be his next reason for not letting us eat? For us to endure hardship and strengthen our bodies? Would that reason really be acceptable?”

I just smiled hesitantly to what she said. Considering every aches she’s showing to me.

“Bye Elena!” I said to her when I reached my domatio.

I tiringly threw myself down in my bed while thinking about what Elena keeps on telling me.

Still, the hope that Prince Zale sowed in my heart can’t be denied.