Chapter 56
1999 Words
CHAPTER 56
Along with his comrades, Aragorn had to deliver the resources specially requested by the palace of Jude. This would prevent the war initiated by the palace of Jude since they’ll be needing some resources when a storm struck their kingdom.
King Argon will do anything to prevent the war. The palace of Caspian is one of the palaces that owned many soldiers that can fight for the kingdom, but the king believed that violence wasn’t always the solution. He thought that a leader should implement a solution that wouldn’t cost a life or damage their place in every conflict.
Aragorn and Leo were leading the group. Behind them was Hideo and other carriages drove by Veneer, Yosef, and Azrael. Inside the carriages were resources like gold, lumber, food, and Zonia, Lola, Lolita, and Dina. The servants were specially chosen by Queen Amira. She thought they can help in bringing down the resources to the receiver.
Their meeting place was a boundary line that felt like a sanctuary. Palm trees swaying and swamp filled with animals that were rarely seen only in the palace of Jude. The boundary was guarded by two warriors, which changes every eight hours.
An hour afternoon, they finally arrived at the palace. They saw the prince of Jude wearing his crown and was with other men of the palace. The carriages stopped on the side of the roads, and the servants inside it dropped one by one along with the unique offerings chosen by Queen Amira. These were dresses and jewelry chosen by Queen Amira.
“Greetings, Prince Aragorn,” said the prince of Jude. “We are grateful for the resources you brought for our palace.”
“I hope this help will stop your father from initiating the war. The palace of Caspian did not want to cause conflicts between palaces. Father’s vision is to have peace inside our palace and also in the affairs of it outside the palace.”
“I will report this to my father. He knew what to decide when it comes in these things.”
“Thank you for doing that,” Leo said. “You look like a young prince. Why are you the one sent by your father?”
The prince of Jude looked younger than Hideo but older than Yosef. He looked like he’s about the same age as Veneer. Usually, the eldest son or the second eldest son was sent in serious matters like this.
“My eldest brother is going to marry tomorrow and said that he heads to prepare for it. I, a son of a concubine, was chosen by my father to lead the group to this place. Thank you for the resources that you gave our kingdom.”
The women delivered the precious resources to the men of Jude. Hideo, Veneer, Yosef, and Azrael helped them while Leo and Aragorn were talking to the prince of Jude. After giving all of the resources to the men of Jude, they went back and prepared their carriage for going back to the palace.
“Dina!” Veneer called Dina before she rode on her carriage.
Dina smiled at her and stopped herself from going inside the carriage. “Hi.”
“How’s the ride? Is my ride fine? Did you feel nauseous or not? The track’s been filled with rocks, and I am not an expert with it.”
Dina didn’t know why he’s asking her these questions. Her heart sank because of it. He’s thinking of me, she thought.
“The ride’s been great. I felt calm inside and never thought that you’re having difficulty on rocky and mountainous trails. But you did great, Veneer.” Dina roamed her eyes around. “And I never thought that this beautiful place can exist in the boundaries of Caspian and Jude. I’ve never been in here.”
“If you want here, I’m going to bring you more here again next time.”
“Really? But this is far from the royal palace. The queen and my plants might look from me.”
Veneer chuckled. “They will unless we’ll tell them that we’re going to a place like this. If only you can only bring the queen’s plants here, they’ll be happy to see other flowers and plants.”
“Don’t fool me, Veneer. Plants don’t know how to respond to humans, and they cannot understand us.”
“They do respond!” Veneer pointed a fully-bloomed rose. “Do you see that rose? Do you know that when we’re in the distance, it was still a bud? And now, it’s blooming like it reached its peak. It's happy because people arrived in this place. It’s cheering because it sees the handsome face of Prince Aragorn.”
“I don’t believe, Veneer. The guards in the boundary were changing when their shift ended, and the people of Jude arrived here first. Why didn’t the plant bloomed before they saw us?”
Veneer leaned his mouth to her ears. “The rose does not like them.”
Dina laughed. It’s unbelievable, she realized. “Why do you think that the rose likes us?”
“Of course, we have extreme visuals. Look at Prince Aragorn. A lot of women in the palace would probably like him if they observed him. Look at Hideo, Azrael, Yosef, Leo, and of course me.”
“You? You don’t like you have the visual for the rose to like.”
“You’re absurd, Dina.”
“I just told you the truth.” Dina saw Prince Aragorn mounting back to their horses. “I think we’re going to leave now. I’m going to go inside. Don’t show your face to the rose. It might get scared.”
Dina went back inside the carriage, laughing so hard when she teased Veneer.
On their way back to the royal palace, women inside the carriage were singing Melodies of the Roadside composed by a song composer who originated in the palace of Caspian. The composer might be dead since the song was created when their grandparents were still young.
“I didn’t know that the queen’s servants have extreme talent like this,” Leo commented.
“I didn’t know that two. It’s my first time hearing them singing. And I hope it wouldn’t storm,” said Aragorn. The most pleasant voice he heard was from Sphyra. If only she can join them, she’ll sing with these servants. Of course, they can’t bring Sphyra since Leo’s with them, and his father checked the ones with them on this journey.
“Older sister, you told me that you don’t sing. But you sing so well while singing the song that mother sang to us when we were still young.”
Lolita knocked her fist on Lolita’s forehead. “You know that I don’t sing. I just love that song, and my mother sings it to us at least ten times a day. That song can’t leave my brain.”
“It’s part of our childhood, and no one can erase that. It’s also our history.”
“It wasn’t just our childhood. It’s also others. Do you know that I heard the queen dowager singing that song when I’m just a year in the palace? She still memorizes it even though she aged a lot.”
“I hope I could’ve entered the palace when that happened. The queen dowager’s nice to me even though I’m just months inside the palace. She always says to me that I’m the prettiest girl inside the royal palace. Now, I felt that I’m gorgeous. It’s such an honor for me to be called by that by the queen dowager.”
“You’re not the one who’s being called by that, so don’t assume.”
“Do you mean the queen dowager tells that to every woman who’s visiting and taking care of her?”
Lolita nodded. “She even said that to me.”
Lola bit her lip. “It’s frustrating to know that. You should’ve not told me, older sister! Knowing that I’m the prettiest woman for the queen dowager was the best moment of my life. And now, I learned that I wasn’t the only being called by that.”
“So, don’t assume to anyone again, Lola.”
“I will not unless it’s a man who’s telling that to me. By the way, my mother said that there’s a dance festival in our village. She said that I should tell you since you dance so well. When we’re still young, you always love to dance, and you were praised by our family members. But you stopped dancing when you became a servant in the palace of Caspian. It’s been four years, and I think this is the time for you to show your talent again.”
“Lola, it’s been years since that happened. I don’t know dancing by now, and I stopped for a long time. Dancing isn’t the thing that I like to do now. I prefer serving the queen for the days that I can.”
“You dance, Lolita?” It was Hideo. Lolita didn’t think that Hideo can hear them from the outside of the carriage.
“I don’t. Don’t mind my sister.”
“I heard it from your mouth.”
“It was a long time ago, and I don’t do that thing again in my life. The dance festival is….”
Lolita was cut by a stone that hit their carriage. “What is it, Hideo?” The carriage stopped. Something must be off from the outside.
Lolita peeked from the small window of their carriage. A few distances from them was a group of rebels approaching. They were six, and they were holding stones, rocks, and swords.
“Don’t go outside, Lolita. Stay inside. It wouldn’t be safe for the both of you to fight. Let us be the one to handle this,” Hideo said. Lolita heard him unmounted from the horse. She’s still peeking from the window.
Aragorn, Leo, Hideo, Yosef, Veneer, and Azrael were lined up, holding their weapons and pointing them to the group of rebels. They were ready to fight and face them even though they didn’t have any ranged weapons on them.
“What do you want from us?” Leo asked. His voice was firm as if he’s eager to cut their heads using his sword.
“The crowned prince of Caspian. We need him to come with, and the five of you are good to go,” said the shortest of them.
“The prince of Caspian can’t come with you. You have to face our first before you can touch Prince Aragorn,” said Hideo and positioned his sword in front of him.
“If this is the thing that you want, then let’s face each other.”
The rebels started throwing rocks at their side. The men avoided it, but Yosef’s foot was hit by them. It didn’t hurt that much, but it created difficulty for him to walk.
Leo, Hideo, and Azrael came forward to approach the rebels. Four of them stepped forward to fight with them. Swords created an eerie noise every time they struck each other. They did not think that the rebels were good at fighting also. They can dodge their attacks easily and can create attacks that almost hit them.
Aragorn supervised Yosef to the carriage while Veneer threw the rocks back to the rebels.
“Stay inside, Yosef. Heal your foot.”
“Your Highness, I can’t stay here seeing the five of you fighting along with those rebels.”
“Just listen and follow what I’ve said.”
Yosef nodded and let Aragorn face the rebels again. Aragorn was about to approach one of them when a rock, larger than a person’s fist, hit his head. The prince fell to the ground, eyes closed, and blood running from his forehead.
- Writer
