Conquer the sun

The Duel of Princes

"I don't have time for your nonsense" said Uncle Garret.

"Damn! Since when is a duel nonsense?" I asked him, before adding "if you refuse to confront me here and there now, that will mean that you are the weak one." All it took to force my uncle to accept this duel.

My defiant expressions were effective, Uncle Garret accepted the challenge. He descends from the balcony and joins the training yard. I took a sword.

"So my uncle, take the weapon of your choice and come and face your nephew" I threw at him excitedly.

"I don't need it, son" Uncle Garret gave me the green light to go on the attack.

I rushed straight with my sword on him, but the latter without disturbing himself too much, dodged, sending me wandering.

"Is that all you have in your stomach?" Uncle Garret threw at me.

Filled with impatience and overwhelmed with anger, I rush my uncle again, but again he escapes my blows. Uncle Garret grabbed my sword and stabbed me in the stomach. I immediately fall under the weight of pain. My uncle approaches me.

"It's true, my brother is right. You're not ready yet. It's a shame" Uncle Garret was telling me before punching me in the face. I fainted right away.

Few minutes later.

I woke up a few minutes later, and to my surprise, found myself in my bed.

"Was I dreaming?" I ask myself touching my face. The pain in my face is real

"Now you can be sure it wasn't a dream," the voice said.

I look at my bedroom window and I see Aya.

"Aya..." very relieved to see her.

"You've been asleep for about an hour, if that's what you want to know" Aya informed me in a mocking tone.

"Where is my uncle?" I asked.

"The one who put you in this state?" returned Aya.

"Please Aya..."

"I don't know about her, your highness" Aya said after composing herself.

Suddenly the door to my room opened and who do I see? My uncle came to visit me.

"And how is he?" he asked in a mocking tone.

"You came to laugh at me, didn't you?"

"Why would I do such a thing, my prince?" He continued in mockery.

"Bravo, continue in your mockery, but the next time, I will have you" I swore and I was really serious.

Uncle Garret waved Aya, ordering her out of the bedroom. Aya executed on the spot.

"You have my brother's ardor and it's really impressive the way you handle the sword, but all that will be useless if you don't know how to control yourself"

"Hmm... you came to give me fighting lessons" I said, laughing at him.

"Shut up and listen to what I have to say to you" cried Uncle Garret who suddenly no longer has that gentle air with which I am familiar.

"Okay, I'm listening, uncle" I pulled myself together.

"I want you to become the next king, the one who will succeed my brother." Uncle Garret entrusts me.

"But I'm his only heir, normal that it's me who succeeds him, you don't need to want it first."

"Your grandfather, therefore my father, had three sons. It was a chance for him until the day he had to choose which of us to whom he should cede the throne. We all had the right profile to be king, which complicates the situation even more. My father had to make a decision..."

"Which?" interrupting my uncle, I was really anxious to know.

“He decided that we face each other” replies Uncle Garret.

"I see, he wanted to see which of his sons was the strongest. My father was stronger than you so"

"It's not exactly that" Uncle Garret told me, "your father was certainly a very great fighter but he was not as strong as our big brother" he added.

"If so then how did he become king?"

"Your grandfather didn't just want a great warrior, he also wanted a human. Someone who hasn't lost his humanity, who won't betray his loved ones because of power"

"It's rather a good reflection of my grandfather, I would have liked to know him. It's to him I owe..."

"Listen to me until the End!!" shouted Uncle Garret. "Your father and I have an older brother, his name is Kell. If the throne were to go to the strongest among us, he would currently be the king of the kingdom of the sun. Kell was ready to kill me during the fight but your father saved my life even though it did not benefit him. My father immediately stopped the fight and made Edward the heir to the throne. But until today, Kell has not digested the choice of our father. He took refuge in the east in one of the dominated kingdoms. He is today one of the first enemies of the reign of your father and he is ready to attack again. "

This time, I asked permission to speak by lifting my little finger.

"You can talk" authorized my uncle.

"If I understand correctly, this famous Kell, wants to destroy the kingdom because his father did not make him king?"

“He was ready to kill me to gain the throne, which proves that he is ready to do anything to finally gain the throne”

"He must be crazy, this uncle that I don't know." All of a sudden I found myself angry with this uncle I never met.

"He's more than that. But insulting him isn't going to solve the problem because..."

"Excuse me, Uncle Garret, but I have a question for you"

"Go ahead, I'm listening" ordered Uncle Garret.

"And you, you are not an enemy of my father's reign?" I asked him.

"That day, your father could have let me die. But he didn't see me as an adversary, he gave me the chance to live. I'm proud to have him as king."

"What loyalty!"

"He deserves it."

"Uncle Kell plans to attack the kingdom, but how do you know what he plans to do?"

"Kell and I always get along" was Uncle Garret's response.

"Despite the fact that he tried to kill you?" So I was very surprised to learn that these two still get along.

"Brothers always remain brothers, I've been trying to solve this problem between my two brothers for years."

"But which side are you really on?"

"Zed, I didn't come to you for this" said Uncle Garret, "Kell wants his sons to fight you"

"What!" Another news that surprises me, "why does he want me to fight against my cousins?"

"Kell as a prince has the right to demand a duel of princes"

"What is the duel of princes?" I had never heard of it.

"The prince who emerges victorious from the duel of princes will be the next king" explained my uncle Garret.

"I can finally understand" I said. "I'm not afraid, I'm ready to face them, I'll beat them, and it’s also an opportunity for me to prove to my father that he can count on his son"

"It's not a case of wanting to prove anything to your father. Zed, you have to prepare to face your cousins. And when I say to prepare, it means that I really mean it"

"Why suddenly this fear in your eyes?" Uncle Garret seems scared.

"You have no idea what those you are going to face are capable of" said Uncle Garret looking very worried.

"I do not shrink from any danger, I am the prince and the future king of the only dominant kingdom in the whole world, and I am not just anyone" I showed an outrageous zeal.

"Kell was already a great warrior before you were born, old age didn't even get the better of him. The last time I saw him, he was no longer human." Uncle Garret is increasingly worried.

"What does that mean, he wasn't human anymore?"

"Kell is now what we call a werewolf"

"A werewolf?" No I couldn't believe what my ears were hearing.

Uncle Garret for a moment looked at me without answering me. I was really looking forward to hearing good news. I wanted him to tell me that I had heard wrong but...

"Yes" was his answer.

"How it is possible?" I asked him.

"It's a long story, you have to prepare yourself. You don't have an opponent like any other, Kell is a formidable opponent," supported Uncle Garret.

"What does the king say about that?" I asked him still in shock at this news.

"Your father always did what he could to protect you from certain dangers, he doesn't sit idly by when it comes to this case either. But you also have to make yourself useful when the time comes." I finally know why my uncle wanted me to train often. I finally understand the reason for his rigor towards me.