Hearts So Stained

Noori the Princess

The audience room was full of voices. Aggressive, agitated, impulsive. Every man in there was ready to go to war. On the throne above the stairs sat the King with a stiff expression on his face, He was holding onto the hands of his wife who was crying out rivers. The pain in her eyes was too deep for him to ignore.

“YOur Majesty! My son!” She whimpered to him as if asking for justice. He gave her a nod. One could see on his face that he was in great grief but as a King of the nation he wasn’t able to show the grief.

“Commander Zand! Are you sure what you say is true?” Asked the king in a deep voice causing everyone’s attention to crawl towards the man who was on his knee.

“Yes, Your Majesty! I have searched the whole palace and there is no sign of the Prince nor the General!” HE replied confidently.

“What about the armies of the General?” HE asked.

“Your Majesty, we have made sure that they are able to do no harm to our citizens.” He replied.

“I think that it's quite clear–”

“Objection, Your Majesty! I think it's too soon to make a decision!” Through the wide-open doors a man marched forwards, he wore a deep blue uniform with a black cape hanging down his shoulders as he moved. He had a serious face with silverish white hair and a pair of deep cyan eyes.

The crowd parted and made way for that man. The king was a little shocked to see him step in like that.

“Duke Farris?” HE questioned. “Are you taking the princess’s side?”

“Yes Your Majesty! I think we have overlooked a few things. There is no way the Princess would take such a rash decision like this. Let alone kill the Prince and start a war at the expense of her and her underlying life. We must investigate the case thoroughly.” HE insisted.

DUke Farris Griffith, was the first duke of Solar and one of the most powerful individuals in the country. He took part in many major battles between the two empires and here he was trying to keep the peace between the two kingdoms.

The King gave him a thoughtful look before shifting his gaze towards the other commanders.

Commander Zand seemed to be against the idea so he wanted to fight back but he was interrupted by one of the knights who walked into the room after Farris.

“YOur Majesty! Your presence has been requested.” he was almost shuttering.

“My presence?” He was a little surprised as he was the king and nobody dared to order him around.

“The Prince has been returned.” He added.

“My son! WHere si he? Did he get hurt?” The queen left the throne chair and rushed toward the knight.

“The Imperial Physician has news for you.” He replied.

The King stood up from his throne and descended it slowly. Farris stiffened and his hand-formed into a fist.

“Lead the way,” said the king.

“YOur Majesty! Can I come too?” Farris seemed way too concerned.

The King gave him a slight nod and then walked away. Farris followed him closely.

The knight who had just entered the royal courtroom led them to one of the rooms on the first floor of the palace where it was crowded. Maids and guards had circled the door and were standing on the tip of their fingers.

“Make way for His Majesty The King and her Highness the Queen,” He announced, and as soon as those words fell on the ears of the people standing beside the door split into two lines and hung their heads.

The doors of the room were opened for him and he entered along with the Queen. Farris did not enter, rather he stopped and looked around for a while. The guard at the main door was still stationed at his position. Farris approached him, on which he got flustered and almost let go of his spear.

“Duke Griffith!” HE exclaimed.

“Where is the princess?” HE asked.

At this question he almost paled out, That was the most common reaction of anybody if they were asked about Noori.

He gulped in his saliva as his throat suddenly went dry. “The princess just a while ago brought in the prince and went back to the Oceris Palace.

“Alright.” He said and headed out of the main palace.

Amongst the widely spread ashes stood a sturdy-looking figure. She had blood-red hair and ivory skin, She had a muscular build and there were faded scars of all sizes on her exposed skin. She crouched and touched the ashes. HEr teeth rubbed against one another as the frown on her forehead deepened more and more.

“You made quite an entry, I must say.” A familiar voice rang in her ear causing her lip to curl up painfully, HEr teeth didn’t ease nor did her frown disappear, Rather their expressions looked even more painful.

“Commander Farris Griffith of Silver Fox Battalion, I am glad my small trick impressed you so much that you came to visit me personally.” She had a low yet hoarse voice As if because of excessive shouting, the dryness in her tone made it sound like she was sick but it was her natural voice. It was low yet it held the power to control thousands and thousands of soldiers’ footsteps.

“Why did you do it?” He asked.

“You were worried?” She stood up and patted off the ashes from her hand, She turned around and looked past his shoulder. Her eyes resembled the red of the apatite stones, so fierce, that it seemed that they would burn everything.

Noori’s brows relaxed and she stepped closer to Farris and patted his shoulder. “You can't tell your tactics to the enemies, HAve you forgotten the law of war already.” She whispered. “ Come on! It hasn't even been two years since we last saw each other. It feels like yesterday to me.” She rubbed the sword on her waist before walking away.

“That body… Go check on him.” She said loudly and wandered off into the burnt building.