Elementia Tellurian

Chapter 9

“Do you really think the fires were intended?” Zale asked to his elders. He was now surrounded by his elders. They were the former members of the council. They were once prince and princess until their parents had become part of the former kings whose terms were already finished. They were now functioning as the council’s mentors. They were from different regnums but they started living on Aqua’s castle for efficiency especially during council meetings.  

All of the elders nodded. “It is still under investigation. However, the residents said that there was never a negligence on their part. We are still making sure of that before concluding,” the elder from Regnum Aeris answered. 

Zale look at all of them. “Do you have any suspect in your mind?”

The elders looked at each other. The elder from the Regnum Ignis sighed and made a small fidgeting.  “We suspect that it was one from the Ignis.”

Zale’s forehead wrinkled. Was it really from Ignis? Would they really do such a thing?

He clasped both of his hands on the table. The incident from twenty years ago flashed before his eyes.

~~~

His Majesty, the king, was busy reading reports inside his office when his nine-year-old prince was crying while approaching him. His cries were so loud that Her Majesty, the queen, who was sleeping in the other room heard it and opened the door which connects the king’s bedroom and his office. Trailing with the prince was his sister, Marina, who had no idea why her brother was crying. Both of them were on their pajamas.  His majesty, the king, hurriedly walked towards them. He kneeled down to be on the same level as his child. He noticed that both of his children were very sweaty.

“Why are you crying?” the king asked while caressing the face of his son.

The queen walked near towards her daughter and hugged her.

The prince continued crying and his lips and shoulders were already trembling. “Ei – Eirene,” he stuttered.

Both the king and queen looked at each other. The king lightly wrapped his fingers on his child’s arms and looked his son’s face again. “What is with your sister?” 

The prince continued sobbing. “I-it was my fault. I-I sneaked in into their r-room and i-i-invited them to play. W-we were just running around the hallway and t-the next time I turned my head to her direction, s-s-she was not there anymore,” Zale narrated while crying his eyes out. “W-we looked for her everywhere but w-we c-cannot find her,” he added.

His Majesty immediately stood up. “Love, please stay with them. I’ll look for Eirene. Don’t leave the room until I come back,” he said to the Queen. The queen nodded and hugged both of her child.  

The king went out of the room. The prince peeked out of the door and he saw his father with the guards. “Your majesty, there was an attack. Some part of the kingdom was ablaze.”

“Sound the warning bell and send troops to the area that was attacked. Bring guards to the castle to search for Princess Eirene. Deploy the guards around the parameter and keep an eye of a strange person,” the king commanded.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the guard immediately removed his self in front of the king.  

The king immediately went to the direction where the princess’ room was located.

The queen lightly grabbed Zale’s arms and brought him to the mattress. “Let us just stay here. Let your father do the job.”

Zale hold his mother’s hand, tightly. “I am scared,” the little prince admitted.

The queen stroked his son’s hair. “They are going to find her. I promise.”

And for the past twenty years, her mother had not kept her promise.    

~~~

“Prince?”

He snapped back to the reality when the elder called him. He stood up from his seat and fixed his clothing. “I’ll try to visit the affected areas.”

All of the elders didn’t expect to hear it from him. “There are already guards investigating the area, your highness. You don’t need to be there,” the elder from Aeris said.

“No, I need it to see it myself.”   He had already made his decision.

“But it would take days before you get there.  What about the competition?” the elder from Terra asked.

He went to the records room and picked the reports that had happened twenty years ago specifically, the records from the day his sister was lost, “I am sure the council can manage it.”

“I will bring this along the way,” he raised and waved the reports on his hands.

When he was already out of the council’s room. His right hand man approached him. “Please, prepare a small carriage for me. Please prepare some food, too, enough for a week’s trip. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

His right-hand man nodded and went to prepare what the prince’s needed for his travel.

He went to his room to packed his commoner’s clothes. As much as possible, he should maintain a low profile especially that he’s visiting a place that was allegedly attacked. If it was an arson, he should not conclude immediately.

As he finished packing his clothes, he passed by to his father’s office. The doors were wide open. He could see his king who was very busy reading and writing reports. Ever since, the youngest princess was lost. The king had spent his time busying his self with king’s works. He hardly takes a rest and the result of his hard work, his body was now frail.

He walked towards him. “Your Majesty, how was your health?”

“Oh, prince! I never noticed you. How long have you been standing there?” the king stood up and greeted him with a hug.

He patted his father’s back and let go of the hug. “I just got here, Your Majesty. I was in a council meeting, earlier.”

The king noticed him carrying a bag. “You are going somewhere?” he asked while sitting back on his chair.

“Yes, Your Majesty. There are things that I need to take care off.”

“Is it about the competition?” the king asked.

He shook his head. “No, it is about the fire in Terra and Meta, Your Majesty.”

“Ohh,” the king responded. “Then I should not take much of your time. You can advance now, prince,” he added.

“Please take care of your health, Your Majesty,” said Zale and took his bow and left.

“Everything is set?” Zale asked as he was approaching his carriage.

“Yes, your highness,” Gerard proudly answered. He had been serving his highness ever since they were young. He had made serving the prince his lifetime goal.  

“Good,” the prince went inside and Gerard seated in front to drive the carriage.

“Let us check the Meta, first.” He said while pulling all of the reports from his bag.

It was surely a hectic week for the prince of Aqua.