The boy was now already 20 years old and had grown into a handsome young man. His green eyes and long golden locks were extremely enchanting complementing his fair skin. The boy had an extremely strong and heavy built, and was now already known to have surpassed all his brothers too in vigour and skills. He had already started to support his brothers in running the kingdom and under the leadership of his elder brothers; he was supposed to be the next king of the palace and was already getting trained for it.
Though there were several clashes in the ministry about the boy, but they could never openly speak about it to his possessive brothers. Some people considered him undeserving as he could not speak, while some also made fun of him behind their backs. While some appreciated him for his fine skills, while other thought that he would never ever deserve to be a king. He was not at all like his brothers, as unlike them he did not have a powerful voice.
The boy had already won many battles which he handled independently and was also known for his fair sense of wisdom towards the common man. He would often visit the faraway lands, along with his men to help people and also to improve his kingdom's friendship with his allies. The man was known to be very protective for his family, just like all his other brothers. He could do anything for his family's protection and for their welfare.
Just a few days after he had turned twenty the boy was all set to visit a far away land to meet one of his kingdom's allies. He would often disguise himself in common man's attire and go meet the allies all alone. This time too, he had worn a simple fawn colour gown, with no costly jewels. His long strands were left open flowing in the air, while the horse was sprinting out of his kingdom at a rapid speed. While side by side the boy was scrutinizing the working of kingdom fro several hours.
Soon the boy had already entered the dense woods, while the horse ran for a little more distance in the scorching heat.
'Do you want to take rest?' the man patted his horse's back and the horse halted in an
instant, raising its two frontal legs in the air.
'Alright. Take some rest. I shall go and bring some water for you.' The man smiled and patted the horse yet again. Without the boy uttering a word the horse would understand his taps. With one quick jump the man was already standing on the ground. The horse walked under a dense tree and the boy walked towards a nearby flowing river to fetch some water for himself and for the horse. There were complete dense trees all around, with not a living creature in sight. Nobody would ever dare to enter this part of the woods, especially at night as it was supposed to be full of dark magic and other strong negative forces. But, Joya was fearless and he would often use this path to cross his kingdom. Never in all these years, had he ever spotted a single man in this area.
The boy walked rapidly on the dense bushes, crossing them all swiftly amidst the large and dense trees. Even though the sun had not yet set, but the woods were pretty much dark as the sunlight was majorly blocked by the dense and high trees, making it look like night time itself. He walked further ahead toward the river and picked up a gigantic leaf from the ground. He then quickly folded it from its edges, and tied its ends with a thick root to make it into a thin vessel. He had planned to fill it water for his horse. Soon he reached the rough muddy edge of the water and bent on his knees. He then cupped his hands together, dipping them in the water. He then splashed some water on his face, cleaning it with his hands and then drank a mouthful too, quenching his thirst. He was about to fill the leaf with water, when suddenly at a far away distance in the river, a splashing sound occurred loudly, and a girl popped up her head and half naked body from under the water.