"General Balthasar…." The three said in unison.
"It's been awhile, young 'uns!" General Balthasar greeted them with a smile.
"Old man, is it true that the king is dead?!" Zoi said anxiously. The Lord General caressed his beard.
"Hey Zoi! At least offer him a seat." The old woman Fey exclaimed
"I'm fine you don't have to worry."said General Bal.
"Let's talk somewhere else." Zoi decided and the Lord General nodded.
They brought him under the Ammamia tree and they made him sit on the bench.
"Oh, Ammamia tree? It's been awhile since I've seen one." Said the Lord General.
"Why? I thought they were around Amane." Said Zoi and took a seat on the roots. The other two did the same.
"They were cut down by Zaman. Thinking that it's really a useless tree. My prince, do you think, this tree is useless?" asked the General.
"Uh—I think so. But I guess everything were placed in this world for a reason. We might not know but it might've been playing a role of its own kind." Zoi replied looking up on the tree.
"Those were kind words, your highness." Said the General smiling at him. The other two just stared at the two as if they're invisible.
"Uhm.. General, about the king?" Zoi asked the general with hesitation. He did not bother to ask why did the general went to their place.
"First of all, how did you know that we're taking refuge in this place?" Larkin suddenly joined the conversation.
"He's right. Excuse the rudeness Lord General but I find it strange with you being here. You could've been sent by his evil brother to spy on us." Kazuki added.
"I've always thought highly of your intellect Kazuki. Among the three, you are the only one who have the most active brain." The general said. Larkin and Zoi flinched at this insult.
"However, I came here on my own. As to how I found this place, that girl Faia told me. She's a lovely girl, isn't she?" the General said with a dreamy eyes.
"Come on old man. She's too young for you." Larkin said with a grin. The old man laughed at this.
"It's not that kind of interest, Larkin. She just reminds me of someone." The general replied.
"Now that I think about it, Lord Bal, you didn't get married, did you?" asked Kazuki. The general laughed even more.
"Yes young lady. But I have you three which I thought of as my own children." The general said and looked at them with affection. "I never thought you would grow into such a fine man and woman." He added.
"Anyway, Lord Bal." said Zoi. He's been itching to ask him about the king.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot about why I'm here. It's about your father Zoi. He's ----."
"He's dead, isn't he?" Zoi said with a sad voice.
"The news reached you earlier than I expected." Said Lord Bal.
"We happened to witness the public announcement of his last will. We rushed home to tell Zoi about it." Larkin explained.
"Have you always been going in and out Amane?" asked Lord Bal.
"Yeah. Without anyone noticing." Larkin said proudly and smirked.
"You did really grown up well. It makes me sad and happy." Said Lord Bal.
"Sad?" asked Kazuki.
"It just means that I'm getting older." General Bal sighed.
"Well, if I'm alone, everything should be fine." Said Kazuki and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Hey! What do you mean by that, Kazuki?" Larkin angrily pointed his index at her. Kazuki held on his finger and bent it backward. Larkin was yelling and was swearing at her. His eyes swelled and was about to cry.
"Don't you forget that many times we almost failed in infiltrating the capital because of your womanizing, you perverted, retarded and bastard delinquent!" she yelled right at his right ear. Her voice is too loud that he thought his eardrums might explode any minute. General laughed at them and suddenly felt a nostalgic feeling.
"I think you're not here to talk about those. Just get me straight old man!" Zoi fussed. His eyes eagerly looked at the old man as if trying to prove something. The two stopped their arguments and got serious.
They were shrouded by silence for awhile and only the chirping of the birds can be heard. General Bal closed his eyes and sighed.
"As I thought I said earlier that you've changed, but that part of you haven't changed." He said.
"The time is speaking as we speak. Many things could've happened." Said Zoi seriously.
"Things are already happening…. In Amane." General Bal said in disdain.
"What do you mean?" asked Kazuki.
"Adlai told the court that you used Faia to attacked Amane. I knew that was false but majority of the court believed him. Faia was forbidden to talk. I thought that was all to it but, he did the worst." Bal said his face full of dispute. His eyes full of rage and he clasped his both hands together. The three of them looked at him scared. They studied under General Bal's teaching but they never saw him this angry before.
"Wh-What did he do?" Kazuki managed to speak.
"Uh--- He--." Lord Bal stuttered as he realized they were watching at him with fear. "He told the court that he eliminated you and your fellows." He continued. He was about to resume when Larkin got on his feet.
"What?!" Larkin got on his feet and yelled. "We're in a big trouble! The court would surely ask him for evidence! He would be back! He'll come back here to kill all of us!" he exclaimed. Zoi frozed in shock. Everyone's still injured and they have used everything in that battle. They don't stand a chance.
"Nothing to worry. They won't make a move until tomorrow night." Said the General.
"But why?" asked Larkin.
"I don't know. That was what he said during the assembly." Said Lord Bal.
"We'll make the attack tonight." Kazuki suddenly blurted.
"What?!" Larkin and Zoi said together. Even the Lord General was amused.
"We'll gonna use our mostre." She said grinning and looked at Zoi with mischief. The three of them just looked at her with curiosity.
*****
MEANWHILE, in Amane. Faia, even though she had been given a nice bedroom and a proper meal, she was again imprisoned. In comparison to her prison before, she like it better. It was way more cleaner, beautiful, well-lit and smells pleasantly. Outside, she was guarded by two guards. Although she has the power to turn them into ashes, as of the moment, it is impossible. Her left foot was chained to the foot of the bed. It is long enough to walk about a meter or two from the bed.
It is her first day after last night. She was given food but she doesn't have the mood to eat. All she did was look outside especially at the moon. However, it is daytime and all she could see is building and water flowing from every sidewalk of every walkway.
"Soon, when everything's over, you'll be able to see the real beauty of this country." Someone suddenly talked behind him. It made her jump from where she was standing. She looked at the old man who appeared inside the room. She let her guard up but the old man raised his two arms in defeat.
"I am not here to fight. Do you have a tea here?" the old man ask. She just stood there wary of the old man. The old man put down his weapons to prove that he's just there for a talk. She relaxed for a bit without taking her eyes off him.
"So? Do you have any tea?" he asked again.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She simply said. It's the truth though. The old man motioned her to sit on a chair. She's still looking at him warily.
"Young lady, where are you from? I've been living here for many years and I can say that I
recognize everyone in here. It's the first time that I've seen your face." He said calmly.
"I don't have any intention of telling you." she said coldly.
"Well, I understand. About that power…" he said. She became tensed and clenched her fist.
The old man sighed. "How well do you know that power of yours?" he asked.
"You wanna know so you can use me for your country isn't it?" she snapped.
"No. I have no interest in human weapons. Mostre? Ever heard of that?" he asked her. She just shook her head.
"I see. It seems that no one talked to you about who you really are." The old man said.
"Who… I… really…. Am?" she asked with confusion.she doesn't know where he's getting at.
"I know that you've been put through hard times…"
"You know nothing !" she snapped and stood up really looked angry. Instead of getting angry, the old man just looked at her and smile.
"Young lady, what's your name?" he asked out of the blue.
"Name? What was that for?" she asked but the old man just looked at her waiting for an answer.
"Faia. That was given to me by Zoi." She said and looked at the floor.
"Zoi, huh? Tell me, is he really dead?" he asked but she didn't answered.
"That would be a no, I suppose." He said.
"You could tell?" she asked.
"I'm an old man. You're far more way to go to deceive me. Well, I don't think you would deceive me though. " he said. "I wanted to help him." He added.
"How can I trust your words? You're saying that to me out in the open without a fear of getting heard?" she confronted.
"You're not really ignorant as I've thought." The old man seems to found her amusing.
"Did you think, all of the people here in this country wanted Prince Adlai to be the king?" the old man stood up and went near the window.
"How can I tell?" she whispered. "But it seems the people have no choice if that was the case." She added, her gaze followed the old man.
"That's right. That's why we need Zoi. We need someone who have the courage to oppose the Prince. He already did it once, I know he can do it again." He said with an anticipation on his eyes.
"Once?"
"He escaped the capital together with the people in the slums because the Prince mistreated them. It was him who led them to their freedom."
They were silent for a few moments but Faia broke it.
"He's in the place under a deadly cliff. There was a shortcut. That's what I heard from the talks of the Prince's men. If you would go down there, you would found him." She said.
"Oh? Have I earned your trust, young lady?" the old man asked. She remained silent and retired to her seat.
The old man walked through the door but before he left he told her,
"In no time, you could see more than that of what you can see in the window.Oh! I almost forgot. I am Balthasar Aurevo, it's nice to meet you." he said and finally left. He decided to pay the other prince a visit
Faia was again left alone inside. She was thinking whether what she did was right. He might be lying in saying hat he would help Zoi but he can't bring herself to believe that he's lying and she doesn't know why.
"Maybe because I've seen too much lies that I can recognize who's telling the truth now." She whispered to herself and walked to the window.