Chapter one: A pile of Ashes
King Jared walked through the hallway in long strides. Soon he was at the court's door and the royal announcer was announcing his presence to the council and knights of Namura kingdom.
The king had a worried countenance and he seemed to have aged in about a minute. He sat on his throne and waited to hear on the situation in Aradale.
"My daughter?" He asked the squirrely looking messenger that stood in front of him with a letter from the King of Aradale.
"Queen Arabella has broken her marriage chain and ran away yesterday, His majesty"
It took King Jared a considerably amount of time to assimilate what the messenger just told him. A week ago, he married his oldest daughter, Princess Arabella of Namura to the most powerful King in Derkal nations.
Now, a hungry looking messenger was delivering the news that his beloved daughter had ran away from her marriage and her new husband has demanded for her head to be brought back to him before dawn tomorrow.
King Jared looked exhausted. Even his council and knights couldn't come up with a solution. He was a father first and even though Arabella brought shame to his kingdom and his noble name, she deserved to be punished not killed.
"Take a message to the king of Aradale, Messenger. Tell him that no harm shall befall my daughter. She should be returned to me, alive to be punished as I see fit"
The messenger rummaged through his bag and brought out another letter with the king's seal. He moved forward and bowed to King of Namura before he handed the letter to him.
"I shall take my leave now, your majesty"
King Jared ignored the messenger and torn the letter open. It seemed the Devil of Aradale anticipated his request and wrote a response accordingly. King Jared read the letter over and over again; it was a really short letter.
KING JARED, YOUR DAUGHTER SHALL BE LEFT UNHARMED LIKE YOU REQUESTED BUT THERE WILL NOW BE A GREATER CONSEQUENCE.
BY DUSK TOMORROW, IF MY HONOR IS NOT RESTORED, NAMURA WILL BE NOTHING BUT A PILE OF ASHES.
King Jared looked ashen in the face. Now, he wasn't only worried for his daughter, he was worried for his entire Kingdom.
"Mobilize the King's Knights and Army, Sir Zadok. I want a watch guard positioned at every strategic part of this palace and on a look out. And someone stop that Messenger from leaving!"
Two knights rushes out to pursue the messenger but the man was long gone. They came back empty handed but not before they instructed two of the horsemen to locate and apprehend the messenger.
The king was pacing when the two knights entered.
"His Highness, the messenger is quick on his feet and is beyond our castle now. I instructed two horsemen to locate and apprehend" Sir Ramsey spoke with his head bowed.
"Go after him, yourself!" The king threw the cup placed on the table at sir Ramsey in anger. "If he gets word to King of Aradale then we are going to War!"
Gasps came from all corner of the king's court. Even though his knights looked unaffected by king's Jared's revelation, the noble men that made up the seven noble houses of Namura didn't quite achieve the same feat. No one could fault them for the apparent fear in their eyes.
Derkal nation was divided into three Hemispheres, the Western hemisphere, the Northern hemisphere and the Eastern hemisphere.
Namura kingdom is just one of the seven Kingdoms that made up the Eastern hemisphere and in no comparison to King of Aradale, who was the only king to rule over a entire hemisphere. King of Aradale wasn't just ruler over Aradale but over the entire Western hemisphere. Making him the most powerful and dangerous king in Derkal. If he says Namura would be a pile of ashes tomorrow, Namura would definitely be a pile of ashes tomorrow.
His army would crush the king's knights and loyal guards in a matter of minutes. It wouldn't be a fight, it would be a massacre.
"Your highness, we can't go to war with Aradale!" Reuben Zane of the house of Zane spoke louder than he intended.
"You think I don't know that!" The king stared out the window "Sir Zadok, instruct two of our agilest knights to bring the duke to me. If anyone knows where my daughter is, it would be the idiot she was in love with. And for hell's sake, send plain clothes warriors to infiltrate Western hemisphere as quietly as possible and find the princess of Namura and bring her back to me without as much as speck of dirt on her. Go! Now!"
Sir Zadok, the lead knight left the king's court in a hurry.
"What shall we do, my king? Going to war with Aradale is suicide and-" the noble man was cut off by a knight.
"But we shall fight to the death to protect our king and our kingdom, your highness"
It was the right and brave thing to say but even King Jared knew it was nothing but a massacre waiting to happen.
"Your loyalty is appreciated Sir O'Hare but the council is right. If we wage war against King of Aradale we will lose and good people will die" King Jared said and looked at his subject.
"What shall we do then, your highness?"
"Find a way to soothe the king of Aradale's bruised ego. Joshua!" The king yelled for his personal servant and he appeared almost immediately.
"Fetch me the princess!"
"Y-your highness, the princess left Namura a week ago" Joshua stuttered a little bit.
"Not Arabella, Fetch my other daughter, you imp!"
The servant couldn't wait to leave the room. Joshua was in a hurry to find the second princess. Everyone knew the second princess was not in her chambers, her maids had yelled that to Joshua when he had asked.
"Where shall I find the second princess, Annabelle?"
The second princess's maid looked at Joshua with an uneasy expression. It was like she didn't want to tell the king's servant where to find the second princess.
"Where is she? The king requires her presence"
"Check the forest, Joshua"
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Hi everyone, what do you think of King Jared? Do you think he is regretting asking the King of the West to spare his daughter? If you were in his shoes what will you do?
Buckle up guys, it's giving to be a bumpy journey from here on out. Grab some popcorn and let's begin. And someone please call the second princess!!!