She was barely seventeen and yet she was the strongest amongst them all.
She was known across all the tribes and kingdoms as a reincarnation of the moon goddess who had died for almost a millennium.
Her statues were displayed all over the earth and so many and devoted were her followers that millions worshiped her.
Her name was Ivanka, the daughter of a high priest of the Druids.
After the death of her father, she fought all the others who wanted to take over her father's position as they believed she was too young and weak.
After conquering all her oppositions, she became the head of the Druids at age thirteen.
Despite everyone's admiration for Ivanka, no one ever saw her true face as she had always been covered from head to toe with an opaque veil.
Well, no one but the inquisitive Baron Clair, who had been the newly made King of the martial arts clan and who had been madly in love with Ivanka.
Baron Clair, despite the warnings and discouragement he received from everyone, went ahead in search of Ivanka.
After much persuasion from Baron, Ivanka who had also fallen in love with him disobeyed her late father's last instructions by taking off her veil.
After showing her true face to Baron, it is said by the Druids that Baron was struck dead by the gods while the martial arts clan believe that their King had been killed by the evil priestess.
Due to the trauma of losing Baron, Ivanka took ill and later discovered she was miraculously with child.
The news soon spread all over the three kingdoms and the once respected and loved Ivanka was thrown out and banished from the land as it was an abomination for a high priestess to engage in any form of sexual activity with a mere mortal.
Unfortunately, the young teenager didn't survive childbirth but she successfully gave birth to Novich Clair, who had immediately been taken away by the Martial arts clan and trained there to be their next King.
Novich Clair grew up with maids and guards around him and was groomed by the finest of swordmasters and martial arts experts but still the ever-feckless lad seemed uninterested in any.
Soon, Novich's mischievous attitude was known by all his teachers, house helps, trainers and eventually everyone in the kingdom.
Almost every person in the clan, from the young children to the grey heads knew about Novich's crimes.
At Age three, the toddler single handedly burnt down the great flag of the clan by means which no one could think of.
At Age Six, Novich Clair was found in a rowdy pub having his first glass of ale.
At Age thirteen, Novich Clair had openly said that all his ancestors were failures and that he had no intentions of being a King.
At Age Sixteen, Novich Clair had been accused of setting the great temple on fire.
And just a week ago, on his eighteenth birthday he had officially gotten rid of his personal advisor and had replaced him with a six-months old pig which he openly named 'Baron' in spite of his late father, whom he abhorred.
PRESENT DAY (Martial Arts Temple)
I was surrounded by at least twenty men in long garments which grazed the marble floor when they moved.
They all had long grey beards that supplemented their eternal stern faces.
Although I had known every single one of them from the day I was born, I could still recognize only one of them, probably because he had the longest and fairest beard and he was also the meanest of them all.
Master Fien was his name and he was the head of the temple.
"What am I doing here?" I asked them.
No response
I sighed. "Really? Did you all call me to this shrine just to stare at me?"
I could see the animosity in their faces and it didn't even bother me one bit. They were all nothing but old bummers to me.
Master Fien took a step forward and to my greatest surprise, his lips gave in to a smile.
"My boy!" He said, smiling from ear to ear. "You've grown to be such a handsome man."
It had been six years since I had seen Master Fien and I really hadn't been missing him at all.
Master Fien had been my sole enemy since I was old enough to breathe.
He was the only one who didn't respect the fact that I was the future king. He was the only one who didn't treat me like an egg. In fact, Master Fien had spunk me so many times as a kid and I had detested him dearly.
He came closer to me and embraced me tightly. "It's been long since we've seen each other."
I smiled reluctantly. "Not like I've been looking forward to seeing you again."
He kissed my forehead. "Me too."
My countenance changed immediately as I watched the old man wink at me and retreat to his bearded mates.
"We summoned you here to inform you that by tomorrow morning, you shall be crowned the king of the martial arts clan."
"WHAT!!" I yelled in shock. "H-how p-possible is that??" I asked.
Master Fien shook his head in disbelief. "How possible is what, Novich? You're the only child of the late Baron Clair, what else were you expecting?" He asked casually.
"B-but the ceremony should be in months, not tomorrow!" I protested. "I haven't even passed any of the tests which makes me unqualified to rule."
Master Fien's smile widened. "I know that son, but we can overlook your inexperience, by the way, no one else knows that you're unqualified to rule."
"No!! This can't happen!" I ranted on. "I-I haven't learnt anything at all, not even Martial arts nor swordsmanship."
He stared at the others who seemed less excited about the matter than him. "That I'm sure we can handle. After you're made king, I shall make training you my sole responsibility."
"I DON'T WANT TO BE KING!!!!" I yelled in annoyance. "You can offer the kingship to someone else, someone who is interested in this garbage of a life! Please just let me be!" I pleaded.
The whole atmosphere changed and everyone seemed to have a grim expression on their face.
Then Master Fien destroyed the serenity of the atmosphere by bursting into laughter.
"That was funny!" He said as he struggled to catch his breath. He walked to me and patted my shoulder. "See you tomorrow morning when you're made KING!"
And just like that, he walked away and the others followed after him like robots.
Then, I was left alone in the spacious hall of the great temple, with mighty statues of gods and goddesses staring gravely at me.
I let out a long sigh to ease myself of the stress of over thinking. "I wish I could just die!" I said as I walked out of the temple.
I should have known better as It's one thing to wish for bad things and it's something else to wish for bad things before all the gods and goddesses in the great temple.