Two men on horses dragged a royal-looking carriage as they rode along the tiny route that would lead them to the bustling road that leads to the city gate.
They were on their way to Dreybar Kingdom which separated the Ducrya empire from the Tecren empire.
These two empires were the most powerful empires in the world at the time.
They were always at odds with each other attempting to conquer one another, and none of the world's hundreds of empires dared to go to war with them.
Emperor Lurconis governed the Ducrya empire, while Emperor Darkul commanded the Tecren empire.
The men chatted as they were riding towards a road a few miles away when their horses suddenly neighed, causing them to come to halt.
They looked around, assuming it was some sort of break-in, but as they heard the crunching of leaves from the woodlands on either side of the road, their eyes contracted into a thin line.
They stared intently, and when the monster that was crunching the leaves with its legs neared, their eyes dilated, and they fell off their horses by accident.
"What is going on there?" A calm voice came from within the carriage, and the curtain was pulled open.
The head of a young man who looked the age of 22 peered out and his eyes contracted when he saw his troops laying on the ground with scared expressions on their faces.
He stepped down from the carriage gently, his countenance changing in disgust.
With a scowl on his face, he marched up to his men and looked them in the eyes. "Why did you come to a halt?" he questioned and they knelt on their knees and lowered their heads, their bodies quivering in terror. "Please pardon us, your highness, but we only came to a halt because of that," one of them explained, pointing to something in the woods to their left.
The young man's gray eyes turned to his left side, and his brows wrinkled deeply in astonishment as he looked in the direction that his guard pointed.
He tucked his hands behind his back and began walking in that direction, but the voice of a young girl who appeared to be his younger sister shouted out to him, prompting him to come to a halt. "Brother!" She stepped down from the carriage as he turned around to face her. "Why did we come to a halt?" she queried, her countenance befuddled, and he turned to look at the body on their left side. Following his line of sight, the young girl's lashes fluttered as she realized it was a human body.
She instantly grabbed her dress and dashed over, squatting down to check the human, who turned out to be Akai. Her eyes widened in awe of his splendor, and she remained immobile.
The young man's brows furrowed in bewilderment, and he waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention, but she remained as still as a statue, smiling widely and her eyes glittering as if in love.
The young man followed his sister's line of vision and they landed on Akai's face. His brow creased, and he turned to face his sister. Was it because of him that she was like this? I mean, he had to admit that the young man in front of them was really attractive, but was that reason enough for his sister to turn into a statue and smile like a clown?
He shook his head and motioned for the soldiers to return his sister to the carriage, then crouched down to examine Reagan.
To check if he was still breathing, he tucked his hair behind his ear and moved his finger to his nose. When he realized he was still alive, his brows crinkled in surprise, and he couldn't help but check his wound again. How is this possible? According to what he's seeing, the wound he received is severe enough to kill him in a matter of minutes, at least if we're talking about someone with strong willpower. So, how?
He turned to face his men and a low breath escaped from his nose. "Get him into the carriage," He ordered them and they nodded before moving toward Akai and lifting him off the ground.
"Becareful with him!" They nodded as he stared at them before carefully dragging Akai into the carriage.
The young man returned to the carriage and sat next to his sister, who was still beaming like a fool. He shook his head and gazed carefully at Akai, who was still unconscious on the chair.
He drew a tiny line between his eyes and looked down at the fabric of his royal robes. "Hmm," he said as he tore a piece off and wrapped it around his face, attempting to stop his sister from acting the way she was.
The moment after he did that, as if she had been smacked back to reality, she shook her head and vigorously blinked her eyes.
"What happened to you, Hazel?" He asked her and her cheeks flushed scarlet, causing her to hide her face in her palm, embarrassed.
The young man cleared his throat and averted his gaze from her, then took a book from beside him to read.
Their carriage continued to ride for a few more minutes before coming to a halt at the city gate. The guards at the gate gave them a sidelong glance, and the men informed him that the prince and princess had requested entry.
The guards, unable to trust them, disregarded them and proceeded to the carriage. They requested that the person inside the carriage expose himself, and the young man drew open the curtain a little bit with a leisurely expression on his face, causing the guards' eyes to throb furiously.
It was, without a doubt, the prince! They took a quick step back and bowed deeply in reverence. "Please accept our apologies, Your Highness." They cried for mercy, but the young man ignored them as if they were invisible to him. "Move." He told his soldiers and they nodded before kicking the horse to get it moving. They crossed the city gate and arrived in Drybar kingdom.
The king of Drybar, who had already been informed of their arrival, dispatched his royal guards to accompany him to the palace, and as they waited, the young boy leaned back in his seat and gently tapped on his lap with his eyes closed.
After a few long minutes, the noises of running houses filled their ears. The boy blinked open his eyes and nodded at his soldiers, who informed him that the palace's royal guards had arrived. He gave them a friendly gesture before returning his sight to Reagan, whose wound had stopped bleeding but still appeared horrifying to the naked eye. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, his pale face in his gaze.
"Why did you...cover his face, Dorian?" Hazel inquired, her displeasure visible in her gaze, and Dorian arched his brow at her. "For obvious reasons." He replied and closed his eyes.
The carriage started moving, and it took nearly an hour for them to arrive at the gate of the palace. On seeing them, the guards within, threw the massive gate open for them, and they rode into the palace unhurriedly.
The horses, including the carriage, neighed and came to a halt. The royal guards took a step back and stood to one side, bowing deeply in reverence.
With a carefree grin on his face, the young man opened his eyes and glanced at Reagan before climbing down from the carriage, followed by his sister.
They took a quick look around when a small flatter voice they haven't heard before resounded.