Aios Legenthi stared at the empty hall before him and sighed. His feet were on the one orc skull that his left foot rested upon and sighed again. It was customary in his manners to think alone and then call on his lords of the court to deliberate on what his thoughts were able to grab.
He tapped his finger and in the respite that followed, his direct messenger walked up to him from the end of the entrance. He was also dressed in a glassy robe and he had a royal staff with him which symbolizes the order of the king, capable of subduing forces and bringing anyone to the order of the king who has sent him.
"I heard your call, most superior," he said and knelt before Aios, with his right and gently placed on one of his knees and stretching the rod before Aios, awaiting the impartation of power through words into the staff that was in his hand.
"You will go to Lord Clios, and invite him to the court. Tell him that it is urgent and he should be prepared for a trip," Aios said and the messenger rose immediately and walked out of the court.
When the messenger was gone, Aios stood from his feet and tapped his finger again, there came another messenger and he performed the same culture that the recent messenger performed.
"Go to the commander, tell him to ready ten warriors from the cavalry; the best. Tell him that we have a trip and I want them before the ninth hour of the day," Aios said and the second messenger left. He tapped his finger again and there came before him another messenger, also bearing the royal staff of order in his hand.
"You go to the Lord Consus chamber and inform him that I await his presence. Also that we are heading somewhere," Aios said and turned to face his throne.
He immediately accessed his actions and knew that there would be alterations from the remaining lords who were not informed about the move that he was about to take. It had been the same thing that had constantly revisited his mind over the night and dwelling more on it would usher furtherance to the depression that his day had started with.
If no one goes against his plan from the list of people that he had sent, Aios was sure that Lord Consus would defer the idea and want the presence of other court members but he was going to use the iron rule in his discretion as he had hardened his heart not to listen to the wise counsel of the court as they were known to have done in the past.
While he waited, Aios retired to his chamber and took a bath in the wash through the hands of his maidservants. He had a long night and all the thoughts that he had retained in the night were dealt with by the soothing waters that came from the widows of heaven. Aios emptied his mind and looked forward to the blind result of the trip that he was about to take, hoping that it would bring about a ripple in the future that had been revealed by the prophecy.
When he stepped out of the bath, a messenger walked in and bent on his knee.
"Your most Superior, the lords are gathered in the court. They await your presence," he said, with his face turned inwards.
Aios returned to his chambers where he strutted on himself the iron-glassy robe which had a magical touch from the hands of a wizard, a magical robe that would repel any attack on the bearer. As an afterthought, Aios paused and then turned to face the collection of his warfare and then picked up his heavenly-endowed sword and walked out of his chambers. He met servants on the passage as he walked back to the court and they bowed and all chorused "Your most Superior."
As Aios walked into the chamber from behind his throne, he set his eyes on these Lords and saw a faint reflection of what they harboured towards him, of which the ones that came from his brother were the ones with the tenderness of the heart. He looked at Lord Consus and saw the confusion, he immediately stood straight and raised his head at Aios. Then, Aios looked at the commander who was behind Clios and Consus and read the bewilderment in his eyes, the same look was on the faces of the ten soldiers that stood around the commander.
"Your most Superior, has anyone offended you? You are ready for war with the heavenly sword and the robe of the shield. Where are you headed?" Clios asked and took a step closer to the throne where Aios stood.
"I couldn't sleep. I will not sleep also tonight if I allow the thoughts in my head to wait without a way around it," Aios said and slowly took the rungs that would set him on the same level as the lord that was before him.
"What hinders your sleep, Superior one?" Clios asked.
"The prophecy. It can be bent. We will see," Aios said.
"The prophecy is not now. It had been said before we were born and all we have to do is abide by it, your superior," Clios returned.
At Clios words, Aios sighed and walked from before Clios and zoomed into the gathering of the soldiers with their commander who looked on as the conversation went on.
"This is Omis, the commander of the army in the north. Can you remind me what was said of him in his early days?" Aios said as he stood before Omis, the commander of the northern army of elves.
"This is different, Superior one. We cannot begin to manipulate the prophecy, your highness. The prophecy that came to Omis is for Omis, we are here engaging with a prophecy that is for the entire race," Clios argued.
"Omis? You know your story, don't you? Tell it to the court," Aios ordered and began his walk back to the throne, this time in his slow, humane, and natural form.
"It was said of me from the stars that I would grow die at puberty," Omis began.
"The prophecy made my father put little faith in me. I didn't learn, all I did was to wait for puberty and return to the stars to wait for another chance. But I chose to fight death whenever it comes. I told it that would have to work for his meal. I told death that if it would devour my soul, I would give it a worthy show. I learned the mastery of swords and I excelled in it. When puberty came we suffered a raid by the orcs. This was the time when my death was schemed to happen. I came in the path of three orcs and I knew that it was the time that the prophecy spoke about. As they proceeded towards me, I unsheathed my sword and said to them, not today. From then, till this moment, I have enjoyed the death of orcs from my hands and I will forever do so. I am past puberty and here still I am," Omis concluded his story and at this moment, Aios had made it to his throne.
"See, the future, with the appointments of prophecy, can be changed. It is a word that is said t[o happen so far as some circumstances are in place. I want to create a ripple and change the set of things, I want to create a distortion in nature and see if the prophecy can be bent."
"And how do you intend to do this, most superior?" Consus asked and bowed and raised his bald head at the moment.
"Wise one, I expected you to affirm the claim before questioning. But since questioning is what you chose, I will answer. I will meet my brother, Bolobas…" at the mention of the name Bolobas, Aios saw a peal of gestures from the lords and the soldiers in the court, all were laced with concern for Aios.
"I will see if he can be snatched from the dark theme of the orcs and the orcs would be wiped out by this. If he can't be easily bought by the words of my mouth, I will return and in response, the army of the elves would break into the dark gates of the orcs and bring him here. With Bolobas gone, the prophecy is bent. This is how I intend to do this," Aios said with a smile.