"KYAAAAAA!!" the scream of a young girl, the girl was sitting right beside the bed Blaze was on. She was heavily startled by Blaze's sudden scream, hence she screamed.
"Why are you screaming? Ow! My head." Blaze felt a stinging headache, and once he tried to touch his forehead, he found his right hand chained to the bed.
"Why were you screaming?" The girl threw the question right back.
"I asked first, and why am I chained?"
"Yeah, and you screamed first as well!"
Blaze realized that arguing with this girl was of no use, "Where am I?"
"In our house." The girl answered innocently.
Blaze was utterly baffled by this girl's naivety, and then something struck his mind. The girl couldn't be any older than 12, such a young girl must have a guardian, so he asked her, "Weren't you instructed to watch over me?"
"Yeah. But, how do you know that?"
"And weren't you supposed to call someone if I woke up?" Blaze asked, as if he already knew the answer.
"Oh shucks! Wait right here, don't move. I'll be right back." She went out the room like an eagle, and even after that Blaze could clearly hear her calling for her father, "Abbu! The boy's up!"
'Abbu', Blaze knew that word, means father; this solidified his assumption, he was indeed in Khandava. And in came the father, he seemed somewhat shocked, as if he didn't expect the boy to wake up, "You actually woke up."
Blaze remained silent and only stared at the man; Blaze seemed to be rather distrustful of him.
"You have been in comatose state for nearly a month. Even the doctor said your recovery will be quite difficult." Kadar said while opening a small bottle, "Here drink this, should help with the headache."
"A month?" and suddenly the distrustful expression turned into a extremely concerned expression, "Oh god! I need go. Now!" Blaze tried to quickly get off the bed, but he was unable due to the chain, "I need to go, NOW!"
Blaze tried to break the chain, but his body felt weak. He felt helpless, "Please, unchain me this instant."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible." Kadar said nonchalantly.
"Why?! What have I ever done to you? Why did you chain me?!!" Blaze was both furious and restless to leave, but Kadar had no intention of listening to him.
Kadar pulled the chair a bit away, sat on it and said, "I cannot just let you go. At least not until I get some answers out of you."
"What answers?! Ow!" The headache was becoming more unbearable with every moment passing.
"As I already told you, drink this. The doctor said there can be bad headache." He offered the bottle.
"And why would I trust you? You chained me, like a damn animal!"
"Yes, that I did. But, I also found you drowned in the sea, brought you to my house, patched you up, even lied to the authorities for you. So that should be a ratio of 4:1 if you should trust me or not."
Kadar's words were quite convincing, but Blaze's scepticism proved to be stronger, he still didn't drink the medicine.
"Fine, its your choice. But you still have to answer my questions." Kadar said, setting down the bottle on the table near the bed.
"What questions?"
"Let's start with your name, what is you name?" Kadar asked calmly.
"My name is B…." suddenly Blaze remembered, telling his real name could prove to be quite fatal, so he said the name that came first in his head, "Azar."
"What?" The stern look on Kadar's face suddenly softened, his eyes became somewhat moist; but he quickly collected himself, coughed twice and said, "You have quite a unique name, your father must be a religious man."
"I don't have a father; I grew up with my mother."
"So, she named you." Blaze noticed a very faint hint of smile on Kadar's face, "Quite the coincidence." He mumbled.
"What?" Blaze felt a bit lost.
"Nothing. As for my next question, what was your objective? The ship that was destroyed, I heard it was packed with soldiers, and there was another ship like that. Why were that many soldiers sneaking past the Brig?" and before Blaze could even speak, "And do not even think of lying."
"*sigh* It was a raid." Blaze answered, as he knew there was no other way.
"So, it was a surprise attack on my people."
"No! We were supposed to attack a hideout of the Brethren."
"Brethren? Like The Brethren of Salvation? Why would they be here?"
"We had intel that they were preparing for an attack on Agnisthal, from here. So, we decided to attack first."
"And where exactly was your destination?"
"Wahid village."
Kadar stared daggers at Blaze, "So you were coming to murder my family?"
"What?! NO! We were only coming for the Breth….."
"There are no Brethren here! In fact, there no one else here except us." Kadar interjected Blaze mid-sentence.
"What do you mean no one else?"
"This is the Wahid Village! And my family are the only residents here! Everybody else either left or were taken to the Tartarus."
Blaze was utterly shocked, he realized everything he knew until now were lies, only lies, "I didn't know. But, trust me I wouldn't have hurt or let anyone hurt you."
"And how exactly would you do that? A mere soldier, a pawn in their war! You are nothing but a gun, that can only shoot the way it is aimed; no matter who stands in front of the barrel, you will kill, the choice will never be yours."
"You!" Blaze thought of screaming at him, but Kadar's words were not wrong. All this time, he was foolishly adhering to Calix's plan, he was used like a damn weapon. "I am sorry", was all he could say.
"You don't have to be. You have been given a second chance at life, not many people get it. Rest up, and take the medicine. We will talk about the poison after you have recovered."
"A second chance?" Blaze asked instinctively.
"What is this, if not a second chance? You have managed to survive through hell, so you deserve this life."
"Then, why are you helping me?" Blaze asked in a low voice.
"What'd you say?"
"According to what you said, I may had killed your family if the ship was not shot down. So why help me?"
"You were underwater for nearly a week, and the doctor found poison in your blood. You survived through that; one could never do that without a reason. So, I thought, if you had something so important, that you clinged to life so hard; then maybe, just maybe your life was worth saving."
Blaze felt a weird warm sensation in his chest; the same warmth his mother caused. He was still having a hard time trusting this stranger. His heart said to trust, yet because of Calix's betrayal, his mind kept telling him to be cautious. "Thank you." was what he wanted to say, yet he didn't.
Kadar said nothing and went out of the room.
And just when Blaze was about to relax onto the bed, Kadar returned for a moment, "And my son will escort you to another room, please don't give him much trouble."
"Another room? No, no; I don't need that, I'm more than comfortable here." Blaze said while fluffing the pillow.
"Yeah you may be comfortable, but I'm not. That's my bed you've been sleeping on for past few weeks; I would like to sleep on a soft bed tonight. You can sleep on hay for a few days, right?"
"Uhhhh….. Hay? Well, absolutely."
"Great then. I'll be back by dusk." And Kadar left.
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"The 'War Masons' are here, your highness." Said Kalam.
"What about the canons? Have they finished loading them?" The Emperor of Agnisthal, Ansh asked his knight.
"They're nearly finished with the task. But there's been a small problem."
"What problem?"
"The beast you ordered to be caged, the hunters said it has a collar around the neck."
"Someone tamed it?"
"It would seem so."
Ansh sighed in concern and then said, "Doesn't matter. We have the bait prepared by the best alchemists in the Empire. Just load the beast."
*KNOCK*KNOCK*
"Come in." and in came his wife. Komal ordered the knight to leave the room.
"Why are you here?"
"Why? I can't come to meet my own husband?"
"We both know very well that you didn't come here just to meet me, dear. I do not have any time to spare, please be clear about what you want to talk about."
"Very well, I just came to inform you that I will join you, to war"
"What?"
"Please, don't oppose my decision. I need to stay by your side. Please?" Komal was known to be a rather 'rigid' wife, unyielding woman, yet in her words a hint of helplessness could be felt.
"Komal, what happened?"
"Please, first give me your word that you'll let me join you."
"Fine, you can come with me. But, don't lie, you haven't decided to join me without reason. Why? What happened?" Ansh asked sternly.
"Yesterday, a man disguised as a servant came to my room."
"Who?"
"The one named Kai Yamada. He told me of a prophecy."
"A vision! It would be quite generous to call that a prophecy."
"Wait, you know of it?"
"Yes, I know about my prophesized death. But, that doesn't matter."
"DOESN'T MATTER?! You knew of this, and yet didn't consider it important enough to tell me? And what do you mean it doesn't matter? Of course it does! You are my husband! Your life is what matters."
"So, what do you expect me to do? Nothing? You want me to sit here, on that damn throne? And not avenge my kin?"
"Don't shout at me! I am your wife, not one of your servants! And I have not once stopped you from avenging your niece and her son; because I know that would be nothing but a waste of my words."
"Then what is it that you wish for?"
"I wish to stay by your side, my love. Even if it is your death waiting out there, I'd like to…. *sigh* I'd like to be there, with you, in our last moments." Komal's voice cracked, and the strong woman suddenly broke down into tears, bowling her eyes out, "Please don't leave my like this!!"
Ansh couldn't bear seeing her in such a vulnerable state, he held her tight in his arms.
Komal spoke again, "I know I must seem the most selfish person; leaving our children alone, only for my unreasonable wish. But I'm sorry my love. I don't mind being selfish for love."
"Don't worry, dear. You don't have to explain, not to me, not for that. Dhruv is responsible enough to inherit the throne, and father will still be there for them. Our children will be safe."
"Then, when are we leaving?" Komal asked, wiping her tears.
"Tonight. The war masons have already arrived. Komal, I know this maybe my end, but I have to do this. After Nila's death, I thought I was given a second chance, Blaze, I wished to protect him. I failed, I know I cannot right my mistakes, but I must try. As penance, I will avenge them."
"No, my love. We will seek penance together. You are not alone, not in life, not in death."
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