A day after the banquet, Kaa decided to move into the palace after many considerations . He had many reasons to move into the palace and of which were about Maya. Ever since he set his eyes on her for the second time, he couldn't help it. Her beauty is something to be scared of but he wasn't. He felt the need to know more about the woman of his dream. Rumors of Maya's appearance at the banquet caused an uproar in the four kingdoms. Those present at the moment called her a witch, some immortal, others called her a mermaid in human form as mermaids are said to be very beautiful beyond comparison, but to him, she was just Maya, an ordinary girl who he had fallen for. He didn't blame them for they were probably scared that such a person exists as they all thought it was a hearsay. Kaa had one thing weighing him down; the marriage alliance. It was a big deal for him cause they needed to join hands to defeat The dark lord Akuma, who has been causing terror around the world with his group of powerful mages, well with Akuma having the most superior power ever know to man. Those mages were said to have the magic to conquer the world if they wanted to. Akuma ruled his empire cruelly with his soldiers at his feet. He had already conquered many empires and kingdoms including some prominent one's. He derived pleasure from seeing blood being spilled and people begging and crawling at his feet fo forgiveness and mercy. He had a massive empire of which he acquired by killing their Kings and emperor's. His mages played a very important role in his fight as they'd foresee his fights and cast spells on their opponents soldiers. Akuma need not to go to war himself unless it was a big one then he'd make an appearance. He slaughtered people like they were goats and hung their heads at his gate as a warning that whosoever that disobeys him or tries to fight him would get the same humiliation and fate. He married as many wives and had as many concubines as he wanted, he married the daughter's of the Kings and emperor's he had killed to be precise and as which remains Akeqi and Casto who had decided to join hands through marriage alliance to form a greater bond. There was once a rumors that Akuma drank the blood of those he killed to gain more powers and eat the flesh's of the king and emperor's he had unalived to sustain himself and another he gave the flesh's to his dragon to feed on and get stronger. All this made people and many other mages, witches, and magicians to fear him the more.Some witches and other magic practitioners had gone to try their lucks to defeat Akuma but they never made it back. It was said that they couldn't make it through one of the mages talk more of touching a piece of Akuma's clothing. Akuma together with his mages, they were insurmountable, and so came the idea of the marriage alliance.
If only kaa wasn't royalty which he wished he wasn't, not until he met Maya, did he thank the gods for making him royalty, cause if he weren't then he wouldn't have met Maya. She was all he could think of. In as much as Kaa was the first and legitimate son and rightful heir to the throne of King Aron his father, he wasn't favoured by him. He guessed that must be what he had in common with Maya: being overlooked. His father had always favoured his second brother Anon who was just a year younger. Anon excelled greatly than he did to their father, not minding that Anon is the child of a concubine. Kaa had tried to show his father his worth s couple of times but it wasn't noticed. His mother was being bullied by his father's beloved concubine and Kaa had to do something about that. His mother is the rightfully married wife of King Aron and the queen of Akeqi, but funny enough, she holds no power in court nor in the women's chamber or harem. Her rights were being taken from her.
Having thought of what his mother normally passes through, Kaa had vowed to gain more power in court and maintain his right was the crown prince and that must be it. Before leaving the kingdom, he promised his mum one thing; to regain his right as the heir to the throne and protect her and so it must be. Thinking about the marriage alone gives him sleepless nights, till he decided to go with the flow.
"I have so many room for you, you can choose which ever one you want" The Emperor spoke as he welcomed kaa into the palace. I'll let the servants show you around then you pick your taste and remember, you're free to move around the palace as you want no restrictions applied for you. We'd soon be family so I've noting to hide from you"
"Thank you for your benevolence"Kaa said as he bowed, placing his right hand on his chest as a sign of respect. "I shall take my leave now, I have a lot of things to unpack and I'd also need some rest, it's been a hectic day my guard and I"
"Go on, but remember as I said, you're free to have anything you wish for in the palace if I can grant you that. In the meantime, I'd assign some maids for your quarters to assist you in whatever you would be needing in future. If you need more helpers, you are free to tell me too or if any of them isn't to your liking, you have the right to send them away at any time." The Emperor spoke as Kaa bent down and left.
They took a close look at the quarters available while checking for any signs of Maya as he walked. If only he knew where she stays. Ah ha that's true, he could just ask one of the maids.
"Which of the palaces is closet to Princess Maya's"
"Why'd you....." Maro was about to ask Kaa who raised his right hands as a motion for him not to ask any questions.
"It's at the far end of the palace my Prince. She's the only one that stays there, no one dares to go there." One of the maids answered
"Is... there perhaps.... Any....avai..." Kaa spoke while trying to find the right word to use so as not to look like he had an ulterior motive. He cleared his throat and continued" is there any available place over there?.... You see, I hate being in the spotlights and having too many people around me either so I think there would be a perfect spot for me to stay" he finished his words as he tried to look as cool as possible.
"Actually yes, but..." Another maid replied
"But.....?" Maro asked
" It looks scruffy so it might not be to your taste."
" It's okay, I can manage. I don't like having much belongings though. Let's just make do with the ones we have then later I'll ask for more when I've settled down" Kaa said as they headed towards the palace.
" You can view the Princess's palace from here, as you can see, this fence is the only demarcation from the other side" A maid said as they got to the palace. Kaa was very pleased at this, he just made a step towards Maya and he'd keep on going for as long as he can.