In the middle of the night.
In a very big and vast compound, everywhere was quiet and still, shrouded in darkness. The only sound was the distant hooting of an owl.
The atmosphere was peaceful and serene until four men dressed in black appeared in the place. Slowly, they descended from the rooftop to the ground.
With a handful of dry leaves and twigs from the nearby bushes, they separated themselves to the four corners of the house.
Quietly, they made their ways to a window and carefully opened it. Simultaneously, they created a small flame and added the dry leaves and twigs to it.
As time went, the fire grew bigger until a loud exploding sound was heard inside the house. Afterwards, the men in black slipped away, disappearing into the night, leaving the house to burn.
Odin [the minister of war] was sleeping peacefully. His eyes suddenly opened just to see smoke filling up his room. He rose up quickly in his half-asleep state and blinked his eyes to check what was happening.
He jolted back to consciousness immediately he realized that his house was on fire. He got up quickly and ran outside, then he checked left and right. The fire was coming from the four corners of his house and if he doesn't do anything at that moment, it will burn down the whole house.
"Who dares to burn down my house?" Odin roared. His voice was so loud that everyone that was sleeping woke up not because of the smoke that had filled the entire house, but his voice.
"Guards! Put out this fire now!" He commanded. Everyone came out and began running helter-skelter in order to put out the fire.
Euphoria came out and saw her father in the middle of the fire, the fire was burning towards the middle side and the guards were not with enough water to put out the fire before it gets to the middle.
Quickly, she closed her eyes and manipulated the air. Immediately a gust of air barged in and moved the water in the tanks to quench the fire.
The air was so strong that Odin fell to his knees and closed his eyes.
"Father!" Euphoria quickly ran towards her father the moment the fire was quenched.
"What happened? Who set our house on fire?"
Odin heaved a breath of air. "I don't know. Just came out and saw this." He replied as his daughter helped him up.
"I don't know who dared to do this. But that person will pay for it!!!" Odin yelled.
"General! General!" A voice called while coming towards Odin's direction.
"I saw this inside our compound. This means some people were here! Some people came here and started this fire."
Odin moved closer to the guard and saw a lighter, some dry leaves and twigs in his hands.
Odin's eyes blazed with fury, tension radiated from his body.
"Find them!!!" He ordered.
A group of men including Odin stormed into the nearest bushes in order to catch the perpetrators.
The four men from earlier were quick to sense footsteps from afar. "It seems they know now. They must not see us, let's divide ourselves." One of them whispered and they all went in different directions from that point.
"Wait! Let's spread out!" Odin ordered his guards and they all went in different directions.
Just like his daughter did earlier, Odin manipulated the energy in the air. He was able to sense far movements with that.
Afterwards, he began tracing the steps. With time he got closer to the source of the steps and saw a man dressed in black.
He flew towards him before he could escape. However the man was quick to sense that so he disappeared immediately.
"Coward!" Odin muttered and manipulated the air one once again. He saw a man dressed in black again in the same location.
It was then he realised that the man in black from earlier didn't dissappear, he crept into darkness.
He pulled out a sword and quickly attack the man so that he won't escape like the other time. Luckily he was able to strike him before he escaped and his sword cut his arm.
He pulled his hair from the back and his face was revealed. "Who are you?" He questioned.
"It is you right?" He guessed because the man reeked of smoke.
"You dare set my house on fire?" He asked the man as he pulled his hair tighter making the man grunt in pain.
"Who sent you?" Odin demanded.
"I said who sent you?" Odin yelled furiously and raised his sword up to strike him.
"I…I will talk. It is mini…." The man was about to reveal who sent when he passed out.
Odin's hands shook. A minister? He thought as his mind drifted slowly to yesterday. He remembered the prime minister's words to him.
"You will pay!" Was what the prime minister said to him in a harsh tone yesterday.
_
The day came, the ministers and officials gathered to crown a new empress and also pronounced Maximus other wife as the king's concubine.
Maximus two children also relocated to the palace the previous day, making the royal family complete in the palace.
All ministers and the officials gave their blessings to the newly elected queen, except the prime ministers who kept looking at the queen with evil eyes.
After the king has accepted the queen, they were both escorted out and they sat on their throne respectively. The people of Drakonia came together and bowed before the new empress. Afterwards, they began celebrating.
Just then, Odin's figure appeared there. His eyes scanned the place for the prime minister. He sighted him from where he was standing and walked towards where he was sitting.
"You!!!" The prime minister yelled immediately he saw Odin.
"How dare you come late to the queen's coronation?"
However Odin ignored him and went ahead to face him with a stoic expression putting the prime minister in a state of confusion.
"So you sent people to burn my house last night right?" Odin questioned putting everyone there in a state of shock.