The color of Divinity I - The delusion of reality

The color of Divinity
By Ellnyon

Notes
Yep, still in writer’s block. At least this time I got the chapter out faster…Unfortunately, it’s not very good. Still, thanks for everyone’s encouragement. I love you all.

Alpha Infidel: I really didn’t notice that before. I have to admit, I never read a whole chapter of my story from the AFF page, so I really had no idea. And of course I’ll follow your advice and make paragraphs shorter; perhaps with more dialogue in between…this is why feedback is so important. This way I know where and how to improve. Thank you. I’m so glad you review and like my writing, I really hope you keep following the story until the end. And please, if you have the time, let me know what you think. Thank you so much for your comments, once more.

Child of the Darkened Moon: ::sign:: Sorry, I know it has taken forever. But, these past chapters were necessary and now I’m finally there. And I’m so glad you’re still reading and reviewing. Thank you. About your guess, well, something strange is happening and will happen. Just remember what the Witch said to Edyane in chapter 2: “Things aren’t always what they appear…”. This story has not yet revealed a third of its secrets, so be prepared for some major surprises along the plot. Who knows? You might even be right on one point or another… Thanks for your comments. Hope you keep following the story.

Itara: Yes, you’re right on target. :) He has various other reasons to not want his brother’s affair with Edyane, but deep down he’s a little jealous (because he likes Edyane even if he doesn’t want to admit it) and he fears that the kindness Edyane shows him is but a way to charm Meanea and not real concern for him. He won’t realize it until he’s much older, though, and still, I think he’ll be in denial for a very long time…Thank you so much for your feedback, I hope you keep following and appreciating this story.

boring_neko19: Hello, I’m the one who’s glad to meet you.:) Thank you dearly for the review and your kind words. It’s funny because usually I’m not very fond of politics but my works end up having a lot. I guess political stuff is an important part of a society and I’m happy you like it in the story. Sometimes I fear people find those parts boring but they’re essential to explain some character’s actions. About Edyane, Iadden and the Maguenta’s Heir thingy, you’re not the first one to say it. I don’t know if it’s because the story makes the readers think that or they wish for it to end like that… Still, like I said to Child of the Darkened Moon, until the end many more secrets will be revealed and perhaps your guess isn’t as wrong as you think…Anyhow, you have nothing to apologize for…Thanks once again, hope you keep reading and reviewing this story.

Neon Tokyo: Thanks. Yeah, I know what you mean. Believe me when I say that sometimes they also make my head hurt. Both of them. Haha… I’m actually making an effort to simplify things in the story, imagine if I didn’t. :P I’m a complicated person by nature and it reflects in my writing, I guess… Anyhow, you can’t know how happy I am that you like it anyway. I hope you keep following and liking the story more and more. And once more, thank you so much for the great feedback.

To all the readers, especially those who review and rate, my deepest thanks. And feedback is always highly appreciated, of course. On to the chapter. Enjoy your reading.


Previously in TCD: It’s very uncommon for an Ethen to marry outside of his country. Still, Meanea Guinare, a noble Ethen came to N’Alaera to do so with its king: Fenaleos. Iadden, Meanea’s younger Eth brother, favours this marriage for their family’s sake. He’s at odds with N’Alaera’s prince, Edyane, who’s infatuated with Meanea and is against the wedding. Also Iadden’s tutor, Mieri, is plotting a way to stop the marriage so he can claim the Guinare’s heritage. No one knows that he’s in fact their bastard uncle and was already responsible for their parents’ deaths. If this wasn’t enough, Meya’s second prince has been meeting in secret with the Death Whisperers’ race who are about to ignite a war against the North Alliance that same week. He has promised them the life or the support of the recently found Dark-haired Ethen of the Legends, in exchange for Meya’s crown. Unaware of all this and unbelieving in an incoming war, N’Alaera’s people continue the joyful celebrations of the wedding in a Tournament held in Meanea’s honour. But the early arrival of Meya’s first and third princes brought with it a whole new set of revelations: Meya and Crano’en are marching for war in a week and the Dark-haired Ethen has chosen a Maguenta’s Heir to lead them: Iadden Guinare…


Part I
Chapter 12

The heavy black battleaxe described a wide arc in the Arena’s sky and clashed, with a loud cry, against the raised pike of its opponent. The latter weapon splintered into two pieces with the force of the impact. One, the metal part, fell directly into the sandy ground, creating a puff of dust along its spinning path. The other, made of wood, remained in the shaking hand of the warrior holding onto it as his last defence. The man couldn’t do anything less but tremble as he saw the twin battleaxe move in the direction of his unprotected neck all in the same momentum.

The offensive object, however, didn’t reach him, stopping an inch above his skin. The defeated warrior managed then to move his eyes from the axe’s glistening blade to his conqueror’s face. The thrilled shine in the handsome dark-skinned man’s eyes and the victorious smirk was expected and the man felt grateful he only got to battle such a powerful knight in tourneys and practices.

“WINNER: RUANA TENAII!!!” The judge called and a loud ovation was heard. The referred warrior shook his braided hair from his face, at the same time he removed his weapon from its dangerous place. Then he strapped both his battleaxes at his waist and extended a hand to help the defeated soldier up on his own two feet.

“You’re tough, Sir Durna.” The dark-skinned warrior complimented in a deep baritone. He didn’t even sound tired. The other knight accepted his help and thanked him.

Being a forty year old soldier from his majesty’s best warrior force, he was used to win many battles. But almost never against these new knights Prince Edyane chose personally. Especially Marquis Ruana’s second child. The eighteen year old was astute and clever in battle. It was impossible to guess his moves. And a quick distracted thought meant an easy defeat. Adding to his quick mind, the teenager had a strong build and manoeuvred those monster axes as if they weighed as much as two feathers, with the expertise of a lifetime.

Looking at the boy’s bare skin and bulging muscles, while they exited the grounds to the barracks, Sir Durna noticed the teenager had barely broken a sweat. Looking at himself, he felt a little ashamed. Not only was he sweating all over the place, he was also bleeding from small cuts on his arms, legs and torso. This boy was a monster in combat, he thought with pride. He didn’t know if he should feel sad at his defeat or happy at the boy’s strength. After all, he had been the one to train this child.

He turned to Tenaii, his red cape trailing behind, and saw him glancing to the top seats of the North Grandstand with a displeased face. The older warrior recognized the young Lord Behevoir’s elegant profile and smirked. This monster’s greatest weakness came in the form of a very attractive young noble. He also saw the two handsome strange Eths engaging in a seemingly interesting conversation with the boy, mainly the taller one.

“Thinking of challenging the short-haired Eth to a combat?” He asked Tenaii playfully, when they entered the lateral doors of the Arena. The dark-skinned noble turned his dark eyes to him in surprise and a few moments later, smirked, a little embarrassed.

“The thought has crossed my mind…” he answered truthfully.

“Many exceptional warriors have fallen because of a pretty face. Being male or female has little to do with it.” The wise Sir Durna advised. Tenaii respected him enough to listen to his words.

“That would be true, if he was merely a pretty face. Because he’s not, maybe it’s worth my fall…” Marquis Ruana’s second son answered with an enigmatic smile. Durna laughed.

“It’s that serious then…” he commented but he wasn’t disappointed. Lord Quera was a sophisticated clever young man. Tenaii could only gain from his friendship or anything else they wanted to have together.

“Either way, you shouldn’t worry about me…” Tenaii continued, matter-of-factly. “Prince Edyane’s love expectations are far more pressing than mine. I believe he’s the one who’ll fall due to a pretty face…” The younger warrior commented while watching his royal friend preparing his sword for yet another combat. The older man nodded. He too was worried about his prince’s actions and thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘They’re very good aren’t they, for humans?’ Midaen’niel asked in his native language, visibly impressed. Iadden could only agree with him. In fact, N’Alaera’s knights were far better than what he had expected. From what he had seen until now, N’Alaera would be a very good ally to have in a war.

‘They’d be pretty good even if they were Eths…’ he answered honestly. ‘I’ve seen low-class Eths battling far worse than some knights here, today. Especially those younger human knights. They were well-trained.’

‘That fight just now, opposing the knight with the pikes and Lord Ruana Tenaii was exciting.’ Midaen’niel said nodding.

‘Yes, but Lord Ruana has yet to have an adversary who truly challenges him.’ The blond Ethen nodded again, agreeing with his Eth cousin.

‘He’s very strong. Do you think you could defeat him?’ He asked, turning to Iadden. The masked boy inclined his head in thought.

‘Don’t get me wrong, Ni. I said they were good enough to take on some Eths, not all of them. Even in his strongest vigour, Lord Ruana Tenaii wouldn’t be a match to me, your Promised one, Prince Delaen’niel or even Ryaen’ne, right now. He is too careless in his defence and has too many openings. He still has to gain experience, but it won’t be long for him to turn into one of the strongest warriors on the North.’ The black-haired boy answered simply.

‘I see…What about Prince Edyane?’ Iadden pondered on the small Ethen’s question.

‘He’s good…’ he answered calmly, not wanting to openly show how much he had admired N’Alaera’s prince fighting technique. Indeed, like Edyane had promised him, he hadn’t disappointed. The prince was very good for his age. Probably the best in the Tournament. His fighting style resembled that of an Eth with strong, fast and safe attacks. He was nowhere as impulsive and arrogant in battle as he was out of it. He really knew how to fight.

‘He has good instincts, moves fast and thinks fast, too. His attacks are unpredictable enough and he has a pretty good defence. He uses his shield wisely for offensive strikes without risking his safety and definitely knows where his sword will do the worse damage. He’ll possibly win this tourney…’ Midaen’niel chuckled at Iadden. He knew how much admitting that was hurting his cousin’s pride. Iadden bristled at his cousin’s cheerfulness.

‘Don’t laugh, Ni. Considering the prize, this isn’t funny at all.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Andro, did you find out who those Eths are?” The auburn-haired prince asked his valet and friend. The man nodded, still a bit out of breath. His shocked face troubled Edyane. Tenaii, who was dusting off his pants from his previous fight a few meters away, neared them, suddenly interested. If the prince wasn’t so preoccupied with the unexpected arrival of the two apparently important Eths, he would have smirked at his friend’s antics. He, too, had noticed the friendly conversations between one of those Eths and their best friend Quera.

“They’re His Highnesses, the first and third princes of Meya, no less.” Andro affirmed in a haunted voice. The two nobles looked at him, disbelievingly.

“What?!” They asked at the same time, sharing the fazed look. Andro merely nodded, equally stupefied even though he had been the one to tell them the news.

“Already? Don’t tell me they’re here for the wedding? They’re supposed to arrive only much later in the week. Father had a grand celebration prepared and everything…” Edyane finally reacted, still surprised. Tenaii hadn’t yet recovered his wits.

“An Eth prince…” he whispered, as if not quite believing it yet. Edyane and Andro ignored him.

“Officially, yes. They’re here for the wedding, though their king will arrive as previously scheduled…” The valet answered matter-of-factly. Edyane frowned. Tenaii turned to Andro, focused again.

“Officially?” The dark-skinned man asked, suspicious. The valet shrugged and lowered his tone into a conspiring voice for the two nobles’ ears alone.

“They have requested a meeting with his majesty and all his advisors and generals, as soon as they arrived. However, no one knows what was discussed in the reunion and the intervening people refuse to talk about that for the time being…” The two knights looked at each other. What was happening? The prince started pacing, furious and frustrated.

“I hate to be left in the dark…” He growled, not happy. Andro chuckled at his prince, amused, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Apparently you weren’t supposed to be, nor do they intend to let you remain in the dark.” He affirmed with a shrug, effectively stopping Edyane’s movements.

“What do you mean?” The prince asked, curious.

“It seems they have requested your presence, but because you were participating in the tourney, your ‘right-hand’ went to represent you…” He said with a grin. Edyane and Tenaii kept looking at Andro with uncomprehending expressions.

“Huh? My ‘right-hand’? What ‘right-hand’?” The auburn-haired prince asked, confused. Andro kept silent and continued to grin, daring them to guess. Then something enlightened Edyane’s mind and his expression slowly changed into a smirk, too. Then he burst out laughing in delight.

“Quera.” He affirmed, positive. Andro nodded, also chuckling. “Shit, I usually refer to him as a friend, but if they want him to be my advisor, I couldn’t be happier. He surely is perfect for the job.” The prince commented honestly. Tenaii nodded, but actually not at his prince’s words.

“So, that’s why they’re with him…” he mumbled in a serious tone of voice. Somehow he didn’t feel as amused as the other two. Edyane heard him but chose not to comment. There would be a time when he could talk about Quera with Tenaii. Today wasn’t the right time or place. Instead, he concluded.

“Either way, I’m relieved. All we have to do is ask Quera later on…” Andro nodded and Tenaii huffed. He wasn’t pleased with the situation. At all.

“Prince of N’Alaera?” A feminine voice asked roughly, from behind them, in a strange accent. Her tone was strong and demanding and both Tenaii and Edyane turned to the woman, arching their brows. What they saw surprised them both.

Edyane had heard about the Igolian warriors. He had even seen a few of them, but no one as imposing as this tall platinum blonde, dark-skinned stranger.

The Igolian warriors were a native tribe of the Crano’en desert. And unlike the rest of the inhabitant tribes of the same country, they hadn’t accepted the rule of the central government who had unified them. In fact they had been the only tribe opposing the union. So they lived, isolated, in the harsh conditions of Crano’en’s desert but weren’t considered as belonging to the country itself. Many tried to force them to join or definitely expel them from Crano’en’s lands, but after nearly destroying the rest of the country during that civil war, the Igolian people were finally left alone in their desert.

They were a peculiar tribe where the women were warriors or shamans and the men took care of everything else. So, it wasn’t rare for one to see the short male merchants from the Igolian tribe, but almost never one of its female warriors. Those only appeared when they were needed to protect a convoy or something alike.

The Gods they worshiped was another unusual aspect of that tribe. No one was amazed at their veneration of Natarra, Goddess of War or even Maguenta. What was surprising was that they adored also all the dark-haired Ethens that had existed throughout the years. They believed they were Higher Gods (magically born on Earth by agglomerations of time magic) who finally ascended to their place next to Maguenta and Natarra in High Heavens when they matured their spiritual soul and their body, not able to contain it anymore, finally died. It was their occupation, while on Earth, to guide the earthly beings in order to prevent Armageddon, and so they should be followed and listened to.

All this to say that seeing an Igolian superior warrior on a tourney in N’Alaera was a strange thing indeed.

“Are you Prince of N’Alaera?” She asked again, impatient, while the three stared at her. Shifting her stance, one of her big hands took place in her hip and one lock of long platinum hair fell onto her eyes. She shook her head to move it and resumed her glare. The other hand held one long sword and a heavy spiked mace was strapped on the other side of her waist.

She was scarcely dressed in simple warrior clothes. Only the enough to cover her breasts and hips. As protection she wore long leather boots and armbands. Her body was athletic with well-defined muscles and she was easily as tall as the prince.

“I am Edyane, Heir Prince of N’Alaera, yes.” Edyane answered in a unwavering voice. He was not easily intimidated. And he suspected that was what that woman was trying to do. He didn’t like it either. The dark-skinned woman passed her brown eyes through his body and then looked at his face, again.

“Trusted friends?” She asked, motioning with her head to the other two, her eyes never leaving his features. Edyane arched an eyebrow but nodded.

“The best anyone could have.” He answered truthfully. She then turned her evaluating gaze to the others and after a few moments, nodded.

“My name is Fentarr. I am leader warrior from Igolian tribe. I saw you fight. You are strong and fearless. I think you worthy of trust. Igolian shaman says a war is coming. Crano’en is preparing for war. We can fight too. Our relations with Crano’en are not good. We have no other allies. Death Whisperers are too powerful. They have evil creatures to fight for and with them. Battle them alone is madness. We seek alliance with great country N’Alaera. I enter contest to show you our battle skills. Hope you find us worthy of trust and allow us to fight by your side.” She spoke their language with visible difficulty, making an effort to make them understand her. Edyane blinked at the honest woman.

“A war?” He asked. The woman nodded, grabbing her rebel platinum lock and putting it behind her ear.

“Old Shaman says that millennium war is here. Igolian warriors have trained for this war. We shall obey N’Alaera hero’s command and God of mystic: the black-haired Ethen will guide us to victory.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

N’Alaera’s streets were silent, not a soul in sight. In the harbour, only the Maguerer playfully splashed his waters against the wall of the docks, but even he appeared to have his attentions mainly directed elsewhere. Hurrying along the stone pavement of the capitol’s last level with her arms filled with a multitude of herbs, the short woman witch caught sight of a strange, large creature perched on top of the distant lighthouse. She immediately stopped, the herbs escaping her grip and falling to the dirty ground, but she didn’t even notice. Her heart beat faster when she realized it wasn’t a vision. It was real; it didn’t disappear with the blink of an eye.

She had read about this Mythical creature in the Temple’s scrolls, she had envisioned him several times, even: she had no doubts it was him. And yet, to be able to witness the presence of such a divine being was beyond her wildest dreams. Still, there he was with his bright blue hued feathers and golden beak.

The bird was claimed to be one of Maguenta’s seraphs in the Spirit world which was more commonly called the High Heavens. His presence in this world meant a God with equal power had been born on their Earth and it was his duty to protect him. He was the only Seraph who didn’t need to be summoned by magic.

“Iadden…” The woman whispered his name in awe. The mythical bird turned his head to her, answering her call. She didn’t have anything to tell him, really, but still she pleaded in a timid whisper.

“…Holy Seraph, please protect him…” The bird shook his feathers. «That’s what I’m here for...» The wind replied to her. Then the bird opened his long, blue wings and took-off in the direction of the Fourth level.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

N’Alaera’s twilight sky was gradually painted in the coral hues of the setting sun as the star made its far-away descent towards the remote sea. Several hours had passed since the beginning of the Tournament and the advancing darkness slowly filling Endnar’s Arena implied that the various large candles located on the stands were lit.

Edyane walked deeper into the middle of the Arena with Tenaii by his side. The time to know the Tournament’s ultimate winner had finally arrived. Being the winner of both Sword & Shield and Free-form classes, the handsome prince was naturally one of the finalists.

The other, his best friend Tenaii, had won the Double weapon final against the Igolian woman, Fentarr. It had been a long, fierce and intense battle and that victory had taken almost all of the dark-skinned man’s energy and talent. And some of his blood spilled on the Arena’s ground, too. He was currently wearing a bandaged arm to confirm it. Tenaii had managed to win, but barely. Who knew those women could be that strong? As the prince had told her after the combat, she had proved her value. The negotiations for an Alliance would start the next day. Even if he didn’t quite believe the seemingly prophetic words of their shaman, strong allies were always a plus. She bowed and thanked him, complimenting Tenaii immediately after. That she could move and speak after that battle was an accomplishment on itself. The prince didn’t think he could have suffered her injuries and still manage to stand.

And so, the two finalists had been found. The awards for the three classes had been distributed and now they had to fight for the final prize. And that was the one prize N’Alaera’s prince aimed to have. Meanea’s kiss.

It was ironic. Edyane had fought twice the battles Tenaii had, but the larger teenager was definitely more tired and wounded than the prince. Then again, the prince didn’t get to fight with the Igolian warrior. She was one of the best fighters Edyane had witnessed in his short life. It had been an amazing combat for the audience. Rarely such good contestants were seen in these tourneys.

As it was, he couldn’t be certain of victory. He had pretty good chances, though. Tenaii wasn’t the kind of man that would just let him win and he could be a challenging opponent. But he was injured and overly tired. Of course it didn’t mean it would be easy. Nevertheless he was closer now to his objective. And the prince always got what he wanted…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iadden saw the two friends face each other, ready their weapons, smirk and remark something he couldn’t hear. Then the judge raised his hand and called the beginning of the combat. Cheers filled the Arena, but the two men kept calmly facing each other.

The black-haired boy sighed. He knew who would win this fight. However, if the prince thought the small Eth lord would stand idly by while he went around kissing his brother, his engaged brother, then he was up for a huge surprise.

He took a deep breath and started gathering his strength and mental faculties while studying carefully Edyane’s fighting style. He needed to be prepared by the time the current battle was over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tenaii was the first to move, rushing forward with his right axe in a fast attack. As expected, the prince had seen it coming and stepped aside to his right while diverting the harmful object with his flashing shield. The impact, as shallow as it had been, sent the dark weapon to the left. His unbalanced owner followed it, as the prince had predicted, and he plunged his free sword in the direction of the falling knight’s head.

But he was tricked. At the last second, Tenaii pulled his left foot backwards and at the same time he lowered his body, effectively avoiding the royal sword, he rotated over himself. In the end, it was Edyane who almost lost his head to the left battleaxe whose momentum had taken his dark-skinned handler standing straight again.

A loud applause finally erupted from the Arena’s spectators who had been holding their breaths.

The auburn-haired prince, who had dived barely in time, rose and stood facing his opponent again. His smirking opponent. Okay, so maybe Tenaii wasn’t that tired after all. He shouldn’t have underestimated him. He adopted an easy defensive stance, his shield raised and sword lowered.

Once again, it was the dark-skinned boy who charged. But this time, Edyane acted differently. Ducking the first axe and parrying the other with his heavy sword, he used Tenaii’s own momentum, due to the weight of the axes and lack of armour, to sweep at his legs, effectively knocking him down. Then he crashed his shield onto the other contestant’s back just to make sure the Ruana teenager actually fell.

The Arena cheered, excited.

Tenaii raised his face from the dusty ground and wiped the sand from his mouth and eyes with the bandage on his left arm. Then he glared up at the prince’s smirking face while adjusting his grip on his battleaxes. He stood and gyrated the monster axes, bulging his arm muscles.

“It all starts now!” He warned his opponent.

“Bring it on!” Was his answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The powerful impact sent Edyane’s sword flying through the Arena. It landed, shortly after, with a loud sound, in a cloud of sand, a few meters behind the prince’s feet. Ironically or not, very close to the left battleaxe Tenaii had discharged moments before, due to the injury on his left arm.

Suddenly unarmed, the auburn-haired prince had no other option than to parry the second attack with his faithful shield.

With only one axe, Tenaii was less dangerous, but a lot faster and the auburn-haired man’s armour and heavy shield were responsible for slowing him down. However, Tenaii was, as Edyane expected, becoming exhausted, his heavy weapon putting too much strain on his arm. That made his attacks weaker. Just not as weak as he had hoped.

Until now, Edyane had been a good friend. He hadn’t hit once on Tenaii’s injuries. But if the battle continued like this, he might have to start fighting dirty…

Finally, there it was. That opening, again. The momentum wasn’t so great as before because Ruana Tenaii carried only one axe, so the other knight had to act faster. Still, it was enough. Really, Tenaii should be more careful with his back, was the prince’s last thought right before he attacked.

Unconsciously turning his back on the prince while rotating his axe to gain a new momentum, the dark-skinned noble didn’t have time to steady his feet as Edyane lunged with his shield and all his armoured weight into his back. Tenaii fell with a groan, his axe slipping from his hand. The prince fell as well, on top of him, but recovered faster, grabbing the battleaxe and showing his expertise also in that kind of weapon.

Unarmed and lying on the floor, Marquis Ruana’s second child slowly watched his own deadly weapon being aimed at his neck. He smirked while the judge called the winner and the entire Arena stood, clapping.

“You got lucky, Your Highness.” He told his friend and prince. Edyane’s smirk didn’t waver for a second.

“No. You’re the one who’s a bad loser, Lord Ruana.” The other replied, helping him up. Then they hugged, clapping each other’s backs to the spectators’ full delight. “Go get yourself treated. You’re bleeding all over the place.” Tenaii laughed.

“Well, you’re bleeding and dirty. Are you going to get your prize like that?” He countered, teasingly. Edyane actually glanced at him alarmed while they gathered their discharged weapons.

“I have to clean up first.” He said and the other grinned, indulgent. The human prince looked at him again with a bittersweet smile.

“Believe it or not, it’s not Meanea who worries me. It’s Iadden who doesn’t approve of me being filthy…” The dark-skinned man frowned as they both entered the lateral doors and servants passed them, hurrying to prepare the grounds for the ending ceremony. Seeing his friend’s confused scowl, Edyane groaned.

“Don’t ask.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they entered the quarters they were acclaimed by the other knights. They both bowed in thanks and proceeded to their corner. Tenaii was still grinning at his prince’s previous words when he fell on a chair inside the barracks, hissing a little, immediately after, when his left arm knocked on something.

“Why do you care what he says anyway? He’s just a kid.” He asked. Andro approached them with a basin and new bandages. Edyane huffed, annoyed.

“He’s doesn’t like me…” He answered straightforwardly in a dejected tone. Tenaii frowned again. Then he crossed his arms, an idea coming to him, and hissed when his injury complained and the bleeding started anew.

“Do you like him?” He enquired slowly, glowering at his arm. Edyane, detecting something more in his friend’s simple question, scowled.

“What do you mean?” Tenaii shrugged, but carefully this time.

“Exactly what I asked.”

“Tenaii, he’s only a kid.” The dark-skinned man shrugged again and replied, confident.

“A kid who will grow up. When you get to twenty-seven, he’ll be twenty. It’s not that great of a difference. And considering his lineage, I don’t think he’ll be bad-looking…” Edyane glared at his companion.

“Go to hell, Tenaii. That’s eleven years from now and you know I’m not a patient man.” Tenaii and Andro both looked bewildered at their prince.

“So you already thought about it?” The amber-eyed prince huffed.

“Of course not. Not when Meanea is around.” The other two rolled their eyes.

“Lessin Meanea belongs to another, Edyane.” Andro wisely informed yet again.

“You can’t force love, boys. I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you…” Andro and the dark-skinned noble glanced at each other.

“Maybe you should listen to your own self, sometimes, too…” Tenaii replied softly, carefully removing his soiled bandage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All knights stepped on the Arena’s grounds for the last time that day. They lined up in front of the noble’s Grandstand and the royal family descended to award the final prize: a huge golden statue of a knight on top of a horse and Meanea’s fabled kiss. The gold pieces would be given afterwards, but really, no one was interested in them. When they got to the last row on the noble’s grandstands, Edyane advanced with his mare to receive the award and all the people in the Arena perched on their seats to see the kiss.

But then, Iadden, who had descended with his brother and cousins as well, hopped up into the wall dividing the Stands from the Grounds and spoke loudly, under the stunned looks of everyone on the Arena. Amazingly, everybody shut up to listen to him.

“Hello.” He started, in a loud voice. “My name is Iadden Guinare. I am Lessin Meanea’s younger brother. May I speak?” He asked the senior judge. The old man smiled sweetly at the small boy and nodded.

“Of course.” Iadden nodded and raised his childish voice, facing the knights lined in front of him.

“Thank you. First of all, I’d like to congratulate each and every knight that partook in this event. You were all great and I was very impressed with your abilities. It was very entertaining and of course, as an ally, it’s good to know N’Alaera possesses such a good fighting force.” At this, the knights smiled at one another and bowed at the child in thanks. Edyane looked at Quera, who had descended too and arched his eyebrows. The pale-haired human merely shrugged and continued to watch Iadden.

“Second, I would like to pose a challenge. Because this Tournament is to honour a wonderful Ethen and you were all so kind to us since we have arrived, I propose a final combat against an Eth. I know you are probably very tired already, Your Highness, but would you be so kind as to consider awarding this amazing audience and your knights with a last combat?” Iadden asked with an overly sweet voice to N’Alaera’s prince. Edyane frowned. It sounded like a trap but at his people and knights’ acclamations and encouragements, he couldn’t exactly say no. So, he nodded.

”Thank you. Well, then I challenge you, Prince of N’Alaera and this Tournament’s ultimate winner to a Free-form contest. The winner gets the kiss. Do you accept?”

TBC…

Ending notes: This chapter somehow seemed longer while writing than it is. Oh well… So, do you think Edyane will accept Iadden’s challenge? If he does, who will win? Please let me know what you think. See you in the next update. Love ya.