21 Comes Around
-"Now that we are settled, Bhalrom, inform the room what the search party discovered" Said the king while adjusting to a more comfortable position on his throne.
Bhalrom bowed in reverence to the king's request and stepped forward to address the room. Riou kept standing between the mages and knights, this was the information he was waiting for, and he was expecting the Knights words.
-"Our search party caught on their tracks by the plains, the enemy followed a straight path to the north hills, where we assume others were waiting for them. Horse tracks could be seen at the location, fresh on the soil… Our soldiers followed them to the northeast, they kept close by the mountain range until they reached the Deadwind trail…" Spoke Bhalrom without changing tone, the room commotion began as they heard the name Deadwind.
Riou looked around to see the uneasy and apprehensive mages and the knights, Riou quickly understood that they had knowledge of the location. Curious to what it could be Riou spoke to Bhalrom
- "What is this Deadwind trail?" Said the boy to the knight.
Bhalrom addressed Riou's question with the same unwavering tone. – "The Deadwind passage leads to an old mine in the heart of the mountains, the mine was closed about 100 years ago when one of the main tunnels collapsed." Explained Bhalrom.
- "Seems normal to me, so why this much agitation then?" asked Riou once again showing the court's concern.
- "Many people died trying to investigate the mine, there are all sort of stories of monsters that dwells in that place. But no one knows for sure as all who went to investigate… never returned." Said Bhalrom to the boy.
Riou pondered on the words of the knight… "The mine might be the Council hideout… as they are an old organization, they could have settled an operation from there and killed all trespassers without much repercussion… it's a good place to start looking" thought the boy.
- "When will we depart to investigate the mine?" Asked Riou to the surprise of the court, as he made clear his intentions to personally investigate the mine.
Everyone looked towards the boy with surprised expressions, except for the king, Bhalrom and the Princess. They were expecting such behavior as they had already witnessed the boy's resolve when he fought the enemies and went to investigate further on his own.
The king was the first to speak – "We don't know how many enemies might be waiting for us in there, so I'd like to send our best men and mages to ensure victory." Said the king looking towards Bhalrom and then switching to the court mages.
Bhalrom Stepped forward kneeling towards the king, with respect and reverence said – "The First Army will be ready my King."
The court mages followed the knight's actions and removed their hoods, the first mage was a woman, strangely near her 35… she had a long, dark, black, raven lock styled hair and an unnatural beauty to her face, her eyes were green as emeralds and she ported herself very elegantly, her stance clearly passed a sense of grandiosity.
- "I Ursula Eilidh, in the name of the court Magicians, state that we will be ready as well my lord"
Riou looked at her, she seemed too young to be the head mage of the court, and that name… Eilidh, he felt as he heard that before…. "Perhaps she uses magic to avoid aging…" realized Riou
The king nodded and continued – "You have 3 days to prepare, I will be expecting good news upon your return."
---------------------------------------Right after the meeting in the throne room
Kasius entered his father study room – "Did you summoned me father?" Said the prince observing his father standing behind his desk looking outside the window.
- "Yes, sit down" Said the king turning towards the prince and walking in his direction.
- "If this is because what happened earlier… it was all that boy's fault… he…"
- "Silence!" shouted the king… stopping the prince words.
- "Not a word from you… you will listen, very carefully." Said the king trying to hold back his anger.
- "We had already talked about this… I told you to change your ways, but you didn't listen, you still continued pushing and almost got yourself killed today, all because you think too highly of yourself!"
- "But father you must understand… that boy…"
- "I said, not a word!" Shouted the king once more to silence the prince who began to listen with a frowned face… the king noticed he looked like a spoiled child.
- "That boy is not the problem… do you even understand that even now you are trying to blame him when he spared your life?" Paused the king before continuing… he was near the prince now, sat in front of him, leaning towards his son
- "Can't you understand that he spared your life a few times today day?" Said the king frowning and scolding the prince, who became silent listening to his father lecture… -"You acted as an ignorant fool, what was your intention with that? For the elements! You even saw your sister dueling with him, and still, you were not able to measure the boy's skill? That's it! Isn't it? You truly thought that he was weaker than you… that's why you put up that little show of yours." Said the king as the anger turned into disappointment…
- "Kasius, you are too old to be acting as a spoiled child… It's time to for you to grow" said the king standing up once again.
Kasius leaned forward to speak… but contained himself as he was supposed to just listen… Noticing that the king smiled to himself, pleased at the small improvement the prince showed, usually he would not hold back his excuses… perhaps that's why the prince turned out this way, he was allowed to have excuses for all his bad behaviors.
- "You will have to become a man before you can become a King…" Said Elrik calming down…
- "I expect changes from now on, enough with the excuses, you will learn to take responsibility for all your action, especially from your mistakes" Said the king looking into the prince once more – "You will start your sword training from the beginning. Bhalrom will choose your teacher this time… that fancy duelist you wanted clearly didn't do a good job with you."
The king turned and went to his desk… - "Remember you brought this to yourself… be very mindful of your actions from now… or you will lose your rank and your right to the throne… remember that." Said the prince's father very seriously – "Now go, you have a lot to think about…."
The prince was taken aback, he was not expecting such harsh words from his father. And without a word he quickly stood up and left the room with a frowned face and a heavy heart. The words his father said sank heavily into the prince's heart.
The king sighed as he sat down in his chair. He couldn't help but blame himself… "I should have watched him more closely… been more firm with him… now I can only pray to the elements to guide him, and perhaps there is still time to put some sense into his head"
--------------------
Bhalrom was walking with Riou through the castle as they just left the throne room the boy joined the knight for a quick chat.
- "So Bhalrom, do you really think the hideout must be the mine? The enemy seems to be too smart to lead us to their place don't you think?" Asked Riou
- "Indeed, but this is the only lead we have at the moment, we will investigate with force and be prepared for anything."
Riou nodded, it made sense to investigate… even if it was a trap it could lead to the real location.
- "Say Boy, why a bath house?" Asked the knight trying to understand the boy's motives…
- "You don't like bath houses Bhalrom?" Asked the boy inquisitively.
- "It's not that I like or dislike them… you had the opportunity of a lifetime, a prince's life was on your hands, with a word you could have asked for anything… riches, lands… even married into the royalty… but still, you chose a simple bath house…" Explained Bhalrom trying to make sense of it.
- "You are right, I could have asked something preposterous and have the prince beheaded… but to what purpose would I do that? It's not wise to kill the son of a king inside his own castle…" said the boy before continuing
- "To be honest with you Bhalrom, anything I'd ask from that situation would only further increase hostilities towards me… the prince would turn the table and try to become the victim using his status… probably some knights would take his side… so in summary, further problems would arise… and this is not a moment for internal strife, the enemy is too near for the attention to be dispersed" Said the boy in a serious tone.
"That was a good chance to get into the king's good side… showing selflessness while at the same time sparing his son's life... the king being the honorable warrior he seemed to be, will feel indebted to me… and that in the long run could prove more valuable than anything I could ask now." Plotted the boy with a mischievous smile, his goal was in the long run.
Bhalrom pondered for a moment, the boy could be right, it indeed could cause a commotion… but to pass up such opportunity it was not normal. Anyone in his position would have taken the chance to increase his status and wealth. But the boy was different, he who had nothing, gladly threw it away his chances to become a noble for a commodity that would only benefit him while he stayed in the castle, that sort of thing was unheard of.
So for that reasoning, the Knight's concept of the boy increased once more, "The boy showed a great consideration for the King in a time of need and asked nothing in return… truly admirable."
Riou's face stiffed up, and trying to be as inconspicuous as he could - "Who is the knight who holds the yellow banner?"
- "Rodrick? He is the lord in charge of Siscia, the harbor city to the south, near the Magic academy" replied the knight
- "Harbor city you say… does it have many trade routes and connections to other kingdoms?"
- "Certainly, all trade routes are mostly naval, few dare to cross the land… monsters and bandits are everywhere."
Riou began to think about the possibilities… "This Rodrick may have enough connections and supporters to hold enough power under his hand to do many things… I'm not sure if he is a spy from Argos… those reactions in the corridor and in the throne room… he is definitely hiding something… and I bet he hold only his best interests in mind."
- "Who are the other lords?" inquired further the boy…
- "The red banner is Lord Copperford, he rules the city of Brigantium to the east, the blue banner of Lord Rayne in Lentie to the west… " Bhalrom pause for a moment, contempt could be seen now on the knight's face "and the green banner in Iris, ruled by Lord Rottcher, to the southwest of here"
Riou heard before from Max, Iris had a bad reputation of its own and the lawful Bhalrom could not stand it, even mentioning it was enough to bring down his mood.
Riou needed to think what to do next, and went to his room.
--------------- A few moments later
Riou was on his room, leaned against the wall looking through the window, it was still the middle of the afternoon and the sun was shining bright… the boy used the time to think on his next moves.
"Well… it's been almost a week since we visited the blacksmith… I should stop by tomorrow to see how the weapons are going… it would be good to pass the time, visit the city…I could stop by Syldis tavern. Maybe have some lunch?" Sighed the boy thinking it would take too long to continue the investigations
"Should I go on my own? Seemed pretty easy to follow the tracks... nah, I would never find the correct entrance if there are more than one… no, getting lost there would not be fun at all… I think I will use this opportunity to better understand how the king's court acts…." Before Riou could continue he heard some knocks on the door…
*Knock*, *Knock* sounded the door.
- "Come in, the door is open" – Said Riou from the window looking towards the door.
The door opened and a small figure with red hair entered the room, it was Lilly dressed in her training gear. Intrigued, Riou looked towards her and waited for her to speak.
- "Do you have a moment?" Asked the mage in a serious tone… Riou got even more intrigued by those words… he did not know what to expect, so he nodded allowing her to continue.
- "First I'd like to thank you for helping with the castle defenses… you did a great job against the lightning mage…" Her tone was forced for the second part, she clearly didn't mean it. But before he could say anything she continued.
- "Too good to be true… so, I'd like you to join me in a training session today, so we could discuss… and perhaps you could show me how you did it?"
A hint of distrust could be felt in the Mage's voice, Riou noticed that the mage doubted the history, but taken the fact that she was taken out of the fight with a single shot, Riou thought it could just be her way of coping with a bad loser complex, "She lost in a moment to someone I defeated in a moment… no wonder why her ego is hurt".
- "If that will make you feel better… sure, I'd gladly join you" Said the boy smiling to the mage.
Lilly's eye twitched, she understood the hint that Riou understood what she was doing. And that caused her to become slightly angered.
- "Get ready and meet me in the training hall…" She quickly turned around and began leaving the room. When she reached the door she stopped once more, in a more centered manner and a calm tone, she said without turning to the boy in an almost tender tone – "I also wanted to thank you for sparing the prince's life today…" and she left without waiting for a response…
"Ho, so the little Lilly have a thing for princes huh?" thought the boy grinning to himself to that realization.
He looked around the room… "She said prepare… but I don't have much to prepare with… I should get some gear tomorrow as well, use the time by the city.
So he just put his commoner clothes once again and directed himself towards the training hall.
Arriving at the place, the door was already opened, Riou walked in without announcements just to see the Mage Lilly and the princess dressed in her training gear, both were near each other, Riou noted a tense atmosphere "are they fighting with each other?" Thought the boy as they distanced from each other in silence when noticed him in the hall.
- "Am I interrupting something?" – He said trying to read the mood of them both.
- "It's nothing… the princess decided to join us in our training sessions that's all." Said the little Mage trying to cover something up. And before Riou could ask anything else she continued.
- "Shall we begin?" Said Lilly moving towards the center of the hall and waiting for the boy to do the same – "I'd like you to tell me, how exactly you won that fight did?"
Riou noticed that the princess was in a bad mood, but she did not interfere, he watched her while she took a few steps away from them to avoid getting caught in the duel. Riou focus went back to Lilly.
- "Well, it's not that I don't know any magic, it's just that I happen to know one or two tricks… can't we agree I was just lucky?" he said to the mage.
- "No one can win against a high tiered mage with luck alone… so should I assume you learned from Maximilian himself this... tricks of yours?" Asked the prying Lilly, clearly not convinced.
- "It's not wrong to assume it, he was indeed the one who taught me how to use magic… but he taught me no tricks" Said the boy with an enigmatic grin in his face, intentionally to entice the mage's anger, it was a revenge for the way she was treating him.
- "So you want me to believe that in the course of a month you were able to learn from Maximilian how to defend yourself from Lightning magic?" Pouted the little mage in an angry manner.
Riou smiled broadly and laughed at the sight of the small angry mage. – "It does sound bad when you put it like that… let's do this then, shoot some lightning and I will show you what I did..." said the boy meaning his words…
Lilly promptly answered – "That's a good idea!" with a happy tone looking at the princess showing a wry smile – "See? I didn't even had to ask… he proposed it himself! You can't complain now can you?"
The princess remained quiet, but had piercing eyes looking straight to Lilly – "What do you intend to prove by shooting a lightning bolt at him? Do you want to kill him?" Said the princess with a serious voice to the mage.
- "You heard it yourself… he offered it… you can't blame me for accepting it" Answered Lilly clearly discussing with the princess… he concluded that, probably, this was what they were fighting about when Riou entered.
- "Have you lost your mind? Don't you see how dangerous this is?" Refuted the princess…
Riou stepped in… - "its fine… she is curious, so I will show her…" Riou took some distance from the red haired mage… he looked to Eileen – "Would you say I was about this distance from that mage?" Asked the boy…
- "I suppose so…" Answered the not so convinced princess, she was not ok with that demonstration.
Riou was farther away from the mage that time than he was from Lilly today, he intentionally asked the princess so he could reassure Lilly of the events that she did not witnessed, giving him an edge that he did not had that time. He calculated that the princess would not remember precisely as she was worried for her friend and moving away from his fight.
- "Don't forget to chant… no need to hold back" Said the smiling boy to the mage… "Let's see how this court mage fares in a real fight…" Riou had a hidden agenda of his own.
- "As you wish… I will not hold back…" said Lilly maliciously…
- "Princess… please say when we should start…" he asked the princess while poised himself.
The princess looked both of them, she was not in agreement to that duel, but since Riou seemed confident enough she decided to go with it…
- "Begin!" Shouted the princess…
Lilly smiled and began to chant her lightning magic pointing her palm to the boy, but her happiness didn't last long. As she noticed the boy approaching in a crazy fast speed, she began to doubt that her chant would have time to finish before he could reach her… and at that moment she made a crucial mistake.
Lilly was young, perhaps in her early 18, she hardly had participate in any real battle, despite her field of expertise and great skill on destruction magic, she only dueled between friends and teachers so far.
So she made a crucial mistake when she crossed eyes with the boy. Those dark blue eyes were wide open, emotionless… she felt looking at them as if stranded at deep sea at a cold night… unaware of the waves that could devour her whole at any moment. It was the first time she felt bloodlust emanating from an enemy, that sheer pressure terrified her very soul.
A sentiment of impending doom filled her mind… and before she could realize, she stopped moving, her voice was stuttering and all the training she received in the academy to focus her casting, all the lectures she attended, exclusively to help maintain chanting even with the world around him was collapsing… were gone… nothing could help her in that moment.
It lasted but a few seconds, the boy reached the mage, he neutralized her hand holding it pointing out to the ceiling with his left hand… by the same time he stopped his right hand a finger before reaching her stomach.
The pressure the boy emanated ceased in an instant, only his smiling face could be seen.
Lilly was still recovering from the mental shock she suffered, her eyes lost focus and her mind was blank… As Riou released her, her knees gave up and she fell to the ground, ending up sitting on her legs without focus on her eyes, still trying to process what happened.
Eileen who watched the duel carefully, could only see that Lilly panicked at the sight of Riou approaching. But she couldn't understand why her friend fell down on her knees. The princess rushed towards her.
- "Lilly! What happened?" She asked the mage and looking to Riou…
- "I barely touched her." Said the boy realizing that he exaggerated in the fear effect. "She is far more inexperienced than I thought…"
Listening to the princess Lilly began to recover…
- "I'm fine… I was just caught off guard… I just need a moment" Said the Mage getting up with Eileen's help… both walked towards one of the pillars so she could sat down with her back leaned on it…
Her mind began to process what happened to her… - "What was that?" Lilly asked, honestly wanting to know what happened to her, looking into his eyes once again. She couldn't believe it was the same person who rushed towards her, his eyes were too different now, and he once again looked like a boy.
Riou sighed and scratched his head… - "I think you can call it killing intent… fighters use it to destabilize ranged attackers to gain time to approach… that's how I was able to reach the mage that time." Explained the boy, he was not lying, but also that mage were much more capable and battle hardened than Lilly, the effect on him were not so apparent.
Lilly looked puzzled, she turned to Eileen waiting for her explanation on the topic… clearly the mage have never heard of it before.
Taking the cue Eileen spoke – "Yes, I heard about it already, but aside from the beast man I never knew anyone who could use it" she said looking at the boy.
- "Is that so?" Said Riou thinking on all the films, mangas and animes that used the topic.
Eileen stepped away and grabbed 2 wooden swords, she tossed one of them to Riou. He grabbed it with great ability by the handle. The princess stepped towards the center of the hall and taking poise she said seriously – "Show me."
Riou shrugged and stretched his neck and right arm… getting ready for a sword demonstration.
- "You know the effect are better on ranged opponents, right?" he said taking position a few steps away from the princess.
She nodded, her face was dead serious. It was the first real duel she intended to measure his abilities to the best she could.
Riou looked down and took a deep breath.
The princess readied herself.
It took but a moment for Riou to look up once again, their eyes met instantly.
The princess had been in many duels so far, she was no stranger to the heat of battle… but that was something different.
The impression she had was that the boy she knew wasn't there anymore, cold, emotionless eyes of a killer, she felt as the mouse being looked by the snake… Eileen began having difficulty to breathe and her legs shook as if alerting her they would give up at any moment.
Her vision became cloudy and it was hard to maintain focus, it took but a moment and the boy advanced viciously with a horizontal slash, her reaction was delayed and she feared for her life.
But Eileen trained all her life, the moment the wooden sword approached, her muscular memory kicked in, she was able to barely defend herself putting her wooden sword in the way of the slash that was aimed at her throat.
When the swords touched she realized that she could easily stop it… despite all the ferocious movement and cold eyes, the boy was still holding back the strength behind his swing.
Riou smiled and pulled back his sword – "See, it's not that effective…" before he could continue a sudden thrust came from the princess, she aimed the sword tip at his chest. It was Riou's time to use his reflexes to defend himself and look surprised to the princess.
The Princess was serious, for days she wanted to see the boy fighting for real. The fact that he hold back once more against her made her angry. – "Don't hold back this time…" Said the princess in a serious tone.
Riou understood, "She wanted to measure her abilities" he thought - "Very well, let's see what you got." He said getting a serious expression on himself. He brought the sword to his front holding her with one hand.
The princess attacked in a similar fashion that she did in their duel, but this time she was going for the kill from the beginning. Every slash and thrust was deadly aimed. Riou once again was in the defensive position, but this time he was not having difficulty to deflect or avoid any of her attacks, he was not being pushed back in the slightest.
Riou waited for an overextension, but the Princess was cautious… she knew the boy would use any opportunity to counter as he did before.
Riou noticing the princess wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, he changed his tactics. The princess was on a relatively safe distance and swung widely from her right side aiming for his torso… the boy prepared to hit her sword in an angle, to use the force of her movement to redirect her sword towards the ground, with enough force she would take a few seconds to recover, and be completely open to an attack.
Riou prepared his sword by holding it with both hands to intercept the incoming blow. The princess noticing the angle the swords would clash quickly pulled it back without stopping the motion, just enough to avoid the boy's sword who was trying to deflect her attack. She used the continued movement of the swing with the pullback motion, to transform it in a thrust opportunity, the boy would have little time to react as she went for the attack.
Riou was caught off-guard and reacted instinctively, he quickly stepped to the side getting his body out of the way and at the same time bringing his sword back in an attempt to deflect the trust.
The boy put great strength in the parry, as the force was against her finger side of the grip due to the previous swing, it was strong enough to make her loosen the grip of the sword, and it flew away from her hand…
Riou pointed the sword to the unarmed princess, as if announcing his victory.
Lilly could not believe her eyes. It was the first time she saw the princess lose a duel. Riou lowered the wooden sword and stepped back looking towards the princess in silence.
Eileen remained quiet… for a moment she looked at her hand who was unable to hold the force of the impact. She raised her head and went to the rack of weapons, she grab another wooden sword.
She positioned herself once again in front of Riou who just watched what she was doing.
- "Again…" she said bluntly – "but enough with the defense… attack me as you did with my brother." She said seriously.
The boy nodded as the atmosphere tensed up.
Riou rushed towards the princess with a diagonal slash from his upper right. The princess stepped back to avoid the attack and prepared a counter of her own. The boy's attack hit nothing but air, his sword ended up in his left lower side. The princess was already preparing a piercing attack to get the boy off guard. But for her surprise, as her attack advanced the boy turned on his axis to her side, spinning anti clockwise bringing his sword to swing with the motion of the turn, he was aiming towards the princess neck.
Instinctively diving to avoid the attack, Eileen quickly stepped away from the boy.
"She is good… I thought I got her with that one" he thought.
Riou walked towards the princess who readied herself, - "let's see how you deal with this attack…" Said the boy advancing with intent. His aim was to approach her to give her no space to escape or to swing freely at him. She tried to maintain the distance, but the boy did not allow it, he was quicker than her.
Swinging against her forcing her to parry his attacks, he shortened the distance between them even more, until they were pushing each other swords near their bodies and faces.
Riou entangled his sword with hers and began pushing hers to the side, trying to get the inside angle towards her body, noticing his intentions she quickly moved out of the fray before he could act, she desperately tried to get to a safer distance…
- "You sure know your sword, your brother fell for far less elaborated techniques" Said the smiling boy to the serious Eileen.
- "Are you still holding back?" She promptly replied… her tone was too serious...
- "I thought you wanted to try your abilities, isn't it what this is all about?" Asked the confused boy.
- "No…" She replied surly. – "I already told you, do not hold back… It's not me who is being tested here, it is you….so show me how fast you can defeat me if you really wanted to…"
Riou had an unsure expression on his face… - "I don't see how this could help you…"
- "I just need to know…" she said wanting to see the boy's true skill.
- "I will surely regret this later…" Said the boy preparing himself… he understood how the princess felt, perhaps showing her his skills she would calm down and move on with this subject.
------------------------ Eileen perspective.
The princess was able to avoid his attacks, but deep down she felt like he was not showing everything… he was just putting pressure enough to put her on a defensive position… to show his superiority in the sword fight… But that was not her aim, she wanted to know how big the gap between them really was. So she enticed the boy to truly show his skills.
She watched the boy reading himself to attack once more, she was ready, watching his every movement "I can do this…" she assured herself.
Riou advanced the same way he did before, with a diagonal slash from his upper right… "Again with this?" she thought preparing to receive the attack, the motion had begun and her sword was in the trajectory of his… the impact was imminent… but to her surprise, it never happened.
Before she could do anything the boy vanished from her sight, and as she tried to bring her sword back to a defensive position, she also tried to turn herself around to locate the boy. But her body was blocked by something that prevented her movement to that direction, slowly came the realization that the boy was behind her already, freighted and unable to move, it took her too much time to notice the wooden sword on her neck. She didn't saw or felt it, but it was there since he disappeared from her front.
"I couldn't even see him move… it was a complete defeat… if it was a real fight I'd be dead before I even knew what happened… the gap… is too big… I'm no match for him" that realization crushed her resolve…she let her sword drop. Deep down she felt she at least would be able to endure a little, to struggle against him… perhaps even give him trouble… that output was beyond her expectations, no one her fought before, not even her teachers were at that level.
The pressure on her neck lessened as the wooden sword moved away, the boy stepped back giving her space to move once more
----------------- Back to Riou
The princess let go of her sword, but didn't turned to face him… he quickly walked around to see what happened as he was preoccupied.
Her face was showing a strange expression as if holding back tears, Riou noticed sadness deep engraved in her crystal blue eyes.
- "How can you be so strong?" Said a calm voice, the crystal blue eyes turned and looked directly into his, they seemed to look inside his very soul for an answers… her face was calm, her lips slightly apart… at that sight Riou was stunned. She possessed a beauty that could easily cast a shadow of envy to the goddesses themselves. It took a moment for him to recover his senses…
- "It's… complicated…" Said the boy between pauses, trying to think a good answer that could satisfy her.
She looked around smiling at the boys answer – "I spent all my life training and aiming to become strong… now it feels like I've been wasting my time" Said the princess smiling at her own misfortune.
- "Why do you wanted to become strong?" Asked the boy to her surprise….
She thought on those words for a moment – "Because it was the only way to choose my own path…"
- "Did you succeed in that?"
- "What do you mean?" Asked the puzzled princess
- "Were you able to choose your own path?"
Eileen pondered for a moment on that question… - "Yes… so far I could." She finally answered.
- "Will you have to change that because you lost on a practice match?"
The princess blinked a few times trying to get her head around that…
- "No…" she finally answered…
- "Then why are you so gloomy about it? Cheer up, you are young, lots of room for improvement." Said the boy trying to turn her mood around.
Eileen looked towards him with a smile… - "You are right… but for that I will have to train with a master, with the best master swordsman I know."
Riou smiled - "Glad to hear that. You see? It's not so bad to lose once in a while, it gives you new perspective, and I know this master will help you to improve greatly" said the boy going with the flow of the conversation.
Eileen squinted her eyes… - "Yes, I'm sure of it… so can we train together?"
- "Sure, you can count on me, we can train to see your improvement, it will be good to pass the time, and I can even get some tips from this master of yours…" Answered the unaware boy…
- "It's settled then! I will ask my father for the preparations" Said Eileen with a mischievous smile on her face… Riou wondered what was she plotting
To the side of all that action and conversation was Lilly, she observed quietly the whole thing. The boy movements were quick the entire time, but that last one… gave her a special impression "I need to watch this boy closely… how he can be so skillful at this age… he is hiding something…" realized the mage, her curiosity was sparkled once again… her intentions to uncover the boy's secrets would surely continue, but with more caution from now on.
Bhalrom bowed in reverence to the king's request and stepped forward to address the room. Riou kept standing between the mages and knights, this was the information he was waiting for, and he was expecting the Knights words.
-"Our search party caught on their tracks by the plains, the enemy followed a straight path to the north hills, where we assume others were waiting for them. Horse tracks could be seen at the location, fresh on the soil… Our soldiers followed them to the northeast, they kept close by the mountain range until they reached the Deadwind trail…" Spoke Bhalrom without changing tone, the room commotion began as they heard the name Deadwind.
Riou looked around to see the uneasy and apprehensive mages and the knights, Riou quickly understood that they had knowledge of the location. Curious to what it could be Riou spoke to Bhalrom
- "What is this Deadwind trail?" Said the boy to the knight.
Bhalrom addressed Riou's question with the same unwavering tone. – "The Deadwind passage leads to an old mine in the heart of the mountains, the mine was closed about 100 years ago when one of the main tunnels collapsed." Explained Bhalrom.
- "Seems normal to me, so why this much agitation then?" asked Riou once again showing the court's concern.
- "Many people died trying to investigate the mine, there are all sort of stories of monsters that dwells in that place. But no one knows for sure as all who went to investigate… never returned." Said Bhalrom to the boy.
Riou pondered on the words of the knight… "The mine might be the Council hideout… as they are an old organization, they could have settled an operation from there and killed all trespassers without much repercussion… it's a good place to start looking" thought the boy.
- "When will we depart to investigate the mine?" Asked Riou to the surprise of the court, as he made clear his intentions to personally investigate the mine.
Everyone looked towards the boy with surprised expressions, except for the king, Bhalrom and the Princess. They were expecting such behavior as they had already witnessed the boy's resolve when he fought the enemies and went to investigate further on his own.
The king was the first to speak – "We don't know how many enemies might be waiting for us in there, so I'd like to send our best men and mages to ensure victory." Said the king looking towards Bhalrom and then switching to the court mages.
Bhalrom Stepped forward kneeling towards the king, with respect and reverence said – "The First Army will be ready my King."
The court mages followed the knight's actions and removed their hoods, the first mage was a woman, strangely near her 35… she had a long, dark, black, raven lock styled hair and an unnatural beauty to her face, her eyes were green as emeralds and she ported herself very elegantly, her stance clearly passed a sense of grandiosity.
- "I Ursula Eilidh, in the name of the court Magicians, state that we will be ready as well my lord"
Riou looked at her, she seemed too young to be the head mage of the court, and that name… Eilidh, he felt as he heard that before…. "Perhaps she uses magic to avoid aging…" realized Riou
The king nodded and continued – "You have 3 days to prepare, I will be expecting good news upon your return."
---------------------------------------Right after the meeting in the throne room
Kasius entered his father study room – "Did you summoned me father?" Said the prince observing his father standing behind his desk looking outside the window.
- "Yes, sit down" Said the king turning towards the prince and walking in his direction.
- "If this is because what happened earlier… it was all that boy's fault… he…"
- "Silence!" shouted the king… stopping the prince words.
- "Not a word from you… you will listen, very carefully." Said the king trying to hold back his anger.
- "We had already talked about this… I told you to change your ways, but you didn't listen, you still continued pushing and almost got yourself killed today, all because you think too highly of yourself!"
- "But father you must understand… that boy…"
- "I said, not a word!" Shouted the king once more to silence the prince who began to listen with a frowned face… the king noticed he looked like a spoiled child.
- "That boy is not the problem… do you even understand that even now you are trying to blame him when he spared your life?" Paused the king before continuing… he was near the prince now, sat in front of him, leaning towards his son
- "Can't you understand that he spared your life a few times today day?" Said the king frowning and scolding the prince, who became silent listening to his father lecture… -"You acted as an ignorant fool, what was your intention with that? For the elements! You even saw your sister dueling with him, and still, you were not able to measure the boy's skill? That's it! Isn't it? You truly thought that he was weaker than you… that's why you put up that little show of yours." Said the king as the anger turned into disappointment…
- "Kasius, you are too old to be acting as a spoiled child… It's time to for you to grow" said the king standing up once again.
Kasius leaned forward to speak… but contained himself as he was supposed to just listen… Noticing that the king smiled to himself, pleased at the small improvement the prince showed, usually he would not hold back his excuses… perhaps that's why the prince turned out this way, he was allowed to have excuses for all his bad behaviors.
- "You will have to become a man before you can become a King…" Said Elrik calming down…
- "I expect changes from now on, enough with the excuses, you will learn to take responsibility for all your action, especially from your mistakes" Said the king looking into the prince once more – "You will start your sword training from the beginning. Bhalrom will choose your teacher this time… that fancy duelist you wanted clearly didn't do a good job with you."
The king turned and went to his desk… - "Remember you brought this to yourself… be very mindful of your actions from now… or you will lose your rank and your right to the throne… remember that." Said the prince's father very seriously – "Now go, you have a lot to think about…."
The prince was taken aback, he was not expecting such harsh words from his father. And without a word he quickly stood up and left the room with a frowned face and a heavy heart. The words his father said sank heavily into the prince's heart.
The king sighed as he sat down in his chair. He couldn't help but blame himself… "I should have watched him more closely… been more firm with him… now I can only pray to the elements to guide him, and perhaps there is still time to put some sense into his head"
--------------------
Bhalrom was walking with Riou through the castle as they just left the throne room the boy joined the knight for a quick chat.
- "So Bhalrom, do you really think the hideout must be the mine? The enemy seems to be too smart to lead us to their place don't you think?" Asked Riou
- "Indeed, but this is the only lead we have at the moment, we will investigate with force and be prepared for anything."
Riou nodded, it made sense to investigate… even if it was a trap it could lead to the real location.
- "Say Boy, why a bath house?" Asked the knight trying to understand the boy's motives…
- "You don't like bath houses Bhalrom?" Asked the boy inquisitively.
- "It's not that I like or dislike them… you had the opportunity of a lifetime, a prince's life was on your hands, with a word you could have asked for anything… riches, lands… even married into the royalty… but still, you chose a simple bath house…" Explained Bhalrom trying to make sense of it.
- "You are right, I could have asked something preposterous and have the prince beheaded… but to what purpose would I do that? It's not wise to kill the son of a king inside his own castle…" said the boy before continuing
- "To be honest with you Bhalrom, anything I'd ask from that situation would only further increase hostilities towards me… the prince would turn the table and try to become the victim using his status… probably some knights would take his side… so in summary, further problems would arise… and this is not a moment for internal strife, the enemy is too near for the attention to be dispersed" Said the boy in a serious tone.
"That was a good chance to get into the king's good side… showing selflessness while at the same time sparing his son's life... the king being the honorable warrior he seemed to be, will feel indebted to me… and that in the long run could prove more valuable than anything I could ask now." Plotted the boy with a mischievous smile, his goal was in the long run.
Bhalrom pondered for a moment, the boy could be right, it indeed could cause a commotion… but to pass up such opportunity it was not normal. Anyone in his position would have taken the chance to increase his status and wealth. But the boy was different, he who had nothing, gladly threw it away his chances to become a noble for a commodity that would only benefit him while he stayed in the castle, that sort of thing was unheard of.
So for that reasoning, the Knight's concept of the boy increased once more, "The boy showed a great consideration for the King in a time of need and asked nothing in return… truly admirable."
Riou's face stiffed up, and trying to be as inconspicuous as he could - "Who is the knight who holds the yellow banner?"
- "Rodrick? He is the lord in charge of Siscia, the harbor city to the south, near the Magic academy" replied the knight
- "Harbor city you say… does it have many trade routes and connections to other kingdoms?"
- "Certainly, all trade routes are mostly naval, few dare to cross the land… monsters and bandits are everywhere."
Riou began to think about the possibilities… "This Rodrick may have enough connections and supporters to hold enough power under his hand to do many things… I'm not sure if he is a spy from Argos… those reactions in the corridor and in the throne room… he is definitely hiding something… and I bet he hold only his best interests in mind."
- "Who are the other lords?" inquired further the boy…
- "The red banner is Lord Copperford, he rules the city of Brigantium to the east, the blue banner of Lord Rayne in Lentie to the west… " Bhalrom pause for a moment, contempt could be seen now on the knight's face "and the green banner in Iris, ruled by Lord Rottcher, to the southwest of here"
Riou heard before from Max, Iris had a bad reputation of its own and the lawful Bhalrom could not stand it, even mentioning it was enough to bring down his mood.
Riou needed to think what to do next, and went to his room.
--------------- A few moments later
Riou was on his room, leaned against the wall looking through the window, it was still the middle of the afternoon and the sun was shining bright… the boy used the time to think on his next moves.
"Well… it's been almost a week since we visited the blacksmith… I should stop by tomorrow to see how the weapons are going… it would be good to pass the time, visit the city…I could stop by Syldis tavern. Maybe have some lunch?" Sighed the boy thinking it would take too long to continue the investigations
"Should I go on my own? Seemed pretty easy to follow the tracks... nah, I would never find the correct entrance if there are more than one… no, getting lost there would not be fun at all… I think I will use this opportunity to better understand how the king's court acts…." Before Riou could continue he heard some knocks on the door…
*Knock*, *Knock* sounded the door.
- "Come in, the door is open" – Said Riou from the window looking towards the door.
The door opened and a small figure with red hair entered the room, it was Lilly dressed in her training gear. Intrigued, Riou looked towards her and waited for her to speak.
- "Do you have a moment?" Asked the mage in a serious tone… Riou got even more intrigued by those words… he did not know what to expect, so he nodded allowing her to continue.
- "First I'd like to thank you for helping with the castle defenses… you did a great job against the lightning mage…" Her tone was forced for the second part, she clearly didn't mean it. But before he could say anything she continued.
- "Too good to be true… so, I'd like you to join me in a training session today, so we could discuss… and perhaps you could show me how you did it?"
A hint of distrust could be felt in the Mage's voice, Riou noticed that the mage doubted the history, but taken the fact that she was taken out of the fight with a single shot, Riou thought it could just be her way of coping with a bad loser complex, "She lost in a moment to someone I defeated in a moment… no wonder why her ego is hurt".
- "If that will make you feel better… sure, I'd gladly join you" Said the boy smiling to the mage.
Lilly's eye twitched, she understood the hint that Riou understood what she was doing. And that caused her to become slightly angered.
- "Get ready and meet me in the training hall…" She quickly turned around and began leaving the room. When she reached the door she stopped once more, in a more centered manner and a calm tone, she said without turning to the boy in an almost tender tone – "I also wanted to thank you for sparing the prince's life today…" and she left without waiting for a response…
"Ho, so the little Lilly have a thing for princes huh?" thought the boy grinning to himself to that realization.
He looked around the room… "She said prepare… but I don't have much to prepare with… I should get some gear tomorrow as well, use the time by the city.
So he just put his commoner clothes once again and directed himself towards the training hall.
Arriving at the place, the door was already opened, Riou walked in without announcements just to see the Mage Lilly and the princess dressed in her training gear, both were near each other, Riou noted a tense atmosphere "are they fighting with each other?" Thought the boy as they distanced from each other in silence when noticed him in the hall.
- "Am I interrupting something?" – He said trying to read the mood of them both.
- "It's nothing… the princess decided to join us in our training sessions that's all." Said the little Mage trying to cover something up. And before Riou could ask anything else she continued.
- "Shall we begin?" Said Lilly moving towards the center of the hall and waiting for the boy to do the same – "I'd like you to tell me, how exactly you won that fight did?"
Riou noticed that the princess was in a bad mood, but she did not interfere, he watched her while she took a few steps away from them to avoid getting caught in the duel. Riou focus went back to Lilly.
- "Well, it's not that I don't know any magic, it's just that I happen to know one or two tricks… can't we agree I was just lucky?" he said to the mage.
- "No one can win against a high tiered mage with luck alone… so should I assume you learned from Maximilian himself this... tricks of yours?" Asked the prying Lilly, clearly not convinced.
- "It's not wrong to assume it, he was indeed the one who taught me how to use magic… but he taught me no tricks" Said the boy with an enigmatic grin in his face, intentionally to entice the mage's anger, it was a revenge for the way she was treating him.
- "So you want me to believe that in the course of a month you were able to learn from Maximilian how to defend yourself from Lightning magic?" Pouted the little mage in an angry manner.
Riou smiled broadly and laughed at the sight of the small angry mage. – "It does sound bad when you put it like that… let's do this then, shoot some lightning and I will show you what I did..." said the boy meaning his words…
Lilly promptly answered – "That's a good idea!" with a happy tone looking at the princess showing a wry smile – "See? I didn't even had to ask… he proposed it himself! You can't complain now can you?"
The princess remained quiet, but had piercing eyes looking straight to Lilly – "What do you intend to prove by shooting a lightning bolt at him? Do you want to kill him?" Said the princess with a serious voice to the mage.
- "You heard it yourself… he offered it… you can't blame me for accepting it" Answered Lilly clearly discussing with the princess… he concluded that, probably, this was what they were fighting about when Riou entered.
- "Have you lost your mind? Don't you see how dangerous this is?" Refuted the princess…
Riou stepped in… - "its fine… she is curious, so I will show her…" Riou took some distance from the red haired mage… he looked to Eileen – "Would you say I was about this distance from that mage?" Asked the boy…
- "I suppose so…" Answered the not so convinced princess, she was not ok with that demonstration.
Riou was farther away from the mage that time than he was from Lilly today, he intentionally asked the princess so he could reassure Lilly of the events that she did not witnessed, giving him an edge that he did not had that time. He calculated that the princess would not remember precisely as she was worried for her friend and moving away from his fight.
- "Don't forget to chant… no need to hold back" Said the smiling boy to the mage… "Let's see how this court mage fares in a real fight…" Riou had a hidden agenda of his own.
- "As you wish… I will not hold back…" said Lilly maliciously…
- "Princess… please say when we should start…" he asked the princess while poised himself.
The princess looked both of them, she was not in agreement to that duel, but since Riou seemed confident enough she decided to go with it…
- "Begin!" Shouted the princess…
Lilly smiled and began to chant her lightning magic pointing her palm to the boy, but her happiness didn't last long. As she noticed the boy approaching in a crazy fast speed, she began to doubt that her chant would have time to finish before he could reach her… and at that moment she made a crucial mistake.
Lilly was young, perhaps in her early 18, she hardly had participate in any real battle, despite her field of expertise and great skill on destruction magic, she only dueled between friends and teachers so far.
So she made a crucial mistake when she crossed eyes with the boy. Those dark blue eyes were wide open, emotionless… she felt looking at them as if stranded at deep sea at a cold night… unaware of the waves that could devour her whole at any moment. It was the first time she felt bloodlust emanating from an enemy, that sheer pressure terrified her very soul.
A sentiment of impending doom filled her mind… and before she could realize, she stopped moving, her voice was stuttering and all the training she received in the academy to focus her casting, all the lectures she attended, exclusively to help maintain chanting even with the world around him was collapsing… were gone… nothing could help her in that moment.
It lasted but a few seconds, the boy reached the mage, he neutralized her hand holding it pointing out to the ceiling with his left hand… by the same time he stopped his right hand a finger before reaching her stomach.
The pressure the boy emanated ceased in an instant, only his smiling face could be seen.
Lilly was still recovering from the mental shock she suffered, her eyes lost focus and her mind was blank… As Riou released her, her knees gave up and she fell to the ground, ending up sitting on her legs without focus on her eyes, still trying to process what happened.
Eileen who watched the duel carefully, could only see that Lilly panicked at the sight of Riou approaching. But she couldn't understand why her friend fell down on her knees. The princess rushed towards her.
- "Lilly! What happened?" She asked the mage and looking to Riou…
- "I barely touched her." Said the boy realizing that he exaggerated in the fear effect. "She is far more inexperienced than I thought…"
Listening to the princess Lilly began to recover…
- "I'm fine… I was just caught off guard… I just need a moment" Said the Mage getting up with Eileen's help… both walked towards one of the pillars so she could sat down with her back leaned on it…
Her mind began to process what happened to her… - "What was that?" Lilly asked, honestly wanting to know what happened to her, looking into his eyes once again. She couldn't believe it was the same person who rushed towards her, his eyes were too different now, and he once again looked like a boy.
Riou sighed and scratched his head… - "I think you can call it killing intent… fighters use it to destabilize ranged attackers to gain time to approach… that's how I was able to reach the mage that time." Explained the boy, he was not lying, but also that mage were much more capable and battle hardened than Lilly, the effect on him were not so apparent.
Lilly looked puzzled, she turned to Eileen waiting for her explanation on the topic… clearly the mage have never heard of it before.
Taking the cue Eileen spoke – "Yes, I heard about it already, but aside from the beast man I never knew anyone who could use it" she said looking at the boy.
- "Is that so?" Said Riou thinking on all the films, mangas and animes that used the topic.
Eileen stepped away and grabbed 2 wooden swords, she tossed one of them to Riou. He grabbed it with great ability by the handle. The princess stepped towards the center of the hall and taking poise she said seriously – "Show me."
Riou shrugged and stretched his neck and right arm… getting ready for a sword demonstration.
- "You know the effect are better on ranged opponents, right?" he said taking position a few steps away from the princess.
She nodded, her face was dead serious. It was the first real duel she intended to measure his abilities to the best she could.
Riou looked down and took a deep breath.
The princess readied herself.
It took but a moment for Riou to look up once again, their eyes met instantly.
The princess had been in many duels so far, she was no stranger to the heat of battle… but that was something different.
The impression she had was that the boy she knew wasn't there anymore, cold, emotionless eyes of a killer, she felt as the mouse being looked by the snake… Eileen began having difficulty to breathe and her legs shook as if alerting her they would give up at any moment.
Her vision became cloudy and it was hard to maintain focus, it took but a moment and the boy advanced viciously with a horizontal slash, her reaction was delayed and she feared for her life.
But Eileen trained all her life, the moment the wooden sword approached, her muscular memory kicked in, she was able to barely defend herself putting her wooden sword in the way of the slash that was aimed at her throat.
When the swords touched she realized that she could easily stop it… despite all the ferocious movement and cold eyes, the boy was still holding back the strength behind his swing.
Riou smiled and pulled back his sword – "See, it's not that effective…" before he could continue a sudden thrust came from the princess, she aimed the sword tip at his chest. It was Riou's time to use his reflexes to defend himself and look surprised to the princess.
The Princess was serious, for days she wanted to see the boy fighting for real. The fact that he hold back once more against her made her angry. – "Don't hold back this time…" Said the princess in a serious tone.
Riou understood, "She wanted to measure her abilities" he thought - "Very well, let's see what you got." He said getting a serious expression on himself. He brought the sword to his front holding her with one hand.
The princess attacked in a similar fashion that she did in their duel, but this time she was going for the kill from the beginning. Every slash and thrust was deadly aimed. Riou once again was in the defensive position, but this time he was not having difficulty to deflect or avoid any of her attacks, he was not being pushed back in the slightest.
Riou waited for an overextension, but the Princess was cautious… she knew the boy would use any opportunity to counter as he did before.
Riou noticing the princess wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, he changed his tactics. The princess was on a relatively safe distance and swung widely from her right side aiming for his torso… the boy prepared to hit her sword in an angle, to use the force of her movement to redirect her sword towards the ground, with enough force she would take a few seconds to recover, and be completely open to an attack.
Riou prepared his sword by holding it with both hands to intercept the incoming blow. The princess noticing the angle the swords would clash quickly pulled it back without stopping the motion, just enough to avoid the boy's sword who was trying to deflect her attack. She used the continued movement of the swing with the pullback motion, to transform it in a thrust opportunity, the boy would have little time to react as she went for the attack.
Riou was caught off-guard and reacted instinctively, he quickly stepped to the side getting his body out of the way and at the same time bringing his sword back in an attempt to deflect the trust.
The boy put great strength in the parry, as the force was against her finger side of the grip due to the previous swing, it was strong enough to make her loosen the grip of the sword, and it flew away from her hand…
Riou pointed the sword to the unarmed princess, as if announcing his victory.
Lilly could not believe her eyes. It was the first time she saw the princess lose a duel. Riou lowered the wooden sword and stepped back looking towards the princess in silence.
Eileen remained quiet… for a moment she looked at her hand who was unable to hold the force of the impact. She raised her head and went to the rack of weapons, she grab another wooden sword.
She positioned herself once again in front of Riou who just watched what she was doing.
- "Again…" she said bluntly – "but enough with the defense… attack me as you did with my brother." She said seriously.
The boy nodded as the atmosphere tensed up.
Riou rushed towards the princess with a diagonal slash from his upper right. The princess stepped back to avoid the attack and prepared a counter of her own. The boy's attack hit nothing but air, his sword ended up in his left lower side. The princess was already preparing a piercing attack to get the boy off guard. But for her surprise, as her attack advanced the boy turned on his axis to her side, spinning anti clockwise bringing his sword to swing with the motion of the turn, he was aiming towards the princess neck.
Instinctively diving to avoid the attack, Eileen quickly stepped away from the boy.
"She is good… I thought I got her with that one" he thought.
Riou walked towards the princess who readied herself, - "let's see how you deal with this attack…" Said the boy advancing with intent. His aim was to approach her to give her no space to escape or to swing freely at him. She tried to maintain the distance, but the boy did not allow it, he was quicker than her.
Swinging against her forcing her to parry his attacks, he shortened the distance between them even more, until they were pushing each other swords near their bodies and faces.
Riou entangled his sword with hers and began pushing hers to the side, trying to get the inside angle towards her body, noticing his intentions she quickly moved out of the fray before he could act, she desperately tried to get to a safer distance…
- "You sure know your sword, your brother fell for far less elaborated techniques" Said the smiling boy to the serious Eileen.
- "Are you still holding back?" She promptly replied… her tone was too serious...
- "I thought you wanted to try your abilities, isn't it what this is all about?" Asked the confused boy.
- "No…" She replied surly. – "I already told you, do not hold back… It's not me who is being tested here, it is you….so show me how fast you can defeat me if you really wanted to…"
Riou had an unsure expression on his face… - "I don't see how this could help you…"
- "I just need to know…" she said wanting to see the boy's true skill.
- "I will surely regret this later…" Said the boy preparing himself… he understood how the princess felt, perhaps showing her his skills she would calm down and move on with this subject.
------------------------ Eileen perspective.
The princess was able to avoid his attacks, but deep down she felt like he was not showing everything… he was just putting pressure enough to put her on a defensive position… to show his superiority in the sword fight… But that was not her aim, she wanted to know how big the gap between them really was. So she enticed the boy to truly show his skills.
She watched the boy reading himself to attack once more, she was ready, watching his every movement "I can do this…" she assured herself.
Riou advanced the same way he did before, with a diagonal slash from his upper right… "Again with this?" she thought preparing to receive the attack, the motion had begun and her sword was in the trajectory of his… the impact was imminent… but to her surprise, it never happened.
Before she could do anything the boy vanished from her sight, and as she tried to bring her sword back to a defensive position, she also tried to turn herself around to locate the boy. But her body was blocked by something that prevented her movement to that direction, slowly came the realization that the boy was behind her already, freighted and unable to move, it took her too much time to notice the wooden sword on her neck. She didn't saw or felt it, but it was there since he disappeared from her front.
"I couldn't even see him move… it was a complete defeat… if it was a real fight I'd be dead before I even knew what happened… the gap… is too big… I'm no match for him" that realization crushed her resolve…she let her sword drop. Deep down she felt she at least would be able to endure a little, to struggle against him… perhaps even give him trouble… that output was beyond her expectations, no one her fought before, not even her teachers were at that level.
The pressure on her neck lessened as the wooden sword moved away, the boy stepped back giving her space to move once more
----------------- Back to Riou
The princess let go of her sword, but didn't turned to face him… he quickly walked around to see what happened as he was preoccupied.
Her face was showing a strange expression as if holding back tears, Riou noticed sadness deep engraved in her crystal blue eyes.
- "How can you be so strong?" Said a calm voice, the crystal blue eyes turned and looked directly into his, they seemed to look inside his very soul for an answers… her face was calm, her lips slightly apart… at that sight Riou was stunned. She possessed a beauty that could easily cast a shadow of envy to the goddesses themselves. It took a moment for him to recover his senses…
- "It's… complicated…" Said the boy between pauses, trying to think a good answer that could satisfy her.
She looked around smiling at the boys answer – "I spent all my life training and aiming to become strong… now it feels like I've been wasting my time" Said the princess smiling at her own misfortune.
- "Why do you wanted to become strong?" Asked the boy to her surprise….
She thought on those words for a moment – "Because it was the only way to choose my own path…"
- "Did you succeed in that?"
- "What do you mean?" Asked the puzzled princess
- "Were you able to choose your own path?"
Eileen pondered for a moment on that question… - "Yes… so far I could." She finally answered.
- "Will you have to change that because you lost on a practice match?"
The princess blinked a few times trying to get her head around that…
- "No…" she finally answered…
- "Then why are you so gloomy about it? Cheer up, you are young, lots of room for improvement." Said the boy trying to turn her mood around.
Eileen looked towards him with a smile… - "You are right… but for that I will have to train with a master, with the best master swordsman I know."
Riou smiled - "Glad to hear that. You see? It's not so bad to lose once in a while, it gives you new perspective, and I know this master will help you to improve greatly" said the boy going with the flow of the conversation.
Eileen squinted her eyes… - "Yes, I'm sure of it… so can we train together?"
- "Sure, you can count on me, we can train to see your improvement, it will be good to pass the time, and I can even get some tips from this master of yours…" Answered the unaware boy…
- "It's settled then! I will ask my father for the preparations" Said Eileen with a mischievous smile on her face… Riou wondered what was she plotting
To the side of all that action and conversation was Lilly, she observed quietly the whole thing. The boy movements were quick the entire time, but that last one… gave her a special impression "I need to watch this boy closely… how he can be so skillful at this age… he is hiding something…" realized the mage, her curiosity was sparkled once again… her intentions to uncover the boy's secrets would surely continue, but with more caution from now on.
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