Dark Clouds (NaNoWriMo 2022)

23.11.22

Chapter Twenty Three

King Isaac stands up from where he sits and walks towards me.

"What is your name, young servant girl?" he inquires, standing tall only a few feet in front of me.

"Sams, your highness," I responded, bowing my head. I still kneel on the floor of the room, wearing my servant outfit, and some of my mid-length hair that I had tied back was falling back into my face. Letting out a deep breath, I add "Samsinukikan."

I tilt my head up slightly to see King Isaac looking down on me with a raised eyebrow.

"That's an odd name," he states.

"Yes, your highness. I... I am from the A'Nuki people of Selanta; I have traveled here to deliver something to you."

Now his eyebrows furrow.

"What would that be?" he asks, an edge to his voice now.

With another deep breath, I reach into my pocket and pull out the small chest. I bow again as I hold it out to him. He takes it, and when he opens it, I look up to see a flash of recognition in his eyes. He looks back down at me, his eyes still narrowed.

"How did you acquire this?" he questions, his voice a bit louder than before.

"My grandfather had it," I answered. "I do not know how he got it."

King Isaac closes the chest and looks around at the others in the room. I realize that they all seem very confused, giving me and King Isaac odd looks. He turns back to me.

"Guards, escort... 'Samsinukikan' outside. I need a word in private," King Isaac announces.

Obediently, the guards helped me to my feet, open the large doors, and walk me outside the room, where we... wait, I guess. There's two guards, and one stands on either side of me in the hall. I let myself slide down to the floor and lean against the wall.

Well, I wonder what will happen now.

Inside the room, the five people have a long and serious conversation. I find myself falling asleep and dinnertime comes and goes. Evan and Aella might be worrying about me about now...

Finally, the doors open and the one older man ushers me in. I'm confused as the guards stay in the hall.

The doors are closed behind me.

I look around nervously before Queen Wilma approaches me. She holds out her gloved hand, and doing my best to recall what I learned at Alcotts, I kneel down and kiss her hand gently.

"I apologize for how we had met," Queen Wilma begins. "I'd like to properly introduce you to everyone here, Samsinukikan."

I feel myself begin to blush.

"Oh, please, your highness. Everyone calls me Sams."

She smiles at me with blush colored lips. My cheeks only warm further, causing me to break eye contact with her.

"Well, Sams, as you probably know, my name is Wilma. That man over there is my husband, Isaac," she states, motioning towards King Isaac, who sits back in his chair. He doesn't seem too particularly pleased at the moment. Queen Wilma leans in closer to me and says with a wink, "Ignore him, he gets a little moody sometimes."

I bite my lip to stop myself from chuckling at the Queen's comment about the King. This whole situation feels incredibly surreal--I am in a room with the King and Queen of Petroch, I kissed the Queen's hand, she's talking directly to me, and she's acting like this is all so casual.

"This is Merlin, our head mage," Queen Wilma continued, lightly touching the forearm of the other older man who had opened the door. He has balding, dark red hair. "This is his daughter, Ryuki." Queen Wilma now motions towards the red-headed girl with golden eyes. Looking at Merlin again, I notice the resemblance in their face and eye shape.

"Everyone calls me Ryu," Ryuki adds, making eye contact with me.

I sense a... dominant aura from her, so we simply offer each other cordial nods.

"The dark and gloomy one is Nero," Queen Wilma says playfully. She then hesitates. "He is a member of the Selantan royal family."

The next few hours were a blur and made no sense at the time, but I was forced to wrap my head around it.

Ryu, Nero, and I were chosen by the gods (for some reason). We each have unique eye colors--gold, silver, and bronce--and we each have animal guides that correspond with the god that chose us. Ryu was chosen by Aps and has a dragon. Dragons are incredibly rare in this day and age, but apparently Ryu had found it as an egg and they have grown up together. Nero was chosen by Selanta and has a very large black and white horse. And, of course, I was chosen by Artuki and was given Chann.

Apparently, as much as the gods can control us, we can control the gods, and the leaders of Selanta have found out how to do that. In a few months, on a lunar eclipse, Selanta is going to use a powerful spell to bend Selanta's powers to their will and wage a war on Petroch. They've had many trivial disagreements about land, but King Isaac never thought that they would go this far. It's rumored that they've been taken over by a dark force.

Selanta sent out Nero as her chosen one to stop this war--stop his own family. She must have sent a message to Aps and Artuki as well, and they chose me and Ryu to help.

Merlin believes that he can teach us three how to strengthen our powers to help fight this war alongside our animal guides, along with of course learning how to fight. Ryu and Nero have already begun training, and apparently, I will be joining them starting tomorrow.

I thought this was all surreal earlier, but now...

Oh, gods...