THE RISING OF THE WICCA

She left

Everyone sitting around the large table stood to show respect as the king walked into the meeting room. He took his seat at the head of the table and ordered for the discussion to begin. Brianna talked about the current situation with their neighboring kingdoms and the state of trade as they prepared for a rough season.

The war with the Larth kingdom hadn't caused them significant damages but they still needed to recover the stocks they had lost during the fight. Trading had resumed, but the tension between the kingdoms caused the number of merchants to drop and only a few risked the journey to the Kassi kingdom.

Brianna had been touring the area to assure their allies that their kingdom was still standing strong and made sure they still supported them. She also reported that the five kings had called for a royal meeting to try and resolve the conflict between Rokan and the Larth king by having them face to face in the same room.

"I have already succumbed twice to that coward and went to his kingdom to try and make things amicable between us, yet he dared to lead his army here and tried to seize our kingdom. I will not sit facing him again unless he agrees to my terms of peace this time." Rokan 's firm voice resonated in the room, gaining whispers of approval from most of the people present.

"Our kingdom may be small compared to his, but we must uphold our honor and not show weakness. I refuse to attend the royal gathering."

Brianna stood up from her seat with an uneasy expression,

"But your highness, if you do not wish to attend and I understand your reasons, I think we should at least send someone else to negotiate with them. Instead of a royal gathering, when could ask for negotiation teams on neutral land. That way, we can maintain our stand and at the same time try to resolve the issues with the Larth kingdom." Brianna suggested.

"I'm sure the Taran kingdom would be willing to host the negotiations." Theon supported her suggestion.

Rokan went quiet for a moment, thinking about the suggestion. Brianna was right. He just had to choose someone to lead the delegation. Brianna was his best choice, with her patience and intelligence, she would make sure the negotiations went well on their side.
However she was the one who managed all of their public relations. If she were to be sent to the Taran kingdom, things might take a while and could hinder the other matters she needed to attend to.

"Brianna, you will go to the Taran kingdom to suggest the negotiations. Once they agree, Akare will lead the expedition. stay there to see how things go the first day then come back. I need you to keep the other kingdoms updated and check how the trading with them is going,"

Rokan had decided that Akare would be a good replacement for Brianna since they were both strategists and good with their words except that Akare was more aggressive and straightforward, the type of impression Rokan wanted to make on the Larth kingdom.

Once the details and the members of the expedition were discussed, Rokan announced the end of the meeting. Everyone started leaving the room. Theon stood and waited for Brianna who sat quietly for a while.

"Do you have any news from Evanora? How is she doing?" Brianna asked when only her three friends were left in the room.

"I need to speak to Akare," Rokan said, ignoring her probing questions.

"Rokan, I'm really worried. You simply announced that she left and we have no way of contacting her. She hadn't even said goodbye to anyone!" Brianna's voice started getting louder, unable to control her frustration.

"It was her choice." Rokan's calm voice came as he turned away facing the window.

"I wonder how she-"

"Enough." Rokan's voice cut through the tension in the room and Theon took it as his signal to move. He could tell when Rokan was not open to discussion and this was one of those times. He grabbed Brianna's hand and walked them out of the room.

He dragged her out of the meeting room and came to a stop once they were alone in a separate corner from the hall.

"He doesn't want to talk about it. '' He sighed heavily and scratched the back of his neck with his free hand.

"But why is he acting like she doesn't exist, I don't understand, he could at least get some information from somewhere" Brianna raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"It's hard for him to admit she left. He has been zoning out often lately. I guess every man is weak when it comes to a certain someone." Theon said as he unconsciously squeezed the hand in his.

Brianna's expression warmed then quickly changed to that of sadness and guilt. She closed the distance that separated them and carefully wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm worried about Eva." 

"I know, so am I but Duman said he will let us know if something is wrong. So no news means good news." He caressed her hair and tried soothing her worries and his.

Rokan's large figure stood in the middle of his balcony as his eyes were turned towards the night sky. He was busy the entire day, meeting with counselors, reading documents, attending to legal matters, and solving the conflicts between his people till nightfall and yet he couldn't sleep. The air was getting a little chilly as autumn approached.
The first time he met her was during a similar season. He scanned the sky as he remembered what she had told him about making a wish to the moon before going to sleep.

His face hardened as his mind was invaded with more thoughts about her. His skin was almost itching for news from her. Rokan dragged his body to the furnished corner of the balcony and laid down. Dawn was closing in yet he felt too restless to sleep. He would rather stare at the sky and wait for the daybreak.

As the sky started getting clearer, Rokan noticed a black crow flying in circles in the direction of the north gate. He immediately jumped up to his feet and rushed outside.

He met Duman by the entrance of the gate, he jumped off his horse and rushed to him. Seeing the restless state his friend was in, Duman picked up his pace as he led his horse through the quiet kingdom and assured him that there was nothing urgent or dangerous to announce.

Rokan took a deep breath of the clean morning air then walked back with the wizard to the castle where they settled in his office.

The black-haired wizard asked about the improvements Rokan had decided to put in place after the last war and if there were any weird diseases spreading around, when Rokan assured him that things were going smoothly and steadily in the kingdom, Duman put down the cup of warm liquor he had in hand.

"Eva is actually the reason behind my visit as you might have already suspected." 

Duman watched as Rokan's body stiffened.