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Inevitable Destiny
Preparation for Prince Aciel's coronation next week took over the royal palace. Rooms were being decorated for the faction leaders' arrival and top military officials had already arrived to provide additional security.
Eden walked across the stone courtyard towards the sound of sparring swords. Down below, Aciel Koi-Longwa struggled to defend himself against his opponent. The sword was easily knocked out of his hands and the crown prince found himself on the floor with a sword pointed towards his chin.
"Welcome back, General."
Eden turned to see her aunt stand beside her, watching the sparring match resume. "Thank you Aunt Asari. Are you done meeting with the King?"
"Yes, we will resume later tonight. Eden, it's almost time for you oath renewal isn't it?"
"Yes, I'm scheduled to head to Wukong Temple to pledge my loyalty next week."
"Did you decide yet? Will you continue in the military or will you be the prince's champion?"
"Why the sudden interest?" Her aunt was one of the king's personal advisors so their limited time was usually spent on family matters and not political ones.
"As a citizen, I have the right to be worried."
"Mhmm." Eden wasn't convinced.
"There hasn't been a shift in power like this in eight years since the war and Queen Atian's passing. The faction leaders accepted Consort Sen's temporary accession to king until the prince became of age, but whether or not they accepted the prince is a different story."
"He," Eden glaced at the prince who got knocked on the floor again, "needs a lot of work."
The two looked down at the training grounds where the prince struggled in his spar. Even an amateur could tell that his form was off. In fact, even an amateur could beat the prince by the way he poorly gripped his sword and left his sides unguarded.
"There are many who, while not directly, oppose the prince taking up the throne. So there would be a high chance a rebellion could break out. When that happens, there's no guarantee that the Koi-Longwa House will continue to sit on the throne."
"Isn't that why we have Lady Zula?" Eden asked, turning her attention to the other end of the training grounds.
Completely opposite to her fiancée, Lady Zula of the Ruruji House easily won her spar against three opponents. Zula sensed the new gaze on her and made eye contact with her partner before turning back to her opponent. A fourth man was making his attack but Zula was unfazed, in fact she almost smiled.
As he approached, Zula switched to a gentler grip. Taking a light step, she used her sword to stop his motion and brought her left hand to the hilt. Sliding through the clashing swords, Zula made them spin one and a half revolutions before her opponent's sword flew into the air.
While everyone stopped to watch where the flying sword would land, Eden already knew what Zula wanted.
"The courtyard preparations finished this morning, I would rather not have to fix it." Advisor Asari said as she caught on.
Unable to say no to her aunt or the future queen, Eden leaped to catch the sword before it embedded itself into the stone. A second after she caught it, she landed on the ledge one foot then the other. Eden nodded goodbye to her aunt and jumped down, accepting Zula's request for a spar.
"Graceful as always, you definitely live up to your mother's name."
"I'm here, just as you requested."
"You're here just in time to lose." A smirk appeared on Zula's face.
"It's been a while since I've done this." Eden swung the sword around to warm up her wrist. "Doesn't mean I'll go easy on you Lady Zula."
"I won't expect anything else from you General Eden."
Zula's previous four sparring partners stood on the side and watched in awe at the spar between the two geniuses. The amount of effort needed to fend off four men attacking at once, Zula used on Eden alone.
Advisor Asari smiled as she reminisced on the past days when the two were training partners. Even with her military experience, the general was still evenly matched with the future queen.
"Ah youth."
"You can still put up a fight, Advisor Asari."
"Against a normal soldier, yes but not those two monsters Your Highness. Now, why are you out here and not resting? Come now."
"Yes ma'am." Even King Sen, could not say no to his advisor. He managed to grab two final looks. One at his son who, once again, got knocked down and the other towards the two sparring monsters.
The spar between Zula and Eden seemed like an intricate choreographed dance by the way they parried each other's moves. It didn't matter how many steps ahead one thought ahead because the other already had a counter ready.
"Let's wrap this up. Lady Zula has an audience soon."
At the sound of the announcement, both fighters switched their swords to their dominant hand. Eden, the faster one, managed to trip her opponent causing Zula to fall backwards. Even with both of them mid-air, they still managed to make their final attack. The next moment, the match was over with Eden pointing a sword at Zula's chest and Zula with her sword pressed against Eden's neck.
"Who was faster?" The two shouted at the five spectators.
"Lady Zula had her sword at General Eden's neck a second faster than the general's sword at the chest."
"That makes it 47 wins, 46 losses, and 3 ties," Zula said as Eden helped her up. "Maybe you should practice a bit more, general."
Eden's face twitched at her friend's provocation. "Go get ready for your audience with Aciel loser."
"I just won the match and you're calling me a loser?" If her etiquette teacher was nearby, he would have a fit over her casual language.
"My apologies shrimp."
"I'm not that much shorter than you brat, show some respect."
"Of course, Lady Shrimp." Eden teased her friend back. "Well I'm off to go train with Huajun. I keep telling her to fix her form but she still has that problem with her elbow."
Zula finished her dinner and chess match with the prince and left to meet the king. It was already late into the night but it was the only time he had after a day full of meetings.
"How was your day Zula?" King Sen asked. "I saw part of your spar with Eden, what was the outcome?"
"It was a fun day, Your Highness. I won against Eden but it was a close match. I wish it had continued for longer but I had an audience with Aciel."
"I hope you enjoyed your time together."
"Yes, I did, thank you." There was a pause as Zula's eyes wandered outside. "It is very foggy outside is it not?" Zula changed the topic.
"Yes, I wished to see my garden tonight." The flowers would have been in full bloom tonight and if it were not for the fog, it would have looked beautiful until the moonlight.
"That's quite unfortunate, I am sorry. Maybe another time."
"I hope so. If I were not the king, I believe I would have started a flower shop. Well, I heard from Advisor Asari that the final touches of the coronation have your seal of approval. Are you excited?"
"More nervous quite honestly." Zula tightened her grip. The physical pressure she applied to her hands helped relieve the mental pressure of the coronation.
King Sen stood up from his desk to move and put a hand on Zula's shoulder in a fatherly gesture. He gave a slight pat to signal that everything would be alright and sat down beside her for a more casual talk. At that moment they were no longer the king and future queen but a wise man and a worried child.
The two chatted for a bit longer, mainly reminiscing about stories about Zula's late parents. In the eight years since their passing, Zula found herself remembering more about them through other people's stories than through her own memories. Yet one by one those in her parent's generation passed, mainly due to complications from the war or like her parents, during the war, leaving a generation of children with limited memories of their parents.
When King Sen finished reminiscing on better days, Zula stood up and two small needles slid out from her sleeves. Unlike her spar from earlier, her movements were small and quick. Both needles were stabbed into the neck and removed just as fast. It was a quick and painless death. He didn't even have a chance to say his last words when he fell into her arms.
Zula Ruruji had just killed King Sen and Prince Aciel saw it all.