"Goodday your Majesty." I greeted the king with a low curtsey.
"Goodday your highness." I greeted Geoffrey with an equally low curtsey.
I took in a deep breath while thinking about how I was supposed to explain this all to them. Somehow I had to explain that I had lied to them and that I was actually a chosen child. I would then have to explain that I met another reincarnated person in the woods who took credit for the demonization of Fitz and could possibly be the culprit behind the series of demonized attacks in all the kingdoms. On top of that I would have to inform them of how powerful said reincarnated person was and that he had some crazy skill that made his opponents freak out when he was around. On top of that I was thinking about telling Geoffrey that I had a tiny little crush on him because at this point I really had nothing to lose!
Sigh...
My heart started pounding viciously in my chest when I saw Geoffrey's face peering up at me curiously, as if my heart was trying to escape so it wouldn't have to witness this awkward encounter.
"Lady Riley... what brings you here?" Geoffrey asked as he got up from his throne chair to properly greet me.
"Oh, nothing major." It was a compulsive and dishonest reply but I just blurted it out. I was beginning to feel my body heat up and consequently started to sweat.
"Lady Riley are you in a good condition?" Geoffrey asked with a concerned expression on his face. He probably noticed how red I was getting.
"Should I fetch some refreshments for you? Perhaps a damp cloth?"
Geoffrey was just about to call to one of his butlers to get me something to cool down, when I stopped him.
"No, I'm fine. Just a little nervous I guess." I smiled awkwardly while rubbing the tense knot that had formed in my left shoulder.
"Nervous?" Came the King's deep and gravelly voice, reminding me of his Majesty's presence.
"Why would you be nervous Lady Delton?" His question felt more accusatory than a normal question, enough so to make my cheeks turn red under the stress of his gaze. On top of that, it felt so strange to be directly addressed by the king and I suddenly felt the need to bow before him and kiss his ring in submission, a feeling completely unfamiliar to me. For the first time I noticed how intense the King's eyes were as he stared at me, waiting for a reply. The eyes were possibly even more probing than Geoffrey's eyes.
"I actually have something to confess your majesty..." I began, taking in a long shaky breath as I felt my knees begin to wobble.
"To confess...?" Geoffrey frowned, his expression growing even more concerned.
"I just wanted to regretfully inform you..." I gulped loudly on my dry throat, only feeling more parched as the air flooded in. But it was better to just get this all over with and then deal with the consequences. But still I felt so nervous, so nervous in fact that I ended up blurting out everything I wanted to say at once.
"... I am what you would call a chosen child."
I squinted my eyes at the father-son pair. I was waiting for some big rage-induced reaction wherein they would hurl their golden rings at me for lying to their royalnesses, but instead I was met with radio silence.
The King, was staring at me with a completely blank expression. Completely unreadable. Completely frozen. Completely terrifying!
I turned to Geoffrey who was looking at me with an amused expression. His golden eyes were dazzling and he was showing off a self satisfied grin as if my announcement had been amusing. His reaction seemed distinctly positive, like I had just told him good news, which was a serious relief and disappointment. I thought that he would at least gasp...
"Lady Delton," Geoffrey got up from his chair, while keeping his golden eyes fixed on me.
"This is like a dream..." His grin was wide and filled with happiness. In fact he was radiating warmth.
I nodded awkwardly trying not to move back as he approached me.
"I'm glad you are taking this so well." I blushed as he stepped the distance between us and wrapped his red and gold robes around me, kind of creating a warm silky cocoon for me in his arms. I gulped nervously for the second time, wondering if this kind of embrace was at all appropriate.
I was starting to overheat. Not because it was a hot day and our proximity was adding to my temperature, no it was rather because his presence was making me all hot and bothered.
I knew he was looking down at my face, so I was purposefully avoiding his gaze because the chance of me melting under those golden eyes was really high.
In my attempt to avoid Geoffrey I looked over at the King. He was definitely not taking this as well as his son. In the space of a few seconds, a vat of Gismeadian ale had appeared before him and he was now focused on chugging down a beer sized pint of the infamously alcoholic 'Gismeadian ale'.
"Is the King going to be alright?" I asked nervously watching as the old golden man seemed to crumble under the weight of my announcement.
"You should just give him a while to adjust. After all this is an unexpected announcement, to say the least." Geoffrey chuckled as he eyed his father slurping down the golden mug of Gismeadian ale.
"You are taking this pretty well though..." I commented up at him as he was distracted by his father.
He smild proudly. "Well, I did suspect that you might be a chosen child, but I wasn't sure. Your confirmation has only cemented what I already suspected. However father over there, thought the possibility of you being a chosen child was impossible since we heard no word from the prophet."
"The prophet?" I asked curiously, wondering what a prophet had to do with any of this.
"There is a prophet named Aurelia who lives in the Nomansland forest. Every time a chosen child is born into the kingdom she travels down from her home to inform the people of the reincarnated person's coming."
"And she didn't come to tell you about me?" I frowned, strangley feeling as though I had been wronged by this Aurelia person. Seriously... she had one job.
"No." Geoffrey shook his head. "Although your powers were definitely on par with what a chosen child's power was reported to be, we didn't believe you were one because Aurelia did not inform us about you."
Now I understood. Even though I obviously was much more powerful than the people here, they didn't believe I was a chosen child because that prophet lady didn't come down from the forest to tell them.
"But if she lives in Nomansland, where all the monsters are, maybe something could have happened to her and thus stopped her from coming to tell you about me." I suggested because that seemed like a very plausible/obvious explanation to me. Just thinking about all the orcs and dangerous creatures that lived in the forest was making me wonder how the prophet would be able to come all the way to the Kingdom by herself.
"My thoughts exactly." Geoffrey grinned smugly. "I've already sent some men to Nomansland to check on her to see if she is well. They should be arriving very soon, thus father and I were waiting for the news in my chambers."
my eyes turned back to the king again, to see that he was now munching on one of my cafe's premium cold meat sandwiches. I tried not to look smug as I watched the king gobble my sandwhich. Probably trying desperately to eat away the shock of my announcement.
Just then a knock came on the door.
"Enter." Geoffrey called out.
A man in the familiar Knights Order armor, entered the room and immediately approached Geoffrey and then bent on one knee in front of him.
"Your Highness." He began in a formal deep tone. "The men sent to the Nomansland to confirm the whereabouts of the prophet Aurelia have returned."
The king seemed to gain his composure at the arrival of the knight.
"And what of it?" The King asked impatiently.
"When they arrived there, Aurelia was discovered unconscious. It seems that she had been under a sleeping spell for many years now..."
"Years?!" The king coughed, splattering out his ale.
"I am afraid so your Majesty." The knight nodded with a very worried expression on his face.
"Father." Geoffrey spoke up. "If the prophet had been placed under a sleeping spell for that long, that was probably the reason why she didn't come to tell us that a chosen child had been sent to us."
The King's expression was as grim and grave as could be. He placed down his jug of ale and then stood straight up.
"Take us to her now." He commanded the knight.
"Yes your Majesty!" The knight quickly got up from his kneel and lead us out of the prince's quarters.
Everything was happening so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to tell them about the other half of my news: the evil reincarnated person who I had met in the woods. Before I knew it the guard was leading us to the Mage Society wing where the prophet was being held.
The king, Geoffrey and the knight were walking so briskly with their long legs that I had to break out into a jog to keep up with them, which was not easy to do in a dress.
As we walked down the never-eding golden marble passagges that lead to the commatose prophet, I cringed at the butterflies forming in my stomach. The horrible weightlessness you felt in your gut when riding a rollercoaster was coming over me and letting me know that something big was about to happen. I was about to learn something important, I was sure of it. This meeting with the prohpet would mark a great change in my reincarnated life and this prospect both scared and excited me.
The butlers stationed in front of the Mage Society's wing, opened the great doors to the headquarters as soon as they saw the two golden heads bolstering their way towards them. They bowed sharply as we walked past but I noticed their surprised expressions at seeing the King, the prince and me walking by.
From the main hall, the knight lead us upstairs to the treatment wing - the space dedicated for magical healers. Since the treatments offered by this wing were so expensive and barely effective, the only poeple who could afford to be treated here (nobles) didn't bother because of the pure quality. Instead my healing potion had completely taken over the healing market and all people opted for my potion for small and severe injuries. The only reason to seek healing help was for poisoning and diseases. That was something I was also planning to take over as soon as I got back from holiday, owing to recent events, I think I would have to cut my little holiday short and come back to Gismead right away to prepare for what was coming.
We finally arrived at the infirmary. As soon as the butlers saw us coming, they opened the doors for us and let us into the long rectangular infirmary. Huge rectangular windows lined the walls, letting in pools of light, making the room feel very airy. It was a common belief in Girannon that plants helped people heal, so there were pots and pots of well kept leafy foliage lining the walls and tables.
On the only occupied bed in the entire infirmary, an old shriveled woman lay in between the white silk sheets, with a swarm of healing mages beside her. They were all fussing over the unconcious women like hens, clucking and panicking about, until they turned and saw us.
As soon as they realized that we were in the room with them, they all straightened up and got down on their knees and knelt before us. The Royals's golden presence dazzling the mages into submission
"Greetings your Majesty." Said the healing Mage closest to us.
He looked very young to be a healing Mage, with big round sparkly eyes and curly blonde hair.
The king waisted no time in getting to the bottom of the situation.
"What is the prophets condition?" The King stared straight into the boy's eyes, which effectively crippled the boy. Just from watching this little interaction between the king and young healing Mage you could tell the kind of power that was hidden behind the Ambrose's golden eyes.
The healing boy's hand that were hanging by his sides began to shake, and his lips began to quiver. He was just so nervous that he couldn't do anything but stand there and gape at the king. His big sparkly eyes were quivering with fear and he didn't know what to do with himself. He was just pinned to the spot. The king on the other hand was getting increasingly more irritated by the moment. He wanted answers and he wanted them right away. Each moment that the boy didn't say anything the king got angrier and angrier.
An older woman from the back of the cluster of healing mages cleverly stepped in and replied to the king.
"The Prophet Aurelia is doing quite well your Majesty." She breathes out in a shaky voice, also feeling the affects of the King's eyes.
"We expect her to wake up at any moment now, your Majesty." She clutched her hand to make it stop shaking.
The king nodded satisfied with her answer. Just then a light groaning sound was heard from the bed where the prophet was laying. All the mages immediately rushed over to her and checked her magic flow and heart beat.
"She's waking up!" One of the mages called excitedly. Geoffrey and the king suddenly whisked me over to the prophet's bedside and waited impatiently for the woman to open her eyes.
The old woman sleeping in front of me had very long grayed hair that was plaited in one long messy chain. Although she was lying down, I could see the plait was at least down to her knees. She had a surprisingly old and frail frame, she looked to be quite a bit smaller than me which was already quite short for Girannonians. Furthermore, she was seriously aged. The wrinkles around her face and eyes and entire body were no joke. I hate to be judgmental, but she kind of looked like a bulldog.
Wrinkle-San...
The King, Geoffrey, all the healing mages and I, stood over the woman and she lay unconscious on her bed. We were all eagerly waiting for her to open her eyes and then get some answers from her. Having watched my fair share of horror movies back on Earth, I knew that the woman was going to shoot out of the bed and and start screaming and subsequently give us all heart attacks. Hence I turned my body diagonally and made room for one of the healing mages to step in front of me and be the first in line to head-but with her once she jolted out of the bed.
I felt bad, but self preservation comes first.
Although I had taken a precautionary step back, my eyes were fixed on the old woman. I watched patiently as her breathing began to speed up, and her fingers began twitching in the sheets. These were all good signs that she would wake up soon.
All of us leaned closer to the woman as her old scrunched eyes began to open ever so slowly. It was like waiting for the sun to set in the afternoon.
Finally her eyes cranked open and we all got a glimpse of her lavender colored eyes. Despite her old appearance, her eyes looked quite young and lively. I had expected than to have that milky quality that you often see in old people but not this prophet. No, her eyes were a lovely beautiful lavender color.
The healing mages rejoiced at their success and began to swarm the woman again. All at once, they asked her questions about her condition and how she was feeling, they wanted to know if she was hungry, the wanted to check her temperature and heartbeat, they just wanted to do everything at once. I watched anxiously as I saw the prophets purple eyes turn from clam and relaxed to annoyed and frustrated. The wrinkled around her mouth started to moved as she began to grit her teeth angrily. There was no doubt that the healing mages meant well, however they were making a lot of noise and I could see how that could be irritating for someone who just woke up from a coma.
One of the younger more lively healing mages reache sour his hand to the prophets neck and starting checking her vitals, without permission. That was the last straw for the old woman.
The woman instantly sat up with a speed and force that I wouldn't have thought that someone of her age was capable of. She then viciously slapped the young mages hands away from her. The Mage who had been taking her vitals staggered backwards in alarm.
"ENOUGH YOU RIDICULOUS FLOCK OF SQUAWKING STRIPLINGS!!! LEAVE ME ALOOOOOONE!!".
Our eyes and jaws all fell open at the plethora of insults she offered us.
"YOU IGNORANT FOOLS! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME WITH YOUR RUDDY RUNT HANDS YOU DISGUSTING EXCUSE FOR A MAN!"
I suddenly felt pretty bad for the young Mage who touched her, he had suddenly gone as white as a sheet.
"GET AWAY FROM ME ALL OF YOU!!" She screeched as she pushed all of them away.
"Lady Aurelia..." began the king, "... of the Nomansland forest, I welcome you to Girannon. I am King Leofrick Theodore Ulric Ambrose. It is an honor to meet you."
The King politely lowered his head in greeting to her.
"Pffffft!" Aurelia scoffed.
"Warm welcome my foot!" She replied sourly. My eyes shot open in surprise and a I couldn't believe how brave this woman was to say such a thing in front of the King.
The healing mages went dead silent as the king golden eyes blinked rapidly, completely shocked and taken aback by such a remark right in front of him.
The prophet however, simply folded her arms and purses her lips.
I was worried how the king would respond to this. I was scared that he might get furious and suddenly slap her or something... To my surprise the king had no such reaction. In fact, he burst out laughing. It was a loud and happy sound hat shook the room. I hadn't ever really seen the king smile, so seeing him laugh felt so strange. Furthermore the king had a really strange sense of humor.
He laughed so hard and so loudly that he eventually clutched his stomach and bent over in pain from feeling his probably unused laughing muscles.
"Fear not, prophet Aurelia. Once you have fully recovered from your sleeping spell we will give you all the luxuries this kingdom has to offer as well as a private suit in the palace."
I couldn't believe that the king could be so charming.
"That sounds more like it." A slight sly smile traveled over her lips.
"But first..." The King's mood abruptly changed.
"You must tell us everything that happened to you. How you came to be put under a sleeping spell and if the gods have had any contact with you during your sleep." King Leofrick was quite stern.
"Ahhhh..." she sighed.
"There's no rest for the wicked I suppose." I thought that was ironic since she had been asleep for quite a number of years.
"What year is it?" She asked.
"It has been six thousand eight hundred and twenty two years since the formation of the four great kingdoms." The king replied.
This was how everyone in Arteria measured years. They count the year that the four great kingdom were formed, as year number one.
"If that is the case, then I have been asleep for thirteen years." She replied calmly.
"Thirteen years..." I breathed out in shock. I couldn't imagine what that must have been like. She on the other hand didn't seem particularly bothered by it.
"Do you know who put you under the spell and why?" Geoffrey asked, completely focused on her.
"Yes." The woman's expression went grim.
There was a long pause as we waited for her to speak.
"He was a man shrouded in darkness and despair. A wicked and fragile creature who was once betrayed by the great nations. Beware kin of Ambrose because he comes for revenge..."
There was an eerie feel in the room as she said those words. It was as if she had been possessed and someone far away was speaking through her. Moreover, I couldn't help bridge between the similarities of the man she described and that man I had met. A man shrouded in darkness sounded quite like the reincarnated person I had met in the forest.
"You must prepare because he brings the pillars of evil to destroy this civilization."
Geoffrey spoke up again, "Prophet Aurelia, do you mean that we have a great new enemy coming to annihilate us?"
"No. Not a new enemy, but a very old enemy."
An old enemy? But the reincarnated person I saw in the forest seemed so young. Surely he wasn't an old enemy of Girannon. But then again, if he had put this woman to sleep thirteen years ago, his appearance of youth might be fake.
"An old enemy?" Geoffrey questioned.
"He was once, a very long time ago, betrayed by the great kingdoms and now he seeks vengeance."
Geoffrey and the king wore very confused and troubled looks on their faces. I guessed that it was now my time to fess up.
"Actually," I began and caught Geoffrey and the King's attention. "The reason I came to confess to you today was because Alice and I had a run in with a cloaked man in the Nomansland forest today."
Geoffrey immediately frowned down at me.
"Leave us!" He commanded to the mages who all immediately scuttled out of the infirmary.
Finally it was just the prophet, Geoffrey, the king and I.
Geoffrey and the king just stared at me, waiting for me to finish what I was saying.
"Well, the short version of this story is that I found out the cloaked man is also a reincarnated person. I know this because of the watch he was wearing on his left wrist..."
I paused because I realized that watches didn't exist in this world and they probably had no idea what I was talking about.
"I mean, he was wearing an artifact from my old world on his wrist and I immediately recognized it. On top of that, even though I only spoke to him for a few moments, I could tell just from that exchange how powerful he was."
I gulped, remembering that strange effect his presence had on Alice and I.
"And he also took credit for demonizing Fitz, which I assume means that he probably had something to do with the recent demonized attacks on all the kingdoms."
The atmosphere in the infirmary had gone grim with worry and dread.
"Father," Geoffrey's eyes darted to the king, wide and alert and full of dread.
"Riley's description of the mysterious man is exactly the same as what the King of Patagonia described to us."
The king sighed and brought his hand to his head as if he was about to massage away a migraine, but his thoughts seemed to distract him so his hand fell back down to his side again.
I however was confused. What did the King of Patagonia have to do with any of this?
"The king of Patagonia?" I stepped closer to them, not wanting to be left out of the loop.
"Yes." Geoffrey turned to me and rested his hands on my shoulders. "Along time ago, some Patagonian soldiers hay been demonized in order to defeat a battalion of Gismeadian soldiers. They didn't win in the end but Lady Ambrose, my father's sister, lost her life in the battle. We later discovered from the King of Patagonia that a cloaked man had offered to demonize his soldiers for him. Said cloaked man was reported to be dressed in black and kept an artifact around his left wrist."
"Which is exactly the description of the man I saw in the forest..." I gasped as the pieces of the impossible puzzle were finally coming together in my head.
"To think that the culprit behind the demonizations would be a chosen child is unthinkable..." The king turned away from us and walked towards one of the large stone windows and looked out onto Girannon with a grave face. I didn't know if he was looking at anything in particular, all I knew was that the king was feeling the weight of a tremendous burden on his shoulders.
"I'm afraid it is more than just unthinkable..." the croaky but sharp voice of the prophet added to the uncomfortable feel to the room.
"What do you mean?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
"Although I was asleep for so long, the gods did not forget to show me visions. They have shown me the darkness that lies within the cloaked man's heart. His thirst for blood and trickery is unquenchable."
Her speaking became more rhythmic, not at all like an announcement but more like a poem or a folk song. Not to mention the eerie aura that rolled off of her, like she was connected to something I couldn't see.
"Beware the line of Ambrose, for the cloaked man comes for you."
Why would he specifically target the Ambrose's? Everything she said was riddle and boy was I losing patience with all these blooming puzzles and mysteries.
"Heed my words, King of Girannon! The gods have shown me that the cloaked man intends to build an army of all the dark creatures and use them to destroy the great nations. You and all the nations must prepare yourselves for war."
"War..." The king repeated.
"The cloaked man is ruthless. He even put me to sleep for thirteen years to prevent me from telling you of the reincarnated ones who would help the four kingdoms defeat him." She tutted crossly.
"Reincarnated ones?"
I asked, thinking hat she had made a mistake because I was the only reincarnated one. There were no other reincarnated people in Girannon to help defeat the cloaked man.
"Yes. Reincarnated ones." She nodded.
With that, the wind was knocked right out of me.
"Wait-wait a-are you saying that the gods reincarnated more than one person to help defeat the cloaked man?" I stuttered out.
I wasn't the only one?! I seriously wasn't the only one?!!
"Of course!" The prophet raised her voice irritatedly at me. "The gods know that the cloaked man is too powerful for one measly chosen child to take on, so they reincarnated two."
She said this as if it was the most natural thing in the world, as if I was being silly for being so supremely shocked by this.
The king suddenly rushed to the prophet's bedside.
"Tell me Prophet! Who is the other reincarnated person?!?!?!!!" The king breathlessly got on his knee and clutched the prophet's old wrinkly hand.
"My goodness..." she sighed.
"Are you saying that none of you noticed the second reincarnated person in Gismead?" She scoffed at us. Then she began to laugh at us, but we were all too shocked to feel embarrassed by her chastisement.
"Please Prophet Aurelia! Just tell us who is the second reincarnated person!" The King's face had gone completely red, his golden eyes wide with desperation, his lip quivering. Só not how I was used to seeing him. Then again, I was sure that I didn't look much better. I'm sure that I probably looked even more desperate than he was.
"Oh you useless unobservant bunch! Completely undeserving of the gods gifts!" She growled as she snatched her hand away from the king.
"Nevertheless, I shall tell you who the other reincarnated person is..."
I sucked in a breath and fixed my eyes on her. Waiting desperately to hear who the other was.
"As you know, one of the reincarnated people is Riley Delton of the land of New York..."
I had stopped breathing, my heart had stopped beating. I wouldn't be able to function until she told us who the other chosen child was.
"And the other chosen child is..."
"The third prince of Girannon, Alphonse Ulric Tybalt Ambrose."
No words. I have no words. Except that I sure as hell did not see that coming.
Hey guys, so what did you think of this chapter. Sorry it took so long 😭 author-San will try go back to the early days when she uploaded two chapters a week.
Don't forget to vote and comment.