The Legend of Azhakkstadd

CHAPTER LII : THE RIGHTFUL HEIR

-Kuzma-

            “It’s quite a long story…” he said as he kneeled in front of me to level his gaze with mine. He held my hand and looked at me in the eyes

            “Tell me” I insisted him telling right in this situation because I really can’t understand what’s going on. I felt his sincerity. I am feeling a lot of emotions right now, I can’t distinguish each of those, but I’m sure of one thing… he’s telling the truth and he’s not joking.

            “Your mother, Sindre… she’s my wife…” he initiated as he bowed his head down. I can hear him sobbing telling me that he’s starting to cry “Things aren’t going well in Fairy Kingdom when she was pregnant with you. There is this force that is slowly killing everyone” he continued talking though he’s covering his face down

            “I had to protect the both of you and the people of Fairy Kingdom. I made the decision to send you both to a safer place where you can live peacefully and safely without having to worry about our problems here” he continued as he looked up and met my gaze. His eyes are watery and his nose is so red.

            I’m kind of feeling awkward. There is a drama going on here yet there’s a lot of people watching…

            “Why do you have to send us away… I mean, can’t you protect us even though we’re here?” I asked him

            “If only I could, but that force is strong, I don’t know where that curse is coming from yet it was after you” he answered as his tone was filled  with fear, anger and sadness “The shamans told me that it’s goal is to keep you from being born so it sought to kill you while you are still inside your mother’s womb” he uttered wiping out the tears falling from his eyes, yet he still managed to plaster a faint smile from his tight lips

            The moment he said that, I turned my gaze towards the people standing behind where he seats a while ago. So that’s why they were here… to verify what he is about to say. They just nodded at me and all of them looked so sorry. They even looked as if they are about to cry, they looked as if they also know the pain that the Sioga king is feeling.

            “I tried to look for ways to prevent that from happening. That’s when I knew that Fairy Kingdom is the most cursed place in the whole Azhakkstadd, that if keep you out from this place, the curse would slow down from getting you. That it would take time, and you’ll be born before it gets you. The Shamans and I decided to send you away from Fairy Kingdom so that it will take time for the curse to get to you until you’ll be born”

            “That was the only thing we came up that time. We had no powers to stop the curse nor to nullify it. We knew no spell to break it or a spell to protect you, no incantations and enchantments… none at all” he continued speaking explaining all these things in front of me while keeping himself from breaking down into so much tears

            “That was the hardest decision that I have to make in my whole life. I don’t want to be far from my wife and my son. I don’t want to live away from the both of you. And I don’t want to lose you both either, so I have to do that and keep you safe. I have to do what is right though it cost me so much”

            “But that’s not all… you are the life of Fairy Kingdom; it has been passed down to you from me. So once you left the place for good, the place would eventually die. Now, I have to face the most difficult decision to make. What should I do then? Do I have to let you stay and die, or send you away and let the whole Kingdom suffer?” he stated as his voice went lower and slower implying a weaker tone

            “Yet I still sent you away though it cost a faster destruction among our kingdom. You see, our world had been cursed to be destroyed, and sending you away means a lot quicker death for the whole Fairy Kingdom. Thankfully we found an incantation to sustain our land a lot longer than it actually can”

            “So I still decided to send you to keep you alive, so that in the right time you’ll come back and save our kingdom. If I didn’t send you, you’ll still die, and the same would still happen… right? And now you came back. The whole Fairy kingdom is about to die, look what had happened to it… but you just brought hope”

            “I was afraid when I loss connection with your mom, I thought that you were gone or whatever. I was so afraid overthinking what had happened to you that I lost hope being with you and saving our kingdom. I thought I was the worst king and the worst father…”

            “But now that you came here… I am so happy to see you all grown up, and strong, powerful… and handsome too” he said as he locked his gaze upon me and smiled brightly… he really is my father, I got his smile… I felt relieved upon hearing this

            “I am just so glad to see you again, son. There are no adjectives that I can use to describe how much I missed you and happy to see you. This isn’t a hyperbole of what I am feeling right now” he said as he stood up and widen his arms implying that he’s asking a hug from me

            I stood up and gave him a tight warm hug as tears came rushing out from my eyes. My eyes became a water fall of tears in high tide came flooding my father’s clothes. Yes… my father, I can feel it.

            I’m so happy right now that I can’t even talk. So this is how it feels like when you have a father that loves you so much. His hug felt so comfortable and relaxing just like my mother… I remember my mother… the hug lasted long as if none of us wanted to let go.

            “Your highness, let me” I heard someone spoke from a distance calling our attention interrupting the moment that we are enjoying right now

            “Yes my Lord, I am very sorry” my father said as we both let go of each other as he stepped aside giving way to the man who interrupted us. He is the Vand Lord who introduced himself a while ago….

            “I should have done this earlier, but it seems like I don’t have to… you’ll still find each other no matter what after all… this is amazing, literally no curse can split persons apart” he said before his hands glowed as water suddenly came out of it little by little

            “With this water of truth, may your mind will be cleansed from any doubt, fear, anger, and misconceptions. Despite knowing the truth, may this water bring you a clearer vision about this revelation today and will help you as a person and the others, from this day on” he uttered monotonous without putting down his hands

            Suddenly the water came above my head and slowly poured on my head. Gosh, this will soak me wet ahahaha. He stepped back and went to his seat indicating that he’s done with his job. Hmm… that’s intriguing… I’m not wet ahahahaha maybe it went inside my head…

            I felt so relieved after all of that. I just sat down and waited for the next thing to happen.

            “Sindre is a Trueno…” the Trueno chieftain initiated as he looked at me then to the Sioga king

            “Yes… that’s why Kuzma’s Truenic abilities are much stronger than normal, and compared to his other abilities… he is just yet to discover since he didn’t know at all” my father answered… so that makes me a half-Sioga and a half-Trueno…

            “How did you two ended up together anyway…?” I asked out of nowhere… I mean, look, it’s so unusual for someone from another tribe to marry from another. And it’s someone from the royal family, like the king…

            “Another long story, son…” my father answered “I’ll tell you some other time” he said smiling as if he didn’t cry a while ago

            “Yea but to make the long story short, he loved him so much… hey, remember the time when---“

            “Shut up” my father interrupted the Trueno chieftain to continue what he was about to say when he threw something to his mouth that forced it to shut close.

            “I’ll tell you some other time…” he repeated himself looking at me while removing that thing from the Trueno chieftain. Gosh, they acted like teenagers! As if they aren’t old already… but they looked funny and cute, I wonder how they looked like back then ahahahaha

            “What happened to your mother anyway… how did she die?” finally he asked the question that I wanted to avoid. I looked at Kurezma who’s been silent the whole as she turned to me with her cold and curious expression. I don’t want to answer his question because there’s something that I don’t want to say

            “She just died” I answered and looked for other things that we can talk about

            “She got so sick, and then eventually died… I was just so young when that happened” Kurezma answered them for me… oh my gosh, what should I do? I have no escape anymore… mother, help! Should I tell them already?

            “Uhmm… yea, she was sick, Kurez?” I agreed with her and called her attention. She looked at me waiting for me to continue

            “I think it’s about time for you to know…” I said that made everyone look at us

            “Mother didn’t have another man in her life. I never saw him being with someone else. She was so busy taking care of me” I initiated as I remember how caring our mother was and how she managed to be with our side all the time “Until one day, she told me that she’s having another baby and that I am having a little sibling”

            “I didn’t understand what she meant, but as time went by, I noticed her tummy getting bigger. I asked her why, she just answered, no matter what, I have to always look after that little one. I should never let anything happen to my sibling, I should always protect her and teach her to be a good child”

            “I don’t know what she meant by that until now, but I still did what she said” I said and looked at Kurezma and put my hands behind her head

            “After bringing Kurezma into birth, she became weak. She’s slowly dying in front of me” I stated as my voice cracked and my eyes started to feel hot “I asked her what’s happening to her, she said, that ‘it’ followed us”

            “I didn’t know what that ‘it’ is… she just said that I should watch out for my sister and teach her to be good no matter what. That’s why I never let my eyes off of Kurezma since then” I said and caressed her hair softly “What did she mean by that ‘it’? And what really happened to her?” I asked them as they just sat there silently confused with what they just hear.

            I am not lying, that’s what really happened.

            “I’m so sorry for not telling you… mother told me not to” I said and looked at Kurezma. I was shocked when she looked at me intently and smiled sweetly

            “It’s ok, thank you… you’re so kind” she said that made my eyes water a bit… I can’t hold it anymore… “I understand… it seems that mother is protecting me from something and it’s better for me not to know it” she added that made me smile a bit… that’s my sister.