KEEPER OF THE DESERTED ISLAND

GO AHEAD

Avery just finished the meeting he had scheduled with his officials and was about having his lunch when the spy he sent on an errand came with report

“How about what I sent you? Did you find out where he goes to?” he asked and the spy bowed

“Yes my King, he has been going to the deserted island all these while but he would just watch from afar and not go in” the spy replied

“If there is no business for him there, he wouldn’t go. It’s not like there is any aesthetic view there to make him curious and interested. Find out what he went there to do” Avery instructed

“I have found out what is on the island” the spy said immediately making a smile flash through Avery’s face

“You are proving your worth indeed, what did you find out?” Avery asked

“I found out that the princess and her husband who escaped are living on the island. They seems to be staying with the keeper of the island and your son whom you have been looking for appears to be staying with them, there is another young girl too who seems to be either their daughter or the keeper’s daughter” he explained and Avery couldn’t hide the shocking expression on his face

“There is no way such a keeper will have her child living with her so it is surely the princess’ daughter. This is such a lovely reunion. I can finally take care of them all at once, I have given them so much grace to live and also Jerrick will soon come to a phase where he should take up a bigger position but he’s refusing to get married because he’s still hung up on that wench, she needs to disappear for my son to move forward. You have to prepare for war and no account must you let Jerrick get a wind of it because you know how sensitive and calculative he is, you must be discreet as possible. He will ruin it with that his useless emotions if he finds out” Avery commanded

“I will do as you have said and prepare everything needed as soon as possible” the spy stated and bowed before moving out of the chambers

“it is time to cut out all unnecessary ties to make my kingdom grow further, I am the king and I should be referenced to as one, she really thought she has escaped my clutches” Avery said to himself before releasing a wicked laugh

*****

Shirley was although anxious throughout the time Gaia was sleeping, she tried her best not to show it or panic because it would do no good after all and Aurelia already assured her that she will be fine.

“Don’t you know that Gaia is superior because of her nature? She is someone who bears much more power than everyone else which is locked for now and the key to the lock is Hector” Aurelia’s word kept ringing in her ears

“is there no other way around this? I really don’t want my baby girl to be married into that family” she said to Aurelia when she finally came inside

“Why are you acting like you don’t know how things work in our kingdom? We don’t have a choice than to walk in the way that has been destined for us, deviating will only make our lives difficult and all those who had tried to change their destinies paid different huge prices for it. Your daughter has suffered enough ever since she was little, she has been paying the sacrifice of being a loner who has no friend because her powers was made manifest earlier than others. Do you even know how horrendous it is to live with the fear of being pointed to as a monster? To not have friends? To be a loner even though you are amidst people? That is the greatest torture, you come to a point where you have to train both your body and mind to agree with you and come to the realization that you are on your own. She only became warmer thanks to the help of her guardian who quickly sought a solution and knew that she should bring her here, the universe took another step by answering her prayers by making her meet the person who will warm up her heart, the key to her lock was her feeling all the emotions to exist and she had finally completed that task, if you continue being stubborn then I’m afraid that all she had been through will just be a waste” Aurelia said to her and Shirley didn’t even know when unapproved tears came down from her eyes

“You were not the only one that suffered, she also suffered. In fact, she has been suffering ever since she was given birth to and that is because she is not your ordinary daughter, she is a messenger that has been sent to correct all evils in the land and also she will be the one to carry out the cleansing ritual even though I don’t know the time it will take place and how” she added

“What? The cleansing ritual? That is one big ritual that is only carried out once in a century, if she will be the one to carry it out then a big task is in front of her” Shirley exclaimed

“Exactly, if you understand how thinks work then you should know that their relationship is the less of your concern now, you will need to give up about this issue” Aurelia remarked and left her to think about what she had said

She also understand how things work in their kingdom and have come to the realization that there is nothing she can do at this point since the life of her daughter is at stake and also she is someone who has been destined to take up a very important task, she will only be a bad mother if she restricts her or make her path longer than normal

Convel came to sit by her side and gently tapped her shoulder to call her attention since she was already in thought

“You should just let them be and support them in all ways we can instead. We don’t have the power to change anything so we should only make sure they go in the right path. I don’t have any grudges against the poor boy because I have believe that this is my consequence and the path that I have to take for someone whom the great one has come through him, I decided to see it as a blessing” he slowly said to her

“We should think about it as a blessing?” she muttered

“yes, we have to see it as a blessing to make it easier on everyone involved” he said to her and she nodded in agreement

“I trust you will do the right thing” he added before leaving her to attend to other things

***

Gaia slept for few hours and by time she was awake, she was fine like Aurelia had said. She stood up and scanned everywhere before asking what happened to her since she couldn’t remember anything that happened after they left the training ground

“Did something happen? Why is everyone looking at me like I am weird? By chance did I misbehave again?” she asked innocently

“Don’t worry you didn’t misbehave and you are fine. You just took a small nap” Convel said to her with a smile but she was still not convinced because the atmosphere was saying otherwise

“I can’t believe that, something did happen right? You can tell me, it’s okay to tell me” she said trying to convince Convel before Shirley and Hector appeared out of nowhere

“Are you fine now? We need to talk, I mean both of you” Shirley remarked as soon as she entered and saw that she was awake

“You want to see us? Why? Just see me alone, why are you bringing him into this?” she said standing up to run up to her

“Will you shut it and follow me right now?” Shirley almost yelled at her but cautioned herself before stomping out

They both followed her to the shore where she sat down and pulled the small basket she was holding to the center

“You both should have your seat or are you going to stand all day?” she said to them and they both sat down immediately

“You both haven’t eaten anything tangible for days so serve yourself some food” she said pushing the basket to them

The basket was filled with fruits and steamed snacks, they glanced at each other before looking at Shirley who motioned for them to eat

“Thank you for the food” Hector remarked and picked a fruit while Gaia was still hesitating but a nudge from Hector made her pick up a fruit anyways

“The reason why I have asked to see both of you is because I don’t have a choice but to leave you to date” Shirley slowly revealed and the both of them choked on their fruits at the same time

“You should eat slowly or else you will die before you actually date” she said and patted their shoulder

“You are giving us your permission? Really? You want us to date? Why is that? Why are you giving us your permission?” Gaia asked with her eyes lit up in both confusion and happiness

“I thought about it and saw that your paths are different from mine, I shouldn’t block your paths just because of my own unfortunate incidents. Also I don’t want to be a pain for Gaia who I have been apart from all my life, now that I can be close to her, I want all our memories to be filled good ones” Shirley said avoiding eye contact with them

“You surely can’t go back on your words tomorrow do you know that?” Gaia burst out in happiness

“When have you seen me do that?” Shirley said with a pout and Gaia wanted to say something but Hector cuts in

“Thank you for giving us your permission, we will make sure not to disappoint you” he said with a bow

“You had better not, school will soon resume once again so prepare to face your studies, you don’t need to announce to the world that you are dating so you need to be cautious at school and also..” Shirley started to preach

“Wow, you nag so much! Just let them enjoy their time, they are old enough to do that” Convel cuts in from behind and they all giggled

He joined them and they all discussed and laughed about many things as they devoured the food in the basket while Aurelia smiled from afar

“it surely is peaceful to live according to fate” Aurelia remarked and turned to return to the house only to find the fish bell hung by the entrance on the floor, broken into two

“What is this bad omen?” she said with shock and the sky turned dark immediately