A PROMISE OF OLD

A MESSAGE FROM THE WIND?️?AND MOUNTAINS?

Anne looked at her princess with so much worry. Yes, she believed that there was someone called Kevoy who had miraculously held Zala's heart for so many years. But she still worried that her princess and only friend might waste her time on a vow made by a child.

Still, she found it utterly endearing.

Anne always thought that even if there was a chance to be able to completely give yourself to someone, that no one would do it. However, looking at Zala, she couldn't understand how brave and strong she was to have been able to let herself feel that for 15 years. And how courageous she was for believing in something she herself thought was worthless to believe in.

Zala laid back on the bed. The memory of the first time she met Kevoy always brought a smile to her lips. But it also made her heart break each time.

"I need to get back to work," Anne said catching the princess who always seems to dive into another world when talking about Kevoy's attention.

Zala wordlessly nodded her head and watched her friend leave without a word.

How long do I have to wait? Zala repeated the question she had been asking herself for so long. And like always, she got no answer.

She spent the rest of the day in her room, reading a few books and watching the clouds pass by reminding her that her parents were right; Time was running out. And although she wasn't in a rush, she didn't like that fact.

She wasted the rest of the day in her room. It wasn't necessarily a waste since she finished a book she started reading the night before. With the sun hiding beyond the horizon and the moon bright and proud in the sky, she decided not to waste a beautiful night by staying in her room.

Zala picked up a new book to start reading and headed out of her room. Although she loved being carefree in front of her family and Anne, in front of the palace servants she tried to be as much of a princess as she could be.

The servants loved and respected their princess. But in as much as she tried, they knew how silly and adventurous she could be; having heard then king rebuke her one too many times.

Zala shut the garden doors behind her, relieved that no one was there. She loved this place. The peace it provided. It reminded her so much of the one person she longed to meet again. Even if just to get a glimpse of his face. Seeing him in her dreams wasn’t enough anymore.

She breathed in the scent of the flowers blooming in grace. She didn't believe it when they told her. But she was the most beautiful female anyone in all the kingdoms has set their eyes on. Women envied her. Men adored and desired her. But she was blind to them all, having eyes for the one boy she was not sure she would meet again soon enough.

The princess, as always sat on the mat laid on the grass, then lost herself in the book in her hand.

Time flew by so fast that she didn't know when the sun set until the blue sky was completely shrouded in black.

"There you are."

She looked over her shoulders, letting out a sigh after seeing her brother. But Valerie being who he was, ignored her and sat beside her, wordlessly taking in the vision that is the sky and the ball of silver trapped in its darkness.

"I don't want to hear it," Zala stated, not giving him the chance to start the same conversation they have been having for years.

"I wasn't going to say anything." He chuckled, then leaned on his back.

Although Zala doubted his words she said nothing knowing that he would bring it up very soon.

"I'm getting married soon." Valerie softly whispered. He loved his baby sister. Everyone in the kingdom knew just how much the crowned prince adored her; fussing over her when she got hurt in the slightest. Pampering her and showering her with candies and dolls when Princess Zala was still a stubborn child.

So, it was needless to say just how worried he was about her.

"The coronation should soon take place." He added, turning to the side to look at Zala knowing perfectly well that his next words might just be the end of him.

"I know that. Everyone does." Zala rolled her eyes not knowing where Valerie was going with this conversation.

"I made a promise to mom and dad." He continued. Zala's eyes twitched with annoyance as if to tell her that his next words would really rile her up.

"I am not going to take the throne or get married until you do." He finished with a grin and laid back down preparing for the thunder that was Zala's anger to strike him. And strike him, it did.

Zala's head whipped so fast to look at him, eyes wide with shock and furry. With her chest bubbling with so many emotions, she yelled, "Why would you do that?! That was stupid! You can't just do whatever you like, like that!"

"I can and I will. You are doing whatever you like." Valerie carelessly said with a shrug that made Zala want to crawl under his skin and tear him to pieces from the inside out.

"I am not the one next in line to the throne! What about Leta?!" She exploded, face on fire, relieving the firestorm going on inside of her.

Zala wasn't going to change her mind. No one had managed to sway her decision for so long. But Valerie's careless promise was threatening her resolve. And she didn't like that. Not one bit.

"Hear me out." Valerie sat up, turned to face the furious princess completely. Although he didn't know why his baby sister was so adamant about not getting married, he suspected that it had to do with someone.

"A tournament... of a sort." He said, piquing Zala's interest for once.

"In one week, you will organize a tournament for all your suitors and marry the last man left." He suggested as if that would solve all her problems.

"That's the thing, I don't want to get married. Why won't you just let me be single in peace?!" Zala whined, tears threatening to pour from her Steele blue eyes.

"Mom and Dad are worried. Just show them that you tried. You can choose to make them all fail. You will be the one hosting it anyway. But at least ease their worries by trying." He spoke, trying to convince the stubborn princess.

"Word will definitely spread throughout the kingdoms about this tournament. With the many admirers that you have, word will reach everywhere." He continued, taking Zala's smaller hands in his, desperate to get through to her.

"I don't know who it is. But I know you enough to know that there is someone that you want. Maybe someone you are waiting for that is why you are so insistent on not getting married. I don’t want to stress you about getting married. But you are a princess, Zala. You are duty-bound, just as I am." He softly whispers to her, hitting the nail right on the head.

Zala nibbled on her lips and hide her flushed face behind the curtain of her hair. She didn't think that anyone would have been able to guess so accurately. Even just the thought of Kevoy made her heart flutter. Duty-bound, he said. She didn’t like the sound of it but he was right. They were duty-bound.

Valerie smiled warmly at his sister's flushed cheeks. He didn't know who it was, but he was happy to know that at least there was someone out there who had managed to make Zala so flustered; she never gets flustered.

"Should I know who the person in question is?" He asked, trying to probe into it but only earning a sharp ‘don’t push your luck’ from the blushing princess who abruptly lost all the pink on her cheeks.

At least he tried and now knew why Zala was doing what she was doing. Maybe if he explained it to their parents, they would cut her some slack.

Zala sighed, " Even if you know this, how is having a tournament going to help me?"

Waiting.

That's all she has been doing for 15 years.

Sitting in her castle. Just waiting.

Even she was bound to get tired of it.

"I am positive the news will get to whoever you are waiting for." Valerie assured, "And if he is still alive and is holding on just as much as you are, he is sure to enter the tournament too." He added.

As easy as it sounded, Zala knew that it couldn't possibly be that simple.

"What makes you so sure it will work?" She asked, pleading with her eyes for her brother's help.

"I am a man, Zala. If he wants you as much as you want him, he won't sit back and let another take you away." He reassured her, gently caressing her soft cheeks with a smile.

"What if he doesn't come?" Zala whispered, finally letting someone hear the horror she had been caging in herself for so long.

"It will be your choice to either continue waiting for him... or move on."

That was the one thing she never wanted to hear. But it was the truth. And she knew it.

Nevertheless, she accepted her brother's advice.

And in only 3 days, the news of the tournament for the fair and beautiful princess of Esso's hand in marriage had reached all the kingdoms on the land.

The people whispered it amongst themselves. The animals carried it on their backs across lands. The mythical beings in the lands shook with excitement. The trees whispered it to the wind. The wind carried it over the waters, through the mountains until it reached the one person it was meant to reach.

After so many years, hearing her name from someone who wasn't him irked him. But not as much as the news of what will happen in 4 days if he didn't speed things up.

Through it all, the knowledge that she waited for him was what brought a smile to his lips. He never doubted it. Never doubted her strength to hold on. Never doubted his Zala.