Emptiness

Chapter 08

Country: Avarius

City: Nibea

Shame ran through his every vein at how he had to bow to his uncle and grandfather low enough that his head almost touched the ground in front of everyone in the courtroom.

Alan wanted to die with how ashamed he felt.

He gritted his teeth and waited for their order so that he could get up.

Alan clenched his fingers tight enough to draw blood, but he didn’t want to make a scene here and silently endured the shame going through him now.

He, Alan Mandana, son of Rayden Mandana, the Crown Prince of the vast nation Veron, was forced to bow down to his uncle formally as an apology in front of everyone.

He was beyond angry; rage filled his very being thinking about yesterday’s events and where it had led him.

If only his father were alive….

If his father were alive, he would have beheaded these people for treating him like this.

If only….

He was an orphan even if he had many relatives.

Yes, he was a prince. But, a prince, who had nothing.

Sometimes, he wished he hadn’t run as his father ordered and stayed with him that day. Dying would be preferable to living like this.

Why did he escape?

Why?

He would have died in his father’s embrace.

Alan closed his eyes, remembering the way his father caressed his hair with a sorrowful look on his face the day he died.

You’re the future, my son.

Promise me, son, that you will survive the enemy soldiers and live. Promise me, Alan.

I will, father. I definitely will.

He opened his pale blue eyes, gaining strength from his father’s memories, and ignored the whispers among the ministers and officials of the court.

He had been only five when he lost his father, but he remembered the day his father died very well. He could never forget his father’s last words to him.

You have to live, Alan.

Alan will survive this.

Alan pretended that he was somewhere else to endure this. He had to stay silent because he could not afford to behave the way he wanted.

He was a refuge, nothing more than that even if it was his grandfather’s country.

Alan Mandana was not the Crown Prince here.

His country, Veron, was long since gone, taken over by Sarse country.

His father was no more.

His father cannot save Alan here.

Alan was all on his own.

His back ached with the way he had been bowing low for a while.

“Rise.”

Alan gritted his teeth, schooling his expression, hoping nothing showed on his face.

Finally, his grandfather had taken pity on him, or he had gotten enough of this and wanted to look into important matters.

He looked up at his grandfather, who sat on the throne in the raised stage of the courtroom. His mother’s brother, the Crown Prince of Avarius, Alan’s uncle, Blair Zuri, sat on a chair beside the throne.

His mother was present here, sitting in one of the chairs below the stage, along with the ministers. Usually, women other than the Queen weren’t allowed in the Court room, but his mother was here since he was a minor, and his immediate family had to be present in the court, a law made a century before.

Even if not for that, his mother usually came to the court during the critical matters, along with his grandfather’s sister, as they are politically active women and his grandfather allowed it because he wanted peace in the palace.

Alan had never hated his mother as he does now.

Hate boiled in him at the mere sight of her.

He had seen her tense when grandfather had asked Alan to bow and apologize to his uncle formally in front of people. But she didn’t come to his aid nor request her father to go easy on him for the mistake Alan hadn’t even made.

She had stayed back as she didn’t want to lose the favor she had with her father and her brother.

What a woman!

And, what a mother!

If it were Alan’s siblings, she would have fought the world for them, but not him, never him.

This entire court didn’t care that he was just a nine-year old child as they were hell-bent on belittling him.

Why?

He didn’t do anything wrong.

None wanted to listen to the side of his story about what really happened.

Yesterday, he had been practicing with his bow and trying to extend his Egav, to train the powers from his mother’s side. The power of Zuri’s was exploding any weapon they coated with their own Egav.

Alan wasn’t allowed any royal tutors who teach the children of Zuri’s. He didn’t want anyone anyway. His protector, Anon Bradiga, was way better than any of the royal tutors.

Knight Anon was the one who taught him the etiquette, how to write and how to read. He had been starting Alan with basics no matter how much Alan asked him to teach something advanced. Alan understood that going from basics was the best way, as that way only his core and his Egav level will increase.

That was why he put up with tiresome and boring basics along with learning archery. Knight Anon refused to teach any kind of sword fighting to Alan because he was too young. Knight Anon had said that he would start teaching the basics to Alan about sword fighting when Alan turned thirteen or fourteen.

No matter how desperately he wished to grow up faster, he was still a nine-year old. Despite knowing archery, his aim was only for ten or so meters.

The bow was the one gifted to him by Knight Anon to accommodate him to the size of his small body. He had been learning to feel the Egav from his core and gently guided it to the arrows.

As the arrows reached the target, Alan willed his Egav to combust, and it did. The target was made with Egav and will rearrange itself, withstanding a certain amount of explosion.

Granted, his explosion wasn’t big, but he had gotten the hang of it sooner than any other children with the help of Knight Anon since he was the one who had taught him in-depth about Egav.

Alan knew that the children of Zuri hated him and were envious of the way he, a Mandana, could handle their family power well than them. The Zuri children didn’t even know how to put their Egav into the weapons, let alone make them explode.

Their jealousy and hate was what had gone out of control and landed Alan in trouble.

The Avarius castle had many training fields in it, and Alan had chosen the one none would visit, on the west side of the castle, near the woods where he usually went to.

Alan didn’t want to mingle with Zuri’s and other members of the royal family. Some people hated him because they hated his mother, and some people didn’t like him because of his unwanted presence in the castle. Some didn’t like him because they hated the Mandanas and the power they had over the centuries as Veron was the biggest country in their continent, Efras. Some just don’t like him without any reason.

It was mainly due to the children of the main branch family feeling like he was stealing the attention or something and was jealous of him. Their parents don’t like him, somehow afraid that he will become someone powerful in future and take over their children’s positions.

It was ridiculous.

Alan had no interest in Avarius or the children of Zuri.

He has his own country to take back. Why would he bother with Avarius?

When he was venting his frustrations and anger out yesterday evening, trying to drain his core so that it will expand just like Knight Anon said, he had been caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the children of Zuri’s, led by Blaire Zuri’s eldest son, Julian Zuri.

Alan had nodded to Julian Zuri, who was three years older than him, because he was the future Crown Prince of Avarius. He had continued to drain his core by aiming his arrows at the target and making them explode.

Knight Anon had taught that the more often he drain it out, the core level of his Egav will expand slowly but surely.

They had tried to converse with him, but he pretended not to hear them and was concentrating on the arrows and target. He knew they were trouble since none of the children liked him.

Prince Julian had taunted him and kept on trying to make Alan compete with him. Alan politely refused, not wanting to involve in anything with them, especially Prince Julian, as he was famous for his violent tantrums.

Protector Anon had advised him how it was best for Alan if he stayed away from the royal member of Zuri as they all seem to hell-bent on ruining him.

Alan didn’t know what he did to deserve this.

Alan wished he had gone away as soon as he saw them, but he had been frustrated and angry throughout the week. Alan had wanted to release everything and drain his core to the level that he could not stand for the night and sleep a whole day.

The water had refused to react to his Egav, not even a drop, leading him to be frustrated and angry at himself throughout the week that he had decided to vent it out with archery.

Prince Julian hadn’t taken his polite refusal to participate in a friendly competition with him. Knight Anon hadn’t been there to usher him away with some excuse, as his mother had called for Anon Bradiga to report about her son’s progress as if she cared.

Alan had sent him away, knowing how his mother got when someone didn’t heed her orders.

And it came back to bite at him in the form of Prince Julian.

Julian Zuri had insisted Alan to compete with him, or that was he disrespecting the future Crown Prince of Avarius.

Alan knew it was inevitable, as Prince Julian had seemed to come with a target in his mind and the target that time was Alan himself.

Why?

God!

He should have run away, saying his mother called him or something, but Prince Julian taunted Alan with how Alan was a cowardly Crown Prince who had been intruding on Zuri’s castle since Alan’s country was gone.

Veron was the Pride of Efras Continent. If someone of other continents spoke about the Efras continent, the first thing that would come to their mind would be Veron, not Vabaaga, nor Zeta. It was Veron and Mandanas.

There weren’t any Mandana who were here to defend the country anymore, and the Mandanas who were scattered over the continent stayed hidden in fear of the enemies so, it was up to Alan, who, as the Crown Prince of Veron, cannot let the slight against his country go.

He had gotten into the competition with Prince Julian and other people in archery.

Alan had obviously won it with how much time he spent on the training field as he didn’t have any kind of Princely duties or friends to play with. All he had was studying, practicing and getting the water to react to his Egav.

So it was no wonder he had won. Prince Julian couldn’t take Alan’s win and could not take the way Julian’s cousins laughed at his loss.

So, Julian had punched him, and Alan took that hit by gritting his teeth. But when Prince Julian spat at his teeth, saying how Alan’s father would find Alan’s cowardly behavior disgusting, Alan had seen red.

He had hit him back, repeatedly punching on Prince Julian’s face and chest. They fought, exchanging kicks and got only separated when his cousins had distanced them, stopping their fight before it escalated into something else.

Alan knew that this was something none would forgive, especially the parents of Prince Julian Zuri. He had sealed his fate with that punch.

Alan usually bore the abuse and insult but his frustration with water and endured for so long silently.

And here he was….

Today, early morning, he had gotten a scroll that was an official summons for Alan to be in the courtroom.

He had been waiting in the courtroom for an hour before he had been summoned. His uncle, Blair Zuri, angered at him for raising a hand against the future Crown Prince.

Alan wasn’t given any chance to speak about what happened as they were all happy to hear the sob story of Prince Julian.

Alan knew that even if they heard his story, it didn’t matter.

Why would anyone care about a nobody, especially someone not of Zuri blood?

Knight Anon had been disappointed with Alan that they were in such a situation. He had asked Alan why he could not avoid things like this instead of getting involved just because they taunted him. Anon had requested him to ignore the taunts as they were in a state they could not retaliate.

They were refugees here.

Knight Anon had already told him how Alan should ignore other people talking about Veron. Alan had been asked to let it go many times. They don’t have the luxury of getting angry.

Knight Anon had told him how Sarse was lurking in the borders and some mingled in the crowd. The enemies were ready to end the heir of Mandana, and the only protection they had now was Alan’s Grandfather.

Alan knew it was his mistake even to join the competition. He was a nobody here. No matter how much he tried to stay down and not get involved with anyone, people were always there to get him somehow and get himself in trouble.

“I request for a severe punishment, father.”

Blaire Zuri had gotten up from his chair and bowed at Alan’s Grandfather, who was sitting on the throne.

What more do they want?

He had bowed, asked for an official apology which was almost begging to his relatives to let him go, to forgive him.

Alan promised that he would endure any taunts as it was preferable to bowing down like this.

The King was silent, looking at the proceedings.

“My son was attacked out of nowhere without any reason, Your Majesty. He is our future Crown Prince. If this boy will attack our Crown Prince at this age, what he will do in the future? What guarantee that this Mandana won’t harm any Zuri’s in the future?”

The ministers and the crowd started whispering, saying how bad Alan was and the audacity of the Mandana.

It was punishment for Alan, a nine-year old for giving into his emotions.

“I say we cut his hand, father.”

Seeing the King silent, the crown Prince, Blair Zuri, ordered the guards to seize him and make him kneel.

Anon, out of nowhere, came in front of him and kneeled on the ground, hiding Alan behind him.

“How dare you interrupt my father’s authority, Anon Bradiga?”

“Pardon me, Your Majesty. I am the teacher for Prince Alan. It is my fault for not teaching him things. So, I beg you to forgive him.”

“If we let him go, then what guarantee that he will not do the same, Bradiga? We will cut his hand; the hand that dared to rise against my son, and it will be a lesson to Alan Mandana to remember his place.”

Alan was horrified that things had changed this drastically. This was why Knight Anon had been warning him to stay low. None cared about him, not even his mother.

Even when they were saying to cut Alan’s hand, his mother didn’t interfere, nor did his uncle, Celeb Mandana, who was brother to Alan’s father. Everyone was okay with this as long as they stayed safe.

Why?

Why couldn’t his heart understand that he was nothing but a refuge? All this happened only because of him.

What was he going to do without one hand?

God!

Alan was terrified beyond words.

He was nothing but a child. Even though he had faced discrimination and things in his life, he had never seen such cruelty.

“I will take the punishment in his stead, Your Majesty. It was my fault for not educating him properly. Please, take my hand instead.”

His terror was replaced by emptiness in a second.

Anon Bradiga….

Best friend of Alan’s father, Rayden Mandana.

Rayden Mandana’s head Knight, the protector of the one who protected Veron as a whole…

The one person who the King ordered not to commit suicide and instead look after and protect his son, Alan Mandan…

The one man, Alan’s father, entrusted Alan’s safety with.

Knight Anon had been enduring the same taunts and bore all sort of disgrace and stayed with him.

Why couldn’t Alan do the same?

Look at where this got.

Alan’s own mother didn’t come to his aid, nor did she care about him. But, Anon did. Even though Knight Anon pretended he was only doing his duty, Knight Anon was the only person who cared.

Even though Anon cared only because he was Rayden Mandana’s son, still he cared. Anon was the one who had healed him yesterday. None cared except Knight Anon.

Now he was kneeling on the floor, enduring the sneers and hiding Alan behind his back, taking the attention away from Alan and was ready to sacrifice his own hand.

From the victorious look on Blaire Zuri’s face, it was clear to Alan that the trap was to take Anon away.

After all, the only person who protected him from everything was Anon Bradiga, and if he punished Anon, then Alan Mandana was all alone.

Everything was a pretense, as they all knew Knight Anon would not let Alan be punished in any way.

.

Alan hadn’t done anything wrong. He had never bothered any Zuri. He had been polite beyond words. Alan suffers through hell without a complaint every day. Yet, look where this had gotten him.

Something snapped in Alan that second which would never be mended back till he died.

Emptiness….

There was a strange emptiness he felt like never before.

Alan didn’t feel anything. Neither angry nor fear.

Alan was the Crown Prince of Veron, even if the country was not there.

Alan Mandana dreamt of being a King one day, taking Veron back from Sarse in the future.

What sort of King would he be if he let someone else take his punishment, and that too, the one and only person Alan respected?

His father wouldn’t be proud if he let someone else suffer in his stead.

Alan wasn’t afraid of his fate anymore, nor the pain.

So what if he didn’t have one hand?

He had his Egav.

Alan stood up, startling everyone around the hall.

The sudden silence made Anon Bradiga to stand up and look behind. Anon’s eyes widened, looking at the steel resolve in Alan’s eyes.

Anon pleaded with his eyes not to do anything drastic.

He ignored it and held his head high.

Never again…

He will not lay down for people to walk all over him.

Whether Veron was there or not, he would always be the Crown Prince of Veron.

“I will take the punishment, Your Majesty.”

He looked straight into his Grandfather’s eyes, not at all afraid to face him, unlike before.

His uncle, Blair Zuri’s eyes widened, looking at him.

“My Prince, I will….”

Alan cut Knight Anon off in midsentence.

“Silence, Anon.”

His command silenced Anon, his eyes widening in shock.

Everyone was silent because of the way he spoke. His order echoed in the walls of the courtroom strangely.

“The nerve of you to speak like this.”

Blair Zuri glared at him.

“Yes, I can, Uncle. I am a refugee of Avarius yet, I am the Crown Prince of Veron.”

Blair Zuri chuckled at him.

“Your country, Veron is long gone, boy.”

“But the Mandanas remain. And I have the highest authority over the people of Veron. So, I can and will order Anon because I have the right. I may be a refugee here, uncle, but never an enslaved person.”

His uncle’s face twisted in anger.

“So what? It is a crime to raise a hand against my son, Julian Zuri, the future Crown Prince of Avarius.”

“I accept that I had hit him. For that, I have already apologized. But he was the one who hit me first and spat on me because I’d won the archery competition. If this is how you treat the people you have voluntarily sheltered, then I don’t feel sorry to defend myself.”

“My son didn’t….”

“If it was a crime to defend myself, then punish me, take my hand away. But know that, if our positions were reversed, and it was your children that were a refugee in Veron country, We, Mandanas, would treat them like our own.”

Alan wouldn’t bow back to this vile man, who wanted to take a hand of a nine-year-old in the disguise of punishment. So, let it be. Whatever happens, happens.

His uncle took a step towards him.

“You insolent…”

“Silence.”

The King’s order was absolute.

“Sit down, Blair. Have you forgotten who the King is?”

Everyone sat still, knowing that the King would punish them severely if they misbehaved.

His uncle sat down; his posture was stiff as his uncle realized how he had forgotten court etiquettes, having been yelling and shouting while the King was present.

His Grandfather looked at Alan, ignoring Knight Anon’s protective stance.

“And you boy, don’t accuse Zuri’s of not being hospitable. You were wrong to raise a hand against my grandson like that.”

Was Alan not his grandson too?

Alan could feel hate boiling deep inside his heart for his uncle, his mother and his Grandfather.

He didn’t bow down to his Grandfather, nor was he afraid anymore.

Alan’s pale blue eyes didn’t shy away from the war veteran’s face.

Alan may be an ant in front of his Grandfather’s power and intelligence, but he will not back down.

Let them punish him.

“But, my grandson was in the wrong too.”

“Father..”

“Silence, Blair. I’ve been silent till now, wanting to see how you behave in the courtroom. You were ready to take a child’s hand for some small fight the children had.”

“But father…”

“Did you forget the way you fought with the heirs of different countries when you were a child? Was your hand taken as a punishment?”

Blair Zuri went still at the way he was addressed like a child and bore the embarrassment of it.

“I am letting you go now, Alan Mandana. There won’t be next time.”

Alan nodded, and when his Grandfather glared at his uncle, Blair, he too pretended to let it go and said that he would forgive Alan this time.

Alan will never forget this.

How close things came to his neck.

He will never ever be in a situation where others can take advantage of him like this.

Alan promised himself that he would rise above all one day.

He bowed to the King and Blair Zuri when it was time for them to look into another case of the many cases of today they had to solve.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Alan bowed to his uncle too and looked at him with glowing pale blue eyes and hate burning in his heart.

“Thank you for forgiving me, Uncle. I will never forget your generosity in my life.”

Alan turned away with a swish of his overcoat, not noticing the way his uncle and Grandfather, along with everyone in the hall, stiffened when there was a blue aura surrounding his body.

Alan didn’t notice anything and walked towards the exit as Knight Anon followed him.

Alan will never forget this day or what his uncle tried to do.

He will never forget how his Grandfather only came to his aid at last, or how his mother was happy to stay out of this, not wanting to lose favor with her father.

He will never forgive them.

Never.