THE ANCIENT HUNT

WHERE IS AHIGA?

My King, the office of minister for external affairs is empty" one of them informed him

"I know! I intentionally left it empty because it already has a owner" he replied and they all murmured amidst themselves about who it might be

"Bring him in" he commanded and Aditsan was led in by the palace servants

"You were alive?" Morgan muttered in surprise as she saw him come out dressed in a great and shiny outfit that he had been changed to while he was waiting for the king to send for him

"This is our new minister for external affairs" Argan announced and Adistan bowed to the ground in return

Morgan who was staying by the side slowly muttered

"You were alive?" as she saw him bow to the ground respectfully, immediately her hope shot up that Ahiga too might be waiting outside or be somewhere.

She had cried her eyes out when she found out that the men that went on the hunt were all killed by assassins on the night of that attack in the palace and that was the only reason why she followed Argan home and became Lebby's personal maid

"You should stand up Minister" Argan instructed and Aditsan stood up slowly to stand before him

"You have gone to war and conquered, just while we thought no one would succeed in finding the missing scroll, you found it and brought it back to us, what more can we do to thank you for this lovely and brave thing you have done?" Argan said with smile os plastered all over his face

"Thank you for the generosity my King, I will make sure to use the position well" he replied with a bow and Argan chuckled

"of course, you will have to use your position well for the benefit of this kingdom and I hope we will enjoy your reign" Argan replied as he pointed for him to go have his seat

"You can now seat down, our Minister" he added and stood to address the people as soon as Aditsan stood up

"The late king has failed to strengthen trades and exporting of goods with other neighboring towns but I am glad to inform you now that all these will take place, everything we don't have will be provided through the help of the palace and we will make sure it will be available all the time" Argan announced and they all rejoiced at his first achievement, they roared in joy but he just smirked because they didn't know what he was thinking.

The ceremony finished and everyone went back to their places, Adistan was going with a guard to be shown his new house when someone suddenly grabbed him from behind and when he turned to see whoever it was, it was Morgan

"Morgan" he called out stopping on his track

"Where is Ahiga? he should be around somewhere here, where is he? where can I meet him?" She asked with her eyes filled with hope but he just slowly removed her hand from his

"I'm sorry but Ahiga is dead, he was killed during the hunt" Aditsan replied and she went mute for a while trying to process the news that was just delivered to her

"Why would he be dead and you are alive? you both are best friends that do everything together so how will you be alive while he's dead?" she yelled as she dropped at his feet

"Even though we are best friends who do thing together like you said, that doesn't mean we should die the same day or in the same way, why are you sprouting nonsense?" He replied getting annoyed

"Then why are you suddenly the minister of external affairs?" she questioned looking at him

"That's because it was what I asked in return for y=my reward so excuse me, I have something to attend to" he answered and walked away without looking back no matter how much she called

She dragged herself to one corner of the palace and cried to her fill, she didn't know her heart would ache this much at the thought of Ahiga's demise, Although he had promised her freedom by winning at all cost, she wouldn't have been so pissed if he was alive. She was angry that she wouldn't be able to see him anymore and sad that she had always held back her love for him, she didn't show him enough love

"You stupid man! how will I handle not seeing you again? you didn't have to guard the promise with your life, all I needed was just you" she mumbled as she cried at the secret place she picked

she cried to her heart's content before standing up and left for her chores, she was determined to gain the favor of Lebby and make life comfortable for herself in the palace at least, if she cannot gain freedom like she had thought she would

"I only have myself now" she muttered to herself as she sniffed and walked away

******

The governor for a province was passing through went on an inspection to his farm and was coming back with his train of maids and servants when he saw something peeking out of the bush unto the path they were supposed to take

"What is that?" he muttered as he got down from his cart to check and screamed when he saw that it was a human's hand

"What is this? why.. is a corpse.... lying here on the road?" he stuttered and managed to ask as he shifted back

The servants immediately went to check what he was talking about and saw the pale hand peeking from the bush into the path, one of them pushed the bush aside to show someone lying down lifelessly between them with her hand peeking into the path

"I don't think she's dead though" one of them remarked

"What do you mean she's not dead? why would a living being be lying down between the bushes?" the governor asked stretching his neck from where he was standing

The one that talked bent down and placed two fingers below the lady's nostril then proceeded to place at the side of her neck to check her pulse and he closed his eyes to read it well

"Her pulse and breathing are weak but she's definitely alive" the servant informed the governor

"What are you doing then? carry her and treat her so we can find out who she is" the governor instructed and immediately the men carried her out of the bush

The servant who checked her pulse attended to her and helped her on his back so he could carry her home but the governor declined

"Get her on the cart, that will be faster" the governor advised and she was placed inside the other cart

They rode home at full speed and she was taken to one of the empty rooms, immediately the doctor was called for and he came to attend to her. He managed to get her pulse and breathing back to normal, did acupuncture to help some blood flow and also treat some other symptoms he had discovered

"She will be fine in a couple of days, she seems to be in shock when she passed out and judging from her feet, it seems she's running away from something" the doctor stated

"I wonder what she was running away from and looking at her clothes, it seems she's from a wealthy or important family" the governor remarked

"Make sure you stay updated about any missing case, who knows if she's from a wealthy family who will compensate us handsomely" he added with a smirk before leaving the room where she was laid

He continually asked of her for three days while also visiting her when he can but she was still sleeping even though the doctor has declared her conscious and fine

"Are you sure she's not crippled or anything? why is she not standing up all these days? or does she have a more serious ailment we don't know about?" the governor poured out with fear evident in his tone

"We will have to take care of her for a few more days to see sir, I'm sure she sleeping this much because she had lack sleep for days but when hunger kicks in, she will have no choice but to wake up" the doctor assured him as he came to check up on her for the day

After three days, the governor came home late from a meeting and went straight to see her since he couldn't see her before leaving in the morning and immediately he opened the door he was met with a kick that sent him flying into the arms of the servants behind him

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" the governor yelled holding unto his nose only to look up and see that she had woken up

"Who are you all?" she asked folding her fist while getting ready to attack again

"Is this what you should do to someone who rescued you? why are you talking with your fist instead of asking calmly?" the governor asked moving closer to her but she stepped back and wanted to charge at him again since he was moving closer and was not stopping

"Don't come closer" she warned but the governor smirked

"What? do you think I want to eat you now? I have been taking care of you for days and didn't eat you but you think I suddenly want to..." he blabbered but was met with another kick on his face and before he reacted, she fainted once again

"Get this woman treated, I want her to pay for her crimes!" the governor yelled holding his cheeks and they went to call the doctor to come check up on her again.