Cairo - 13 My Lord

The sun stretched it’s ever so glimmering rays onto the sea like a blanket of pure light through a glass bottle. A look at the wrong angle will cause a blinding glare that’ll forcefully back off anyone daring to challenge it. However, once the perfect angle aligns itself along the ocean waves, everything springs to life like a garden of shining crystals.

At the royal capital of Harvoria, the king sat in his thrown like a man on his death bed. His face — dull and ill. His robes — washed and cared for. His hair as silver as the armor of the guards around him. His hands as wooden as the paddles the salves were beaten with. His voice as shallow and old as the thrown. “Slave!” He yelled, sounding like a hag yelling at a teenager.

A small, shy looking slave girl approached him. Her name was Laena, but the King would never address a slave by their name. Her hair was short, only reaching above her shoulders and slightly below her soft chin. Her clothes were nothing more but a beaten blanket with a white teeshirt covered in dirt and sweat. Her face was young, perhaps too young for a slave — yet there she was, serving her master.

The girl named Laena ran over as fast as she could, barefoot and tripping over herself multiple times. “Yes my lord…” Her voice as weak and frail as her young body.

“Fetch me my rift. I need to speak to Leonidas.”

Behind the royal guards stood a massive glass structure filled with exotic items on each individual shelf. Some had no meaning, and some held the deepest secrets one could ever hope to find inside the King’s chamber. Either way, it would take more than just one man to get past this level of security.

“Yes me lord…” The girl named Laena bowed, running over to a beautiful display of marvelous items she didn’t know the history of. The guards let her through, and she grabbed a navy blue sphere about the size of her head, bringing it back to the King within a moment’s notice.

Laena kneeled on the cold tile floor below her, barely managing to hold the sphere upright in her hands as she stretched it out towards the King. “Her you are my lord…” Her hands trembling of weakness and fear.tt

The King snatched the orb out of her hands with his wooden fingers. He set it aside on his armrest, then leaned back into his throne. “Leonidas.” He demanded, tapping the orb and seeing the navy blue colors change into different shapes and patterns. “I better hear some good news today.”

“My lord!” Leonidas replied back from the other end. “Good news is all that I bring.”

“Very well, let’s hear it then.”

Leonidas made a strange noise as if he was trying not to laugh, then settled himself and spoke. “Your favorite — the one with the scar is no longer with us. I guess you can say that he took an unexpected dive off the ship.” He cackled quietly to himself.

“How certain are you?”

“My blade punctured through his kidney, femoral artery, and that bastard wolf. Then, I threw them off the ship as to not raise any suspicions.”

The king sighed, slightly relieved. “Have you checked the waters?”

“No. But even if he su-”

“He’s not dead unless you confirm he’s dead!” The king barked, interrupting his son as if he were another slave begging for mercy. “It doesn’t matter now,” His voice seeming calmer than before. “I’ll send a few of my loyal men to scout the ridge. Even if he survived, he’ll be dead once they find him.”

“OH OH OH!” Leonidas galloped with excitement. “Are you sending who I think you’re sending?”

The King smiled, glaring at one of the wardens by his left. “There isn’t a man alive who can beat the Iron Fist. Wounded or not, that bastard’s head will be on my display for as long as I live.”

Leonidas squeezed his smile so tightly it nearly looked as of he was about to vomit. “I should also mention the next victim who will fall in an unfortunate accident.”

“Do tell.” The king replied.

“There is a girl here who has far too many suspicions about my recent actions. I need to get rid of her fast, but her Gift could be very useful for our defenses.”

“Hmm…”

“She’s able to control water at an incredibly powerful scale of strength. With the right methods,” Leonidas chuckled to himself. “We can convert her into one of ours.”

“Hmm…” The king entered his usual deep thought. Voices echoing through his throat like bats in a cave. “Not needed. Kill them all and bring me their bodies. Everything else will be decided after the jewel is in our hands.”

“As you wish my lord,” Leonidas concluded, shutting his transmission off.

The king looked down at Laena, who was still kneeling on the cold tile floor. He could see her face show an unusual emotion — anger. So, he took his wooden hand and slapped her across the face, sending her in a flurry of quiet, yet painful screams. “Make that face again and your head’ll be next.” He chided at her, sending her off to the glass case of items with the sphere.

The King shook his hand, tieing any loose ends around his wrists that might’ve come undone. He then leaned back in his thrown again, calling for one of the wardens on his left to approach him.

A massive, muscular dark man made his presence. His hair was short, a buzzcut down to the very millimeter of hair remaining on his scalp. His head was slightly squared, his jaw looking like it’s taken more beating than one could endure in a single lifetime. His nose was disproportional to his face, looking like he’s had it broken more than a dozen times in the past two years. This was a man who didn’t like losing. A man who hasn’t lost a single fight no matter the cause.

“Take two of your most trusted men and scout the ridge by the Black sea for a white wolf and a bleeding man with a scar.” The king started, “You may do as you please with them. But bring me the man’s head, that’s all I ask.”

The hulk-of-a-man beside him kneeled, showing no signs of fear or uncertainty. “My lord.” He answered, diligently and respectfully.