SIX

“Saddle the horses and get them ready for a ride, the king and I would have need of them”, Cedric barked orders to a servant standing besides him, his head bowed. 

 

 

“Yes sire!”, he scurried off immediately. Not long after the door to his large chambers opened up and Aileen strolled in. 

 

 

“Cedric?”, she called out to him. 

 

 

“Yes my dear sister”, he answered dryly, not sparing a glance at her, he looked into the vanity mirror and arranged his hair with his fingers.

 

 

Aileen's large brown eyes took in his appearance, “Are you going somewhere Cedric?” 

 

 

“Yes as a matter of fact, father has asked me to go on a short trip with him” 

 

 

Her eyes lit up, “Really? And what would you two be doing there?” 

 

 

“Hunting most likely or something else”, he shrugged and turned to look at her, “Whatever father says, he did not tell me”. He picked up his crown from the table and proceeded to wear it. 

 

 

Aileen reached for it before he did, “Here, let me help with you that”, she picked it up and placed it on his head. With a smile on her face she stared at him admiringly, “Look at that, You are so cute”, she reached for his cheek and pulled it adoringly like she would a baby. 

 

 

He smiled back at her in a way that said he knew she wanted 

something, “Indeed, so what do you want from me this time little sister?” 

 

 

“I wanted to spend time with you today”, she pouted and tucked her hair behind her ear, in the past he was never able to resist her charms.

 

 

He pulled her cheeks playfully, “You don’t have to be such a baby”, he placed his hands on her shoulder, “Of course you will, time will come. Today is just not the day, father said it was important that I go with him” 

 

 

“Very well then”, she turned around to leave but stopped and turned to face him again, “How do you like my green ball gown, it is beautiful right?, And the tiara?, It does match my tiara, doesn’t it?” 

 

 

“Aileen of course it does”, he answered not looking at her. “Come on Cedric”, she whined, “You never pay attention to me at all” 

 

He looked up at her, at the tears that welled up in her large brown eyes and he knew there was more to her sudden outburst. His eyes took in the intricately designed green dress and the sapphire stones around her tiara, it was a beautiful sight against her brown hair, “You are beautiful Aileen and your dress is exquisite” 

 

 

She gingerly wiped at her eyes and her face lit up in a  smile, “Thank you Cedric, I have to go now” 

 

 

“Okay”, he nodded, “Go on then"

 

 

“Since you would be busy with father all day, I’ll just go tor…I mean spend time with mum” 

 

 

Cedric raised a brow in astonishment, “Aileen” 

 

 

She spun around quickly to look at him, afraid to see the judgement in his eyes, afraid to see what she feared was hatred for her, her whole body trembled, “No…no…never…never mind Cedric”, she stuttered, “It is nothing to worry about Cedric”, she said, she turned around and left in a hurry. 

 

 

Cedric stared at her back as she hurriedly walked away from him, her long brown hair bouncing behind her. It felt like only yesterday she was a small innocent child, with beautiful big brown eyes and hair. He had loved her the first day he saw her. He doted on her and attended to her every need even to this day. They were almost inseparable as kids, now as time had passed between them, he knew that there relationship had soured. They were two different adults, with different opinions, beliefs, thoughts. Even at sixteen years of age, he knew Aileen had grown up too fast, way too fast, in the direction he hadn’t expected at all. 

 

 

“Could it be magic?”, he wondered aloud, “Has magic changed us just as mother said it would?”, he stared intently at his fingers like they would provide the answer, he desperately needed. 

 

 

He shook his head dispelling the fears, he could not afford to entertain thoughts like this. This was how it was meant to be, there was nothing wrong with them, he thought to himself but even then a persistent voice at the back of his mind told him otherwise. 

 

They rode at a small pace deep into the forest, Cedric had taken Buckley, his brown horse with him. It was his favorite horse in the stable. They rode silently for a while before Cedric broke it unable to rein his curiosity, “Father?”

“Yes my child?”

“We are going hunting right, I mean it explains the bows and arrows we took along with us”

“Hmm”, he merely hummed.

“However this does not explain why we are riding further into the forest. We have been at it for a day now”, Cedric added, “We are further away from the kingdom…”

Do not be a whiny girl now Cedric, Aileen is much more tougher than you are”, his father dryly remarked.

“Father!”

“I do not lie do I?”, Javaid asked in a taunting voice

Cedric fumed, this was another reason why he did not like his younger sister so much. He was never up to par in his father’s eyes when it came to his sister. It was because he had retained his morality compared to her. He rode on silently not bothering with the conversation.

“Well to answer your question, we are not actually going to hunt. There is a lot you need to learn my son, if you need to be king”

They arrived at a part of the forest where there was an open field, there were no trees.

“We are here”, Javaid said, he got down from the horse and surveyed the environment. His blue cape fastened on by diamond brooches billowed behind him, “This is my favorite place in the woods. I would come here as a young man. This place provided the solitude with I grew as a man…”

Cedric stared around, “It is just a sparse land father", he muttered under his breath, “There are many other sparse lands"

“I can hear you Cedric"

Cedric shrugged nonchalantly.

“This is where you will make your mark Cedric, this is where you will make the decision to be a great king”, he squeezed his shoulders.

“Should I tie the horses?”, Cedric asked.

“No they would not stray”

“See father, I do not know exactly why we are here but we can not be sure the horses won’t stray”, Cedric walked some distance before he turned back, “We can not be sure the horses won’t stray. It is a long distance from Salvador to here, I can not afford the walk home”

Javaid looked at him and smiled, “Okay, I will assure you”, he stretched his hands towards the horses. They neighed loudly and struggled, “There you go! They are stuck to the spot. You can be assured they will not leave this place princess”

“Father quit with the jokes I do not find them fu…”

“Shh”, Javaid whispered, with his finger on his lips, with his hand he beckoned on Cedric to stay close, “I hear footsteps, someone is nearby…”

“That is not a problem father”, Cedric replied with a loud voice, unmoving.