CHAPTER 2 - KAEL

Blue lamps on the walls had shone the dim bath chamber, blue flames flickering inside every glass. Servants entered and brought towels and cinnamons and azalea flowers, some sprinkling the petals on the clear waters. Then the aroma came to welcome the king. Kael Denvorn followed inside before closing the doors behind.

“Have a cup, Sir Kael,” King Arth said as he went to the round table that stood right at the edge of the steaming pool of bath, then he began pouring the silver flagon. “I know you love cherry wine.” He handed out one cup about half-full.

“If it pleases you, My King,” Kael replied, taking the cup, then he took a sip. As he did, he watched King Arth walk around the pool, with his white robe covering his naked body. The young king sat on the edge and submerged his legs through the steaming water, his face blank as he drank in his cup.

“Is something the matter, Your Highness?” Kael had to ask once all the servants had taken their leave out of the chamber.  

King Arth placed his cup beside him. “It’s nothing too serious, I guess.”

“Is it about your last session earlier?”

“Partly … but it’s the least thing that’s running in my mind right now,” King Arth replied, playing his legs on the waters.

Kael knew better than to ask further, as he could see how deep it meant. The matter might be too personal. “You skipped your session once again. Is it becoming one of your hobbies now, Your Highness?”

“Sir Kael, it wasn’t an excuse when I said I will be visiting a sick friend … After my bath, I’ll go and check on him.”

“The half-demon friend you mean, My King?”

King Arth raised his head to look, “My friend has a name. Don’t call him like that … Besides, someone might mishear you speaking of a demon living in this castle. It is a secret that must be kept.”

“As you wish, Your Highness,” Kael lowered his head, before he took another sip of his wine, “How is your friend, Janshai, then?”

 The look on the king’s face frowned as he stared at his reflection on the waters shone by the blue lamps. “His condition is slowly getting worse every single day … I’m becoming more worried.”

As Kael studied the king’s expressions, he could see how concerned King Arth was to his friend. It began months after the undead invasion that Janshai had said he felt something odd in his body. Then, as weeks and months passed, he had grown weaker and sicker. Kael tried to help the king find some of the best herbalists in and out of Glacia … but King Arth did not want the identity of Janshai to be known by more people. In the end, all herbalists the king had consulted never found a cure for Janshai’s illness. It might be a curse he had—a demon curse—Kael believed.

“And those dreams, My King?” Kael asked. “He’s still having them?”

King Arth gave a slight nod. “But the last time I visited him, he had a new one …” He furrowed his brows, as if trying to remember. “He told me he woke up in the Underworld … he found his entire body stuck on a dark tree … the biggest tree he had ever seen, with extremely wide branches and red-orange leaves. There, he talked with someone, but he couldn’t remember who that was or what they talked about.”

Kael blinked several times.

“Do you have any clue about what it meant?”

“Well,” Kael went to sit on the chair beside the round table and returned his empty cup of wine, “I only know one tree … the biggest tree, he said? Here in our world, it’s the Tree of Genesis … the source of life in Earthos.”

“Where is it?”

“In the country of Asveneas … the tree stood at the center where the three borders meet … the kingdom of the elves … the faes … and the druids.”

“Asveneas?” King Arth said, eyebrows furrowed, “Isn’t that the place where Luna came from?”

Kael pursed his lips and shrugged. Hearing her name had made his heart skip a beat. It occurred to his mind the flashback of what they’d done the previous night, drinking out bottles of wine, chatting until they ended up doing that again. He had to shake his head to clear off the memory from his thoughts.

“I need to know what Janshai’s dream means …” the king spoke again. “It’s like the Tree of Genesis, you say … but it’s in the Underworld. If I go back there … perhaps I can find more clues—“

“Your Highness,” Kael interrupted, “You do not mean to open the portal again, do you? That would be madness, risking all the lives of the people in our country.”

“Of course, not,” King Arth replied casually, but his tone hinted uncertainty, “I would never do that … but I might want to go near the portal ...”

“I hate to say this, My King, but you are not to go anywhere near Stone Glacier Ruins.”

The king looked at Kael with hopeful eyes. “But I’ll have you to come with me … a couple of Grand Knights as well. Isn’t that enough?”

Kael’s gaze dropped to his empty cup. Although he had never lost his position as the Divine Knight during King Arth’s coronation, the world still saw him as a failure … someone who’s unworthy of the honor. This made him recall what the High Councilors had told him. They said Kael was the luckiest fool in this world. After failing his only job of protecting King Terrowin’s head, he had no right of accepting another chance to play his position.

The High Councilors had warned Kael of another failure in protecting King Arth this time. And Kael must never fail again … he had to become more careful with the king he’s serving now … or else the people of Glacia would never forgive him for letting another king die in his protection.

“I’m afraid not, Your Highness,” Kael replied when he found his voice. “I must always have you inside the walls of the citadel—“

Kael paused at the sound of a knock on the door behind, causing him to look over his shoulder.

The door flipped open, revealing a young steward, his head lowered in respect. “Forgive me for the sudden interruption, Your Highness. High Steward Laurel would like to have the meeting be moved into this hour, as the Archmages have just entered the citadel.

“Right now?” Arth quickly stood, his face a bit surprised. “They’re already here?”

“Aye, My King. They now await your presence in the Council Chamber.”

As the steward closed the door and left, Kael returned his glance towards the king. “Archmages?” He said, wondering why Galadhor would send high-ranking mages instead of the ones in standard ranks.

“They must be very serious with the message they carry,” King Arth said thoughtfully.

Kael nodded, thinking their message would be a warning for the threat that’s about to come in Glacia. The worst thing he could think of … was the Legion.