Jorai turned towards Cael's direction and with his mouth agape and his eyes wide open, gazed at him with profound bewilderment. Well, he was not the only one having the same expression he had on his face, every single young men in the grounds also gazed towards Cael with their mouths likewise agape. A Mountainer becoming among the Princes' Escort, this was something no one expected, even Cael himself, who had already made up his mind to pack up his things and at nightfall, to escape the Palace without anyone's notice.
But the Master examiner did mention his name as one of the escorts, didn't he? Cael; son of Jephthah. It took Cael some time to become certain if he had heard the examiner right or it was just his wild hallucinations taking a hold of him.
He strolled back to his room with the other four young men who were obviously gazing at him with disbelieve written all over their faces, and even the rest of the men who were also following them behind and whispering to themselves in doubt.
The four of them entered the small cozy room Cael was sharing with the southern guy, Mikneiah, and they all settled themselves one place or another, exchanging silent glances with each other.
'Well…I think it's something of a shock seeing that we all were chosen to be among the twelve' Mikneiah put forth, breaking the deafening silence in the room.
'I understand that it was so for me because of my high intellect, and for some, because of their father's influences and relations, but for the others, it's still baffling and suspicious' Jorai slipped in as he looked from Cael to Haniel and then to Mikneiah, the southern guy.
'Everything's suspicious to you Jorai, in fact, there is nothing that doesn't seem suspicious to you, heavens!' Haniel derided at Jorai who pouted his lips and hissed.
'Okay, let's say you and the south guy here were to a very little extent, intelligent enough to pass the test, surpassing all the rest of the birdbrains in this lodge-house, but he's a Mountainer for crying out loud!!'
'…for crying out loud, would you quit it?' Haniel snapped at Jorai, now scowling furiously at him. Jorai then pressed his lips together and looked away from Haniel's fierce scowl.
'I met with a prince' Cael observed suddenly, bringing back everyone's attention to himself.
'I mean… the first time we came to the Palace and I got lost wandering, I met with a prince. Then and even yesterday.' Cael continued and sighed wearily.
'I cannot say for sure if that's the reason…'
'Of course that is the reason! What else could be it except that? I knew something was going to come out of you always having that royal fragrance about you whenever you came back from your questionable roam' Jorai exclaimed, cutting Cael short as the rest of the boys turned their heads to him inquisitively.
'You guys didn't notice? The scent he had last night when he came back from wandering off to only-the-heaven-knows-where? It was very obvious that he had been in a prince's chamber' Jorai revealed to the utterly confounded fellows before him.
'I didn't just get the chance to ask you about it, but tell us now, which among the princes was it? The Fourth Prince? Fifth Prince? Sixth? It definitely cannot be the Seventh Prince and the crown prince, definitely not' Jorai pressed on and Cael sighed again and brought his hands to his forehead and squeezed his brows.
'I…I don't know, I…cannot really tell who was who, but…yeah, he had those beautiful dark green eyes, and those cheekbones…'
'SYLVEN!!' the four of the young men exclaimed at once and Jorai swiftly sprung up to his feet.
'You mean to say you met with the second prince?' he queried and Cael turned to look to all of them with blunt curiosity.
'Second Prince? Yeah…I guess so, Sylven; that should be his name' he attested and Jorai began pacing here and there in the room and Cael kept watching him densely.
'Sylven's one of the Lavender Princes, and the most kind, loving and popular of them all. Unlike the crown prince who's usually referred to as rigid and inflexible, he's actually quite the opposite of that. He's supple and adequately nimble at the same time, although he doesn't really like to read' Mikneiah willingly explained to the clueless mountain boy.
'All we are trying to say here is; you were more than lucky to have come across him out of all the princes. Well, as for the fifth and sixth princes- it would have also been something auspicious if you had met them, but you meeting with the Second Prince; that was something more than luck' Haniel stressed on and then turned to glower at Jorai who was still pacing irritably here and there in the room.
'Wait…what if the names of the people who were announced to have made it to be the Princes' Escort, was actually announced according to the order of the princes we were to be assigned to?'
'I mean, Jezer, it wouldn't be strange knowing that he was assigned to the crown prince because he is the grandson of the Overlord Enoch. That position was definitely already his to take in the first place. And then Cael, with the chemistry he had with the Second Prince, it's sensible to conclude that the Second Prince particularly chose him to be his own Escort' he expressed rationally and stopped to look at all their faces. Unni was also plunged to a thoughtful reasoning just as the eastern guy and knitted his brows to look sagely at Jorai.
'Fair point. And if that's really the case then it means that I was given to the Sixth Prince and Mikneiah to the fourth…'
'Jorai to the fifth and I myself to the eighth, while Cael…' Haniel carried on.
'To the second, he and the south guy made it to the Lavender Princes.' Jorai tossed in and one could feel the envy in his tone.
'But what does it matter anyway? Be it the Lavender of the Scarlet Princes, they're all going to compete fairly for positions at the end of the day. You heard what was said at the assembly, they would be given the highest and significant positions only if they are able to prove themselves worthy of it, so it wouldn't even matter if they were the second or the last prince' Haniel put forth as he rose to his feet and moved towards the door. He placed his hands to the doorknob and then turned to look over to them again.
'All we have to do as their escorts is, get accustomed to them and aid them in whatsoever they might need to compete for' he said finally and yanked the door open. Jorai stood watching Cael with his eyes squinted for a moment before twirling himself around and walking after Haniel.
Uriel barged into the courts of the purple- painted fortress and he suddenly came face to face with the two other princes sitting idly under the willow tree at the edge of the fortress. A table was set beneath the wide branches of the tree, shading the princes from the radiant heat from the sun and making cooler breezes for the warm afternoon. As Uriel suddenly entered the quarters, he traipsed quickly to where Sylven was and placed a huge thick paper in front of him, almost banging it unto the table.
'You made the Palace thief your Escort? The news' already reached the skies' he exclaimed and Sylven uncrossed his legs and leaned to the table, skimming through the words that was on the paper.
'Cael…son of Jephthah. Hmm! His name even sounds as alluring as he is' Sylven put forth as he raised the paper from off the table. Azel who was seated opposite him, turned to look at him and squinted his brows slightly.
'What? Something feels shady about him, even his name says so, isn't it?' Uriel said swiftly looking to Azel as if expecting something positive from him.
'No, no. it's just that his name isn't something you hear every day, it's not very common' Azel replied and Uriel scoffed indifferently as he turned away his gaze from him.
'What? Do you expect a Mountainer's name to be common? Uncommon names for common people, that's how it is' Uriel put in derisively and Sylven looked up at him and glowered.
'…Oh come on, why is it that whenever I say something cynical about that Mountainer, you…'
'Mountainer? Who's that?'
Dan's voice came immediately from outside the gates of the fortress as he tramped into the Second Prince's quarters with Kohath following behind him hastily. Uriel flinched at their sudden appearance and he cowered closer to Sylven and frowned guiltily as Azel gave him a disappointed glare.
Dan quickly read the unusual uneasiness on their faces and decided to sensibly drop the matter at once.
'Anyways, forget that. Look Azel, I need you to righteously look up this Jorai guy for me, son of Terah, they say' Dan put forth nervously as he moved to where Azel was. Kohath stood where he was and noticed Sylven staring at him with close observation as if to get something out from his face. He then shyly brought his hands to his face and rubbed his cheeks gently.
'What? Is there something on my face?' he enquired and Sylven just smiled as to how bashful he has turned and shook his head.
'No, there isn't, I've just come to notice how conventional your facial features are' he replied and Kohath flushed again secretly.
And before anything could follow, Neel, Isa and Carmi, the third, seventh and Ninth Prince respectively, came strolling into the quarters, the Third Prince, Neel, with his left hand which was always behind his back and his demanding and domineering presence, while Isa, the Seventh Prince, with his narcissistic and lofty appearance and the Ninth Prince with his ever-groveling and slavish composure. As they walked together into the quarters, the Sixth Prince, Kohath, immediately cringed towards Dan and held him by his arms. Isa gave a conceited smirk at his show of timidity and crossed his hands on his chest.
Neel looked straight to where Sylven was seated and raised his head higher, revealing more of his overbearing nature. Then he slowly flickered his eyes and turned to the rest of the princes.
'It's gotten rather crowded in here, as always. I wonder what's contained in here that seems to attract every prince to it' he said gallantly and Sylven scoffed.
'I also wonder, given the fact that you detest crowded places, why then would you always make your way to my court, knowing that it's potentially crowded all the time' Sylven put in and Neel gave him a curved smile as he ran his gaze through the open courts.
'Can't say, maybe it's because of the willow, or maybe the color…'
'Your fortress is painted in the same color' Sylven slipped in.
'Ohh, then it's definitely the willow. It's a one of a kind tree, you know, especially seeing it's the only one in the Palace' Neel pressed on and before Sylven could continue with the obvious salt squabbling that always erupted whenever the Third Prince was present, and which none other prince could put an end to nor interrupt, except the crown prince- the little princes; Asaph, Zia and Joel, according to their princely titles, jogged chirpily into the Second Prince courts. But as soon as they trotted into the open courts and became aware of the Third Prince's presence, they fearfully recoiled to themselves, almost wanting to enter into each other.
Then they briskly moved close to the Fifth and Sixth Prince and hid behind their standing figure. Sylven immediately left off from speaking with the Third Prince and turned to smile endearingly at the youngest of the little princes and of all the other princes; Joel.
'Joel, you are here' he said to him and the Twelfth Prince puckered at him as he held onto Dan's arms tightly.
'I came the other day, we all did, but that sentinel of yours, the tall one, what was his name again…hmm…' Joel responded, as he assumed a wistful expression.
'…Zophai' the Tenth Prince, Asaph, reminded him and he immediately began to nod his head affirmingly,
'Yeah! Zophai! He wouldn't let us in, he kept spreading his long arms to stop us' Joel continued and pouted to the Second Prince again.
'Oh, I see. I just wanted a time to myself then, so I ordered that he should let no one in' the Second Prince clarified and began to nod his head to the little princes tenderly.
'So, let's hear it? You want anything?' he asked.
'Joel just wanted to know what they meant when they said seed of destiny, we're all confused as to what it may imply and why he was particularly given that title!' the Eleventh Prince's high-pitched and ever-trepid soft tone, sounded as he observed to the Second Prince, then he drew closer to the Sixth Prince, looking about him timorously.
'Well, just as a seed, when planted to the ground, even though it's not certain if it would eventually germinate to become a mighty tree with wide branches, it is still planted to the ground and constantly tended to so that it could one day grow into a tree. So is the seed of destiny, even though you are still just like a seed, with no current strength or ability to compete for the rest of the positions like us, but as the days go by, and just like a seed sowed to germinate into a huge tree, you would also grow to become someone great and formidable, even enough to overtake any of us from the positions we might have attained'
Azel explicated in his all-knowing tone as he pulled himself away from under the shades of the willow tree and drew near to the fifth and sixth princes.
'Jorai; son of Terah. He's probably from one of the guild families in the Eastlands, specifically from the Family of Terah. The family is quite very known among the easterners and given that he's made it as one of the chosen twelve for the Princes' Escorts, it thus proves that the rumor about everyone coming from that family being highly intelligible and shrewd, is actually true' he revealed further and uninterruptedly, then he drew a deep sigh and looked to Neel; Third Prince.
'It's not for me to tell of what might have really brought you here today, but let me take a guess; you want info on your own designed Escort or that of the crown prince?' he put forth bluntly that all the other princes couldn't help but stare over to him in awe. Neel then wheezed aloud in profound doubt trying to conceal the fact that the Eighth Prince had actually smitten the nail on its head.
And before the Third Prince could get any other words, or rather a barefaced excuse, out from his mouth, the dignified and yet modest presence of the crown prince, came striding into the quarters, and it straightly filled the air with a complete decorum and revering stillness. As Tahan; the crown prince entered into the quarters, he stood for a moment and began to look over to the faces of the other princes in the quarters, beginning from the last prince to the second, and a majestic smile fell on his lips.
'You're all here, again' he said.
***********
The door of the manor-house came wide open as the two stewards who were standing by both edges of the door, swiftly pushed the door effortlessly and bowed before the eminent stature of the Overlord that moved towards the door and stood for the stewards to usher him into the hall. The Overlord ambled gracefully into the hall-room as soon as the doors were opened, and as he walked to the high chair that was located at the far end of the large table in the room, around which all the people present in the hall were gathered - the Noblesse, the aristocrats and the masters in the hall, everyone stood up and bowed to him.
The Overlord settled himself on the high chair and came to face another man, roughly of his age and caliber, looking to be the oldest of everyone present in the room, with his hairs grey-white, his face pale and crinkly and skin folded with great age-and who was also seated at another high chair opposite his, and having a transcendent aura surrounding him. The Overlord Enoch; the man who had just entered into the hall room, looked directly into the eyes of the second old Overlord; Haggiah, who had obviously desisted from rising up to his feet when the Overlord Enoch made his entrance into the hall-and he smirked glibly.
The Overlord Enoch then bade the rest of the Nobles present back to their seat and they swiftly obeyed. He pressed himself unto the comfy cushion of the high chair and as he fiddled with his fingers, he turned to look at the rest of the Elders in The High House.
'I heard they already revealed the second part of the Bid, and the twelve escorts already chosen. What next is that son of the Old King scheming to do?' the Overlord Enoch put forth suddenly as he continued working on his nails with nonchalance written vividly on his face and even in the sound of his voice. Then a gallant fellow, about 30 years or older, who was standing staunchly behind the Overlord and away from the rest of Elders seated at the table, moved closer to the table of Elders and bowed loyally to them.
'It appears that he is planning on making the twelve princes compete justly for twelve ranked positions, from the most significant to the least significant.' He relayed reverently and before he could carry on, one of the Elders at the table spat out bitterly as he frowned with distaste to the rest of the Elders gathered.
'Madness! Making the princes' grapple within themselves just for positions?' the Elder exclaimed.
'I know the ruling emperor to be very immature and not worthy of that crown on his head, but now that I see all that is happening, I cannot believe how much of the ignominy he has brought upon the empire!' another of the Elders grouched and shook his head wearily.
'It's the unchanging and un-glorifying Imperial creed I blame, that ever-static creed that has made for only the sacred bloodline to inherit the throne; that is what I blame' another Elder rattled on
'I mean, does it even make sense? They marry each other, give birth to heirs who also marry themselves, if not, they ask for our daughters and carry out some mortifying ritual, just in the name of preserving the sacred bloodline?' a higher-toned Elder carried on with the salt argument, looking to the rest of the people around the table and gesticulating with his hands in mid-air.
'You speak as if it's your first time realizing all the mortifying things about the Imperial Family and the Imperial creed. Just consider the little boy that was placed on the throne, he literally went in with all his sisters who are years and years older than he is, like what else could be more undignified than that?' a hoarse-voiced Elder observed to the high-toned Elder who shook his head disagreeably at the same time.
'That is why this empire needs a total purging. We need to purge it from all these disgracing laws and orders that it has upheld for so many generations now. People need to see the insanity in all of these and open their eyes to right thing, and the right King for them! The great Overlord Enoch!' another Elder spelt out as he gestured to the first Overlord at the right end of the table, and the second Overlord at the left end, sniggered silently within his breath.
'They soon shall see it. Every eyes in the empire shall behold the downfall of the Imperial Family. I mean we have all been patient through all these gone years, my grandfather died waiting to behold it, and my father also died waiting to witness it- the fall of the Imperial Family. Hm! Let them scuffle and struggle with themselves for whatsoever, and with their own hands strip themselves naked of dignity and royalty, dragging themselves down to the dust.'
'And then we, who shall and have all these generations waited and watched patiently, we shall arise, we shall trample all of them under our feet and wipe the dust we might have accumulated in the process-from off our feet, and inherit what should be rightfully ours in the first place'
The Overlord Enoch uttered out in his low tone to the rest of the Elders, and regardless of how lowish he sounded, all the rest of the Elders were immediately obliged to keep total silence at the sound of his voice. Then he twisted his head a little bit to observe to the steward standing behind him.
'Justly you said? They shall compete justly. Hm…' he scoffed
'Then all we need to do is to make sure things progress as justly as it should, and maybe savor things up a little. What of the Master?' he said to him.
'He has successfully being instated as one of the special Royal Examiners of the test. He shall not fail to convey to you every proceeding on the princes' training once it begins' the guard replied and the Overlord Enoch slowly nodded his head delightfully.
'And Jezer?' he quizzed on.
'He was appointed to be the Crown Prince Escort' the guard promptly replied again and the proud smile fell upon the Overlord's lips.
'Hmm. We can now all sit back and watch as things would soon begin to unfold before our very own eyes' he put forth finally.
Unni moved out of his room with his pricey clothes case held tightly in his right hands and as he turned, he met with the faces of the four older young men standing behind him and beamed shyly to them.
'Men, you took an hour to get dressed' Jorai groused and the rest of the boys twirled their heads to gaze disbelievingly at him. Jorai watched the expressions on their faces and rolled his eyes tiredly.
'What?' he questioned and as Cael and Mikneiah began to chuckle, Haniel responded.
'It's rather shocking to hear you say that. I thought you naturally love gallant men just as you are, who spend hours and hours on themselves so as to appear good' he said and Jorai scoffed as he spread out his fan and bashfully started to stride before them.
They all began to move through the long terrace of the lodge-house, it was the day for them to enter the Main Palace as the chosen twelve to become the Princes' Escort. It was very ordinary that the four of them and the other young men who were also chosen, all couldn't really explain the way they were feeling right now. They were all coming from different lands and backgrounds and were only able to encounter each other through the Bid, and just as if it were fate, they were all also chosen to be Princes' Escort. And regardless of where they had all grown up in and the story they all had to tell about themselves later, no one among them had actually ever thought, not even for once in their lives, that one day, they'd all become the person they were about to become today, in the Main Palace.
Especially Cael on his own part, as he looked to the other young men walking with him in the long terrace and ruminated on the brief things he had come to know and the things they had on one occasions or the other revealed to him about themselves, he knew deep within him that he being among them was rather a very fated chance. Jorai was an only son coming from the Family of Terah, one of the guild families in the Eastlands. Since the Eastlands was known as the land of silk for their major merchandise in sophisticated silk, however, the silk trade was mainly monopolized by guild families in the land, these families had exclusive control of the silk production both in the Eastlands and even spreading across the whole empire. And Jorai was born to and bred in one of the well-known guild families in the Eastlands, in short, he was coming from a background of influence and wealth. Unni was just as Jorai when it came to having a family background of wealth, power and fame, he was the second son of the Lord Zur who was the head over The High Council; the fourth highest circle in the Empire Order. He has an older stepbrother, Eshek, and was born and bred in the Highlands. Having lived in The Capital all his entire life, Unni had however gotten used to a life of superfluity, nobility and refinement, he was taught proper and cultured manners involving dignity, and unlike Cael, he grew up among a people affluent in knowledge, skills and moral propensities.
And there was Haniel, a young man who's lived among the snow covered plains and frozen rivers of the Northlands. Haniel was a little bit similar to Cael in terms of upbringing, just like Cael, he had experienced a bitter and unforgettable childhood; he witnessed his parents die before his eyes due to deathly plague that broke out among the people of the Northlands. The epidemic had been so severe that it took away almost a third of the population of the people living in the North. Even with the consistent unkind climate that prevailed in the northland, the disease seemed to have subsisted in the land and stayed until an irreparable and hostile history was etched into the hearts of the northerners. Over the years, the northerners, because of their resilient, survival-prone and hard-working nature, had with a very farfetched speed, began to recover their land, even with the incredulous amount of damage, both of lives and expansion; that the horrific epidemic had caused in the land, the northerners arose, they survived, and they pushed until they conquered. Though the ghastly epidemic was recorded down on the pages of the Imperial History Accounts, to the northerners, it was a victory-story that they told to their generations to come.
Mikneiah, a subtle and reserved fellow, Cael wasn't able to gather any information about him given his natural inclinations to be reticent. But all he knew was that he, Mikneiah, was a Southerner, coming from the land of sun and spice, and probably the oldest amongst the four young men.
As they ambled out of the lodge-house and into the grounds, they saw a clamorous crowd of young men; the rest of the thirty selected young men for Bid who were to be scattered abroad to all the circles in the Empire Order, to work under the tutelage of great masters and to become masters themselves. Most of the young men had already been transported to their appointed circles, and the remnant of them were the ones gathered in the grounds and making rather an uproar in the grounds. Then two men turned their heads and as their eyes fell upon Unni, the younger fellow amongst them, their expressions were changed to something rather resentful.
'Whaa! Jokes on people like us for being born to insignificant fathers! Unlike those from influential families who needn't not to raise a finger to get what they want!' the fellow exclaimed indignantly as they continued giving Unni a one-sided look.
'Come on, what do you mean? What of the Mountainer who got chosen? What would you then say about…?' his fellow tried to inquire
'Isn't it obvious already? He got chosen by chance! The heavens were being merciful to him. But look, it's not a secret to know that the others were chosen because of their fathers. Just look at the bald-faced show their even putting in front of us' the other fellow grumbled on and just then, a sharp loud voice came from without the premises of the grounds and the four young men looked beyond the crowd and saw an immaculate line of middle-aged men, all clad in a uniform robe of blue and white, and the man who had the sharp ringing voice and who was wearing a seemingly different robe amongst the other men, waving and smiling towards Unni's direction.
'Son!' the middle-aged man exclaimed as he kept waving for Unni's attention. Unni immediately stopped walking, and when the other young men turned to him, they noticed how his expressions had suddenly become dark and shame-filled. He gripped the leather case on his right hand tightly and began to tremble with uneasiness. The others could immediately notice his nervousness and Mikneiah, the guy who best knew what was happening right now, turned his head to Unni and folded his hands.
'What would feeling uneasy do for you, after all, he's your father, and no matter how much you try to deny it, it would still follow you forever. Your father's done what he truly wanted to do, I don't mean that I support his actions or whatsoever, but, what would you do to change that?'
'Just consider all these resentful looks you're getting from everyone, do you think if you stand right here and confess that this was not what you wanted in the first place, and that you have nothing at all to do with it, do you think it would get everyone to stop staring at you that way?'
Mikneiah told swiftly and after looking deep into his eyes for some while, Unni sighed and walked defiantly towards his father; Lord Zur, the head of The High Council.
Lord Zur moved quickly to grab Unni by his shoulders as he began to study his son closely and affectionately.
'You made it. I was really shocked when I heard that you were among the chosen ones…'
'Shocked?' Unni snapped.
'Why were you shocked for something that you knew would eventually happen, no! Something you made sure would happen' Unni continued abruptly making his father freeze. Then Lord Zur began to chuckle awkwardly as he looked about them with guilt on his face.
'What do you mean? What did I made sure would happen? I didn't do anything' his father said, trying to defend himself but Unni kept staring at him with disappointment.
'For real! I seriously didn't do anything! I just had dinner with one or two of the royal examiners…'
'Why are you here, father?' Unni cut in again sharply and his father pressed his lips together and started blinking his eyes. His father's hands slipped down from his shoulders as he moved slowly backwards and pointed to the palanquin that was behind the whole line of Elders of the High Council.
'I…I came to take you into the Palace, you deserve a worthy and graceful entrance into the Palace, because…'
'And you've brought the entire Council along, just for me to make a graceful entrance?' Unni tossed in and his father looked back to the neat trail of old men that were standing motionlessly behind them.
'Uhh…It's not how it looks…'
'What of Eshek? Where is he?'
'He went early on his own. I guess he couldn't wait for us to...'
'I'd also be leaving on my own too. I appreciate the effort but…I don't need a graceful entrance for that' Unni slipped in, ghastly looking into his father's eyes and rendering him shamefully speechless. Unni then shifted his gaze to the trail of Elders and after letting out disbelieving scoff, he turned and moved back to where the other young men were standing. Lord Zur was left gob smacked on a spot before he could turn again to the Elders and pointed to Unni's direction and giving off a gawky smile.
'See! He's made some new friends'
***********