Celina"s chamberFeeling like the boss of the house, aglovale arrived at Celina chamber but was greeted by dozens of guards, guarding the chamber """why is this place heavily guarded more than my own chamber?? So he still thinks she will run away "" aglovale thought to himself as he approach the first guard putting on leather amour and wolf structured helmet , a red badge is attached to the right shoulder of his leather armour, ""what is going on here?? And why is this crowded with guards """
"""Who are you to question our activities, if you don"t leave here I will have you thrown into the dungeon """ the bittered guard rudely replied the intruder"s query without asking for his ident.i.ty, the guards have been on watch since last night and have been fighting Celina, stopping her from escaping, all their body ache and threaten to collapse due to the intense cold they were exposed to all through the night plus the magic energy that is gradually depleting from the constant fight they have the strange girl, who is never tired of fighting, to crown it all, the guards to subst.i.tute them are yet to come and it have so past shift time
"""Watch your tongue boy!!!, I can have your head serve to me on a platter of gold..... Out of my way, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d son of a thousand fathers""" aglovale returned the favour, pushing the shocked guard over as he made his way through pa.s.s the door, the guards on duty wanted to react to the arrogant behavior of the stranger but were stopped by the other guard who brought him, after he broke the news, that the stranger returned with the prince from his last expenditure and can be regarded as the prince right hand man, """you better be weary of him, for he might have your head serve to him in platter of gold, just the way he boast of it"""
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"""Come anywhere closer, and you will regret ever coming in here"" a threatening voice thundered out from the dark room as aglovale step in
Aglovale composed himself before speaking out to no one in particular, knowing fully well that one wrong word will set the whole course to the wrong direction "" hey, hey.... calm down, I know you are mad, if I were you caught in the same position I will probably do the same thing but I can a.s.sure you that, right now, it is not the right thing to do, it certainly not the best decision to... """
Cutting him off """ no, you are wrong, you coming in here was not a good ideal, so am telling you to run, now you still have the chance to do so, don"t try to be a hero because you will just end up being a coward """
""" yeah you are right, coming in here was not a good ideal after all, but am here now, so hear me out first before crucifying me"""" aglovale with a meek and gentle tone, try to reason with the angered celina, who had herself well hidden in the dark room
"""" the only person, I wanna talk to, is that brat that got me trapped here, so I advice you go get him"""" Celina replied to the intruder, not wanting to listen to any form of plead and dialogue
""" am sorry, the prince can"t come because he is in crucial meeting but he sent me, so talking to me means you are talking to the prince""""" aglovale prayed this trick works out as he press forward to weaken celina resolve
After the tranquility have lingered on for a while, the room gradually regain its brightness as, the window give way for sun rays to penetrate through, illuminating the whole parlour, out from the walls, a beautiful figure emerges, pointed nose, eyes as calm as the ocean but endless and won"t betray any feeling, her cheek slender and smooth with dimple
""" wow, what a beauty, cute damsel, sparkling like the morning wine, no wonder fredrick is dying, now I have seem what he saw, I must confess, going to gold vein mine was not a mistake """ series of thought flood aglovale mind as he watch celina walk closer and closer to him
"""" did you just came out of the wall?? """ aglovale asked trying to cover up the fact that he have been admiring her beauty
""" yes, now state your business and leave at once, it seem both of you are the same""" celina replied, feeling unconcern, when he noticed that it was the other boy from inner community
"""" alright, first of all I apologize on behalf of my friend for the hash treatment and any inconvenience felt during your stay here so fall, but I can a.s.sure you that it is for the best, and he would have employed another means, if there is, """" aglovale start his main aim of coming into the lion"s den and walk to the empty chair to sit down, but in his mind he is actually giving her enough s.p.a.ce to run for his life if she react negatively to the message
Going to sit down in another empty chair in the room """" well, there say the end justify the means, so spit it out, and we will know if truly his intention justify the ill treatment am receiving""
Feeling relieved and relax """ well, I must say this is no ill treatment, for in the first place he acquired you from your previous master so I don"t see any thing wrong in the way he treats you"""
"""I thought the king have abolished slave trade and yet his son still keep slaves??""" playing mind games, she smiled inwardly as she watch the uneasy aglovale
"""Dam it this girl is smart, she is actually using my own words against me""" adjust his sitting position and continue "" is not like he is keeping you as slave, but rather he is helping you, if he intend to enslave you, you would have suffer far more than this but.... """
"""" so what then, does your prince want from me???
"""" ok As we all know, he is the only son of the king and the late queen, loneliness and solitude have been his companions since; all his life was spent In the palace and the only people he knows is his parents, the royal tutor ,the guards, stewards and maids but they all have professional relationship with him and can"t really relate with the Prince and his father, the king is always busy with governing the kingdom, and the only friend, brother ...... .. every thing he had was his mother but unfortunately he lost her to the cold hand of death, when tragedy struck""" aglovale stopped intentionally, to know if the picture of Fredrick being the victim is actually sinking into her head
"""""well am sorry for his lost, but how does that get to do with me?? Celina asked, not showing any signs of pity
"""After the death of his mother, the queen, he couldn"t take it anymore, so he always snick out of the palace to meet new people, and make new friends, all in quest for happiness.... according to him, the set of people he seek as friends are those, that are lonely and have suffer, those that can understand the pain he felt and what he long for, the people who will stand by him and have no moral obligation to anyone, people that are in need of acceptance and recognition; so you see, you fit perfectly into these cla.s.s of people... he is not in any way trying to cage you against your will but he just need your friendship, the bonds that is strong and able to reach out to him before he derail into darkness
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court room
the throne is at the elevated end of the room, and the down part is filled with tables and two three chair each, eight of such table are occupied with the eight ministers of crimson valley, on top of the table are bucket of ice to cool off the sweating ministers, bunch of papers, writing ink and pen and other necessary things, at the right hand of the throne is another stylish chair for the Prince who arrived few minutes ago and the meeting for the day have kick off
""" good morning, your Majesty king Raymond de balon of kingdom of crimson valley, your highness Prince Fredrick de balon, and good morning to you all my fellow ministers, serving this great kingdom...... am happy today because the Prince didn"t just returned safe and sound but have joined us in today"s meeting, it a clear indication that he is ready to resume his official duty again and secondly, he will be present when his wife will be selected among the eligible ladies, the daughters of my fellow ministers.......so the floor is open for us all to bring up any issues affecting his jurisdiction"" the prime minister opened the meeting, addressed the whole, while Fredrick heart skipped it"s beat on hearing about the princess selection
"""" long live your Majesty, report flooding my office since last week is about bandits at the border of the kingdom, the people in border town are fleeing in numbers to neighboring villages and towns, as a result of this public sentiment is increasing on a daily basis, am afraid if this is not treated it will affect the kingdom"s international structure and stability""" the minister of internal affairs hurriedly laid his complaint before the court room as he extend a copy of his report to the prime minister
"""" exactly my king, this is already affecting trade as the bandits are raiding the village and the farmers are leaving their farmlands if this is left unattended, it will cause more problems, remember winter is coming my king, am not sure we have enough reserve and our gold vault is not big enough to carry us this winter, if we decide to buy rice and salt"""" the minister of trade chipped in, afraid to tell the king that he have been running loss during the recent trade transaction
"""umm-hmmm,"""" the king clear his baritone voice """" this is more serious than i though, minister of defense you are to select since soldiers and match to the affected areas first thing tomorrow morning and tend to the issue , make sure you dig up to the root of the unrest""" the king give out his order without even thinking through it
"""" your Majesty, as a sign, that I have changed and resume my royal duty, I will lead the soldiers and I will settle the unrest and reduce public sentiment, I can"t afford to get married and merriment when My subject languish in pain and suffering, what kind of king will I be in the future??? I will......"""" the whole Court room was shocked to the bone as they watch the Prince man up to responsibilities, the Prime ministers immediately cut him off beseeching him to reconsider his decision
"""your highness........... please reconsider your decision, you barely returned from the inner community and we can"t have you go back there, is very unsafe""" the prime minister and other ministers tired persuading the Prince but were all cut off by the King"s wave of hand
""" that is final, the Prince will match with the soldiers tomorrow, you all have wish for the Prince to come back to normalcy and here he is normal, why complain again???, when he returns from this a.s.signment, we shall proceed with the princess selection, I believe we are done with this, so if we have nothing else to discuss, this meeting is over """" with that said, the king walls out the the court room and the Prince immediately followed him, to avoid any further persuasion
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Celina"s room
"""" I have gotten your message, so you can leave I will have to think about it, I can"t just jump into conclusion of being friends with the Prince, you know I have life outside of here"""" Celina spoke for the first time with a gentle and sweet voice,
"""" ok, i will greatly appreciate if you give it a positive thought and I will try to come with the Prince tomorrow, .......am afraid but I will have to take my leave now, have a nice day miss Celina""". aglovale gets up to leave as he screamed in his head"""" mission accomplished; I have changed her perceptive towards Fredrick, this is just the beginning My dear, welcome to the love game