The Union

Slowly and silently, he put force into the spear. But before he could throw the weapon, the sound of a twig snapping can be heard. The deer ran.

"Dammit!" Abaraham cursed. He then looked behind to find the culprit. Abraham will break his nose!

But contrary to what he expected, a small voice reached his ears. "I"m sorry Abraham. I"m very sorry. I didn"t mean to warn the deer. I just wanted to take a closer look."

Abraham saw that it was Conrad. The boy gave an apologetic bow. Abraham scratched his head. "Why the h.e.l.l are you here Conrad? This is dangerous!"

Conrad looked down. "I just want to learn how to hunt. I didn"t know that I will become a hindrance."

Abraham closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He was angry at Conrad. The deer could feed the whole village for days. But Abraham"s anger subsided after a while. Conrad was too innocent to blame. He just pursed his lips.

He approached the boy and squatted. He then put his hand on Conrad"s shoulder. "Don"t worry about it. But don"t sneak out of the village again, okay? What we are doing is dangerous. A deer may look harmless but they can kill you"

Conrad nodded. "I know. But when can I join the hunt? I"m already ten."

Abraham shrugged. "I"m not your guardian so I don"t know. But I"m sure the chief will let you join soon. You just need to be patient." He then looked at Conrad. "Why are you following me anyway? You should go with the others. I"m a solitary hunter. You will learn more if you go with them."

The boy smiled "Because you are a soldier!" he announced. "And you are Prince Timothy"s champion"

Abraham choked on his own saliva. He felt guilty that the boy believed his lies. "Is that so?" he feigned a laugh. "Come on, let"s just find the others." He held the boy"s hands and they started to walk.

"Hey, Abraham?" Conrad asked while walking.

"Yeah?"

"Is it really true that Prince Timothy can change into a lion?"

Abraham smiled. He may have lied last night, but his praises for the Prince came from his heart. Prince Timothy gave them light during their darkest times. He avenged them from the Tulosans.

"It doesn"t matter if he can change or not, he"s a great man nonetheless" Abraham murmured silently.

"What?" Conrad asked.

"I mean yeah." He scratched his head and laughed awkwardly "You know, he"s so big that a person can fit into his mouth" Abraham said with an exaggerated voice.

"Woah" Conrad"s eyes were sparkling "That"s amazing!"

"Yeah, that"s amazing. He"s amazing"

Suddenly Abraham heard the sound of horses. Because of his experience with the Tulosan"s his first reaction was to hide. He pushed Conrad"s head down. The two of them hid on a bush.

After a while, dozens of hors.e.m.e.n pa.s.sed them. Abraham saw their faces and was confused. Wismarines? What are they doing here?

"Halt!" the man at the front commanded. The Wismarines stopped.

Abraham surveyed the man. He was tall and muscular. He was almost as tall as Abraham! But unlike him, the man doesn"t have excess fat. His lean muscles were intimidating.

"Why did we stop Amir?" another Wismarine asked "We are in a hurry"

The muscular man whose name was Amir looked around. "I feel that we are being watched"

Abraham"s heart almost stopped. This is dangerous! He silently cried. It seems Amir had noticed them. He looked at Conrad. The boy was shaking.

And then, it happened. Amir pointed to their direction. "There!"

Abraham did not waste time. He grabbed Conrad"s arm and ran. Even though he"s big, he can"t win against them. He can"t even win against Amir!

His heart beat fast. This is a life or death situation. He must survive.

But then he noticed that he had accidentally let go of Conrad. Abraham looked behind and saw that Conrad had stumbled. He wanted to go back, but the Wismarines arrived. Abraham had no choice but to hide again.

"It"s a boy Amir" one of the Wismarines said.

Amir approached Conrad. He then knelt and caressed Conrad"s hair. "What is your name, boy?"

Conrad was trembling. "I"m Conrad" he silently voiced.

"Well, Conrad. Do you know who we are?"

Conrad shook his head. Abraham felt a little relieved. There is still a chance that the Wismarine wouldn"t hurt the boy.

"Let"s go Amir. He doesn"t know who we are. Leave him." The other Wismarine said.

Amir ignored him and turned to Conrad. "Do you know to which Kingdom we came from?"

"Wismar?" Conrad said.

Abraham closed his eyes. That was the wrong answer Conrad! He wanted to rescue the boy, but courage escaped his heart. He doesn"t want to die.

Amir slowly shook his head. He then put his hand on Conrad"s shoulder. "I"m sorry Conrad. I"ll have to kill you. I don"t" want to, but you know too much. If we let you live, you may expose us. We can"t have that. I"m really sorry"

Abraham saw the moment Amir buried his dagger into Conrad"s chest. The boy"s body twitched and then he fell to the ground.

Amir wiped his dagger and stood up. "Let"s go." He commanded to the equally shocked Wismarines.

"Amir! This is too much" one of the Wismarines pointed at Conrad"s body "He"s a child Amir. A child!"

Amir turned to the Wismarine. "Do you think I enjoyed killing him!? I didn"t. But I had to because he may reveal our location to Prince Timothy. We can"t fail our mission!"

"But…" the Wismarine again looked at Conrad"s body. He nodded "Let"s just go"

After a while, the Wismarines are all gone. Abraham had been staring at Conrad all along. Tears flowed from his eyes. It was his fault. He should have rushed and rescued the child. He was a coward. He was big and powerful, but he was useless.

Abraham slowly approached Conrad. He lifted his little body and felt that it was still warm. The boy is still alive! He ran towards the others. There"s still a chance to save Conrad.

****************************************************************************

"Help!" a cry for help reached Timothy"s ears. He looked towards the direction of the voice and saw Abraham and the men who went to hunt running towards the village. In Abraham"s arms was Conrad.

Samuel ran towards Abraham and took Conrad from his arms.

"No!" the old man cried. He was holding Conrad"s b.l.o.o.d.y body in his arms.

"We can still save him chief" Abraham said.

"He"s dead you idiot! He"s dead" Samuel wailed. The old man"s body shook while holding Conrad.

"No, he was still alive earlier chief. We can.." Timothy interrupted Abraham. He saw that Conrad was already dead. He may have been alive earlier, but the boy had already died.

"What happened?" Timothy asked. He glared at Abraham.

"The Wismarines. They stabbed Conrad to silence him. I saw it" Abraham revealed.

Timothy closed his eyes and lowered his head. "You saw it?"

"Yes"

"And what did you do?"

"I.." Abraham tried to answer but he hesitated.

"I asked you, what did you do!" Timothy shouted to Abraham. The big man lowered his head and did not answer.

Timothy"s anger surged. He approached Abraham and grabbed the collar of his tunic with both hands. "You just watched, didn"t you!?" he snarled.

Abraham avoided his gaze. "I didn"t have a choice Theo. There are too many of them and I can"t…"

"Coward!" Timothy shouted to his face "You are a coward! And you say that you belong to Knightsend? What a joke! The men of Knightsend are not cowards like you. They will fight until death even if their situation was grim. Mentioning you in the same breath as them is an insult! You cannot be compared to them. You don"t even deserve to be called a Castonian!" he pushed Abraham so hard that the big man fell on his back.

Timothy wanted to break the coward"s nose with his fist, but he stopped himself. He turned and walked away.

Timothy then found himself standing outside their hut. He was angry. He also felt guilty because it was them who brought the Wismarines.

Suddenly, Lucia"s soft arms embraced him from behind. Timothy"s anger subsided.

"It"s not his fault Tim" Lucia said "It"s not a sin to save one"s own life"

Timothy held her hands "I know Lucia. I know it was unfair for me to blame him. I was just finding someone to vent my anger to. In truth, it"s my fault for bringing the Wismarines here"

"It"s both our fault Tim."

Timothy remained silent for a long time and just enjoyed Lucia"s calming embrace. After a while, he started to talk. "Lucia, I…"

"I know Tim" Lucia interrupted him. "We can"t elope to Vanadis."

So she also realized it, Timothy thought. Nevertheless, he still explained. "I just realized that I can"t leave the people in the hands of the Wismarines. I can"t leave my people in the hands of someone who would kill a child just to eliminate a witness. The Wismarine royals don"t care about the people. They only care about themselves. Many innocents like Conrad will die if I leave Castonia to the Wismarines."

"You"re right Tim. You have a responsibility towards them. That is the cost we royals have to pay. We must sacrifice our own happiness for the people. Even if it"s hard, we must."

"I"m sorry Lucia. I can"t come with you to Vanadis. I"ll remain here in Castonia." He turned around and faced her.

Lucia smiled. It was bittersweet, but her smile wasn"t forced. "If we can"t have our happiness in Vanadis, then let"s just make our own paradise here in Castonia." She then paused "And I know what you"re going to do next. I won"t stop you Tim. It is your duty as a Prince to seek revenge against Conrad"s killers. But please be careful and return to me."

"I will" Timothy put a kiss on her lips.

Timothy and Lucia then went back to the villagers. Samuel was still sobbing and holding Conrad.

"Captain Bisham!" Timothy called.

"Your Highness" Bisham indicated his presence

Timothy turned to the Captain of Lucia"s guards. "Will you fight for me?"

Bisham hesitated for a while and looked at Lucia. Lucia nodded to indicate her approval. "I will" Bisham answered.

"Then I will make you the temporary Captain of my guards. Let them rest for a while but then you must prepare yourselves for battle"

Timothy then turned to the villagers "If you want to avenge the death of Conrad, then come with me. Get whatever weapons you could find. I will lead you. We will avenge Conrad"

The villagers were confused by Timothy"s declaration. They murmured to each other. But then Abraham pointed at him. He was still sitting on the ground. "Who in the world are you, Theo?"

Timothy approached him. "My name is not Theo" he declared. He then turned to the villagers.

"I am Timothy Castonia!"