The Fifth Prince moved carelessly through the green mowed field with heavy steps and a determined look upon his face. He was shortly after joined in his heavy stomping by the Sixth Prince who also had the same resolute look upon his face. Their princely garment made of the same matching materials of silk, blew here and there with the swift breeze and with the pace with which they skipped to the court-room where three other Princes were, in their own royal clothing and their handsome appearances.
When they arrived the court, they looked at each other and nodded to themselves firmly. Then they moved up the little stairways that led up to the largely adorned courts, enclosed with silky and costly curtains gotten from the Eastlands; the tribe of silk. The trail of servants and maidservant standing below the raised courts, bowed servilely at the princes as they moved up the stairs.
When they finally entered the courts, they both stood for a while to look over to the other princes already settled in the court, who were paying little or no attention at all to their presence.
'Okay, so no one is going to talk about the Bid?' Dan, the Fifth Prince uttered, immediately he noticed the casual looks on the princes' face.
'Tell us Dan, what's there to talk about? Father has made a Bid, who can reverse it?' the Fourth Prince; Uriel, replied in a dismissive tone as he laid on a bench in the court having a book covering his face.
'Us of course. The Bid is about us, isn't it? If together we say that we do not want it, then father would have no choice but reverse it himself' Dan pressed on with the ever-apprehensive look on the face. But none of the princes responded him again. Dan then moved to the other Prince seated beside a table having many books before him which he studied. Tahan; the first and the Crown Prince, and the oldest of all the princes. His aura was on a whole different level, looking cool and collected and a commanding vibe radiating out from him. As Dan pulled the chair opposite him and sat in front of him, he slowly raised his head from the book on the table to meet with the agitated look on Dan's face.
'What you saying Tahan, you know this Bid thing doesn't sound good' he said and before the Crown Prince could get any words from his mouth, Isa; the Seventh Prince, interrupted him abruptly.
'What do you mean it doesn't sound good, Dan? If father's meaning to get each of us our own dog, then, so be it' he said crudely and the Fourth Prince smirked from where he laid on the bench. The Sixth Prince turned and frowned slightly at the Seventh Prince.
The atmosphere immediately turned tense because of the Seventh Prince's coarse words, but it was quickly overridden by the Crown Prince's mellowing tone.
'It is not for us to know father's reasons for bringing up such Bid, I mean, just the first part of the Bid was made known to all of us, we have yet to know the complete meaning behind it. So, why don't we patiently wait and see' he said and looked to all their faces, trying to assure them in a mature way.
And just then, the Fourth Prince arose suddenly from the bench, making the book on his face fall to the ground as he stared directly at the fifth prince.
'And what do you mean when you said that we all don't like the idea of the Bid? What are you? Our mouthpiece? What about the Scarlet Princes who since the Bid was passed, they've never stopped dancing around the palace, because they're happy about the Bid?' he said and then scoffed derisively.
'We all don't want it, tsk! As if' he carried on and laid back on the bench.
'Oh! The Little Princes, they almost slipped my mind'
Dan said solemnly as he hung his head to the ground.
If the rest of the princes wouldn't support the idea, but as far as the little princes supported it, the Bid was already sure and standing, even from the very first day it was passed.
***********
The boys continued working on the farm, harvesting the fully grown plants and weeding out the thorn and wildflowers that threatened the growth of the susceptible plants. They had desisted from going up the mountain today and for some unknown reason, had suddenly found themselves on the old man's farm, doing the farming, hoeing, weeding and digging that they were currently engaged in.
Immediately, Ham's exasperated yelling came from a distance away, from where he was digging and hoeing some parts of the farm, and he suddenly threw down the hoe in his hands and spat out furiously.
'Cael, just tell me why we are here in your old man's farm doing all this servant work? We rested from going to the mountains just to find ourselves here, and your old man working us like his dogs!!' he screamed out to Cael who rose up from weeding the plants and placed his hands to his back, stretching out himself.
'Why are you complaining now? I mean, you were also lured in to work his farm because of the handsome reward he's put up' Cael replied and then sighed exhaustedly. He looked towards Gera who had weeded over half of the entire field but was yet appearing neither relentless nor fatigued. He shook his head disbelievingly at him and smacked his lips in envy.
'Man, you are not human' he teased.
'Okay, I get the part where we're all here working our butts off because of the prize involved, but where is Zaza? I mean, aren't we all going to spend the money together, so why isn't he here also working with us?' Ham grumbled on, but Cael just looked over to him and smiled in a fatherly manner.
'Leave the child alone, he's but 14, we can't make him work the work of a giant at that young age' he said and Gera hummed agreeably to him.
'At what young age? Don't you guys remember how we used to carry bricks and stones to the chief's house when they wanted to build the council house? I was just 13 years old then for crying out loud'
Ham pressed on and one could hear the bitterness in his tone.
'Whoo, Ham, that must have made you feel abused' Gera jested.
'I was abused!' Ham cried.
And just then, Zaza came running to their sight from beyond the farm with a little brown paper in his hands. He was also screaming something in his lowish voice that they could barely get what he was saying. Cael looked to him and saw as he was running frantically towards them not minding what was below him. Then it swiftly came to him, the sudden flash of the future. It came as a flicker and disappeared with a blink.
He saw Zaza trip over on his legs and fall headlong to a sharp rock stuck to the ground, smashing his head unto the rock with a great splash of blood. Cael was immediately overwhelmed with fear; he dropped the knife in his hands and ran with the speed of light towards Zaza who had now tripped over on his legs. But fortunately, before any tragedy could befall him, Zaza was caught in between the brotherly hands of Cael that held him tightly and prevented him from falling unto the rock.
'Lord! That could have been a disaster, if not for Cael'
Gera exclaimed with relieve as Cael approached him with Zaza still held in between his arms.
'We've told you to quit running, you know you always trip over your legs' Cael said calmly and shuffled Zaza's hair.
'You done it again Cael, with your superhuman senses, you quickly knew something was going to happen and you went to stop it. Whoa, it's time you told us your secret, what are you? An incarnate of a god?' Ham asked as he walked up to where they were standing.
'Ha! If I were a god incarnate, wouldn't I be riding on the clouds by now?' Cael joked back and they all chuckled softly.
Then Zaza turned to all of them with his eyes brightened once again.
'The list! It just came in; I stumbled upon it on my way here' he said and handled the little brown paper that was in his hands to them.
'And you stripped it off the wall where it was posted? Did you know that that's a crime?' Ham nagged at Zaza who cowered closer to Cael in guilt.
'Ham please…let the child be' Gera pleaded to Ham.
'Oh, no I won't, because we cannot keep using our hard-earned money to pay for all his penalties! He should know'
'He already knows, and seeing that no one's coming after him means that he wasn't caught' Cael put in as he collected the list from Zaza's hands and Zaza smiled widely again at him.
'You're in! They chose you Cael' he announced merrily and immediately, Ham snatched the list from Cael's hands before he could even skim through it.
'That's true! You were really selected…' he wanted to say happily but suddenly frowned and quickly passed the list to Gera as he moved away from them, delving his hands deep into his ragged trousers.
'Who cares? You were chosen or you weren't chosen, I don't care'
He said dispassionately and moved to continue with his hoeing. The other boys watched him and then sighed pitifully at him.
'Ehn, that's just Ham for you' Gera observed.
As they continued working and chatting about the good yet bitter news about the list, Cael was plunged into a world of silent pondering. The list was a good thing, in fact, it was going to be his first step towards the truth after all these years of regrets and self-hate. He had always regretted that day, when he selfishly ran towards the mountains for his own safety while leaving his mother behind in that burning forest. He regretted ever believing in her words that she was going to come back for him with his father, so long as he runs to the mountains and looks for the old man living in a small hut. He had run so hopefully without even looking back at the forest; his mother was coming back for him soon, or so he believed.
It was until he got to the mountains to wait for his mother to come, and days and months passed by quickly, that he knew his mother had been lying. No one came; not his mother, not his father, and he started living in the mountains as the grandson of an old man he's never met in his life before. Although, the old man claimed to have been close to his parents and was even there on the day he, Cael, was born, but to Cael, the old man was nothing but a grumpy cruel stranger who kept preventing him from returning back to his mother. Well, not until he reached the age to finally grasp what had actually happened to his parents and the village that he was brought up in. His father, who was the head and leader of the village, had been a labeled as the traitor of the empire who committed a certain treason against the Royal Family, or so the rumor goes. His father was said to have been planning on a way to overthrow the Imperial Family and to kill the Emperor with whom he had been in an inseparable friendship since they were just teenagers. Leading a village on the outskirts of the land had been his way of gathering an army of anti-purples, that is, people against the reign of the Imperial Family, so as to lead them to a rebellion and bring about a civil war.
Bloody Lies! Stinky pathetic lies obviously stemed out of bitter jealousy and envy for his father. Although Cael was just a little boy when all the rumor began to spread about his father and when it even led to the annihilation of the whole village and the death of his parent months later, he could still whiff out the suspicions and lies behind these rumors. So, he sought the truth, but all he got in the following passing years were just the well-defined and well-polished version of the rumor.
Then he decided within himself, if it all started when his father was but a teenager who was close to the Crown Prince then, but now the ruling Emperor of the land, then he would have to go back to the time when his father was but a teenager, living in the palace and being close friends with the Emperor. He wanted to see, with his subconscious abilities, how it all began with his father as a teenager. He wanted to seek the truth of it all. And as if the heavens could hear of his desperate desires, the Bid came, and he took his first step towards the truth.
As the old man would always say, "Patience is key, if the heavens know that what was done to your father was unjust and wicked and they also see your desire to seek justice, then surely, they'd give you a chance to seek it, either now or later. I mean, it's already started with them blessing you with these abilities."
It was all down to his patience, because he could even recall the day he felt too pressured with the wicked lies about his father that he wanted to steal the chief's horse, ride it all the way to the palace, and boldly walk into the King's Court and look the Emperor in the eyes to ask him what really happened between him and his father when they were just teenagers.
But now he thinks of it, what a disaster that could have been. How was he even going to get past the highwalls of the Highlands seeing they wouldn't let anyone without a pass through it, talk more of the highly defensed and empurpled gates of the palace. And to cap it all for the worse, he has never stepped into the Highlands before and doesn't even know what life in such big dominion would look like especially for someone who grew up in the outskirts as a kid and then lived the rest of his life till date, in the mountains.
'I wish you get to be the Escort of one of the Lavender Princes' Zaza's voice came to him and immediately woke him up from his deep thinking. He jolted and turned to look at him as he sat on a heap of soil and toyed with the shooting plants.
'Lavender Princes?' he inquired and Zaza looked up to him with a surprised look.
'You don't know? The category of the twelve princes in the land?' he asked back and Cael sighed wearily.
'I wouldn't be this clueless if I knew'
'So, this is how it is, there are twelve princes currently in the palace. Tahan, Sylven, Neel, Uriel, Dan, Kohath, Isa, Azel, Carmi, Asaph, Zia and Joel, according to their birth' Zaza said and Gera opened his mouth agape.
'You know all their names?' he wondered.
'But although they're all the sons of the Emperor, they were still categorized by the people in the land according to importance. The Lavender Princes are the first, second, third and Fourth Princes. They are grown, mature, respected and revered more than the other princes. The first Prince is the Crown Prince, so of course, people see him as the most important of them all. The Crown Prince, Second Prince and the Fourth Prince are brothers and were born to the Empress, while the Third Prince is the first son of the first Queen, see, they're all very important'
'And there is the Azure Princes, they are also respected but not as revered as the Lavender Princes. They are the fifth, sixth and Seventh Prince. They are much more charming, friendly and loved by many young ladies. Well, when I say friendly, I mean the fifth and the Sixth Prince alone, they are so close to each other that people almost think them to be blood brothers, some people often see them walking the streets of the Highlands and even the east and south lands, and wherever they go, they're always together. But as for the Seventh Prince, the second son of the first Queen, he's cold, unfriendly, snubbish and bad-tempered, but he has an admirable sense of fashion, makes him lovable to the eyes, but even the ladies say that his coldness is his best charm' Zaza narrated on.
'And here comes my favorite of them all; the Eighth Prince. He's the only one referred to as the Aurelian Prince. He's also the only son of the fourth Queen, and he is handicapped in the lower parts of his body, but ironically, he's the one among the princes who frequents brothels the most, even in his physical state. People might call him lewd and all sort of dirty names but he's actually the most intelligent and soft-spoken of the princes. He seems to know everything that happens in the Highlands and even beyond, he's greatly knowledgeable and helps the Emperor with any new information in the empire'
'And lastly, it's the Scarlet Princes, aka, the Little Princes; they're young and are the princes born to the Emperor's concubines. The ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth princes, four in total. Adorable and fun princes, popular among the younger generations'
Zaza finished with his description and folded his hands as a proud look came upon his face.
'You know, whenever it comes to the Highlands, you suddenly sound grown up, there's just no way of telling that you're still a kid' Ham threw in coldly.
'Beats me too. And why is the lewd Prince your favorite? Isn't that…'
'He's not lewd, everyone knows that frequenting brothels is a surer way of getting straight off the pan information' Zaza defended and Gera sniggered in disbelieve.
'No Zaza, I did not know' Gera stressed on and Cael placed his hands on his waist and shook his head.
'What did I just say? He gets more mature than any of us once it comes to the princes, someone give him a hoe while he's at it' Ham continued in a mocking tone and Cael just waved him away.
'Thanks Zaza, I get what you're trying to say, but whichever Prince I end up becoming an Escort to doesn't matter, what matters is what I want to get from all this' Cael put forth and Zaza rose up slowly.
'Oh, it does matter, especially if you do end up with Isa, the Seventh Prince, he's a beast in a fancy clothing' he said as they all began to move away from the farm.
They were done with their work and Cael, Gera and Ham were now sweating profusely and breathing out heavily due to exhaustion from all the farming. They plodded tiredly towards the beaten track that leads homeward while Zaza, who had just been seated on the heap of sand and playing with the sprouting plants the entire time, jogged joyfully before them as he hummed a song along.
'I still wonder how and where he gets all this information about the princes, I mean, he was born here in the mountains just like any of us, and we are miles and miles away from the Highlands, so just how come?' Gera quizzed curiously and Ham scoffed out loud.
'I told you, didn't I? the kid's way smarter than any of us, and next time, no one's stopping me from giving him a plough to work the field, let him put some of his brains into his muscles and do some digging too' Ham put in menacingly and hissed. Cael then wheezed loudly and folded his hands beneath his chest.
'That's if there's going to be a next time.' He whispered.
**********
The day came for the selected ones to make their trips into the palace. According to list, thirty young men of ages ranging between 16 and 25, had been selected out of the hundreds of young men that took the oath for the Bid, and among these thirty, 12 adept ones would be set aside to be the Princes' Escorts-the lucky ones they're called, while the rest of the young men would be divided and spread to all the stately Circles in the empire; such as The King's Court of the King's personal advisers and the prime ministers. The High House of the Overlords and the Noblesse, The High Council of the Lords and Nobles and the aristocrats, The Sybilline; the circle of priest and prophets, divine teachers and divine advisors of the Imperial Family, the astrologers, the philosophers and the Wise Men and the sages, and then The White Circle of the Royal Physicians, the Healers and herbs and medicine practitioners and lastly The Shield Order of the Imperial Guards, the Iron Guards, the Highwalls, the Warlords and the soldiers. The rest of the young men were to be sub-divided to one of these circles, based on their skills and origin aptitudes.
This was the reason Cael doubted if he would ever be selected to be among the thirty men talk more of being part of the Princes' Escorts. He was coming from the Mountain Tribe and unlike the rest of the tribes and regional lands in the empire, the Mountain Tribe had no recognized aptitudes amongst its dwellers, well except the ability to climb mountains. They were merely seen as exiled people coming together to live their best in the mountains. So, he being selected as one of the thirty men for the Bid, was more like luck, and he hoped that this luck would follow him even till the very last end. He hoped to be a part of the princes' Escorts even if it meant being an Escort to one of the little princes as Zaza had narrated to him-that would be more than enough for him, all he wanted was a way to get into the palace and meet face to face with the Emperor.
'Boy, you're not getting off?'
The rider who had been sent forth to bring him up to the Highlands, said and he immediately jolted out from his thoughts.
'Look boy, I have seen many of the young men being brought up to the Highlands for the Bid, and I must say, it is my first time seeing someone from the Mountain Tribe being brought in for it. You must have been very lucky to have been selected' the rider continued and Cael gave him a little curved smile as he adjusted the bag across his body.
'I am literally the only one from the…my tribe that took the oath for it, perhaps' Cael replied and moved down the carriage carefully. The rider watched him and shook his head slowly in amusement.
'Anyways, you see those Highwalls over there, you walk up to one of them, show them the badge I gave you and they'd know you're here for the Bid.' The rider said and Cael nodded gratefully and bowed to the rider as he bridled the wagon to a start.
As soon as he watched the rider go out of sight, he turned himself about, and looked over to the great wall of the Highlands and the guards and soldiers positioned all over it, from its top to the bottom. The guards were referred to as the Highwalls because they guarded the great wall of the Highlands, night and day without retreat.
He heaved a heavy sigh and strode calmly towards one of the Highwalls and bowed to greet him. He then displayed the little wooden badge the rider had earlier given him at the start of his journey, and the highwall immediately nodded in revere. The badge clearly had the undefied signature of the Imperial Family. Then he was led straightway to another carriage, obviously bigger, more gigantic and with more majestic horses than that of the previous carriage that brought him to the Highlands. The carriage was decked with colorful silk and furniture and even had some of its crafts and carvings made in pure gold and silver, something Cael's never seen in like ages. Where he came from, cowries and tainted silver were the only currencies used in trade and almost everything, but right before his eyes-is pure gold and silver used for nothing else but decorations.
He swallowed a huge gulp of his saliva as nervousness began to overwhelm him. He dropped his arms to feel the many shillings of cowries and tainted silver he had brought along with him, and O! What the embarrassment and anxiety he suddenly felt. Even with their amount, they would literally be of no help to him in the Highlands.
'Hello'
A young vibrant but echoey voice came straightly to him and he immediately turned his head around see a young man, probably of his age or even older, also standing beside the carriage and with a hand raised in greeting, smiled to Cael. Cael bowed in response and smiled back to the young man. Then he began to observe the strange and unfamiliar way the young man was dressed. He was clad in a long brown furry coat, and was wearing thick gloves and boots on his hands and on his feet. A long wooly white scarf was also hung around his neck and he held a thick leather bag on his right hand. There were also some specks of hoar frosts and ice upon his body that Cael couldn't help but shift his gaze up to the sky to see if it was snowing and the snow was magically not touching his body. The young man noticed him and scoffed at his curious face.
'Are you really checking if it's actually snowing? Oh, come on, who doesn't know that anyone coming from the Northlands is usually covered in snow' the young man said and some way or the other seemed to pique Cael's curiosity the more.
'Why?' Cael asked inquisitively and immediately, the smile on the young man's lips faded with bewilderment.
'…because it snows all out in the Northlands, we have no other season but heavy winters. You don't know that?' the young man said still astound, and his astonishment quickly transferred to Cael.
'Really? Snows all out? Why? How?' Cael inquired more and when he saw the unbelieving look on the young man's face, he immediately collected his cool and began to chuckle foolishly.
'Ha-ha-ha, snow, yes! Who doesn't know that, puff!' he said and just then, an Imperial Guard approached them and ordered that they enter the carriage.
As they entered the carriage, they came to meet another young who was very elegantly dressed, almost appearing as an Imperial, in his silky and woven gentlemanly attire. He also looked a little bit older than Cael and had a book of science in his hands, spectacles on his face and very many adornments upon himself. He watched Cael for a bit through the lens of his glasses and then closed his book and crossed his legs.
'You're a Mountainer' he said abruptly and Cael suddenly froze on a spot to let his words sink in. He then bit his downer lips in regret; that was the last thing he wanted people to know of him in the Highlands, but as the old man would always say; the more you seem a true Mountainer to them, the better it gets. He then smiled sheepishly and brought his hands to the back of his head.
'Ha-ha, was it that obvious?' he asked, and the other young men before him nodded at the same time.
'Oh yes, too obvious in fact. I mean, if there's anybody that cannot recognize a Northerner as soon as they see one, then it has to be someone from the mountains. Backward' the elegant looking guy said and even though Cael could feel a tinge of annoyance at his rude words, he quickly brushed it aside; he wasn't truly a Mountainer if they looked more into the details, but who's looking?
Then below them, they could now feel the wheels of the carriage moving and hear the clip-clopping of the horses' hooves. Cael wished within himself that the carriage had been a little bit revealed to the outside so he could see the big and beautiful streets and markets in the Highlands as Zaza had constantly described it to them, even as if he himself, Zaza, had ever once stepped foot into the Highlands. The little boy had always been dreaming and fantasizing about going to the Highlands that he began to imagine how the roads and the houses would be in the Highlands. He even said their roads are definitely made of gold and the roof of their houses made of fine silver. Well, not that Cael actually believed it to be so, but he surely does hope to have a look at it someday.
'You must be an Easterner, I suppose' the snow guy's echoey voice came again as he observed to the elegant man sitting beside him. The young man nodded in response and turned to look at the Cael's inquisitive face.
'Okay, if you want to know, you just got to ask. We Easterners are not miserly whenever it comes to the sharing of information. So, this is how it goes with the four major lands in the empire…'
*********""