3 New desire (3)

Alexander woke up from his nap feeling jolly all over his body. He had his food, took a bath and went over to the his hall. The moment the sun ray hit his body he transformed into a very big dragon. He took a step to the right before he slumped down on the soft ground and closed his eyes to sleep.

He felt very tired from all the things he has done during the day. He fell asleep the moment he closed his eyes, his massive wings covered him like a blanket as he slept. His beautiful silver scales shined under the sun's rays making him look so beautiful and compelling.

*******

Francis had gone home straight from the forbidden forest. He had caught a big antelope and couldn't wait to show it to his mother and sister. He rushed to the village and walked to there hut, he could see smoke coming from the small hit and smiled. He was very hungry and the thought of food made his heart feel warm.

He went inside the hut and greeted his mother with a hug. He gave her the meat and went to his room, he had found some rare plants that he had to make into a portion and sell to the people. Hunting alone wasn't enough to provide for everything they needed so he sometimes made herds and pills and sells them. He got to work in his room, giving his mother time to prepare the meal.

"Francis the food is ready," his sister called to him and he stopped working. He kept his things aside and went out of his room and joined his family at the table. He sat next to his sister who served him his food. He mouthed a thank you to her and dug in. He ate his food and listened as his mother and sister talked about the things that went on around the kingdom. They talked about so many things and he found it difficult to keep up with them.

"Mother did you hear about what happened at the palace?" asked Marla.

"No dear, how am supposed to hear that I don't work there," her mother replied.

"Well, Aya told me that Alexander the prince has taken an interest in someone and the queen has sent people out to look for the girl," she said.

"That is nice."

"Are you sure that it is okay for Aya to telling you secrets of the palace. If the Queen finds out she might loose her head," said Francis worried about his sister and friend.

They finished their dinner and the minute the sun rose in the sky they went to their rooms to sleep and called it a night.

*****

Marcel had taken a few royal guards with him and went down the same hill that Alexander had rode on. The place was clear with no sign of people around, this was normal in Arimelari since it was day and they were sleeping. He followed the tracks lightning left behind up to the river bank. He got off his horse at the same place that Alexander left his horse and went on on foot.

He followed the foot tracks of the prince around the prince for an hour before that led him to the river. He found another set of prints at the river bank. "This is where the prince met that person," he said to the guards. "Be alert and let me know if you see any moving creatures," he added.

He traced the footprint and followed the tracks for a while but the trail went cold. He found a rabbit not from where the tracks ended and caught it. He whispered to the rabbit and the rabbit replied to him before he let it go.

"The rabbit said that it didn't see the person who walked by here last night. All he can tell us is that the person frequents this area a lot. We should go back before we attract unwanted attention."

They got back to their horses and rode back to the kingdom. He did wait for the horse to stop and jumped down before rushing to the palace. He went straight to the King's chamber and requested for the queen. The queen came out of the room and they took a walk down the corridor.

"What did you find?"

"Her Majesty might not like what I have to tell her," he replied.

"Out with it," she demanded.

"The person the king met is a man your Highness," he said and the queen ached her eyebrows.

"Not a problem as long as he can save my son from that girl. Did you find out where he comes from?" she inquired.

"That is not the only problem, the animal I spoke told me that he was not an ordinary man. According to the animal, he is a eno nesohc"

"What the hell is that?

"I do not know my queen but the animals are afraid of him for some reason. The rabbit was trembling with fear when he told me about him," he replied feeling down.

"Find him, the rest we will figure out later." she instructed.

"Eno nesohc, who are you?" she asked but there was no reply. She went back to the room still pondering about the identity of the mystery man her son likes. She was debating whether it would be a good idea to bring someone like him to the palace. Marcel was an animal whisperer and if he says that the animals fear him then it must be true.

She was feeling both happy and sad about the discovery, on one hand she was happy to get rid of her daughter in law and on the other hand she was sad that the man could bring bad luck to the palace.

As long as her son was happy she was willing to take the risk of inviting an Eno nesohc into her home. She had no problems with the fact that he was a man because it was not unheard of for men to like each other and even marry in Arimelari.

She simply wanted to fulfill all of her son's wishes and make him happy. She got into bed and went to sleep.