CHAPTER NINE: THE BEGINNING OF CATASTROPHE

Drystan's hoarse voice echoed in the room, his eyes flashing in displeasure and his body shaking in anger.

I hid behind Kethan, unable to face the grief of his brother.

Kethan walked closer to him, fearlessly.

"Guards, bind this bastard and throw him in a cage," Drystan commanded furiously.

The royal guards didn't dare move any closer to Kethan, not after how they saw him messily beat up the others.

Dangerously staring at them, Drystan commanded again, this time walking closer to the royal guards, to make sure they got the message.

"I said, bundle him and throw him in a cage," he yelled, dramatically causing them to move their legs towards Kethan nervously.

"If you lay even a finger on me, you will lose your whole arm," Kethan calmly declared.

The royal guards rushed backward in fear, prompting Drystan to get even more angry.

"I am the king of this kingdom, I make the rule," he yelled out in extreme anger.

"Acting king. The king is sick," hiding behind Kethan; I corrected, whispering.

"How dare you speak when I'm speaking Agatha? You mere slave," he yelled out at me. I froze behind Kethan.

"When the king dies and I become king, I will flush you all down a hole. Every one of you, including your mother," Drystan announced.

"How can you be so sure you will win this fight? What makes you think the king will die soon? Kethan asked calmly, ogling at Drystan disappointedly.

"I am the first son of the king; I am powerful. No one of you can win against me," Drystan declared, assured.

"Let's go, Agatha," Kethan muttered, turning to look at me.

"Can you walk?" He asked, softly while he affectionately stared at me, ignoring the others.

Before I could give any reply, he lifted me in his arms, like a two-year-old child.

"Kethan people are watching," I whispered and buried my face in his chest, embarrassed.

We got into our chamber and Kethan set me down to rest, I stared at him still inside my Cinderella gown.

"I would never imagine you could do this," I blurted out, still surprised.

"Do what?" He calmly replied, staring back at me with the same energy.

"Put on my gown to beat up a lady," I replied with a chuckle.

"I thought I had to become a lady to be warranted to beat up a lady," Kethan replied innocently, walking closer to me.

"What! You looked so dramatic out there," I responded with a smile.

"You don't like it?" Kethan asked, sitting next to me.

I stared at him, stive. I could feel his breath on my skin, causing me to swallow hard.

"Why did you let yourself get beaten up this badly?" Kethan whispered, brushing my swollen lips with his fingers.

"There were too many, they overpowered me. I couldn't fight back and you're… all I could think about was you. But I didn't want to get you into any trouble," I murmured, looking away.

"Agatha, you are not putting me into any trouble," he murmured back, raising my chin to look at him, his warm lips fell on mine, and leaning in he kissed me.

"OUCH!" I whispered, breaking the kiss.

"It still hurts?" He asked, caressing my lips with his fingers.

"Kethan, do you believe in the prophecy?" I asked, intruding.

"What prophecy?" He asked, uncertain about what exactly it was that I was trying to say.

"Years ago, there was a prophecy: a dragon summoner shall rise from one of the kingdoms and heal our land," I blurted out, eagerly.

"That was decades ago Agatha. I don't believe that," he responded coldly.

"Our land is sick; people are dying and it is spreading very fast. The plague is real and so is the prophecy Kethan," I stated, positive.

"So where is this dragon summoner? Have you seen him? Has anyone appeared yet? No!" Kethan retorted, unconvinced.

"Kethan, have you studied yourself? I believe there's something different about you," I blurted out with confidence.

"Tell me you don't think I'm the dragon summoner," Kethan replied, staring at me in shock.

"I do, I mean have you seen you…" I paused, studying the expression on his face.

"Stop it, Agatha, this doesn't make any sense," Kethan protested, looking away.

"I am trying to come up with a solution Kethan," I yelled out, frustrated.

"Solution to what Agatha?" Kethan questioned calmly.

"The king will die," I declared, ogling at Kethan.

"How do you know that," Kethan asked, alarmed.

"The plague… the king has been infected. He's not just sick," I announced.

"The plague… it has gotten to this kingdom, people will die," I added, trembling in tragedy.

"This is too expensive to be real, how do you know this," Kethan asked in shock.

"I have seen it countless times, I have watched it kill people. This plague killed my mother Kethan; the king… he won't last long. prepare for his death," I argued.

Kethan covered his face in frustration, taking a deep breath.

"Now which one of these should I concentrate on? There is a plague, if the king dies, two of his sons have to die for one to become king," Kethan declared, exhausted.

"You can stop the death of the king before then, you can heal our land," I pleaded.

"How!" Kethan yelled in dissatisfaction.

"By summoning the Dragon Kethan," I yelled back, disappointed.

"Agatha, listen, I know nothing about any dragon, I am not what you think I am," Kethan protested.

"Then how do you explain having all these powers? I saw you at war, you weren't acting human at all. You vanish and do certain things a normal kind of human can't do. If you don't summon the dragon to swallow up this plague, we are all going to die," I retorted.

"Enough Agatha," Kethan warned.

"Kethan…" I called after him.

"I said enough!" he yelled, slamming his fist on the bedside table which fragmented into pieces.

I moved back in fear, watching him breathe heavily in annoyance.

"I'm sorry Kethan, but I do not want you to die fighting for the throne. Your brothers… hate you and won't glitch before killing you. But even if you become king, won't the plague kill us all?" I replied in worry. Walking closer to Kethan, I cupped his cheeks in my hands.

"I won't die, Agatha, let's solve this one at a time. Please," Kethan pleaded, relaxing.

"Okay," I murmured, climbing the bed.

Kethan followed and lay beside me.

I closed my eyes to sleep when the kingdom bell sounded. It was so loud and unavoidable that it was ringing continuously as though telling us there was a problem.

I jumped up in a panic.

"What's going on," I asked, facing Kethan.

"I don't know Agatha. Come; let's find out," Kethan responded, promptly dragging himself up.

I ran after him eagerly when Caspian badged into our chamber.

"You need to leave, the both of you should leave this kingdom and hide," Caspian yelled out in terror.

"Why?" Kethan bluntly asked.

"You need to hide my lord. You too my lady," he protested, trying to drag us out of the kingdom.

"You have to tell us what is going on Caspian, we cannot just run and hide," I retorted, snatching my arm from his grip.

"The king is dead," Caspian blunted out.