Travelling to the South

"*Sigh*...What is there in the South Kingdom? Why do we need to travel there with them Midel?" They were traveling on a simple-looking carriage. Shiiba continuously sighed. Lucien was riding with the Sabers. Midel, Shiiba, and Prince Devon were on a separate one. Ever since they left the North Kingdom, the prince has stayed on the carriage's floor in a lotus position to cultivate. Lucien's display of power somehow influenced the young prince.

"The South Kingdom is a mystery to the world but since Theoden is a merchant there is a chance that he has connections in the South. Maybe business, maybe medicine, we don't know. We are just going where the Accursed One goes."

"Oh, is that so. Oy, prince maybe you know something?" Shiiba tilted her head. She never heard of the South Kingdom.

"The ruler in the South Kingdom is the rumored magical child emperor." The price suddenly blurted out while still meditating. A smile forming on his lips.

~~~~~~~~

Yrah covered her eyes with a golden yellow piece of silk. Theoden patted Yrah's head and sighed inwardly. He never thought that their journey with a blood drop stone would bring such a disaster to his family and even losing his wife.

"I never thought that bringing that stone along with your mother would result in this. If I only knew...I would've forced her to leave that stone." Theoden felt his heart constricting while observing his two daughters

"I think mother sensed something special about it. When you were in the palace, it accidentally chose me." Yllana smiled at her father. Somehow deep inside her, she felt something familiar when she devoured the stone's power.

"It chose you? Then...did you absorb it already? Is that why your eyes turned red? Your mother was right all along..." Theoden's face was painted in disbelief. "Your mother said that your fate was tied to that stone. She insisted that we buy it when we come across a random stall in the nearby villages."

"Mother guessed that?" Yrah held Yllana's hands who was sitting in front of her. "Maybe mother was thinking of you all the time when she discovered that stone. Did you feel anything unusual, sister?"

"I felt mother's presence in the stone when it entered my body. But my eyes turned red way before I have absorbed the stone's power. It was after the war. Lucien...do you know more about the stone?" She turned to question Lucien. She didn't continue talking about how her eyes turned red. Her family has been through so much. She doesn't want to burden them more. All three pairs of eyes looked at the man in black robes.

There was a cute little rabbit sleeping in his embrace. His eyes met red ones when he looked at his left. Yllana's questioning gaze penetrated deep in his soul. A corner of his lips slightly raised.

"A blood drop stone can only be crafted by a mage higher than the Holy ranks and is made of hundreds or thousands of powerful souls. Each embedded soul can leave its own trace in the stone. Some do. Some don't."

Higher than Holy ranks? That means more powerful than Yllana? "I wonder...why would it choose me? Someone who is still weak?"

Theoden glimpsed at Yllana, "What do you mean Yllana? You are still marked as one of the Holy Knights in the North Kingdom. We saw the kingdom's insignia on your armor."

Then, what she said next left Yrah and Theoden speechless.

"I haven't reached the Holy rank yet." Lucien sharpened his gaze to measure Yllana's cultivation. She just reached Low-Saintly rank from last the last battle at the palace. Theoden and Yrah were both speechless.

"It's your soul," Lucien whispered then closed his eyes not bothering to say anymore to the shocked people around him.

"I am a merchant and I can't fathom how powerful people are unless I see it. However," He laughed heartily before continuing, "My daughter still hasn't reached the Holy ranks but is one of the ten Holy Knights? I couldn't be more proud than that!" His face beamed with delight that his eyes almost turned into slits. Yrah too couldn't help but feel proud of her little sister.

"And this prince...Yrah, you haven't told me yet how you managed to meet him." Theoden was asking about Prince Devon but his eyes were lingering over Lucien who seemed too familiar with Yllana. It seemed that his words were not really directed to Yrah but to Yllana.

Yllana tilted her head, unaware of the gesture her father was giving to Lucien. Since Yrah couldn't see, she didn't know that their father was sending a different message in the air.

"Well, I met him in a forest while hunting on the outskirts of the kingdom. I rescued him from a few hooligans in the forest. As for the pretty lady part, guess he liked girls with red hair and golden eyes. He even asked for Yana a long time ago and was eager to meet her too." Yrah bit her lip. This prince was still young but has been hounding her for so long now. He even took the opportunity when she was weak to make her ask for his help in exchange for marriage. Imagine a twenty-year-old girl being harassed by a fourteen-year-old boy, just the thought of it brought shivers down Yrah's spine.

"It is fine if he keeps guarding elder sister, but if he ever takes one wrong step, I won't forgive him," Yllana said resolutely.

~~~~~~~~~~

Nightfall

Crackling. The fire burned bright around the campfire. They stopped by the side of the road to tale a rest for the night.

"I'll keep watch for the night. You can all go to sleep." Yllana volunteered. Theoden scratched his head. His daughters seem more responsible when they left home years ago.

"I never thought that you would still carry that Knight attitude until now," Theoden smiled. "I'll keep you company for this night." Theoden was sitting on a log across her. The others looked for comfortable positions under the trees and started to drift to sleep.

"Father..." Yllana's voice was low and almost a whisper. "I'm sorry I had to keep being a knight a secret from you and mother. I have been feeling sorry all these years."

Theoden's eyes misted. This was the first time that his daughter asked forgiveness for the path she has chosen. He felt conflicted. "Yllana, your mother and I will always support both you and your sister. But why knighthood? Women were forbidden in our kingdom to enter the knighthood. It was a good thing that you didn't get caught while you were still training."

"I wanted so much to hunt down the Demon King. Every time I think about mother's screams when she has her nightmares, I couldn't take it. I felt her pain was deeper than anyone else's." Yllana looked up in the sky. "I wonder if mother still has nightmares now," a small smile played on her lips while thinking of her gentle and caring mother. Her brown eyes and brown hair was so warm in her memories.

"Your mother would have been proud in both of you." Theoden smiled at the twinkling star in the south. He knew somewhere deep in his heart that his wife would have been really proud.