78 The Snake Shall Strike

Prince Jambati Rui-Yarra was the older brother of King Ometu Naji Fon-Yarra. At the age of eighty-six years old, he was seven years older than the king. However, with his smooth brown skin and head of curly black hair, he looked a lot younger and healthier than his brother. Though the prince was in his eighties, he was still rather young compared to people within his essence level. Average green users had a lifespan of about four hundred years, however, one could live longer and slow down their aging depending on how much they trained .

Though Prince Jambati was the older of the two, his brother, Ometu, was appointed king by their father. This was because Prince Jambati was the son of a concubine while King Ometu's mother was the queen.

The relationship between King Ometu and Prince Jambati had always been strained due to this very reason. It was no secret that the prince envied his younger brother. In fact, when King Haniki Jorh Ometu-Yarra, father of Jambati and Ometu, appointed Ometu the new king of Dream Kingdom twelve years ago, Jambati had been enraged. Jambati had always believed that his father favoured his brother over him, and this was true. The thing was that when King Haniki married the love of his life, Basmansi Naji-Fon, they could not have children of their own. Thus, Queen Basmansi advised her husband to marry someone else who would give him heirs. King Haniki refused to marry anyone else, but after being persuaded by his wife, he eventually selected one of the queen's handmaidens as his concubine.

This concubine, Varensi Rui, was Prince Jambati's mother. When Jambati was born, Queen Basmansi rejoiced as though the new born prince was her own son. King Haniki was also happy to have a son, however, he still believed that one day he would have children with his wife. Thus, though Jambati was the first born, the king refused to apply the First of First Born Rule to his son. It was seven years later, when he had his second child, but this time with Queen Basmansi, that King Haniki applied this rule to his second child, in effect, acknowledging Ometu Naji Fon-Yarra as the first born.

The first of first born rule was a tradition specific to the Abira tribe of Dream Kingdom. Among the Abiras, to which the royal family of Dream Kingdom belonged, the first born child of a first born parent bearing the dominant family name was given a special name taken from the generational family name and dominant family name. Had Jambati been acknowledged as the first born by his father who was also a first born, the prince would have been named Ometu Naji Fon-Yarra. However, that name was given to Queen Basmansi's first and only child.

Family hierarchy was very important to the Abiras, thus, when two people marry, the person from the more powerful family passed on their name to their children, and their children to their children. Among the Abiras, the royal family was the most powerful family, hence, anyone who married into the royal family would take on the name, Yarra. This name which is passed for as long as the family exists is known as the dominant family name. On the other hand, the generational family name was the name inherited from the other parent and shared only by siblings.

While King Haniki loved his two sons, it was rather obvious he loved one son more. Even the queen dowager and mother of King Haniki was known to clearly favour her younger grandson over the older one. After all, the queen dowager had been against her son getting a concubine in the first place.

Because of this, as Jambati grew older, he wondered why his younger brother was treated with much more reverence by everyone. The then young prince would learn from his mother that his little brother had stolen what was rightfully his. This mentality grew stronger and stronger until Prince Jambati could not even stomach the sight of his brother. Everyone knew this; it was no surprise that the prince and his brother did not have a good relationship. Their relationship even became worse when their father made Ometu the crown prince, and then eventually appointed him the new king once he abdicated the throne.

But four years after Ometu became king, the tragedy of the assassination of the king's wife and children seemed to have brought the two brothers together. Eight years ago, Prince Jambati had saved his brother from an assassination attempt and was appointed the Lord of Hill City. King Ometu had been so grateful to his brother that he designated Hill City as an autonomous region for his brother. This meant that though city lords were under the governors of their province, Prince Jambati was not under the governor of Royal Hill Province.

In Dream Kingdom, the only person second to the king was the Royal Adviser. However, since King Ometu did not have a Royal Adviser, the person second to him was his brother, Prince Jambati. The decades long feud between the two brothers seemed to have been resolved by a tragedy. In fact, it came as a shock to everyone when the king declared Prince Jambati as the sole ruler of Hill City.

The only one the prince could answer to when it came to ruling the city was the king himself. However, since King Ometu was too sick to run the daily affairs of the kingdom, Prince Jambati ruled over Hill City however he saw fit. This was the honour the king had granted unto him, and none could go against it. For this reason, nothing could happen in Hill City without the knowledge of the prince. Thus, imagine Prince Jambati's surprise when Madoy suddenly appeared in his palace three days ago. But of course, once he learned that Madoy was sent by Verrin, he understood why the young man could infiltrate his palace with such ease.

Prince Jambati paced endlessly in his room, his usually calm and serious demeanor replaced by an uncharacteristic expression of gloom. It had been three days since Madoy visited him unceremoniously in his palace and that sudden visit had led him to have sleepless nights for three consecutive days.

'The society is running out of patience. Do something or the snake shall strike.' The words echoed again and again in Prince Jambati's mind. This was the message Verrin had sent to him through Madoy. The prince knew that Verrin was not a man who made empty threats, and thus, he knew that if he did not keep his end of the bargain, Verrin the Venom would indeed strike.

'In the meantime, you shall pay for wasting my time.' A slight shiver ran though the prince's veins when he remembered those chilling words. Was it possible that Verrin was responsible for the people going missing in the city? Thinking about what Verrin was capable of, the prince believed that it was all too possible.

"Verrin." Prince Jambati seethed, clenching his fist while his eyes literally became green with anger. "That snake has no patience."

Prince Jambati had hoped that after saving his brother's life eight years ago, things would become much easier. However, everything had become even much more complicated.

For some reason, King Ometu had not said anything about abdicating the throne. Everyone knew the king was sick and that he was not strong enough to rule the kingdom. Since he had lost all his children, and for that matter his heirs, the obvious successor to the throne was his brother, Jambati Rui-Yarra. Given the health of the king, the Dream Council had thought that the king would abdicate his throne and appoint his brother as the new king.

In fact, eight years ago, King Ometu had almost been at the verge of giving up his throne to his brother due to his immense grief. However, a few days later after the tragedy, Master Inifa Haniki suddenly appeared in the kingdom and then came to visit his grand-nephew in the royal palace. Immediately after that visit, King Ometu suddenly changed his mind and decided to keep ruling.

Prince Jambati knew that Master Inifa Haniki had something to do with the king's decision to stay on the throne. Master Haniki's sudden appearance in Dream Kingdom after being absent for several decades was something Prince Jambati had never anticipated. In the last eight years, Master Haniki had been to the royal palace twice. At that time, there were rumors that Inifa Haniki was going to be appointed as the king's Royal Adviser. However, those rumors were quickly dispelled when the king announced to the Dream Council that he was not taking on any Royal Adviser.

This was a great relief to Prince Jambati because he knew that if his grand uncle became the Royal Adviser to the king, he did not have any chance of being king. But even if King Ometu never appointed his grand uncle as his Royal Adviser, Jambati was absolutely sure that the old master had counseled the king the very day he came to the palace. Why else would Ometu have suddenly changed his mind about abdicating the throne?

As he continued to pace in his room while lost in deep thought, Prince Jambati revealed his green essence, and mist of green light hovered around his entire body. He lifted his right hand closer to his face, his green eyes focusing on the essence surrounding his hand.

He was a green user. A mere green user. Verrin the Venom, his grand uncle, and even his disabled little brother were all more powerful than him. If he were to come out unscathed from this war, he needed to use his wits. Apart from the fact that he was a prince, his talent for manipulating people was what had kept him alive all these years even after going against people more powerful than him.

The prince came to a sudden halt and a thin smile perched at he corner of his lips. He would go and see his brother right away.