Dude (Part 2/2)

**An existence like a whisper, so forlorn and alone yet not alone. Exists with a purpose that no one knows but he relishes it with delight... By Loctovia**

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A few moments earlier, Indicy had sat in his library and was getting impatient, as he waited for them to arrive. When he heard the knock and the door opened, he relaxed and watched as Alan ushered Lendon into the room. Alan always wore his emotions on his sleeve, and one could see how unwilling he was with this command of escorting the maid as he entered the room.

King Indicy had been with Alan for so long that he could shrug off such antics because who would otherwise dare show reluctance or annoyance in front of the king? Indicy knew that Alan had a good heart, and he knew his place because, in the face of powerful figures in the land, he would at least try to mask his emotions even though he failed always. People mistook his emotions as fury so not many people even dared to look directly in the face of the king's personal guard, Alan.

"You are finally here," Indicy said out loud before he realised, he had. "Well, I'll consider that as a form of greeting to them," he convinced himself, but he knew it was directed at Lendon specifically.

"Let's go meet our prestigious guest, " he added, and he watched the emotions pass of the girl's face. At first, it was questioning and then, confusion and an almost smile? He chuckled inwardly and got up from his seat, then walked to another room with the two following close behind him.

It turned out that, that was the room 'the twin' was in. Lendon observed the man on a huge bed on one side of the room. She couldn't get passed that eerie feeling of looking at two people with the same face. She had heard that it was possible, and some people were born that way and with the same face at birth but always thought that it was exaggerated gossip. She tried not to observe the room much as it was like any other room in the king's palace; heavily furnished in gold and the royal velvet red.

Indicy sat on one side of the bed by the sleeping form of the other man and pulled a chair close to him for her to sit on. As usual, she hesitated a bit but obeyed and sat down. As she did, she took another look at the sleeping man and frowned while she whispered,

"It couldn't be that he had been sleeping since he took the potion from me?"

"He should have been awake by now," she added.

Indicy replied as if he heard her whisper,

"He just likes sleeping,"

"He'll wake up when he wants to, so don't worry."

Lendon was startled as she didn't expect him to hear her, nor even reply to her words. She visibly relaxed when she heard this but was very self-conscious of the proximity between her and Indicy.

I mean who won't be? Kings are meant to be seen from afar by most, and she never dreamed of a day such as this when she wasn't even sure if she may be finished off with no one ever finding her body. She was brought out of her deep thoughts when she heard the king address her directly.

"Let me tell you a story," He started rather as he observed her nervousness. As if on cue, Alan stepped out to guard the door instead.

"A tradition has been passed down from generation to generation among the royals and very few people know about this. After an incident that claimed the life of one ruling king of our kingdom that had grave consequences on the land, our supreme Mage who guards the oracle gave us a degree to follow… "For every royal heir to succeed the throne, he must have a duplicate person who looks and does everything like him, but most importantly, must have a similar 'life essence' like him." This will prevent the disaster that happened then, that almost destroyed the entire land and its inhabitants". Indicy started his narration and Lendon frowned a little more because she was not sure why she was being told this.

Lendon raised her head slightly as Indicy continued his narration and this brought a smile to his lips. This was because she had done that action almost unconsciously, and to him, it told him that she was a little comfortable in his presence and she now had a bit of trust in him.

Taking advantage of this, he leaned a little closer to her and smiled even wider when she did not move back as she would have normally done. He continued with a faraway look on his face, "Apart from the queen selection, there are other women within the confines of this palace who are nurtured for this process. The sole purpose of the existence of these women is for this and nothing else. If they lose their purpose, they will be rid of their lives.

Any king that copulates with his queen must do so with a handful of these other maidens in the same night. When the queen gets pregnant, these other maidens are also checked for those who also successfully get pregnant. They, together with the queen go through 'spiritual cleansing'. I'm not sure of what goes on in that process though", Indicy said thoughtfully.

"To better explain, the Mage only comes around at that time and the women including the queen go through several rites and rituals during the pregnancy. After the children are born, there is always at least one child that has the essence of the queen's child and therefore they look alike.

They are called the 'Hanwisan'. It's only the successful child with a Hanwisan that can qualify to be the heir." Lendon's eyes widened when she heard this.

But Indicy continued, "The main requirement for a potential heir is to have a Hanwisan. All other criteria are secondary. However, there are times that the Hanwisan ritual fails. I'm not sure of what happens to those children, but they are not kept around. They solely exist to protect the lineage and throne. His body can handle attacks better than mine because of these rituals", Indicy motioned towards the still sleeping form.

Indicy decided to keep the brutal part of the rituals from Lendon as he did not know what she could handle emotionally. He knew that the failed Hanwisan children and their mothers, even including the mother of the successful Hanwisan were all killed off. They did not want the Hanwisan to form any attachments to anyone and its mother was just a vessel anyway. They knew very well what people who were hungry for power will do with that information or even the people involved as the failed children were still half-royal blood. He felt guilty for doing this but still did not divulge that information."

Lendon was quiet for some time as she digested the information, then she spoke out softly, "If I may ask, your majesty, what is his name?"

Indicy replied, "he is an existence with no name as he shares my life, but he calls himself Dude."

Lendon, '…'

She nearly burst out laughing. "What a ridiculous name," she thought to herself.

Indicy smiled and explained, "He found the name in one of the rare books in the library and started calling himself that."

As if he heard his name, Dude opened his eyes and looked at the two of them. He observed that Indicy had leaned even more closer to the girl, too close to her, he thought. Indicy felt a slight movement on the bed and turned to look at him and said,

"It's about time you joined us."

This made Lendon move back a bit and widen the space between them and this earned a small grunt of displeasure from Indicy. She did not pay much attention to it but also turned to look at Dude. He had an easy smile on his face that was never seen on Indicy's ever passive face.

Indicy turned back to Lendon and added "If I had ingested that poison from the banquet, I'm not sure that I'll be alive to be speaking with you now."

As he talked, he unconsciously leaned forward again towards Lendon, and this time, Lendon moved back as well. He seemed to be lost starting at her lips so much that Lendon felt uncomfortable and thought he had seen through her disguise.

Dude, equally observed all this with a knowing look on his face. He intruded on the conversation by saying,

"The relationship between people is very special, I think that the oracle already established everything, and we just must do our best with what we are given."

"What nonsense is this one sporting?", Indicy said in reply, but Lendon noticed the fondness in his voice as he addressed his Hanwisan.

"The attendants in this palace are not able to go out and therefore they cannot talk to anyone about this", Indicy stated. "Apart from the queen, and my guard, only the first elder knows and for him, it's not a must."

"Elder Fiesty only knows because when the former king, my father passed away quite early, he took the role of a father figure for me."

"Anyone who comes to know this does not breathe his next air because it is the foundation of the kingdom in a way."

Lendon mustered the courage and asked again,

"Why are you telling me all this, your majesty, and also, why did you spare my life?"

Indicy replied, "My gut tells me that you will not betray my trust and I felt the need to tell you everything as well."

Lendon looked visibly shaken when she heard the response but there was no reaction from Dude as if he shared Indicy's thought process.

She asked again, "The palace, do you receive all your guests here?"

Indicy shook his head and replied, "No, there is an outer palace that everyone can visit for whatever purpose they may have. That place is a big establishment for a king, so no one will question anything about it, but I prefer staying here. This place is reserved for the selected few who know of this secret." he added.

Lendon felt an invisible pressure descend on her shoulders after she heard this. She realised the burden of trust, King Indicy had bestowed on her and now kind of understood the reason Alan wanted to get rid of her earlier. The most puzzling part was that this was the longest talk she had ever had with the king, and she wasn't sure despite all reasons and explanations why he was willing to trust her with this information.

She asked another question, "my king, the death of a king should not warrant such extreme measures by the mage,"

"Another king could have been enthroned but why this grave reaction?"

Indicy remained in a thoughtful stance for a while. Lendon noticed that even Dude's carefree facial expression looked to have been turned off.

After a while, he replied, "For this, I'll tell you someday, not now."

Lendon knew when not to overstep her bounds and wisely did not ask any other questions.