The Heart

Kraai did not get the answer he wanted from the Gift. The ball could only tell the truth, after all.

So he marched on the small kingdom of Crestfall with the full force of his army. 

Seeing how much harm her refusal had created, Mandra tried to talk some sense into the crazed king of the mountains. The beautiful princess sent a letter begging him to reconsider. 

When that did not work, she even considered accepting his marriage proposal, but Cron decided that was tantamount to surrender. 

Giving up his daughter after he was surrounded meant giving up his kingdom as well. And that was something he simply could not do. 

So they fought. 

The bloody battle did not go as Kraai expected. His huge force was unable to breach the fortress's alabaster walls. Like the stone from the Jade Palace, it was nearly impenetrable. 

Months passed. Things began to get desperate for the cut-off city-kingdom.

But each time the citizens of Crestfall thought they might starve, another mysterious influx of food would come from the palace.

No one asked where it came from, but many suspected it was conjured up by some magic from their monarch. 

Really, it was smuggled in from the vast tunnels under the city. 

But as that secret needed to remain absolute, no one who ever went underground was ever able to leave the palace again. That was the price of safety in war. 

After two years and no progress, the men under Kraai's rule began to lose heart. Many abandoned their post in the dead of night to return to their families while others did their best to avoid the front lines. 

Demoralized, the King of the Mountains was forced to either join the battle himself or withdraw. Unwilling to let Cron see him battered and bleeding, Kraai chose the latter option and returned to the mountains.

A sane man would have given up and cut his losses, but Kraai instead formed a new plan. He would find the hidden high temple and cry out for someone to answer his plea. 

Somehow Kraii's servant survived the chaos of battle and faithfully recorded the event for Noble to read. 

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"King Kraai's determination is unwavering and his focus singular. He claims Princess Mandra has bewitched him. No one has been able to convince him otherwise. 

So he has sought out the only one who he thinks may be able to ease his burden: the Heart God. I did not think he would succeed, but at last, we came upon the secluded temple and the acolytes who lived there. 

The temple servants almost refused the King entrance. I wish they had. 

Yet they reluctantly admitted us to avoid punishment, leaving any judgment to the gods. 

Inside the inner sanctum, my master wailed his woe toward the heavens. The air was thin and I thought my king would pass out from his screams, but I think his lungs must not be normal. If I were to be candid, he seems more beast than man lately. 

When he had called out until he was finally out of breath, King Kraii then pulled out a dagger from his waist and looked at me with a hungry expression.

Realizing his intention, I stepped back and begged him to reconsider.

'What good am I to you if I am dead?' I reminded him.

Sighing he turned the point of his knife on himself and cut his hand. My master held his palm over the altar, letting his own blood mingle with other sacrifices. 

The sight was sickening. I did all I could not to retch. 

Then the thin air became thick and oppressive. I shut my eyes and fell to my knees. If being before the Demon was difficult, being in the presence of this god was much worse. 

My emotions were no longer my own, and I felt an alien hunger within myself raging to get out. I was so beside myself that I cannot recall all that happened, but I do know the end result. 

After explaining his problem and showing off the ball from the Demon, the God of Hearts grew angry. 

'What has this to do with me?'

'I need you to change my love's heart to match my own,' King Kraai demanded. 

My own heart nearly stopped. How could a mere mortal make such a brazen request?

The Heart God spoke so loudly that my ears felt like they would split. The words overlapped and echoed. I could not comprehend them. 

Then the mysterious presence was gone. 

When I opened my eyes and lifted my head from the stone floor, King Kraai was hunched over, kneeling on the ground. 

For a moment, I thought he might have died of fright. But as I came close, he was still breathing.

'What happened,' I asked. 

My Master looked up at me with an unreadable expression. 

The Heart God said that since the princess had no love in her heart for me, then to match...my heart will have no love at all. 

My King held out his hand. The ball in his palm looked different. Rather than just have blackness in it, it seemed to pulse with life.

'Since my heart could not contain the truth, now the truth will contain my heart.'

Kraai clutched the ball back to his chest as if he could press it back behind his ribs. It did no good. 

There was no way to rejoin the man with his heart. I did not think he would live without the precious organ, yet somehow he did not die. 

After what felt like an eternity, the acolytes of the temple returned to see what had become of us. I could tell by their nervous expressions that they knew their patron had visited. 

As more and more of them flooded into the sacred space, I could sense our welcome was quickly drawing to a close.

Yet the king remained as still as a statue. 

'Master?' I tried, 'I think it is time we head home.' 

'I have no home and no heart.' King Kraii replied at last. 

He stood, and I saw a wound on his back where part of his armor was missing. My master didn't seem to notice. He was too busy cradling the black orb in his hand.

'This is all that is left of what my heart once was…' A cruel smile twisted onto his face as he looked at me.

When I saw the look in his eye, I shivered. There was his madness there like it always was, but there was something more. 

A darkness I did not dare name. 

I wish I could say that I think Princess Mandra is safe now that King Kraai feels nothing for her, but I cannot in good conscience report this news. 

As soon as we left the temple and rejoined our small military force, the king was already scheming his next plan. 

While he will not share his plan, I know that we are not headed back to the Jade Palace. 

We are headed deeper into the ashen mountains. My master may be insane, but he is immensely powerful. These men will not dare disobey him. 

I hope for your sake and your daughter's sake that we will not return any time soon. 

But I fear that we will be on your doorstep before you know it. 

Be ready. 

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While the mysterious messenger did not seem to have an Aspect related to foresight, his unfortunate vision would all too soon come true.