The Queen of the Spirits (2)

In the hall , the wind spirit approached the corner where the water spirit was standing , looking ahead with a straight expression on her face .

He picked up a glass of drink from a nearby table , his eyes met hers for a moment before she looked away . At that time , the Fire spirit and the Nature spirit entered the hall side by side but still maintaining a respectful distance because not everyone was aware of their relationship .

" They look so good together . I wish , he could select her . " , the Wind spirit spoke up looking at the two . The Water spirit turned to him and frowned but didn't say anything .

" But some people are so eager to come between them . Can't they see , just how much they love each other . " , of course his words were directed to the Water spirit .

" Of course they can see but they are not hopeless fools like you who can't accept the reality . " , she replied straightforwardly .

" Excuse me ? How dare you call me a hopeles fool ? " , asked he glaring at her .

" I've always been daring , Mr. Wind . "

He was going to say something but she continued , " There will be a queen no matter what whether it's me or someone else . Even if I am not selected , she ( pointing at the Nature spirit with her eyes ) won't have a chance . And you know that . Then what's your problem ? "

" My problem is that I don't trust you .... I don't trust you at all . I have no problem with anyone else but I don't want you in my friend's life . "

" You consider yourself his friend ! Huh , if you had slightest bit of good will for your friend you wouldn't have any objection with me being his queen . "

" Huh ! are you trying to say that you want to become his queen just out of your good will for him and you have no gain from it ? Don't make me laugh . You want the queen's powers . Don't you ? Let me tell you something , you are not worthy of the powers . "

" Just wait , Mr. Wind , if I become the queen ... you'll see .... whether I'm worthy or not . "

He was going to say something but she said again , " Anyway , I don't care about your opinion . I just hope , your friend is not like you . I hope , he is sensible enough to see what's best for him . "

" You think , you are best for him ? "

" Of course , only my powers can help him . " , he couldn't say anything as he knew that she was right .

She laughed a bit and said , " What ? Don't have anything to say ? .... You made a slight mistake , you know ..... You should've been born with water powers . " , the Wind spirit looked at her confusedly , she continued , " Then you didn't have to trust me with your friend , you could've married him yourself and share your powers with him to save his love life . " , though she said all these in a nonchalant tone the male spirit was totally knocked out . He was too stunned to speak anything .

After a while , he calmed down and spoke up , " You are so irritating , you know that ? "

" Yes I do . And you know what , I love it when people get irritated by me . "

He couldn't stand it anymore and turned to leave . But he stopped again and said , " I know , you are upto something . But I believe in my friend . He won't let you succeed in any of your games . " , with that he left leaving the female spirit behind who had straight expression on her face .

.....

Finally , the moment of which everyone was waiting for had come . The spirits gathered in front of the podium where the king was seated . On one side of the king were seated the former kings and queens and on the other side , the court members . A female spirit was standing a bit far from the king holding a tray upon which was placed the exquisitely beautiful crown of the queen , waiting for its new owner .

" Okay , so are you ready to welcome our new queen ? " , a middle aged court spirit said to the subjects . They shouted a joyous ' yes ' to show their excitement .

" Our king would announce his decision now , so I won't say much . " , he turned to the king and nodded his head .

The king stood up and walked forward . He looked at his subjects and started in his straight and bold voice , " My subjects , whatever I have decided , I have done it after considering all the aspects carefully . I hope , you all would accept my decision without any doubt and negative thought . "

The king didn't have to give any justification for any of his decisions . But the Fire spirit was different from the other kings , he was brave yet considerate , bold yet humble , cold from outside but benevolent towards his subjects . That's why the spirits had huge respect for their king . They immediately showed positive response to his words .

The king smiled a bit and looked at his beloved amidst the crowd , she gave him a small smile and nodded her head . He sighed and spoke up , " As the king of the spirits ..." , his eyes trailed to the corner where the lonely figure was still standing , far from all the crowds , looking at him with expressionless eyes . Their eyes met as he completed his announcement , " ..... I am selecting the .... Water spirit as the queen of this kingdom . "

As he finished speaking loud clapping sound filled the room . The spirits were happy , they were cheering for their king for selecting such a virtuous queen for them and there were also some spirits who were not so happy about the Water spirit being the queen , the court members too were not happy about the decision but they couldn't do anything as it was the king's decision .

The crowd started looking for their queen and someone shouted " There she is , in the corner . " , and in an instant all eyes turned to the Water spirit .

The court spirit from earlier spoke up , " Dear Water spirit , if you agree to the king's decision please come and accept the honour . "

The spirits moved to both sides to give her way as she started walking towards the podium where the king was standing .

She was wearing a light blue and white coloured long dress with long flowy sleeves , her long shiny hazel coloured hair was let loose on her back , she wasn't wearing much ornaments yet her simple attire was looking breathtakingly gorgeous , every step she was taking was full of elegance . Everyone was so dazzled by her beauty that they even forgot to blink as she walked from the middle of the crowd .

The Nature spirit couldn't help but looked at her lover to see his reaction , only to find him staring at his would be queen with a plain expression in his eyes . Unknowingly a small sigh of relief escaped her lips . Probably the Fire spirit felt her gaze as he turned his eyes to her , she was looking at him , he could feel the insecurity in her eyes . He could just assure her with his eyes . She nodded .

The Water spirit approached the king , in slow steps . She stopped before him and bowed towards him .

He looked at her for a moment and spoke up , " Do you accept to be the queen of this kingdom and its people ? "

She remained silent for a moment before replying , " I do . "

He nodded and held out his hand towards her , she took a short breath before placing her hand upon his . He held her hand and walked towards the area where the former kings and queens were sitting . They stopped before them and bowed to them together .

Then it was time for the coronation ceremony , as the king crowned the queen the crown started shining in a soothing golden hue . It was a very rare event , it had happened only twice in the long history of the spirits . The golden light indicated that the crown has found its rightful owner . The king and the queen came and stood in front of the subjects .

The spirits were silent all this time , now they again started cheering for their king and the new queen .

A court spirit stopped them and started , " We are so delighted to finally have our queen . Thirteen days from now , and we'd gather again to witness the sacred wedding ceremony of our king and queen . For now , enjoy the feast . " , the loud cheers and clapping again filled the hall .

...

The banquet was coming to an end .

The king and the queen said goodbye to the court members and walked far from the crowd , they were about to part their ways when someone blocked their way . They stopped and saw the king of the Dark kingdom , the Darkness spirit , standing with a grin on his face . Seeing him a look of displeasure flashed in both of their faces .

Seeing their displeasure his grin only became wider . He held out his hand towards the Fire spirit and spoke up , " Congratulations , my friend . Your kingdom finally has a queen . " , the Fire spirit neither shook his hand nor replied to his words . But the cold behaviour didn't affect the other king at all . He just shrugged his shoulder and held his hand towards the female spirit this time .

" My best wishes to the new queen of the Sapphire kingdom . " , she looked at his extended hand and spoke up in a straight voice , " Thank you so much . But our kingdom doesn't need your good wishes . "

He pretended to be hurt and was about to say something but the female spirit simply walked away before he could even start .

Since the female spirit left the Dark kingdom king again turned to the king of Sapphire kingdom .

" I knew ..... you'd select her . " , he said in mocking tone and chuckled .

" So , what about it ? "

" But I was wondering , isn't it against your morality to use someone for your own good ? "

" Why would it be against my morality when she herself doesn't have any problem with it ! And if I have the power to make decisions I'd definitely see what would be most profitable for me . It's as simple as that . "

He laughed and spoke up , " You've selected really a great queen for your kingdom but don't think that you'd have the upper hand against me because of her . "

" I think , you've forgotten how badly you were defeated by me even when I didn't have a queen . Do you think , I need her support to beat you ? "

" Don't be so overconfident , my friend . The table can turn at any moment . "

" I'm not being overconfident at all . I just know that ... I'd never let your dark powers contaminate my kingdom . " The eyes of the Darkness spirit became sharp for a moment but he concealed that very soon .

The Fire spirit prepared to leave but the Darkness spirit suddenly spoke up , " Oh , Nature spirit ! It's so good to finally see you . "

Fire spirit turned to the direction , the Darkness spirit was looking at . He found his beloved standing near a pillar , it was clear that she was waiting for him but since others were around she didn't want to approach him .

" Are you not going to greet me ? " , Darkness spirit said again .

She looked down and started coming towards them . Though the relationship between the two kingdoms has never been good and a few battles have already taken place she couldn't disobey his words . After all he was a king and at the moment a guest to their kingdom .

She bowed to him and greeted him .

" You must be very dejected , your partner is going to marry someone else ! " , he asked with a smirk .

" It's his responsibility towards the kingdom . I have no reason to be dejected . " , she said softly .

" Really ? Then what about his responsibility towards you ? " , the Fire spirit looked at him coldly , he knew that the Darkness spirit was just trying to mess with them .

" I believe in him , he'd fulfil his responsibility towards me sooner or later . "

" So you don't mind that you'd have to share him with someone else ? "

" Most of our kings had several queens , it's not anything new . "

" That means , you don't have any problem even when he has several queens ? "

She nodded and spoke up , " Yes , it doesn't matter how many queens he gets the only thing that matters is who has his heart . "

He smirked and said , " Oh sweetheart , are you sure that his heart belongs to you ? And if it does how long do you think it'd belong to you ? " , he said looking at the other king .

The Nature spirit didn't say anything as she looked at her beloved , the Fire spirit said to her , " Let's go . No need to listen to his nonsense . " , with that they left leaving the grinning spirit behind .

....

" Master , are we leaving ? " , the attendant of Darkness spirit asked .

" I came here to see drama but everything went too smoothly that I didn't enjoy at all . I'm not leaving until I am amused enough . "

The attendant knew his master well . He spoke up , " So what's the order for me ? "

The king shook his head and said , " Let me handle it myself . "

------------------------------------------

The feast has ended . Most of the spirits had left by now . The Fire spirit bid farewell to his beloved before she too left with her attendant . It was now time for the king to go back too but he wanted to take a walk to clear his thoughts . So he ordered his guards to go back first .

As the king came out of the beautiful venue he found the attendant of Water spirit looking here and there with a worried expression .

He frowned and approached her .

" What are you doing here ? " , he asked .

She turned back and widened her eyes to see the king standing there .

" Oh , your highness ! " , said she as she bowed to him .

" What happened ? " , the king asked again .

The attendant started while keeping her eyes low , " I can't find my master . I've been searching for her for so long but she is nowhere to be found . "

He frowned and said , " Probably she went back alone . "

" No , your highness . She asked me to wait for her outside . I waited for her for a long time but she didn't come out , I went back in and searched for her everywhere but I didn't find her . " , she stopped for a moment and spoke up , " And I found her bracelet lying near a corner . " , she showed him the bracelet . It was a special kind of bracelet , very few spirits who possessed extraordinary powers had those bracelets . With the bracelets on those spirits couldn't be harmed easily .

" I am very worried . What happened to her ? Where did she go ? "

The king spoke up , " You go back . I'll look into it . "

The attendant was still standing so he said again , " Go . " , this time a bit boldly .

She bowed and prepared to leave .

" Leave the bracelet before you go . " , she presented the bracelet before him . He picked it up and walked away .

.....

Near the bank of the river of Light that determines the border between the Sapphire kingdom and the Dark kingdom was lying the unconscious body of the Water spirit . The Darkness spirit was about to touch her when some dark red flames blocked his hand . He smirked devilishly and turned his head towards the figure , standing a few metres away with a cold expression , his sharp eyes were looking so dangerous at the moment .

He walked towards the Darkness spirit and held him by his collars .

" Keep your evil hands away from her , you monster . " , he said through gritted teeth .

The other spirit chuckled and spoke up , " Oh , finally the king has arrived to save his queen ..... " , his sentence couldn't get completed as a heavy punch landed on her face . He stumbled a little backwards still the cunning look didn't leave his face .

" How dare you lay your filthy hands on the queen of this kingdom . You know , for this offence , I can kill you right now , right here ! Your people would never find out what happened to their king . " , the Fire spirit said again .

The Darkness spirit laughed a little and spoke up , " Don't pretend that you care about her . You are here because you know that she is the key to the happy life you've planned with your beloved . If anything happens to her your dream of that happy life would be shattered right away ... And you know what , I'd never let your dream come true , I'd never let you be happy . " , he said in a mocking tone .

" If you're done with your nonsense , get out of here before I lose my patience and break your face . JUST GET LOST . "

The Darkness spirit knew that it was better for him to leave , he glanced at the unconscious female spirit and smirked .

" You won't be lucky everytime . " , he said menacingly and with that he left looking at the king one last time .

After he left , the Fire spirit calmed down a bit and crouched next to the unconscious queen . He held her hand , then he took out her bracelet and put it on her wrist . After a few moments , the Water spirit opened her eyes . She got up slowly and found the Fire spirit next to her . He was looking at her with plain expression . She looked around and then fixed her gaze upon him .

The Fire spirit sighed and said , " Can't you be careful ? "

" I was looking for my bracelet , so I didn't pay much attention to other things . "

The king stood up and said , " We should go back , it's late . "

She nodded and extended her hand towards him .

He frowned and said , " What ? "

" Help me up . "

" Help yourself . "

" I'm not asking you to carry me just help me to stand up . "

He rolled his eyes and dragged her up .

They started walking .

" Thank you for saving me . " , she said .

" No need to thank me . I couldn't let you die , after all only you can fulfil my long awaited wish . "

She understood what he was referring to , a faint smile appeared on her face as she said , " Right . "

Nobody said anything after that , the two figures went on side by side . Even the moon shone brightly upon the two whose match was predestined .