CHAPTER. 15 TALENTED

Slain could almost not tell where he was. The gates to the city were heavily guarded and the capital was far more different from how he had left it. He wondered what the occasion was. Everybody seemed to be in a rush and all were buying new clothes. Whatever it was it had to be grand. The city was decorated all over and guards roamed from one place to another such that he had to hide his face with a black cloak. Meryl was next to him hiding her face too. They came across posters saying about the grand wedding of the princess. That was when he began hearing what the people were saying. In groups the people sat in circles and talked about how the princess was going to get married and how all kings from the other three kingdoms had been invited. They talked about how the event was going to happen. They said of the prince arriving on the wedding day. They could not wait to see his face. Slain at first wondered who they were talking about. He stopped a middle age man and asked him who the prince was.

"Aah, it seems you are the only one who does not know. Everybody is saying that its Prince Ramiel. Shh... do not say his name aloud or you will be arrested. Rumour has it that he underwent a miracle and was saved from the death of a stab with sword by a disloyal Knight. That lunatic deserved to die. The capital was in a ruckus during his assassination. Who knew that the clever lunatic would escape. The attempted murder sped up the wedding which will be taking place tomorrow. That is when the prince will make an entrance. The ladies can't wait to see him. Take care," the man said and hurried up to join a group.

Slain felt as if a piece of hot iron was sunk inside his chest. How could he not know. All this time he was busy escaping while she was preparing for a wedding. He felt shaken and he could feel the earth spinning and ringing in his head. He fell on his knees his hands on his ears but the ringing just got louder. Did life here have to be this cruel? A group of people saw him as he started crawling his hands searching like a mad man. The people saw him and got away from him. She could not get married yet. Not when he still wanted to be with her. He tried to stand but he ended up falling and crawling. "He is a mad man! Stay away from him!" He could hear the people speak. Just when he thought of giving in he felt two hands on his shoulder straightening him up. He shoved the arms off but he felt the two hands on his face. He tried to move but her grip was tight. He looked at her eyes and they were green

"Arriety," he called as tears fell from his eyes.

"Look at me Slain. Get up from the illusion and see where you are. Look at me and remember why we came here. Remember who you are. Sepher." She said. Slain at first saw Arriety but as she spoke her face disappeared and another one materialized. The green eyes were replaced by the brown ones. Who was she? Just as he was about to ask who she was she called him Sepher. This rang a bell and his clouded memory Cleared. Meryl.

"Meryl," he called still in tense," she will be married tomorrow. I cant take it. We shouldn't have come here."

"Sepher look at me!" She shouted and shook him, "Get on your right mind. You are not worthy of her  betrayal. You deserve more and thats why you are the savior. You must not let those who pull you back stand in your way.  Remember why we came here. We are going to save the world together. Remember? I promise to help you forget all of them, Sepher." She wiped his tear as he settled down. She helped him stand up as she pulled his arm through the crowd. They went back to the inn they had rented. She made him lay on the bed where he fell asleep. He was running a fever. She felt his temperature and he was already sweating. He must have been having a nightmare. She went out and came with a wet clothe. She removed the cloak and his shirt and let him lie on his back. She placed the clothe on his forehead and walked out. She came back with a basin and another cloth which she used to wipe his body.

She dipped the cloth into the water and wrung it. She wiped his face going down to his neck. She then cleaned his arms and sprinkled some water on his chest. She wiped it off with the water and as she went down his abs. She could not help but stop and stare. She could not help her hands which were curious to touch. She let go of the cloth on his naval as she moved her hands on them. She massaged his muscular chest and his biceps. Who knew he would be this hot. She then felt his face and memories of the past occurrence came to her. Who was Arriety and how could he confuse her to be her. She could not beleive that he had lost his mind just because of a girl. She had to meet her. She also had to keep him on the right path so she would not lose him. She pinched his lower lip and wiped the tear which was coming from his left eye.

"I will help you forget. All of it." She said

*******

What was this place? What was that she was seeing. Then all came to life around her. The first thing that caught her eyes was Slain. What was he doing here. He was holding a sword dripping with blood and on his feet was a pile of bodies. Though he was facing away she could tell it was him. The wind blew his hair as he turned and looked at her. His face was covered with blood and there was a sword sticking on his chest she had not noted before. He yet had another one on his belly and an arrow sticking on his right arm.He dropped his sword and fell on his knees.

"I found you." He said splitting blood from his mouth. "How did I do?" He asked. She rushed to him and wiped the blood.

"You did your best," she said in tears, "Why did you come?" She cried unable to hold in her tears. He raised his bloody hand and touched her face to wipe her tears. His vision was blurry and he closed his eyes as his hand dropped. She cried as his body vanished. Then there was rumbling and lightning as the ground split into two. Then from the ground came out a burning lava which transformed into a humanoid creature. The eyes were white.

"Even in this life you fail to save him. Do you plan to go into hiding like you did a thousand years ago? You see, Slain and I are not different only that he will always die. Do you wanna know how he will cause destruction? How many lives will he have to take to bring the so called peace you are seeking? Just look at how many bodies lay here victim of his sword. This time I won't let you off, am glad I finally go you this time," the creature said and it swung its arm at her as the lava fire faded her away.

***†*****

Slain stirred up in his sleep. He remembered what he had done and how had lost his mind. He tried to move his right hand but could not. He move his left hand took the clothe from his head. He opened his eyes and he saw Meryl's head on his chest. Of all places to doze off that's where she chose. She must have fallen asleep tending him. Her hair hid her face. How could she just fall asleep any where. He had another cloth on his naval. He pushed it away and smiled. She had a very weird  different way of helping. He moved her slowly and lifted her from the ground placing her on the bed. He fixed her hair and covered her up to her breast. He had not eaten anything and so he put on his shirt and took the cloak. He went to the inn's owner and asked for vegetables and rice.

"You want to cook for your wife? How sweet of you. Its very rare to nowadays find handsome caring men like you. Here you go," she handed him the ingredient in a basket. He was about to walk away when the inn owner stopped him. "Here is some meat. Make sure your wife eats well," the woman said and continued sweeping the floor humming.

Slain could not believe that that woman called Meryl his wife. People really loved to judge. He smiled at the thought and went upstairs back to their room. He lit the lamp and went to the table and started cutting the vegetables. He cut the tomatoes and added some onion. He then went to the kitchen and lit a fire. He cooked slowly and finally it was done. He served the food in two plates and sat there waiting for her to wake up. He went to the room where she was sleeping and lit a candle on her bedside table. He then lit another one to the other bed which he was going to sleep on. He was making his bed when he saw her wriggling herself  moaning. He went to her and looked at her. She was sweating and he could tell she was having a nightmare. He held her hand which she held on tightly. She calmed down but she kept producing muffled words. He could not understand and then he saw tears coming from her closed eyes. The she began sweating again and wriggling herself once more. He stood and rushed to the door. He had to call a physician. He was about to open it when he heard her scream. In a dash he was in the room next to her. She sat up her clothes wet from all the sweating. She breathed heavily and quicky all tense up. She looked at him and she was a mess she seemed to recognize him and she wrapped her arm around him enveloping him in a tight hug. He hugged her back and hushed her patting her back assuring her with calm words that she was okay.

"You are alive," she said panic leaving her.

"As you can see I am alive and kicking unless you want to talk about it am not going to ask," Slain told her.

"Yeah," she agreed and stood up. "I feel like a mess. I have to go take bath." She walked out leaving him there perplexed by the situation. He went to the door after he heard a knock. It was the owner of the inn.

"Everything okay here?" She asked. He assured her that his wife was just having a nightmare but now she was okay. The owner peeked and saw the food on the table. She rushed down excitedly like a little kid.

Slain waited for a while before she came back. She looked much better as she entered the house. She went to the room and took another while and she came out dressed in a white gown. All that time just to come out dressed like that.  He told her to sit on the opposite side of the table and he served her some rice and some vegetables plus some pieces of meat. She laughed and blushed trying to imagine he cooked all that.

"I hope its as good as your sword skills," she teased as she took a bite.

"Is it good?" He asked as he watched her swallow.

"Its much better. I didn't know that you are a man of many talents," she kept teasing.

"I am far much more talented in other sectors if you wanna try you could call on me," Slain said a menacing smile on his face.

"Just stick to business thats why we are here" she said looking away. He was sure there was a blush on her cheeks. He took his plate and started eating. He could feel her stare at him as he ate.

"What, never seen a man eat before?" He asked. "There are many other things I can eat, do you want me to show you? Would you stare or scream?" He saw her laugh and he felt relieved that he was able to turn her mood.

"Will you shut up! I need to focus on the food. You know am hungry could you just quit the flirting?" She begged.

"Why? What is it that you are thinking that you can't focus on food. Or do you think you would scream not stare..." He asked staring directly into her eyes. She got up and slapped the table.

"Shut up!" She begged. She downed the plate quickly and rushed to bed. She could not listen to any word that came from that treacherous mouth of his.

"Good night princess," he said aloud so she would hear him. This guy really was annoying now he was calling her princess.

"I am not a princess and shut up!" She said burying her face into the pillow.

"I have to go out for a while. Stay put and do not let anyone in. Sleep well. I will be back before you notice I was gone," Slain said and walked out. Where was he going late at night. She thought about it for long and just as she was about to go and look for him he was back. She pretended to be asleep. She heard him climb his bed and before she knew it she was asleep.