CH.4 BROXA KINGDOM

Athena had a mini panic attack, watching Exios talk to the guards. She couldn't make out what they were talking about, whether it was going good or bad. After several minutes of waiting, which seemed like hours to Athena. One of the guards signaled the caravan to enter. Exios slapped one of the guards on the back almost buckling him. instead of being attacked, him and the other guards burst out laughing. Exios jumped back in the coach with Athena and Maxwell, the guards snapped to attention and saluted as they went through the border into the kingdom.

Athena wanted to ask what that was about, but she lost focus. Everyone except Exios and Maxwell stared wide eyed once they entered through the wall. Buildings built from brick and mortar lined both sides of the road. They past several shops and houses before coming to a big open roundabout area. Hundreds of people gathered around carts that set up to sell various things. Mixed aromas of food and fragrances filled the air. All the sounds of the people blended together into a low uproar. they all seemed happy walking around carrying plates of food and bags of merchandise.

"This is what living in the capital is like?" Athena said looking back and forth trying to see everything.

Exios closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, this is only the outer ring."

Soon they made their way past the congested area and continued down the road until they came to another massive wall. Again Exios jumped out, said something to the guards and again they saluted as they made their way through.

"Ok, what is going on?" Athena said interrogating Exios.

Exios smiled, "along time ago Remy made up a password that he gave to the guards. Anyone that told them the password they were to treat as they would him. He made it up so he could basically sneak in women without going through all the hassle and paperwork."

Athena made a disgusted face and Exios laughed.

"The inner circle" Maxwell said in awe, looking around with a familiar expression.

The buildings and houses were even bigger and more detailed than the outer rings. Everyone watched them as they passed by, looking at them like they didn't belong. They passed through a district of big fancy restraunts with outside shaded dining and shopping buildings that had big fancy signs. People dined outside being waited on hand and foot while others made their way through the shopping centers. Unlike the district from the outer ring. it was quite, everyone dressed in formal clothing and acted dignified.

After they navigated their way through the inner circle, they finally found themselves at the entrance of the wall that surrounded the capital.

"This is it" said Exios. "The kings castle is just on the otherside of this tunnel."

As they approached Athena noticed the guards at this entrance appeared more refined and unique. Each one had different polished armor, or no armor at all. Even their weapons were unique.

"These guards are different from the ones before" said Athena.

"Yes," said Maxwell. "Only diamonds and above are assigned to guard the capital."

The guards lounged around on comfy looking chairs and couches set underneath a canopy. They obviously weren't use to much traffic coming to and from the capital, so when a couple raggedy coaches approached it caught their attention. Every last guard paused what they were doing watching the caravan come to a stop a couple hundred feet from their canopy.

Exios jumped out making his way toward the canopy. By the time he got there several of the guards held their weapons showing they were ready for a fight. Exios held up his hands like he had done with the guards before. "I'm unarmed, I come in peace" he said.

"Who are you? And what's your business here?" One guard asked folding his arms.

Exios cleared his throat, "the pass phrase is the sun seeks the moons beauty."

The guards looked shocked, one man pushed his way through the others. He was obviously the one in charge. "How do you know that password? Who are you?" He demanded.

"Remy told me the pass phrase a long time ago."

"Remy? You mean Remadaus Broxa our king?" The guard said before him and the others burst into laughter.

"Who else can give out that pass phrase?" Exios said with a smirk.

The head guard stopped laughing and locked eyes with Exios. He walked to a nearby table wrote something on a piece of paper folded it up and handed it to another guard. "send it up" he said. The guard took the paper, waved his hand and flicked the paper it burst into a flame, disappearing. Several of the guards had surrounded the caravan at this point looking in the back of each wagon and inside each coach. Ten minutes later a lavish looking coach came from the capital side stopping in front of Exios. The door swung open, all the guards snapped to attention and saluted.

A big burly bald headed man with a dark skin complexion stepped out of the coach. He had a short classic goatee with bits of gray in it. He stood over seven feet tall and had massive muscles. a long thick scar went from his left eyebrow to the back of his head. He wore a short sleeve open leather vest that showed off his massive chest, abs and arms. A thick belt with a bulls head as a belt buckle held up his shorts and moccasins covered his feet.

The head guard ran over and saluted. "Thanks for coming Grandmaster Langston. I dont–" the Grandmaster held up his hand silencing him.

He fixated his dark brown eyes on Exios and marched towards him. "You must've come here looking to die!" He growled. Each step he took caused an earthquake. Everyone in the caravan screamed as they rocked back and forth. even the guards were having trouble not stumbling. The Grandmaster stopped in front of Exios breathing heavy and glaring with a crazed expression. He locked eyes with Exios ready to pounce. After several seconds his expression shifted to one of confusion, then to shock.

"No, it can't be. It's not possible" he said softly.

Exios smiled, "good to see you to Levi."

The Grandmaster grabbed Exios lifting him up and bear hugging him. "I can't believe it, once I looked into those fearkess eyes I knew it had to be you" He said joyfully. He set Exios down, looked at the caravan then looked at Exios. "I assume they're with you. We have so Much to talk about, but we should do it in the privacy of the castle. The king needs hear about this as well." He turned to the guards. "They are to recieve a full escort directly to the castle, and make sure they are taken care of."

The guards all snapped back to attention. "yes sir," they replied collectively. Several guards jumped aboard the carriages guiding them towards the entrance. Exios stepped in front bringing them to a halt. he opened the coach with Athena and asked her to come with him. She was nervous but took the offer and together they joined Levi in his coach. They followed behind the others. Moments later they passed through the entrance into the capital.

Athena's jaw dropped and her eyes lit up once the capital came into view. All the buildings were uniquely designed, built from polished stone and decorated with artistic gold lacing. The caravan wheels glided over the paved roads. Mansions with huge individual lots covered the capital. Workers could be seen trimming trees and hedges, or carrying out daily tasks. A few residents in fancy attire could be seen sitting casually on their balconies reading, or being served brunch.

They made their way up a hill towards a massive castle. Big iron gates accompanied by tall stone guard towers circled the flat area. The guards on the caravan signaled to open the gates. Plush green grass covered the whole area besides the road. Fruit trees were scattered all over the property. At the end of the road in front of the castle a tree taller than any they've seen stretched into the sky and blanketed the castle in shade.

The caravan stopped at the base of the tree. Exios, Levi and Athena stepped out of the coach. Levi instructed the guards to take the others to the royal guest section of the castle. Athena waved them off trying not to seem worried. She then walked to the tree and rubbed her hand on its smooth trunk and stared up at the distant branches.

Exios joined her putting his hand on the tree. "Remy use to tell me this is his family tree. He said the founding Broxa family planted this tree and as long as it stands so will this kingdom."

"Very good" said Levi walking up next to them. "You remember Broxa history. Its also true, as long as this tree has been here. Through all the different Empires, Emperors and kings of monsters. Broxa has remained a kingdom, and the Broxa family has ruled it."

"Hey I helped keep it that way to, remember" said Exios.

"Do you also remember that touching the tree is a capital crime?" Levi replied straight faced.

Athena quickly removed her hand. Levi cracked a smile, "dont worry he never paid attention to that law either. Come on let's go" he said guiding them on the pathway around the tree. He lead them through a courtyard full of beautiful flowers that lead to the front of the castle. Two guards saluted then pushed open the big metal double doors. Inside they continued walking on a long lavish dark blue rug through a short and wide hallway. The walls were lined with portraits of previous rulers.

They made their way into a large open room with a tall ceiling. A massive sparkling chandelier that emitted light hung from the ceiling. Couches, chairs, bookshelfs and tables filled the room. Several men and women lounged around, Some playing cards, chess, or other various games. others were drinking coffee and looking for something to read from the bookshelfs. None of them seemed to care they entered the room. Long hallways were on the left and right hand side of the room.

"These are the palace guards" Exios said to Athena who was awestruck staring at the chandelier.

She snapped out of it once she realized Exios and Levi were leaving her behind. They walked off towards the far side of the room where two men sat reading books in lounging chairs placed outside more double doors. Athena quickly hurried to Exios, then she felt it. Looking around the room, everyone gave off an intense presence. She felt like a sheep in a wolfs den. The two men looked up as they approached. They closed their books and stood up. Athena thought she was seeing double, but realized the two men were actually twins. Everything they did almost mimicked eachother. they were tall, thin bald headed and the white suits they wore made their extremely pale skin stand out all the more.

"Welcome back Levi" one said.

"I assume they're the reason you rushed out," Said the other, gesturing to Athena and Exios.

"Mims, mokey" Levi said greeting them. "And yes, this is–" Levi paused. "These are friends of the king, now open the doors."

The twins looked at eachother then shrugged at the same time, not really seeming to care. They both pulled out a key and simultaneously stuck them in the doors.

"Be warned" said Mims. "The king has been–" Mokey cut him off. "In a rather bad mood" he said finishing the sentence. Levi gave them a hurry up gesture. They shrugged then twisted the keys and opened the doors. Levi lead the way into the throne room. A group of official looking people sat around a U shaped table that faced a man sitting on a throne. One lady stood in the center giving a speech.

She noticed Levi, Exios and Athena walking up and stopped her speech. "What is the meaning of this?" She said completely flustered. "And how dare you bring these commoners in the royal throne room." She turned to the man on the throne. "Sire you should have them executed." She smirked like what she said was about to pass.

The man on the throne massaged his eyebrows obviously annoyed. He had dark skin, very short curly black hair with streaks of gray in it and a burn scar that covered the left side of his neck and ran up to his ear. He was just under six feet tall and medium built.

He looked at Levi. "What are you doing? Can't you see I'm in the middle of a council meeting?"

Levi bowed, "I apologize my king, but I have someone you need to see." Levi moved out of the way pushing Exios forward. The kings eyes opened wide and he shot out of his seat. His expression made Athena think they were about to be executed.

Levi interjected. "My king. Its him, I'm sure of it."

The king looked at Levi, as if to make sure he wasn't toying with him. Then he looked back to Exios. His hardened face began to soften, his lips began to quiver and his eyes moistened. He turned towards everyone from the council meeting. "Everyone out," he ordered.

"Your majesty," the woman protested. "Are you really removing us over these, commoners." She stared at Exios and Athena like they were filthy.

The king stepped down from his throne, his eyebrows knitted together in anger. "Morissa, If you speak again, I'll remove your tongue from your head myself. And that goes for the rest of you. Now, get out."

The council quickly bowed, then dispersed. Once they were alone the king hugged Exios.

"Its good to see you to old friend" said Exios embracing him.

The king backed up so he could get a full look at Exios. "How is this possible? We were told you were banished to another dimension. Plus you haven't aged a day."

Exios turned to Athena and something dawned on her. "What if he planned this whole time to get us here; so his friends could help him find a way out of the binding necklaces." Her heart sank like a rock in a pond. "If he tells them were holding him against his will, there's no telling what they'll do to us." Images of her grandfather and the others being hurt flashed through her mind.

Exios gently grabbed her shoulder and smiled. "I had some help from my friend here" he said. Athena wanted to cry she felt so stupid.

The king clapped his hands with a huge grin on his face. "I owe you a great debt then my lady, you two must be starving. Please join me for supper." He paused staring at the shredded clothes and dirty dress they were wearing. "I'll also see to it you both recieve a proper bath and fresh clothes. Follow me." He lead them back through the double doors. The twins and everyone else in the room stood up and bowed.

"I want a full feast laid out in the dining hall" he announced. Levi whispered in his ear. "Right. Make sure all, of our guests are attended to and escorted to the feast. You are dismissed." They collectively replied "yes, your highness." The king signaled over a house worker. All the house workers wore similar dark green butler outfits. This butler had a golden sash over his shoulder, signifying he's in charge. He was light skinned, middle aged, short and thin with neatly kept short blonde hair.

He rushed over and bowed to the king. "How may I be of service your majesty?"

"Please Thomas, I told you that you don't have to bow so much."

"Apologies your majesty," he said bowing again.

The king shook his head. "Anyways can you please take my friends here to a royal suite and fetch them new clothes. I imagine they would like to bathe, change clothes and have a little privacy." He gave Exios and Athena a sly wink. Both of their faces turned as red as cherries.

"Umm, it's not like that between us," Exios said nervously scratching his head.

Thomas clapped his hands excitingly. "Dont worry about a thing sire, ill take good care of them." He gave the king a goofy wink then pushed Exios and Athena towards the hallway.

The king chuckled.

"Not funny Remy" said Exios being pushed down the hallway.

Thomas pushed them up a flight of stairs and down another hallway. He opened a big wooden door and pushed them inside the room. "Alright take a bath and do what you need to." He paused looking back and forth at them with a smirk. "Once you love birds are finished, a team will be waiting outside your door to fit you for your clothes. With that said, I'll get out of your hair now." He gave them one more awkward smirk as he closed the door leaving them alone.

The first few moments were awkward, neither one knew what to do. Athena began to look around the room, it completely made her forget about how nervous she was. Never in her life had she seen such a beautiful room. A fireplace with a couch and some chairs was on one side, on the otherside a large vanity mirror and dresser sat next to the entrance of a large bathroom. At the far end of the room, a huge lavish bed rested in the center of the floor. It had soft, fluffy blankets and pillows. The frame had four artistically carved pillars. The whole room had a royal green color theme.

"So." Exios said breaking the silence. "Do you wanna shower first?"

Athena tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean shower?"

"Are you telling me you've never taken a shower before?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Exios smiled then grabbed her hand which made her heart rate spike. He lead her into the bathroom, ceramic tiles covered the floor to the ceiling. In front of them fresh towels were folded on top of a table built into the wall with a mirror in front of it. To the left an open doorway went to a tub big enough to fit five people. He took her to the right through an open doorway into a small tiled room.

"This is a shower room" he said. Then he pointed at two levers on the wall. "These control the water that will pour from the ceiling hence the name shower." Athena looked up confused. Exios laughed then went on to explain that one makes the water colder and one makes it hotter and to balance them out. He let her know he'd wait by the fire place until she finished then walked out.

Athena took her clothes and set them on the small bench outside the shower. She stepped into the shower and grabbed both handles. "Here goes nothing" she thought gently lifting both handles. The ceiling poured water like rain, catching her off guard. She immedietly fell in love, she couldn't believe she lived her whole life without knowing showers existed. After a few minutes she decided to try and mess with the levers that controlled the temperature. She lifted the one that controlled heat all the way up.

Exios was sitting on the couch with his arms out and his head laid back. All of a sudden a sharp pain shot through his body jolting him up. A scream came from the bathroom, he immedietly rushed to check on Athena.

"What happened? He exclaimed. Athena turned around surprised. His eyes instantly locked in on her huge bare breasts. The shock stunned her for a brief moment, then she tried to cover up with her arms.

"Are you just going to stare, or can you hand me a towel." She said trying to appear calm, but on the inside she thought she was going to die from embarrassment.

Exios snapped out of it. He knew she had big breasts, but her dress really concealed the rest of her hourglass figure and long legs. He grabbed a towel flung it to her then turned around.

"Sorry, it's just I felt this pain and then you screamed and I acted without fully thinking. I apologize."

Athena wrapped the towel around her body. "No, it's my fault. I was messing around with the water temperature and ended up burning myself." She grabbed her necklace that she was still wearing. "I guess at least we know for a fact now that were really bonded."

"True, so let's avoid you getting hurt from her on out." They both chuckled. "Anyways I'll let you finish up in here and Again, I'm sorry for, well, you know." He said fumbling his words.

"No worries, I'll just get even." She said putting one hand on her hip and smirking.

Exios went to say something then stopped himself. He smiled, walked out and let her finish getting ready. After she finished, he took his turn showering and getting ready. Exios opened their room door and a full staff of people rushed in with Thomas. They had clothes, shoes, sewing kits and various other clothing items. A couple women pulled Athena into the bathroom area; and a couple guys were running circles around Exios getting his measurements.

Within minutes Exios had on custom made leather shoes, black denim pants with a tucked in white cloth shirt and a black suede vest. Athena came out of the bathroom dressed in a white silk sundress that perfectly squeezed her skinny waist and showed off her breasts. She had on white slippers and her hair flowed down to her butt in a brushed back low ponytail.

Exios couldn't stop staring. His expression went blank, he couldn't believe how beautiful she looked.

"Well, what do you think?" One of the women asked Exios while putting the finishing touches on Athenas hair.

Exios blinked several times. "She's beautiful" he said, the words escaping his mouth before he could even think. Athena blushed and tried to hold back a smile. Everyone looked them both over one more time, then happy with their work they all filed out of the room. Thomas clapped excitingly with a huge grin. "Alright let's get you two down to the feast" he said corralling them out the door. Thomas lead them back down the stairs and continued down the hallway. They passed several other areas, an auditorium, armory, small museum and a few other places. At the end of the hallway they walked into the feast hall. Rows upon rows of tables were being served everything from whole chickens and racks of ribs to platters of every sort of fruit and vegetable.

Athena noticed her grandfather and everyone else sitting a couple tables away eating food almost as fast as it could be served.

She immedietly felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her. The sight of everyone smiling and eating until they're full, for the first ever filled her with immense joy. She wanted to run over and join them, but she also felt like she shouldn't leave Exios, so she decided to stay by his side.

Thomas lead them past the rows of tables to a slightly higher platform where the masters from the previous room were now sitting. They all watched them like guard dogs as Thomas lead them to a long oak table. Remadaus sat in the middle, Levi sat on his right hand side, two open chairs sat on his left. council members filled the remaining seats, they stared at Athena and Exios with contempt.

The king looked up noticing them. "Please, sit. I Saved you both seats" he said wiping his face and gesturing for them to sit. Exios pulled Athenas seat out for her, which she thought was polite.

After sitting down Remadaus leaned over to Exios. "So, tell me everything" he said nudging Exios with his arm.