Unconquerable

Chapter 33| Unconquerable

Kimberly glanced at him in shock, "Is that how you feel about kingship? About your brother taking after your father?"

He shrugged, "What I think doesn't matter. It won't affect just how much damage that heavy crown could do to a person's life." He smiled, one of his hands tucked into his pocket, "The concept is perfect. The thought of being King thrills me atimes. All the changes I can make, all the horrid tradition I can banish."

"But?" Kimberly prompted not knowing why she felt concerned for Tristan. Not knowing why it hurt her to know that his destiny might affect his future.

"The sacrifice to yield such power is too much. I've heard the love story of Queen Faye and Abba, I know how damaged and distant their relationship has become. Once you are King there are sacrifices you need to make that are so inconvenient and crazy, but your people will always come first, Always."

Kimberly blinked and even without Saif saying a word, she knew she was among the sacrifices Tristan had to make. Maybe he abhorred humans and yet, he was forced to choose one from the lot as future King.

"Goddess! Human why are you staring at me like I stomped on your pet," he scowled, "Though I'll very much love to stomp on my mother's. That serpent just snoops around all day and fills her head with foolish trickery."

He scoffed even as he held her hand and in a blink of an eye the scene of the busy market was gone and she was staring at a Serene ocean.

"How did you do that? It happened first with the market and now?" She sobered and with great effort pushed the thought of the vain Prince which kept on hovering in her mind.

He scoffed, "Portal travel, Kim. You probably won't be able to stand if we had truly walked the distance from the desert of Vane to the local market."

"Portal travel?" She blinked, confused. She needed a guide manual with all these terms so it doesn't sound like Swahili whenever Saif opened his mouth.

"Yes it is a mode of transport available to only Royals, I can move from one portal to another within the realm. All I need to do is think of the place and we are there."

"Oh," she muttered and almost immediately it dawned on her that Saif had intentionally made her walk even though he could have easily manipulated this invisible portal he talks about.

She hit him across the head.

"Ouch," his eyes met hers, a question in his, "What was that for?"

"For making me walk and taking me through the whirlwind when we could have safely portal travel?"

"Ain't you the smartest, there is a strong spell in the palace that makes sure you can't use the portal travel Power, don't you think it'll be too dangerous during the war if Princes could come to our rooms at will?"

"But nobody is at war now." She raised her brow, "Or is there war?"

He smiled at her, tugging her cheeks and ruffling her hair Which made her shoot him a glare, "There can't be war and we are walking safely outside the palace like some kind of couple but before any man in this realm is a Prince or a farmer, he is first a warrior at heart. We don't leave anything to chances that's why we remain unconquerable."

She peeked at him not able to imagine him as a warrior, poised to harm someone else, he was just too nice, too kind, too princely. He was not the perfect gentleman but he was just human and although he wasn't literally human, he was humane enough.

Unlike someone she knew, she thought with spite as she remembered Prince Tristan, his brother.

She has never seen two people more opposites. While Saif was bubbly and giddy, practically floated in the air and lit the atmosphere. Tristan's presence was dark, heated, his eyes shared insecurities, fears that he'll be damned before he admitted.

"I want Tristan to be King," he muttered making Kimberly gaze at him in confusion wondering what had brought that particular trail of thought even as she walked closer to the sea, a sense of familiarity trailing after her.

"Not just because I know he is the excellent candidate and has the qualifications but he cares genuinely, that's why he had made the infirmary, his second home," He looked away, "But the thing is that I don't know how much of the man I know will be left once he climbs that chair. It always changes them."

She smiled, not knowing how to reply. She wasn't in the loop of the bond, that connected them. They were more than just brothers, she could see it in Saif's eye. What they shared was more related with their soul than just blood and it felt outrightly rude to interfere in a connection that felt and looked intimate.

"Tristan will make a great King," she managed to mumble.

Saif grin, "I do not doubt that, but what I don't trust is if he'll ever consider himself good enough. His ideas perfect than a lap at Abba's ideologies which are just knowledge stuffed in a box and passed from one unlucky king to another."

"He'll figure it out. He looks like a smart man."

And minutes later even as she laughed out loud, appreciating the wave which Saif leisurely made dance with her, she knew she had meant it.

***

"Today was perfect." She mumbled, her clothes a bit damp from playing in the water, her cheeks flushed from excitement.

"Why was?" He arched his brow, handing her his hand, which she took and stood up.

"The day is not yet over, Human."

"Huh?" She mumbled even as she rubbed her barefoot against the soil in search of something. She didn't know what it was, but as crazy as it sound she remembered digging that particular spot open and putting something in there.

Saif looked at her in intrigue even as she gasped as her leg connected with something hard. Bending down, she put her hand inside the hole and dug out the beautiful shell she thought looked familiar that was used to adorn the royal home, at the dining room where she had dined at when she had first arrived.

"How do you know that was there?" His eyes were that of mild curiosity and interest.

She held the shell in her hand, even as she muttered, "I don't know, I just knew."

He snorted, "What do you mind by you just know? These shells are damn priceless, even costlier than the gold used to adorn the castle. Abba believes it is magical but well, I don't believe everything Abba says."

"You should," Kimberly looked away sharply not knowing what was responsible for her confident reply.

He shook his head, "Goddess! I'm the one who stays in the Kingdom yet you are the one lecturing me," he grabbed her hand, giving her a little smile, "You humans are something."

She didn't smile back. Something was off, deep down in her guts. She couldn't tell what was going on but it was messing with her insides and plundering her senses.

Kimberly fought within herself not to tell Saif about her bizarre imagination that she had been at the sea before, she had played around it just like today and it was her who had buried the shell which she had discovered and now clutched in a bag artistically made with palm fronds, Saif had provided her with.