Chapter 21_I WANT HER

*****************************************

The main gates opened, and as usual, the soldiers saluted from the left side of the path while the maids stood at the right side, slightly bowing their heads down including Athena. This happens whenever an important guest arrived at the palace.

King Epirius of the Stones kingdom stepped down from his horse. He had tons of soldiers who accompanied him on his way here, they were wearing metallic armor and carrying shields and heavy swords, his general was right next to him. King Aaron came to acknowledge his guest along with General K, Prince Nathan, and the twin princes.

"King Epirius, it's so nice to see you again my friend, Welcome." King Aaron said hugging the Stones kingdom ruler.

"Likewise my friend, Prince Nathan, you've grown a lot," Epirius said.

"Thank you, your majesty." Prince Nathan said with a bow.

"Let's go in," King Aaron said holding Epirius's shoulders and leading towards the entrance of the castle.

***********

"Athena honey, I need your help." Madam Lisa said.

" Yes ma'am? "

"Can you and Rose serve this tea to the king's guest, I still need to tell the cook the recipe for their food" Madam Lisa said then turned to Rose who was seated at the corner of the royal kitchen reading a novel.

" Hurry we must not keep them waiting, this is a very important meeting," She said and the girls took the trays, carrying them to the palace's throne room.

~~

"So, my metals for your weapons eh?" King Epirius asked and Aaron nodded."What makes you think the drag empire is going to attack?"King Epirius asked.

"Well, your majesty, we are not certain but we wanted to prepare beforehand now that we have the resources abundantly." Prince Nathan said and then he gave him a paper. On the paper was a design of a spear with sharp edges that could be divided and used as blades, it was also labeled. "This is our latest invention, we have not named it yet, and we can give you the honor of doing that, it's a magnetic lid spear that can be joined and separated at any time" He gazed at the King and was surprised to see that his attention was nowhere near what he had showed him or even what he had just said. Prince Nathan followed Epirius's gaze and settled on Athena, it turned out that the king was lustfully staring at her while she was busy serving tea to Aaron.

"Your majesty?" Prince Nathan called, dragging the king's attention back to him.

Epirus cleared his throat before talking and he said "You see Prince Nathan, I admire the design of this weapon and it looks great but unfortunately I have enough weapons since the last time we traded"

" However... Is she your daughter, King Aaron? " Epirius asked pointing at the red-haired girl serving the tea.

" No, but I see her as one, is there a problem? " King Aaron said.

"Then she's a slave then?"Epirius asked and there was silence for a while, which confirmed it. "I'll tell you what, you sell this girl to me and I will give you the metals you seek, any amount you desire." King Epirius said and a loud clang was heard, Athena had overheard them and dropped the cup which spilled the tea it contained.

" I want her," Epirius said despite seeing the girl's reaction. The crown prince and King Aaron glanced at each other and then carried their gaze to Athena who was frozen out of shock.

" Go talk to her, " King Aaron said and the crown prince held her arm gently carrying her down the stairs and into the corner.

"Athena..."

"No, no I beg you, Prince Nathan, I don't want to leave Cranes Empire please Your Highness," Athena pleaded, with tears rolling down her cheeks.

" Look here Athena, There is going to be a war very soon, is your life better than everyone else in this kingdom? "Nathan asked, holding her shoulders.

" But... But my sister, I can't leave her here all by herself, Xavier, he said I should wait for him, I can't just leave! "Athena said leading to the prince.

"Forget about Xavier, the both of you can never happen, it is forbidden for a maid and a royal prince and he knows that!!" The crown prince said raising his voice a little. she ran back to the king, kneeling on the third stair while sobbing.

" Please your Majesty, I...I can't leave, I promised Xavier I would wait for him. Rose, I can't leave her here, please reconsider."She pleaded and Rose joined her, kneeling in front of the king, he did not want to sell them but he had no choice, he needed to save his people.

" Am sorry Athena, but I have to choose my people I have to sacrifice one to save thousands "King Aaron said.

"Then I will leave with her your Majesty, j can not let my sister go to a strange place alone," Rose said holding her sister's hand as Athena sobbed.

"Yes, she will come with me, because I am not leaving my sister here either," Athena said wiping her tears and holding the king's gaze sternly.

"Fine, your sister can come along too, "Epirius said with a loud grunt. ''My general, Samuel will get your things, "

"Ohhh, Xavier is gonna blow when he gets back," Joseph said whispering into Elvis's ear as they both relaxed and watched the scene.

"The metals would be sent here in a week but for now, you can have my army shields and armor they are also made from titanium."King Epirius said and bowed slightly to Aaron who also bowed to pay his respect. "Nice doing business with you, again, "Epirius said and turned to leave.

********************

"I still can't believe they did that to you, among everyone you were the most loyal, and is this how they repay you? "Sarah said with tears glistening in her eyes as she hugged her friend.

"He is right, My life is worth noting compared to thousands, "Athena said forcing a smile. Alex rushed over as soon as he heard the news and without a word he embraced her tight, while Sarah went to Rose.

"I'm going to miss you, Alex," She said stroking his back. She heard a sniff and pulled away looking at his face, surprised to see him crying.

"Alex, are you crying?" She asked in awe, she had never seen him cry so why now?

"I, I feel so useless right now, I can't even protect the girl I lov..."

"Alex, it'll be okay, we will be fine, Rose and I," She cut him off.

"If you ever see my Mama and Papa, please tell them that we are okay, I don't want them to get worried," Rose said to Sarah, and she nodded.

"Here, take this... It's a gift I brought for your birthday but since you won't be here, take it now" Sarah said giving her a novel.

"Thanks," Rose said hugging the novel as the quad sobbed at their separation.