The sun slowly rose high in the air, shedding rays which pierced through the gaps between the mountain peaks, and made the lids of some sleepy villagers flutter while the others who had been awake for a long time, released a sigh of relief.
"Father Sefir, the sun god has finally graced us with his brilliance, it is finally the right time to move towards Kingdom Maria. Shall I prepare your carriage? The others have already started to prepare their bulls and are planning to set trail on their carts, but they haven't done so yet, for they are all waiting for you and your holy guidance."
One of the elderly nuns went up to the priest and informed him, prompting him to give her only a nod in response, and hence she left to prepare the horse-pulled carriage for Father Sefir who remained in his deep thoughts.
Then he suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, when he realised that he couldn't see Dianne anywhere, and this made him narrow his gaze.
But the worry fostering in his heart soon flickered away, just as he felt a soft hand grab his right forearm and he turned around to gaze at his daughter.
"Where did you go Dianne? At this moment of time, even a single moment of absence, paints worry in my heart."
He scolded her in a whisper, as his eyes went towards the exit gate of their village, where everyone was gathered and waiting patiently for his arrival.
"I am sorry, father. I didn't mean to worry you. I had just gone to the forests to meet Siddhant.....He needed to be informed about the things which occurred."
As the words left Dianne, the eyes of Sefir widened just a bit.
"Why would you do such a thing?! Haven't I told you, to never ever visit that man? Don't you trust your own father?!
He was and still is a curse. His very presence brings destruction, you dumb girl."
The priest hissed at his daughter, and Dianne flinched, stepping back from her father who was enraged at her behaviour. Sefir was a very understanding and reasonable man, but whenever Siddhant was mentioned, he erupted as if a volcano.
Frankly, none of the villagers liked him, which was why he spent his time mostly in the dense forest that was rumoured to have dark spirits.
For reasons, that was never told to Dianne.
"Don't tell me....You even told him about our plan to go to the King Of Maria?"
Sefir asked hurriedly, shaking her by her shoulder, and Dianne answered quickly with fright clear in her soft gaze. She was never used to seeing her father's anger—it scared her quite.
"No...I didn't."
Sefir exhaled slowly, and released her with the prominent tension draining away from his furrowed brows, not realising that she had lied to escape his verbal assault.
"Good.... Good. Go to Aunty Martha, she's preparing the carriage already, I will be accompanying you in just a second."
Sefir spoke, patting her shoulders, and Dianne gave a small nod. Running off towards the elderly nun preparing the black metal plated body, carried by four giant wheels that were a light brown in hue, and the two white horses were being fed to give them strength for the ride towards the kingdom ahead.
"Why doesn't she understand, if I am warning her of something, it's not right for her?! Especially Siddhant. He is not even a man but a curse in human skin! She is repeating the same mistake.....as her mother."
The priest pinched his forehead and tried to ease his beating heart with deep intakes of fresh air. He shouldn't get erratic due to his emotions, it didn't fit someone of his position, and thus he quickly said a few mantras towards the sun god and relaxed himself forcefully.
Just as he was about to go towards the carriage, brushing away some stray droplets of sweats trickling down his forehead, he felt it. A gaze that unsettled him yet it was quite familiar and in an instant, he turned around.
In the distance, there was a tree—older than most yet still standing strong with a youthful green, taller than all the trees within the cursed forest, but that was not what unsettled the priest. No it was the being he could see, hanging from the uppermost branch, gazing down upon them from such a far away distance.
It was none other than Siddhant.... The man he loathed and feared.
---
Plumes of smoke came out from between the plump lips, and it breezed around the opulent interior of the chambers like an aroma of a well-made dish, a man slowly rose from the bed and grunted placing one of his calloused hands upon a harsh bite mark on the side of his throat.
"A woman of your personality, up so early? Did the holy heavens possibly turn on its head, Maria?"
The man spoke out to the beautiful woman beside him, dressed only in her undergarments, and smoking a long pipe filled with tobacco—a substance which was considered to be a slow poison by the peasants, but for the nobles of this kingdom who had access to something supernatural, it was just a pleasant thing to consume. A delightful activity to partake in when stress was at an all-time high.
The woman brushed away some of the strands of her black hair that fell only till her shoulders and obstructed her dark vision, turning towards the sarcastic king with a coldness that would freeze oceans, her curvaceous body stiffening unconsciously in response to his taunting words.
"Nicholas, I don't know if the heavens have done that or no, but you will be standing upon your head soon if you don't control your words in the future. I have told you this many times already, never ever taunt me, but it seems that donkeys don't learn unless you give them a good punishment. Do you want me to give you a punishment again?"
Maria's words made Nicholas shiver in his place, as he quickly stuttered and tried to form an apology, but he was ignored and spared for now by her.
The man sighed in relief, scratching the back of his short blonde mane, and went over to his wardrobe. Changing into his royal attire which seemed to perfectly fit his lean yet muscular body, suited more for agility rather than strength, and picked a small mirror placed upon the bedside table to gaze upon his reflection.
He had turned 50 recently, yet his face remained boyish and handsome, courtesy of his wife—expert of potion making and also something known as 'mana' which the peasants traditionally didn't have access to. Due to the lack of mana-activation resources, which were quite expensive for them, and thus only nobles could unlock their innate power—due to their treasury—which had the sufficient gold or ancestral relics which were passed down to the current generation from their forefathers.
He then turned towards to his cold wife, who was looking outside of the window, and sighed in his mind.
"Why did I have to fall in love with her again? Oh, right, it was a combination of her beauty and skills. Damn it. I should have listened to my late general who had warned me about changing the name of this kingdom to Maria, just because I wanted her to see, at what extent I can go for her."
The king definitely did regret his decisions, but he couldn't change it now, and so he had to live with the lesson of never making important decisions by only considering feelings.
Other factors such as time, advice and careful consideration was quite important too. Oh well, at least not all was bad in this marriage, somethings were actually good like the sex and her expertise in potion making.
"Emperor, I come bearing news, the people of the Vayu Village have entered the kingdom and want an audience with you. It looks to be quite important and dire judging by their faces and physical state."