PART VI: The Burden of Blood
Countess Ghufran Sunrise stood tall in front of the window watching with her crimson colored eyes as the endless stream of carts filled with nothing but burden for her and her family.
She knew her family was the only thing that kept the kingdom of Stella from collapsing all together at once.
Yet she couldn't help but feel worried for her children even though she knew nothing that humans carry or do could hurt them.
Her eyes stole gazes towards the infant Amal with every sound the young sleeping baby made.
A slow and hesitant knock echoed from the wooden door.
"Come in," The Countess said loudly as she stepped away from the window and faced the door.
Sang stepped in with his gaze maintained on the floor as he reported "I have brought him to you, Countess." His voice was firm yet his words lingered as if he waited for something.
But the words out of the Countess's mouth were not those that Sang had wished to hear but instead they were something he was more familiar with, more commands.
"You may go now... Wait... collect your sister and father and wait for me in the barn."
And with Sang's gaze not leaving the ground he left the room as Nex stepped in the room still somewhat covered in his own blood, bits and pieces of whatever clothes the Doctor left on him.
A long pause took place as Sang's footsteps echoed through the halls fast and heavy, driven by anger and frustration.
"Close the doors and come sit here, boy, you are a guest after all." The Countess paid no attention to the anger fit her youngest son was throwing... She had more important matters to attend to.
Nex walked up to the sofa in front of him yet he passed it and kept moving till he stood over Amal while she slept.
"Your sister?" The Countess asked as she tracked him with her eyes.
"Where are we?" Nex answered back without looking away from Amal.
The Countess smirked then answered him "Stella... What is your name boy?"
Nex looked outside through the window... Unfamiliar lands wheat farms were scattered all in front of the house and beyond them a forest where he was found.
"Who are you?" Nex asked as he assured Amal's safety, he walked back and took a seat.
"Careful boy, or you will find my patience runs dry quick." The Countess answered back with a low and firm voice as her smirk disappeared.
Memories of her hurtful voice came back to Nex as she said those words and he took a more formal way with words.
"Now, I asked you a question boy what is your name? and what brought you to the Nameless Forest?" The Countess asked again.
"Servus, I was a slave for the imperial twins north of here. I escaped with my friends and I need to go back to the empire to find them."
Nex's eyes did not shy away from Countess Ghufran's gaze.
"A slave for the imperial twins hmm..." The Countess stood up and started slowly pacing her steps around the room and stood behind Nex.
"Last I checked with the spies we have within the empire, we heard that the imperial twins were stationed in the west against the kingdom of Lavat... What brings their slave all the way down south to Stella."
The Countess's hand rested on Nex's shoulder
"I escaped and wanted to start a new life with the infant, and my friends who escaped with me... We heard about the passage to Stella and how the king of Stella King Leofric was a merciful and honorable man who would not treat people like slaves no matter their status."
Nex answered with his hands held tight together in order to stop the trembling in his hands.
"Did you now?" The Countess ran her fingers through Nex's dark hair.
"And this hair of yours? it is a very unique color, I have only seen one family that held their heads high wearing this pure black as their family symbol."
The Countess stepped in front of Nex and tilted down to look him in the eyes locking her crimson red with his midnight blue.
"Of course along with their pure blue eyes as well."
She added before a smile ran through her face
"I have only heard that i have inherited them from my mother, Your grace."
Nex realized he had spoken to her so far without adressing her as a commoner or a slave would instead he had been speaking to her on equal footing.
The Countess let out a small laugh "Finally you realized your mistake boy, well perhaps because you are a prince you never learned to talk as a commoner would."
The Countess stood next to Amal as she looked down on her and smiled.
"A Prince? your grace you mistake me I am not a prince-" Nex's words were cut off with a piercing gaze from the Countess.
"Do not lie to me boy you are a prince even if you do not know it yourself... That black hair and blue eyes are worn only by royal blood from a far away kingdom you don't even know it's existence, but it knows yours."
The Countess's gaze followed Sang as he moved below the house moving to the barn with his sister Elizabeth.
"It matters not to me your grace, whether I am a prince or not I have never lived nor been treated as one. I simply wish to find my friends and build a new life with them in Stella."
Nex's voice found its tone again formal but unwavering.
"It matters to me Servus, I owe a debt to your family and I plan on repaying it by reuniting them with their one of if not the last heir to their kingdom. So I will send them a pigeon and they will send their men to take you away... Until then you are forbidden from leaving this estate."
The Countess's eyes were back at Nex watching his every reaction.
"Where is this kingdom possibly be if not on this continent?" Nex thought to himself.
Nex tilted his head as he was lost in thought, unraveled with the Countess's eyes resting on him, watching him.
"Your grace I simply wish to find my friends and then even if you were to send me to said kingdom I just want my friends who I promised to keep safe to remain with me. I have lost contact with them on the south borders near a village called Lif... If you send me with twenty men I can assure you i will bring them back with me or at least learn of their fate... Please your grace."
Nex knelt down on his knees begging the Countess.
"Your friends are dead. Prince you have not seen war as me and my childern have you should know even if your friends are not dead they are probablly imprisoned as someone's toy now, Same way you said you were... Right now you should prepear yourself to live as a prince. These friends of yours are unfortunate to be born in these times of war and in the empire which will ultimatly lose this war."
The Countess's words rang with hurtful truths but incomplete truths.
"I do know war your grace I have seen what the empire's dogs are capable of doing... What they have done to me." Nex's hands traveled across his neck touching his scar.
"And what they have done to the people I care about." memories of Cheif Oryin, Leto, The people of the village and finally Varya all echoed through Nex's mind, their voices their pleas for mercy and their defiance as they fought till the last possible second.
"But my friends are strong I can promise you that... Tazan is a giant like no other, Twice your size and he is the only person that would probably survive your strength."
"And Actaeon, Is the smartest and most experienced hunter I have ever seen, his precision is unmatched, I saw him kill three soldiers by penetrating in between their armors with his arrows. And he is quick and decisive he could take down a small army by himself in those woods."
"So I plead with you give me a chance to take Amal with me and search for them with some of your men I promise I will be back before the letter even arrives to that kingdom I am to inherit."
Nex gazed up and shook in fear as his ears exploded with pain from The Countess's words.
"How naive." It echoed through the room the anger in her voice could be felt on Nex's skin as he started shaking without logic.
"You think power keeps you alive boy?" Her voice was relentless hurting Nex with every word she delivered.
"You think because your friends are smart, experienced and big they would survive?"
She stepped forward towards him as he shook unable to look at her anymore.
"Look at me, boy." She calmed her voice's power just enough so Nex could move his head and when he looked at her.
He saw her Crimson eyes glow deeper with a strange force behind them making him unable to speak or even look away.
She released Nex from her gaze. "Come with me and take a look prince... I shall show you war."
She picked him up by his hand and dragged him behind her as she paced through the hallways and down the stairs leading him to the barn.
As they stepped outside the soldiers' attention was fully caught as well as her husband Bronn's.
Bronn spotted her as he was speaking with a soldier that carried his son's banners and ran after her.
"Countess? What brings you out here Countess?" His question was met with a silent gaze as she paced past him with the young boy he had seen her save.
He froze in place unable to move watching his wife pace by.
The soldiers stood by as they watched her golden dress drag through dirt and the young boy struggling to keep up with her pace.
As he was dragged Nex's nose was bothered by a heavy smell he glanced around to see all the soldiers wearing wet cloth around their mouths and noses.
And as they grew closer to the barn the smell grew heavier making his insides turn and his vision blurry.
The soldiers opened the door for the Countess without saying a word and as the door opened she tossed Nex inside by his arm he tossed over the floor and stood on his knees as he looked at her.
"This is war boy." She muttered out just loud enough so he would hear it and when he did he looked around him to see.
Hundreds of soldiers and civilians dead flies circling around them as they are being thrown from the back of the carts onto the ground.
Decayed, with weird strings growing from fungus on their skin, while maggots fed on their insides.
Their eyes were eaten out by the maggots, The strings on their skin connected the bodies to eachother making them unable to separate.
And their blood ran as black as the night.
"Why have you brought him here Countess?!" Doctor Isane screamed out as he held Nex by his hand and helped him up pushing him outside.
"GO OUT NOW!" Sang yelled out from behind Isane.
"Please... Please just kill him mother don't let him suffer like they did...Please?" Elizabeth rushed to her mother pleading with her.
And the Countess looked at Nex as his beautiful blue eyes teared up from the smell.
His nose bled instantly and his mouth was filled with vomit, unable to even open it to let it out from the smell.
Isane dragged Nex out as his feet refused to obey him and move.
As soon as he was out, Nex collapsed to the ground on his knees weeping and questioning what he had just seen.
He had seen the sights of the Grand Bazaar Massacre and the craft of Andras and his men but while both were cruel this was something else.
This felt like it was reaching out and grabing Nex by the throat, Almost alive.
"Do you understand now boy? Even if you were to somehow find your friends alive and bring them to Stella, This is what is running among every village and city in Stella now, Let your friends die a normal humaine death, instead of this."
The Countess slowly walked outside as she smirked at Nex's human reaction.
"Do you understand? Answer me before I put you back inside, Boy!" She walked forward to grabb him as Isane pushed him behind him.
"Please forgive him Countess I do not know what he has said or done but please find it in your heart to forgive him or-" Isane's words were cut off with her painful voice as it brought every soldier to their knees.
"Or what?...Doctor what will you do to me, that hasn't already been done." And as she reached out to hold Nex.
The crows cawing above caught her attention and as she looked up she saw about twenty or more crows and yet the eyeless crow was not one of them.
She looked down again at her hand and there it was... It had landed so swiftly the Countess did not even realize it's presence.
It was standing on her arm staring at her, tilting its head.
The Countess stared at the abyss of its eyes and memories of the black sun flashed in her mind as she shivered in unnatural fear.
The Countess's eyes bled from their crimson color and her feet were too heavy to hold her, She fell to her knees as the crow titled its head from right to left, almost waiting to claim her life.
"Enough... Inhale...Exhale... Enough." Nex reached out and placed his finger below the feet of the crow as the crow stepped on his finger and the weight of memories lifted from the Countess as everyone watched in shock.
Bronn ran to his wife's side and helped her up as she caught her breath.
Sang's uncontrollable rage left him charging at Nex as Elizabeth held him back with her unnatural strength.
Doctor Isane froze as he backed off from the eyeless crows.
But The Countess and Nex did not move. Their eyes were locked almost asking forgiveness of eachother.
She had her crimson tears on her cheeks and he had his colorless tears on his.
Both understood the horrors of what they had witnessed, both understood the things they have had to endure and who made them suffer.
"They are alive aren't they... They look dead and they smell dead and yet they live?"
Nex's question silenced every mouth and every movement, everyone saw him calmly hold the very bird that made the Countess herself kneel.
"Yes, the fungus keeps them alive as the maggots eat their insides leaving them a shell of bones and flesh."
The Countess responded as she relied on her husband's arm to stand up.
"I wish to speak with you more Countess, Inside if possible, and after a small time to collect my thoughts, if that is fine with you, your grace?"
Nex bowed his head out of respect after he finished asking.
"Of course, and you need not bow to me, prince... Like I said, I owe your family a debt we will speak about how I will repay it inside, after dinner. I do hope you join us at the table for dinner, young prince, we would be thrilled to have your company."
The Countess's gaze met the ground as she realized her actions, this was just an eleven years old child that she lashed out at. Not a warrior nor a king, at least not yet.
Nex's steps were heavy as he moved back to the estate, as he lingered in thoughts about what he had seen and the fate of his friends and people.
Memories of the last time they spoke in the village of Lif, and images of them ending up like the people in the barn, crept through the cracks of his thoughts.
"What did the bird do to you, Countess?" Bronn asked only to be met with a familiar cold stare as soon as the Countess regained her strength.
"It matters not Bronn, finish your work and report to me before dinner." She said as she went back inside the barn to deal with the plague.
Not far from Stella, on the southern borders of the empire, the army of Stella was being pushed back again by a girl warrior and her newly received reinforcements - her brother Sao.
Inside the camp, after a small skirmish that sent Stellan soldiers and unsworn knights running with their tails between their legs.
"Cleaning out your armor, brother? it has barely seen a faint brush of blood."
A woman in full leather armor covered with some parts of chainmail armor walked into the tent.
Covered in blood, mud, and sweat beneath her armpits and across her back.
"Well, Athena, if I did not clean off my armor from blood, I would end up with no girl ever approaching me."
Sao answered back sarcastically as he hung his plate armor to rest and beneath there were his two famed swords Widow and Temptation.
"Although I do enjoy fighting beside my little brother, what is it exactly that you are doing here, Sao?"
Athena asked as she lifted her helmet off her face revealing streaks of black hidden away behind her brown hair,
And green pupils circled with black circles, with a few freckles across her nose and under her eyes.
As sweat mixed with her enemy's blood ran across her face, her smile faded.
Sao stopped but did not turn around to face his older sister.
"Fear not, sister, I was sent here by our father. I have no wish to take over your position, nor was I ordered to, the glory and fame of these battles shall be attached to your name and your name alone."
"I couldn't care less about that senile old man's orders or glory and fame. I asked YOU, what you are doing here,
Do not answer with father's words, but with your own."
Athena grabbed Sao by his shoulder and forcibly turned him around facing her.
"I... I am here per father's orders, but between you and me, I am waiting here to receive someone back from Stella."
Sao's eyes flickered with excitement that she had not seen ever since he was a child.
"You must be mad, coming to war with your own two feet. And here of all places, I heard you achieved a great feat west, but make no mistake. These men we fought earlier were sent here as scouts. The men and generals we will face later are veterans of their crafts.
Many of which are feared or glorified for their feats."
Athena said with a low and commanding voice.
"That was always a bad habit of yours whenever you got annoyed, sister."
Sao held Athena's hand gently opening her clenched fists one by one.
"I know much of war, sister, and I do not wish you to frighten me with the experience of these men you fought, but I want you to teach me everything you learned from them."
Athena's expression lightened up as her smile grew back on her face.
"You always knew what to say around me kiddo. Let me wash up, then we will have a long talk."
Athena walked out of the tent leaving Sao in his thoughts alone.
"I do look forward to meeting him on the battlefield." he said to himself with a low mutter as he stared at Devil's Gaze in Temptation's hilt.
As Athena paced around the camp between her soldiers, most of them bowed out of respect, but some of them that belong to the central region of the empire defied her.
They made that clear with every look and whisper about her being a woman.
She had always let them whisper away and look down on her even if she outranked them in both noble status and army status, but today was different: her brother is here.
She halted her march at once when she heard them whisper, "A barbarian woman just like her mother."
She looked to her right and saw a Dark Knight bearing the crest of the house of Dormat, the White Moon sigil.
She walked up to him, and his friends beside him as they chuckled and exchanged glances at each other.
"Do you dare say that to my face? Knight?" She said mockingly.
The knight chuckled one more time and tilted in and whispered "You... Are a barbarian just like your moth-"
And before he could finish his words a sharp sword made with Useg steel cut his face in half.
His friend's laughter was cut short as they watched the upper half of his face sliding down after a swift and fast swing.
"Anyone else?" Athena asked and the response? Dead silence.
No one dared to utter a word nor move a muscle.
She didn't even have her hand on the hilt of her sword and yet she swung it with such precision and swiftness,
that the expressions on the knight's face did not change until his face slid off.
She glanced around to see those who are frozen in fear and those who admired and bowed their heads out of respect to her judgment, knowing her allies from her enemies before pacing fast to her tent to hide her disgust with her "loyal" men.
She entered her tent alone as she knelt down and washed her face from the bucket of water slowly realizing her position.
"They will never accept you."
Her father's words echoed through her mind with every soldier or knight that feared her today, she knew her father's words were true, but aimed to defy and change them.
"Your grace." A distant sound from across the camp.
"Athena your grace." The sound grew closer.
She stood up and made up her mind to focus on the men who respected her. She realized she had made a change, even if it was little, and would continue to do so.
"Your grace!" the voice was right outside the tent.
She put her helmet back on and stepped outside.
"What is it?" She asked annoyed for her thoughts being interrupted, as the messenger gasped for breath barely holding himself up.
"I was sent here by your father Governor of Lumen Ty-"
"Yea, Yea, skip the pleasantries, I know who my father is." She cut him off.
"I brought a letter from your father, your grace."
She quickly took the letter not waiting for formalities.
"Go on now, rest and leave by tomorrow, we don't want another mouth to feed." She said annoyed at the messenger and looking down on him.
"Why have a man look after birds that would have delivered this faster and more efficiently?" She muttered as she saw him dragging his feet away to the quarters of the servants to rest.
She opened the letter, "To my daughter, Athena, When you are reading this letter, it means a letter was delivered to Sao. After Sao reads it, I need you to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't cross the border. Assure him everything will be under control and that he lives. He has to."
Athena was confused. "Why send me a letter saying things you could have told Sao yourself?
And why would Sao cross the border, and who is he?"
She tore the paper, then threw it in water, before running towards Sao's tent.
And on her way, whispers and noises were erupting from the center of the camp as the soldiers and knights gathered around.
She came closer and yelled, "MOVE!" She pushed soldiers out of her way as she slid between them while her guards followed.
She reached the middle of the circle only to find a young boy, his features were tired.
He knelt down exposing his burnt flesh on his back as it was still stuck with his clothes.
The soldiers were gatherd around him asking him questions, some were being rough with him, but no one laid a hand on the young boy.
After she saw his back, she froze for a bit. Only one thought came to mind "Is this person him?" She reached out, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him up.
He was surprisingly light as he stood in his place, pulled up with one hand.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Achlys, your grace.
I was sent here by Prince Nex to ask for help, he was being chased into The Kingdom of Stella by Andras Boltmot and his dogs."
When Athena heard this, she instantly made the connection: this young boy isn't him, but it's about prince Nex.
Sao was always fiercely loyal to the royal family; she knew it was his reason to cross the border.
"SHIT SAO." She let go of the young boy and ran towards the tent, hoping he had yet to hear of it.
"SAO!" She yelled as she opened the veil to the tent, only to see the tent empty and with both Widow and Temptation missing and yet his armor stood there waiting for its owner to wear it.