Chapter 1
The moon shone brightly upon the quiet and peaceful kingdom of Azura,it was late at night,there was dead silence but the heart of Prince Tariq was not at peace.He was pacing in his room, wearing a long silky shirt almost reaching his knees.He opened his window and stared right at the full moon shining brightly as if he wanted answers from it.How did his sister,the princess end up having a secret affair with Prince Cyrus after the mysterious disappearance of Prince Kael who was said to be dead?Leila loved Kael and was about to marry him, what was really going on? These questions kept popping in his mind ,he was restless after he saw Leila and Cyrus sharing a kiss at the palace garden,the passionate hugs.Something struck his mind and he quickly put on his tunic, grabbed a sword and walked out quickly,fast and bravely across the palace chambers, turned right and walked down the narrow passage that led straight to the Oracle's sacred chambers.He swung the door open and stood there,tall charming and strong.He was so impatient that he expected answers before he could ask or explain anything."I knew you were coming,what troubles the heart of the Prince by this hour?" It was a hoarse voice of a grandma sitting on a mat in the middle of the room with fire burning infront of her,she had long white hair,slim body with long limbs, green eyes, pointed nose,small pouted mouth with a slightly long face with wrinkled cheeks."I need to know the intentions of Cyrus of Calonia and the mysterious death of his brother Kael,is the princess Leila in danger?"Tariq did not hesitate to ask direct questions.He was blunt and direct when talking,no parables or sugarcoating."You are always straight to the point", said the oracle,her name was Jadu. "Time will tell my prince,time will tell the secrets and reveal the dark hearts of men,go and have your peaceful sleep ",she said with her hoarse but soft voice.Tariq was angry,he needed answers,he had no time to wait for time to tell.He knew Jadu didn't want to reveal anything yet 'I will be back!" he said as he walked quickly out and slammed the door,and ran back to his chambers.The night seemed very long,at dawn Prince Tariq was on his way to Calonia kingdom on his horse without telling his father the king or his sister Leila but he did send a message across to his best friend Zayd through the royal guards.
Upon arrival prince Tariq did not waste time,he requested for a private moment with prince Cyrus. "What do you want?" he asked prince Cyrus seriously trying to keep his cool.Cyrus looked at him and looked away instantly and asked what he was talking about. "Make it make sense Cyrus,your brother Kael was betrothed to my sister Leila before he was reported dead and now you are having a secret affair with your brother's fiancee, what is your motive?"Tariq sounded more like he is demanding for an answer . Cyrus smiled rudely "I don't understand that a prince doesn't know matters of power and alliances,my brother is dead, my parents are dead,I am the only surviving heir to the throne , my brother was to marry your sister so as to strengthen the relationship between two kingdoms ,he is dead, I'm doing that on his behalf,I was actually coming to inform you about this in two days time,"Cyrus made it sound so easy and he sounded unbothered.For a moment Tariq was confused "Why are you so sure that Kael died?he was not buried!" "He died, Aurelia witnessed his death alongside with some palace guards!"Cyrus said with complete annoyance.
Two days after Tariq returned from Colonia,he visited his best friend Zayd.Informed by the palace guards,Zayd was by the river just outside the kingdom walls.An arrow flew past Tariq 's ear at close range followed by laughter,it was Zayd. "Who else could it be,you are never serious man", Tariq said with his voice raised,he was feeling excited to see Zayd but he never ceased to be shocked by his behaviour. "Hail the Prince of Azura",Zayd bowed a little ,"I was trying to keep you alert,how can you come here alone huh?"he said with a cheerful little boy's expression.Tariq drew closer and patted Zayd 's shoulder and signed,Zayd knew he wanted to tell him something bothering him."Out with it brother ",Zayd inquired.Tariq told him about Cyrus's move and that he suspected he was up to something,he told him he does not trust Cyrus at all,and the mysterious deaths of the royal family members was questionable.Zayd went quite for a moment and asked "Do you want me to look into it?"Zayd was quick to act on matters that needed answers or solutions.Tariq nodded in agreement.The following day Zayd was inside Calonia palace disguised as a palace guard with the help of a few manipulation tactics on a few royal guards he knew in Calonia.Zayd was known for his bravery and humour even by some of the Calonia warriors since the two kingdoms were allies for a long time and had fought several wars side by side against other kingdoms from the East beyond the Mediterranean sea.Zayd quickly noticed that Aurelia,the daughter of a respected noble man who served the king as his advisor and best friend for a long time, barely left Cyrus' side.Zayd grew suspicious.It was barely in the afternoon when Zayd 's eye caught Aurelia leaving the palace in a heist and he decided to follow her from a distance making sure nobody suspects him.She walked past the palace courtyard and into a narrow passage between the stone walls that led to nobles' houses.She creeped into her father's house and creeped out after a few moments changed into a brown hijab that made her look like a common poor girl.Zayd was curious.She paced fast and took the path that led to the water well that was a little far,when she reached the well ,she walked past it, straight into the little forest close by,Zayd had to follow her while hiding behind the trees to convince her no one was following her.She walked towards a small hill bravely,when she reached the hill,she walked slowly round it to the mouth of its cave.She took a few steps in,there was a slightly short man waiting for her.Zayd came closer and leaned his back on the hill rock so he can spy on them, holding his sword with his right hand.He witnessed a heated argument between Aurelia and the man."Name your price! what do you want?" Aurelia sounded annoyed."Wealth,make me a wealthy man and I will let this slide,I want everything,gold, jewellery,name it!"he said it like he was in control of her whole life . Aurelia agreed to his terms and promised to make everything available to him by nightfall and he has to leave the kingdom.As he turned to leave in satisfaction, Aurelia picked a random big stone and hit him at the back of his head,he fell backwards,she sat on top of his stomach and continued to hit him with the stone on his head a face with fury.Zayd saw that the man was dead,he quickly vanished,he had seen enough.Aurelia continued to hit him and stopped when she was probably tired. "You commoner!you dare me?" She said as she stood up over his dead body laughing with mixed emotions of anger and triumph.She pulled him by the legs inside the cave, quickly took off the hijab and wore it inside out, messed up her hair and looked like a mentally unstable poor girl,she stood at the mouth of the cave,and checked if anyone was around, seeing no one,she ran back with no intention of stopping for anything on her way. After a day, Cyrus took his journey to Azura kingdom to meet king Malik to make his intention of marrying Leila known.Tariq made it clear that he was not in full support of the marriage and that he was going to understand if it was an arrangement but Cyrus and Leila were already having a secret affair.Leila was worried and she excused herself from the dining table, stepped outside for air.Cyrus excused himself too and followed Leila outside. "I understand your brother,Kael was his friend,he wanted him for you,he was my brother too, I'm hurt, I love you and for his sake I will always, always protect you",It was Cyrus drawing his face close to Leila's like he wanted to kiss her.She looked up at him, down to his broad shoulders,he reminded her of Kael, except for his eyes,he resembled Kael.Leila threw herself between his arms,he embraced her,she felt safe just like how she used to feel safe in Kael 's arms.She always looked for Kael in Cyrus but she seemed to find him only in physical features not in character or soul."Leila!"it was Tariq behind them, almost annoyed "Give us a moment",he sounded calm this time.Leila pulled herself out of Cyrus' arms and stepped backwards,looked at her brother wishing he wasn't against her coming marriage,she chose not to speak and walked back inside. Tariq told Cyrus that he knew he was up to something and he would find out. "You keep talking while I do some action", Cyrus said rudely.Tariq was pissed off and he grabbed him by the neck of his white and gold royal gown,he brought Cyrus' face closer to his and his grey eyes stared right into Cyrus' blue eyes piercing into his soul,his fury did not allow him to speak. Cyrus was happy to see him angry and he decided to add to his anger "I will marry Leila and you will not do anything about it,and I will do as l please with your naive sister once she is in my custody". Tariq let go of him and took a step backwards and gave him a dirty punch on his nose, Cyrus staggered backwards with his nose bleeding,looked at Tariq because that took him by surprise,he gave Tariq a hard blow in return, Tariq punched him back equally, punches flew."Enough!"it was the king, Malik, boiling with anger as he stepped outside to witness the fight,royal guards ran to stop the fight.The king drew closer "How dare you treat our guest like this?A royal Prince!" His anger was directed to Tariq,both Tariq and Cyrus exchanged swearing glances before they apologized to the king for their behaviour.The atmosphere was tense in the Azura palace after Cyrus left.Tariq quickly stepped out to meet Zayd and together they went to see the oracle Jadu.She was already waiting for them in her sacred chambers."I see darkness, bloodshed, chaos...", she didn't finish speaking Tariq interrupted her "Jadu,we did not come here for parables,tell us what we can understand".Zayd quickly stepped forward "Pardon him, beautiful granny of Azura, he is so impatient, speak",he said it jokingly.Jadu brushed it off with a little smile,she knew Zayd from childhood,he always joked even when he was supposed to be serious and Tariq,he was impulsive but loyal and trustworthy.She grew serious as she stared into the fire,her right hand holding tightly to her white rod she used to perform her magic with,her eyes wondered to the far end of the room where golden,iron and wooden gods were placed.She stared back into the fire,her green eyes blazing "The wedding must not hold,if it does,it will mark a turning point in Azura kingdom,you have to go and spy one more time in Calonia kingdom, another revelation awaits you, I will guard you from here,the gods of Azura are with you,they will guard princess Leila too".She turned around to see if they were ready,they looked at each other, curious to know what they were missing out in all this.They were ready.
