Legacies

Hale stood in front of his mirror, looking close as he put on his guard uniform, making sure that he looked more than presentable. He tucked his white button-up shirt into his black pants and tightened his belt, the coat was dark red, with a gold slash cutting across it diagonally adding to its sophistication. The emblem of the royal family, a burning ember, was imprinted onto the left side of the coat, just above his heart.

Pleased with how he looked, he made his way to the main room downstairs grabbing his bracelet on the way out.

A mix of laughter and voices filled the room as he went to the kitchen where he was greeted by his younger brother and sister.

“Good morning Hale,” they said in unison.

“Good morning,” he responded while grabbing an apple from the kitchen counter.

“Big day today,” his mother said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere and handed him a plate filled with food, “so eat up ok.”

“I’m sorry mom but I don’t have time to eat,” Hale said and puts the plate down, “they want us there very early, I’m just waiting on Robin.”

“I’m sure they can wait another 10 minutes while you eat.”

“I don’t think they can mom, I’m sorry.” He said.

A knock on the front door alerted Hale that Robins here. He kissed his mom on the forehead and said a quick goodbye to his siblings and headed for the front door.

“Stay safe Hale!” His mom shouted from the kitchen as he stepped outside and shouted a goodbye as well.

“Ready to go?” Robin asked to which Hale nodded in response and they made their way over to the Emperor’s palace where the royal summit was being held.

The sun was just barely over the horizon, with its rays of light just shining over the mountain tops. The city felt as though it too had begun to wake up, store and market fronts were opening up, children began their journey to school and the sounds of people talking as they walked down the street filled the air. The brisk morning air cut through Hales skin sending cold shivers to run through his body, and every time he let out a breath it turned to mist.

“You ready for today?” Asked Robin.

“Yea, I am,” Hale responded, “any advice for me, vet?”

“Funny,” Robin said dryly, “you ever think of becoming a comedian instead of a guard? I’m only 5 years older than you bro.”

“Nope, they don’t make much money and yea you’re 5 years older you senior citizen.,” Hale said.

“Whatever,” Robin agreed with a laugh, “but as for tips, just stay alert and always keep an eye on the Princess, if anything happens it’ll be on your head.”

“Oh great,” Hale said, ” have you ever messed up in your 5 years of being a guard?”

“Nope, but I’m an exception cause I’m just built differently.” Robin joked.

“Yeah right,” Hale shoved Robin as a chuckle escaped his mouth.

As they got closer to the palace, Hale noticed that something was falling from the sky. At first glance, it looked as though it had begun to snow, but it was too early for that being that October had just begun.

Hale stuck his tongue out hoping to catch a snowflake, after a while and many attempts he managed to catch one. As it hit his tongue, a sharp and disgusting flavour exploded in his mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Asked Robin.

“Those aren’t snowflakes,” Hale said.

“What do you mean?”

“They don’t taste like snowflakes,” Hale mentioned and stuck his hand out to catch a few and show Robin, “and look they don’t look or dissolve like snowflakes.”

“What do you think it is then?” Robin asked with a look of confusion.

“Looks like,” Hale said and thought about what it looked like, “it looks like ash.”

“Why would ash be falling from the sky?”

“Maybe from the factories up North?” Hale said.

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Robin said, “the wind is blowing to the North so it should take the ask with it.”

“Yea that’s why I’m confused as well.”

“Just forget about it, and try to focus back on our assignment alright?” Robin told Hale as they arrived at the front of the palace.

The huge palace doors towered above them. The emblems of the 4 kingdoms were engraved into the golden doors, to signify the unity and collectiveness of the Empire, Air and Fire on one side and Earth and Water on the other. Royal family members of each kingdom and some nobles began entering the palace with their royal guards.

Guards have been stationed around the perimeter of the palace and had the whole area under lockdown. This was the most security for one event Hale has ever seen, and he’s been to his fair share of important events.

“Find the princess,” Robin said, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Oh, yea right sorry,” Hale said sheepishly, earning him a confused stare from Robin.

Paying no attention to it, Hale made his way up the stairs and into the palace. Passing the first wave of security that patted him down to search for weapons, he made his way to the second stage where they would x-ray scan him to see if there was anything that was missed in the first stage.

“Hey Hale,” a familiar voice called out to him as he passed through the x-ray machines.

A girl with raven black hair ran up to him and hugged him as she greeted him.

“Good morning to you to Alura,” Hale greeted her with a laugh and hugged her back.

“Big day today,” she said with her easy-going smile.

“Yeah, I’ve got Princess duty,” Hale said, “what about you?”

“X-ray duty,” she said with a huff.

“Sounds fun, but I gotta go sorry,” Hale said over his shoulder as he ran to the Princesses room, not wanting to be late.

He ran through the long hallway of the palace. Expensive items like vases and antiques lined the hallway, with massive paintings and portraits of past and present royal families hanging on the walls. Marble pillars held the ceiling up and were finished with intricate designs. The hall seemed to go on forever, with several openings and doorways leading off and branching to different parts of the massive palace. Workers were busy tending to the guests and making sure that everything was neat, tidy, and presentable.

Hale was greeted by two armed guards standing at the front of the Princesses room. Each one decorated in the same uniform Hale was in, but they were outfitted with more armour.

They let Hale in after recognizing who he was and closed the door as he entered the spacious room.

Wine red walls surrounded the room, with massive bookshelves filled to the brim. Paintings of landscapes and sunrises filled the empty spots of the wall.

“Took you long enough,” the Princess said sarcastically as she walked up to Hale outfitted in a royal red dress that flowed down to the floor.

“Sorry your highness, it won’t happen again,” Hale said, as he bowed in front of her.

“Relax, you’re fine,” she said and stuck her hand out, which Hale grabbed, ” I hate these types of meetings anyway, they take forever and nothing really happens.”

“Still your highness, I shouldn’t have been late.” He said as he stood up.

“For the last time Hale, you’re fine,” she said with a chuckle which helped ease Hale’s nerves, “now let’s go.”

Hale led the Princess to the meeting room of the palace, her two other guards flanking them on both sides. The Princesses perfume entered Hale’s nose and suddenly all Hale could smell were apples and peaches. His proximity to the Princess finally allowed him to see what she looked like in person. Her electric blue eyes shined brightly against the warm contrast of the morning sunlight pouring in through the massive windows of the palace. Her blonde hair was braided into a tight and intricate design with it laying on her shoulder. She was shorter than he had expected, with her only being up to under his eyebrows.

“So what’s your job today, Hale?” Asked the Princess.

“Watching you closely, ma’am.” He responded.

“Pervert,” she joked.

“No-no not like that,” Hale said, getting flustered.

“I’m just messing with you and you can stop with the formalities, it’s not like we’ve been friends for 5 years.” The Princess said laughing.

Funny joke, Hale thought to himself as they entered the meeting room. In the middle of the room was a horseshoe-shaped table and sitting at the front was the Emperor and next to him was a spot for his daughter, the Princess.

The guests in the room all stopped what they were doing and stood up as the Princess made her way to her seat next to her father. When she sat down the rest followed suit and Hale made his way off to the side but close enough to the Princess where he could grab her if anything were to happen.

“Selena, nice of you to join us, only 5 minutes late.” Joked her father.

“Well I wanted to take the scenic route,” she answered.

The meeting began shortly after and it was the usual royal business talks. They talked about how each kingdom was doing and if they needed any aid, to which every kingdom politely declined, showing how well they were doing. Then they moved onto the next topic, which kingdom was set to take the throne of the empire next, since the fire royal family has been ruling, the next kingdom set to rule is the water kingdom. The Makati family from the water kingdom looked up with joy as their names were called for this special responsibility.

Having to hear these conversations in person made Hale realize that what the Princess said was true, these are boring meetings. He fidgeted with his bracelet on his wrist, feeling the familiar ridges and weight of the bracelet spin and spin around his wrist.

Then the conversation switched to a more serious note. The empire’s general mentioned reports of the Drallidion Kingdom, a kingdom of non-gifted up north, preparing an attack on the capitol. There is no solid evidence for these claims so they assigned the closest kingdom to send a few men to go and check it out.

As the conversations flowed, Hale felt a strange feeling creep into his body. He wasn’t sure what it was that took over him but out of nowhere, he ran straight for the Princess.

“Everyone duck under the table!” Hale yelled cutting off the Emperor’s sentence.

He made it to the Princess and pushed her to the ground as a massive explosion rocked the palace floor.