01
Everyone bowed down, the heavy footsteps echoed in the room, not a single soul dared to look up, it was the hatred and as well as the respect they had for the king, Argus. It was quiet, not a single word uttered, each of the king's minister was standing in a line, their eyes transfixed on the ground. They looked at their King's feet, walking straight ahead of all of them.
"You all may take your seat" It was the great voice of the King that boomed in the entire room. Immediately, everyone sat down, even though each soul present there hated him, they were too afraid to raise their voice against him.
The king looked up, he had his cloak on, a bit of eyes which were not being covered had helped him to look around in the room, he loved control, he resisted a smirk when he looked at all of them, not meeting his eyes, he preferred to rule this way, with his own set of rules. King Argus was ruthless, he never had a second thought before slitting someone's throat or breaking every piece of bone inside a traitor's body.
"My lord, we have received a message from Artemis, he demands for some soldiers to help him defeat the Bewaliya, he says it's urgent and he would be grateful if you sent them tonight" It was the royal messenger of the royal court who was speaking, he had somehow managed to stand in front of his throne, bowing his head down as soon he conveyed the message.
"Tell him that he had owed me since two centuries, Canthelia was in need of food grains seventeen years ago, remind him that he did not even consider picking up the damn message. It is the last time I am helping him and if some is being dropped at my territory, burn it, you don't need my consent before doing so" The king had now clutched the arms of his big, giant throne, how he wished to behead Artemis but right now, he would send his army to help him, for one last time.
The messenger; Cosmos, had no more bothered to disturb his King, he had rather taken several steps away from him and turned around the corner, to his room where he had to prepare the message which had to be sent at the earliest. He still remembered the day he had been hired by the King, it was in a ruthless way, he had to pass tests which were almost never ending, Argus had taunted him many times but he stood still and somehow managed to pave his way into his royal court.
Artemis, the east side ruler who some centuries ago was one of the royal soldiers of Argus but slowly as the Great War of Cathelia began to commence, he broke apart from his army, he wished to join the East Army, he was too tired of being under the command of the King. Cathelia was one big, large piece of land and all of it was under Argus, there were revolts, the north, south, east, west wanted their own freedom and so they had it, after wars, after wars. But Argus still had north and West under him and he did not plan on giving them up anytime soon.
Argus knew Artemis was eventually going to get weak, he was sure, he was planning on taking up a piece of south, Bewaliya to strengthen his ruling but Argus knew it was not going to be easy for him to do so. Artemis had one weakness, his mate, his soulmate and as far as Argus knew, she was killed a century ago which had pained Artemis in ways no one could imagine. Everybody who took birth except the mortals had a soulmate, a person who would complete the other.
Now Argus was looking into some other matters, his hands were clenched close to the paper in front of him, it was a threat from Azeus, his another enemy, all his life he had only made enemies and still continued to do so. He had ordered one of his ministers to tear the pages and burn it, he was pissed but he wasn't going to show any emotions regarding that. The cloak on his face was still there, not a single soul in the court had ever dared to question him regarding the way he dressed, if someone wanted a death wish, they were free to raise their voices.
"My lord, we have a problem, the elites wish to have a part of land which is under the unpretentious, we had tried to resolve it but the Elites were hell bent on grabbing the land" Merek, the minister who was responsible to look into the matters between the two classes spoke out, his voice was thin and trembling as if he was afraid the king would swallow him raw and alive.
Another problem that King had was the division between his kingdom, it was divided into two seperate groups, separate grounds. The Elites and The unpretentious. The king had never wanted any of this to happen but it was too late, the damage was already done, he couldn't do anything about it anymore.
"I will personally look into this matter, you are dismissed Merek '' As soon his thick and powerful voice had echoed in the court, the minister was long gone from his sight, away from his wrath. Once Merek had accidentally stepped inside the court before the timing of the meeting when Argus had his cloak down, his deathful stare had haunted him for three days and until now, he had never stepped inside the court before the time.
There whispers in the court, Argus cleared his throat immediately and there was a complete silence yet again. How every minister wanted to snap back at him but they were too cowardly to do so, too afraid that they would be mercilessly killed with Argus's bare hand, so they always decided against it. They knew their King was too powerful to do anything.
The bell rang, it indicated that the court would be opening now after several hours and if there was any serious matter needed to be looked into, they should approach the king at the earliest but only if it was important. Argus rose up from his royal throne, everyone yet again bowed, showing their respect to the King even though they had no heart to do, they still did.
Without exchanging any word, he took his leave. His long cloak trailing behind, touching the marble floor as he walked down his corridor. The castle was built up on a height, up enough that Argus was able to look down at his kingdom, his people looked like small creatures from there, working, walking from here to there. His arms folded as he stood in from of the corridor window, Argus's eyes drifted to the forest, he closed his eyes, taking in a long breath.
He imagined being there, walking into the wet mud, the smell of fresh rain, the soft wind grazing his skin, the hustle of leaves. The noise of the Beetles which made his look around the whole forest, that one Oak tree where he often found himself lying down under his shade, to relax, for a peaceful silence. Argus craved to go back there, it's been centuries since he touched the barks of those tress which ought to be magical, they did not age, just like him.
Argus looked at the shutters of the window, he did not want anything that would distract him. Maybe it was the War that had made him so heartless and more cruel or it was the fact that he was made to rule like a monster. Argus wasn't blessed with a mate, he had gone through each corner of the world to find her but no luck. Rather than weeping, he took it as a thing to make him stronger.
Argus banged the door of his room as he entered it, his temper was short, he wanted to throw every single thing present in the room, he had no mercy on anything. But he controlled his urges, he sat down on a chair, his head between his hands, his eyes were turning red. After minutes of cooling himself down, he heard a knock on his door. He did not answer it, Argus wanted to be left alone right now.
He almost lashed out when the door opened without his permission but it was Hilda, the royal cook he had appointed a century ago. "My lord, you did not come down for lunch, so I brought you some" Argus couldn't get angry on her, she was too innocent and weak hearted to handle his wrath, she did not deserve to be punished. Argus only nodded, too afraid that if he spoke, he might say words that would hurt her.
Hilda was old, she was a warlock and she had proven herself loyal to the king many times and Argus trusted her. All of the royal ministers were tested, put into enormous struggles to prove that they were worthy, brave and loyal to the court and to the king. Some of them did not pass, most of them, Argus got rid of them by placing them on the borders of Canthelia.
Once Hilda left, Argus looked down at plates full of food, he wasn't hungry, not a bit. He could survive without food for a week, it wasn't a big deal to Argus. His ministers were special ones, they weren't Elites nor they were The unpretentious, they were made by the heavens above to be ministers of the king but only some passed and the others were sent into the royal army.
Most of the ministers had mates, the castle was big enough to have the ministers, the royal soldiers and their wives to accommodate, leaving a whole quarter to the king himself, it was forbidden for anyone to enter except from the King, the royal cooks and the royal soldiers.
Argus had stood in front of the painting, a picture of a woman, who seemed to look back at him, she looked beautiful with all the jewellery she was wearing but her face was left alone, not a single piece of jewel was needed to make her look so elegant. He soon heard the bell ring, he had lost the track of the time, yet again which did not seem to bother him. Argus grabbed his cloak which he had thrown away in his temper, throwing it over his head yet again, preparing himself to hear his ministers once again.
