Hiraya (HEST #1)

Kabanata 40

Antagonist's Tale XL: Wales & Unshed Smile

It's been a long time of being emotionless and lifeless, isn't it?

It's been a long time of mirrored practice smiles and scripted happiness, ain't it?

It's been a long time since it's been true. Been a long time. . . when was the last time?

The sports car is turning over to face the front of the castle.

The grayish bricks loomed over the car's window. The palace inside the walls is as tall as a four storey building. Ngunit aking alam na katulad nang Palacio de Amnon ay dalawang palapag lamang ito. Amnon's manors and palaces focus more on being wide and taking up the huge space of their land rather than clumping it all down into one tall structure.

Tuluyang nagtungo ang aming kotse sa harap ng palasiyo. We've been zigzagging around the diamond shaped walls of the castle for half an hour. Each side as long as a train's route.

Ngayon na naharap sa pinaka bukana ng palasiyo, isang matangkad na bakal ang sumalubong sa amin. Two high towers were beside the metal gates. Magkadugtong ang mga ito sa itaas at sa baba ay ang tusok ng mga bakal. The bricks were old and has the color of the centuries it lived through.

Ang parehong tower ay hindi patusok sa ibabaw. Instead, their top is flat and only made up of blocks, with spaces in between every brick. It's the same as every ancient Welsh castle in the country  made for knights to mandate the land through the towers twenty-four seven.

The coat of arms of the Amnon is forged on the high metal gate.

Noong nakita ang sports car ni Seref ay binuksan ng mga tauhan na nasa magkabilang gilid ang gate.

The car broomed lusciously as it moves again to conquer inside. Past the fifty feet walls, we have much more clearer picture of the place. The castle's made up of different towers and levels. Lahat ay kulay abo.

"This is where you lived?" aking tanong sa pagbukas ng pintuan ng kotse.

The crescent of their family is embarked on the shield of an authentic silver sculpture of a knight twice the size of the gigantic gates earlier. It's located at the front before the doors.

Minasid ko ito ng maagi. Amnons do like their silvers, huh?

Two red and yellow gigantic banners hanged from the four storey high roof. Dalawang symbolo ang mga iyon: korona at sandata.

"Two of the four symbols," sagot ng kasama sa tahimik kong tanong. "The other two hangs on Palacio de Amnon."

Their family's heraldry is a knight's shield with four symbols inside: lion, crown, peacock and sword. Gold, red and yellow are distributed around their crest.

The lion stands for their family's honor and strong principle. Peacock for their clan's beauty and elegance. Ang dalawang symbolo na nakapalibot sa kanilang palasiyo sa Isabela.

The crown on the other hand stands for their wealth and power. While the sword symbolizes their strong and threatening will. Those are the symbols here in Minos, their ancestral house in Wales.

In Palacio de Amnon, the chivalry and beauty are more pronounced. In here, the power and wealth seems more dominating.

"Yes," sagot ni Seref sa nauna kong tanong. Tumigil siya sa aking gilid. "This where I lived."

It didn't look like a home. Didn't even seem like a house. It's an actual castle, one of the oldest here in Cardiff, Wales. It's too stiff, too serious, too oppressing. How could anyone even live in this acres of land who could pass more for a history museum?