The Duel

Freinds before war.

CHAPTER 4
It was a sunny afternoon and the gadraics had pitched their tent on the east of Hebor-minadrak. It was going to take 3 days to get to Hiram. As the soldiers rested, Priak called a meeting in his tent.
“3 days to go and this journey is over.” Acher said “We won’t let a gulp of air stay in Hiram.”
“Priak you called for a meeting what is it for?” Gebular asked in a tired voice
“Exactly” Priak said turning to face Madroan who had not said a word since the meeting started {unlike him} “I think we should not attack Hiram immediately.”
“Why? Why shouldn’t we attack Hiram?” Abrafo  asked in surprise
“We should try to come to an agreement with them”
“Which agreement? When Bethga took Janette did he consider the consequence? Did he come to an agreement with Madroan? And when he killed Gebular’s horse did he associate with him? He did none of this, Priak none of this.” Abrafo {Gebular’s son in law} replied
“Exactly!” someone said
“And even after all he did Narub did not come to apologize, after Madroan declared war he also did not come to associate. Priak do you think we are fools? We were Narub’s associates, we warred with him, we conquered cities together and after all we did, this is how he repays us, with Evil!” Abrafo added. As he spoke, murmurings filled the hall.
“Abrafo” Priak began again “I did not say we would not war with Hiram I suggested that we should give Narub that honor, send him a letter, and know if he is going to realize his mistakes and take responsibilities of his actions”
“Honor my feet!” Abrafo spat out. “Narub deserves no honor, he has buried his and just needs to go down to the grave were he buried it. As far as I am concerned Narub’s honor is in his grave”
“Enough” Gebular spoke up “Abrafo I understand your point, what Narub has done deserves no mercy or Human compassion, but I still think Priak is right”
“What? “
“Exactly, I have known Narub since child hood. He can play stubborn but he won’t resist to apologize when he hurts something that belongs to you. And for him to withhold his apology there must be a reason.” Gebular said, then turning to look at Madroan he continued “But I won’t make the decision”
“Who will?” Acher asked
“Madroan will.” Gebular concluded. At this point everyone turned to face Madroan
“Madroan, what do you think?” Priak asked
“Send the letter Priak; I am not in the mood for questions”
“You heard it, we send the letter”
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In Hiram, Narub sat at a corner and watched Adonak train the army. After few minutes Thesarus ran in with a letter.
“Your majesty, a letter from Gebular” he said handing over the letter to Narub who broke the seal and began to read it.

Dear Narub,
We speak after so many years, I may not know why you did this but I have just one request, Narub I write with a broken heart, and I expect that you would understand me, because You also have a daughter; a pretty one, a warrior and you should understand how I feel. We have spent so many years together and now I am not asking as a king, but as a father, a heart broken one, as a friend, a close one, please send my daughter back to me.
You can forget about the horse but pls send her back.
                               
                                                          Gebular
        

After reading the letter Narub was heartbroken.  He did not want to war against Gebular but he was between the devil and the deep blue sea. If he gave Janette back to Gebular doom was going to befall him. He had to pay a price. He knew the real reason he decided to war. He had been telling a lie to his Family and his people, to his kingdom. He did not want them to find out the real truth.
  Adonak clearly observed his father he knew something was wrong. Few minutes later, Narub stood up and left the training ground immediately. Adonak turned and beckoned on thesarus who came immediately.
“What was the letter about?”
“Did you expect me to open it; it was for your father and not for me”
“Not the content, don’t you know anything about the letter like who sent it, why, and stuffs like that”
“Stuffs like what?”
“Like the examples”
“Which examples?”
“Oh come on Thesarus, you know exactly what I mean”
“Yeah I do, can I tell you something?”
“That has to do with the letter?”
“No, Definitely not, something else”
“What?”
“......Never mind, anyway the letter is from Gebular, and I don’t know why he sent it. It is odd, but looking at the situation looks like it got your dad emotional”
“It should also get him to his right senses” Adonak replied returning to train the army, while thesarus laughed.
         Narub was in his room with the door shut, he had been crying all day. But he was not going to give in. he had already sent words back to Gebular and he knew that they were going to come for him. As he lay on his bed he began to think of what would happen to Cassandra if they lost. He had started a journey and had to finish it. He knew Gebular would be disappointed but he had to do it.
“Hang in there Gebular, just a little more” he said as he dozed off.
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“Insolence” Abrafo shouted after Narub’s letter was read out before the presence of everyone. Confusion was already in progress and murmurings filled the hall. “This is madness. We had stayed here for days only to receive this trash. Priak do you still have anything to say? We are going to Hiram and we are going to war against them. Narub is too full of himself. He thinks he would win in everything, He would personally go down by my sword, I would....”
“Abrafo it’s enough Let it go” Gebular interrupted “You all heard it we continue our journey tomorrow. Gebular said and left.
    It was dark and the soldiers were already going back to bed, everyone except Gebular who just stood outside his tent and watched the stars, as memories of the past filled his head. Why was Narub going for this war? He knew something was wrong somewhere. He was still thinking about it when Priak entered.
“You haven’t slept yet” Priak asked
“This old Man is too confused to sleep”
“You should learn to get over things”
“Not this thing Priak, not these one. I feel Narub is not telling the truth”
“Maybe, he is not or he has been possessed by Aite the goddess of evil”
“How is Madroan?”
“Worse than I thought. Though he doesn’t look emotional he has been silent since yesterday”
“Guess he is still shocked?” Gebular asked turning to look at Priak
“Probably, but he asked me to come check anyway” Priak said standing on his feet “I think I should go to bed, you should too, you need a lot of rest”
“Sure I will”