Fate once again

Part 5. Giant with a shy smile

Segro was a beautiful country surrounded by mountains and ocean and compared to most kingdoms on this continent, Segro's king, Feser was a good man. He cared about his country and  people. His rule brought prosperity to the Sergo .Sar'gen started negotiation as soon as he reached Segro's borders. Secretly he knew what King Feser would propose as a condition for surrender.

- Marriage?  

-Yes.

All his generals looked at Sar'gen patiently.

King Feser had only one child, his beloved princess Effil. He married young but his wife died shortly after giving birth to Effil. Feser was a good king and a good father. He put all his time and effort into looking after his daughter and his kingdom. It took him a lot of time to bring prosperity to Segro and looked after child without a mother. So he missed any opportunities to remarry. When Effil turned 15 years old, it was the first time that they faced assassination attempt. There were no direct challengers to the throne, however, his extended family decided that without a crown prince, Segro's people would have no choice but to accept  not-so-direct royal linage.

King Feser tried to catch all traitors and put them in prison but some found support in the Maron kingdom and were able to flee from Segro. Maron queen Zahla enjoyed bringing disturbance, so she actively supported the traitors of Segro. In the next 3 years, Effil faced a lot of assassination attempts.

It was a difficult decision for Feser. However, if Zahla with traitors would succeed in overthrowing him, it  would bring a lot of suffering to innocent people. He decided to put political marriage as a condition for surrender, it would also secure his daughter's rule as her husband from Ilula kingdom would be able to protect her and Segro from any enemies. 

- Are you going to marry princess Sar'gen? - asked Masari

-Me? Why me? - Sar'gen smirked at his friends

-What?

-There 5 of ours...so why it should be me?

Sar'gen sat down and looked at his surprised generals. He did not want to marry Princess Effil. No way, in his previous life he married her. It was the decision that he regretted a lot. Effil was a loyal and gentle person, who wanted to be loved but Sar'gen never loved her. It was a miserable marriage for both of them.

However, he kept this as secret for a different reason because Effil was a  very close to all his generals in his previous life. She became good friend with Kedra, Vulal and Solala. Effil was the person who tended to dying from his wounds Vulal. After the Vulal's death, Effil never recovered. Sar'gen always regretted not marrying this gentle soul to his shy brother who was never good with women. He looked at Vulal who was talking to his twin sister and smiled.

Vulal was the tallest in the family, above two meters high, his huge frame scarred children and women away. He wielded two huge swords that he wore behind his back that would make him appear even bigger. However, under all these, Vulal was a very shy person, who loved children and adored small animals. Effil was the only person in his life, excluding his family, who accepted him for what he was and called him "Shy Giant". Princess Effil had a beautiful voice, she would sing to blind Vulal Segro's songs about the ocean and mountains and about his brave journey of uniting the kingdoms and stopping the wars.

Sar'gen noticed their feelings too late. When Vulal lost the ability to walk and see, it was too late to change anything. Effil was with Vulal till his last breath, she held his hands and sang. Sar'gen cried as he never cried before when Vulal died. They won and united the kingdoms but the price was too high. The sacrifice was enormous.