A KINGDOM OF DEAD HEARTS [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER 8: THE ENCOUNTER

She saw them: A man and a young girl laid face down on the grass clearing.

The man groaned, moved and managed to push himself into sitting position before rushing to check on the little girl lying next to him.

The girl groaned, sat up with the help of the man. She looked at the man and started sobbing.

The man held her, and after a few second, he helped her to stand up.

"You guys ... who?" stuttered Airin as she tried to keep some sanity within her. Has she gone mad? What had she just witnessed? Who were these people?

The man startled by her voice, pulled the little girl closer to him, and walked slowly toward Airin. But the little girl sobbed harder, and he decided to carry her into his arms. His right hand rested on the back of the little girl's head as the girl buried her face in his neck, crying in short gasps of breath. It was obvious he was protecting the little girl in his embrace.

He walked closer, his gait was slow and shaky, possibly he was injured.

She could see them more clearly now.

The man was young, maybe just a couple years older than her, dressed like he just stepped out of some sort of Game of Thrones movie set. All-black high-collared clothes, black pants, and black cape.

He was tall, muscular build, with wavy dark hair to his shoulder, blue eyes that stood in complete contrast with his jet black hair, and stubby moustache and beard that formed shadowy areas around his jaws, chin and below his nose area.

A tattoo of a character that Airin could not decipher – some sort of a symbol in black – was in the middle of his forehead. Intense otherwordly air surrounded him with the tattoo that made him so foreign, unknown, and far away.

The little girl was maybe only about five or six years old, with platinum blond hair braided like a tail down her back, thin build, and pale skin that looked almost luminous.

Airin froze. Her mind was rushing with all kinds of possible scenarios, but her feet seemed like they had planted themselves on the ground. Her mind with all the scary scenarios told her to run, but her heart prevented her.

And this time, her heart won.

The man kept walking closer to Airin, and that freaked her out. "Stop! Don't move closer!" she shouted as she put her arms in front of her.

She shook her head, and the man stopped walking. "Shit ... this is beyond crazy ...who are you two? What is that thing? That well? You guys just shot out!" Airin tried to maintain some semblance of composure but her flailing arms as she talked in rapid fire sentence betrayed any effort to be calm.

She failed. She sounded rather hysterical actually.

The man seemed to tighten his embrace on the little girl, her thin body now looked like it sunk deeper, disappearing in his solid arms while her back still heaved up and down from sobbing.

He stared at Airin unblinked with those captivating blue eyes. He stood still, but the shake on his legs showed that he was trying to withstand some sort of pain.

"I am Xander of Halgard. This girl ... is Princess Lyanna of Halgard, my niece ..." he spoke with a deep voice that was both commanding and calming. "I do not come to harm you. I promise ... " he continued with a slight nod of his head.

"Is this some sort of a joke? A prank? Princess? Are you guys from the Game of Thrones movie set? Hidden camera thing? You know? To prank people?" Airin whispered, more to herself.

The man coughed and fresh blood trickled down the corner of his mouth.

"You are injured!" blurted Airin, and the blood was enough to convince Airin to step a bit closer.