The Sahara Chronicles #1: The Young Foreigner (Available in full on Amazon)

PART XX: SPECULATION

It did not take long for the two young travellers to reach the border of the Kingdom of Aloris—just under two hours.

This was not surprising, owing to the small size of the land. Elmeida and Yor stopped their horses and turned around in their seats, in order to have a last look at the land they were about to depart.

To him, it was just a land he had stopped by, on his journey to seek a fortune. To her, though, it was much more than that—the only refuge she had had at present. And she was leaving it. All for the sake of seeking the source of her problems.

While Yor thought nothing of it, Elmeida began wondering if she had made the right choice. It had seemed so, the day before, but now, she did not know.

Then, she glanced at the young man beside her—the man who swore to protect her from all harm. And she trusted him, although she had no clue why. Perhaps because her aunt and uncle did.

Also, he had cured her Aunt Alia.

A thought crossed her mind: 'Could this man here, this seemingly selfless man... Could it be that he's born of the prophecy?'

At long last, they arrived at the gates of the Kingdom of Aloris, and stopped the horses.

Elmeida turned around. "I say, sir –"

The young man did not turn a hair as he continued gazing at the valley before them. But she distinctly heard him say, "Yor."

She blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

He turned to her with his pleasant smile. "You can call me Yor. No 'sir' or any other titles I don't yet deserve. Just Yor. A villager from Grant."

"Oh," she breathed, colouring a little in embarrassment. "W-well, Yor, I... I just wanted to ask you... I seem to think you have a specific goal in your mind you want to verify. What can it be, may I ask?"

"Oh, yes, of course! Do you remember how you once told me that your mother was not able to control the Darkness fully?"

She nodded. "That's true."

"And you made it as though her predecessors were able to keep it under control, something your mother failed to achieve. Am I right?"

Her eyes fell to the ground. "I suppose you could say that. Though I wouldn't be so sure..." Her voice trailed off.

"Anyway, if that is true, then maybe your mother wasn't too weak to contain it. Maybe something is making it strong. Something like..."

Her eyes narrowed as realisation dawned. "Chaos awakening," Her reddish-brown eyebrows wrinkled in agitation.

"Then again, your mother is not the same as any of your ancestors. But then, how could a person born with Darkness not be able to contain Chaos's power?"

"You might be right. So, we need to go to the place where all of this started in the first place."

"Jermis. Which means," he concluded, voice going soft, "you're most likely strong enough to keep the Darkness suppressed, but can't really help it overpowering you."

Her eyes opened wide in disbelief. "Yor, you said you travelled through Cordelia. Do you know that there are seers who can predict futures and fortunes?"

"Yes, I've heard about them. There are even some seers in Grant."

"Indeed. These seers are almost never wrong. There are even seers appointed for each family in that huge kingdom. You can only imagine the number of them. Many inherit the knowledge of the seers, while very few others gain it by apprenticeship."

"Oh! Back in Grant, seers aren't all that common. There are only a select few who could be. And, certainly not for entire families! We in Grant do not feel the need to know the future. Oh! No, no, I don't mean to say it's bad or anything."

"True enough." Elmeida winked at him. "Cordelia is known as the Valley of the Seers for just that reason. "Anyhow, I was just wondering if you've heard of any recently."

Yor frowned. "No, I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

She smiled ruefully. "No reason, I suppose."