The Damned

IV The Encounter

As Zed watched his people enjoy themselves, he couldn't help but feel good about himself. The cheers he had received after he had given his speech were roaring and plentiful. Good. Now I have them in the palm of my hands, he thought. Those registration papers will be full by dusk tomorrow. Everything was going according to plan.

As soon as Zed had finished, his family was escorted off the balcony by the servants of the castle with Zed being escorted last. He was immediately congratulated by his family the minute he stepped off the terrace. His mother was the last to express her proudness to him. "I am the most proud of you, my son," she told him grabbing his arms and pulling him into a hug, "Your father would've been just as proud, if not more. I am sure of it."

Zed couldn't help but smile fondly at his mother. Although his mother was not gifted with telepathy, she was still perfectly capable of knowing exactly what he was thinking. She always had that ability. It was most probably a motherly thing.

As the festivities raged on, Zed watched his people from his window. He was glad they were enjoying themselves. He knew that with the proposition he has made to his people, they were just itching to get their hands on the registration forms.

He decided to take the long way to the drawing room. He passed through the halls of the castle slowly, admiring its glorious layout. Every hall led to a different one and each corridor consisted of multiple doors. Making your way through the castle would be difficult for any new maid or servant. Zed remembers wandering through the halls of the enormous castle as a child. He remembers playing hide and seek with his father and cousins, always being the last to be found with his spectacular hiding spots. Sometimes, Zed would be hiding for hours until they would finally give up and he would come crawling out of his spot, laughing hysterically.

His memories from this castle were precious to him, many being quite joyful, but there were always those that would cloud over the happy ones and fill Zed with despair and rage.

No matter how much Zed tries to banish those thoughts from his head, they always come to haunt him continuously. The memories of his father abusing him, his mother screaming at him, him screaming and crying in his room because of all his responsibilities and problems.

He didn't realize that he had stopped in front of his father's portrait in the throne room. He stared and stared at the familiar painting and couldn't help but try and decode what he had received from him. His hair, unlike Zed's, was curly and pitch black. His skin was a darker shade of gray whereas Zed's was a paler gray which he got from his mother's side. His build was more muscle where his father's was a little more fat than anything else. Although his body did not show it, the late King of Chikir was lethal and his expression was cold and calculated. Although his build did not show it, King Leoxin I was one of the deadliest kings the Elves have ever had.

          Time to snap out of it, Zed, he told himself. He had some business to attend to.

As he entered the drawing room, Zed saw his guests sitting in the chairs opposite from the desk in the middle of the room. His mother was sitting on the couch against the wall while the head servant stood near her. He walked through the door and went straight to the bookshelves lined up against the back wall of the room.

He trailed his index finger through the multiple shelves before he sat down in the chair behind the desk and pulled out a palm leaf and laid it in front of his guests.

"Gentlemen," greeted Zed, "Seems like we have some business to attend to."

"Your Majesty," the man on the right answers, bowing their heads as a sign of respect. He is short and chubby, wearing burgundy and black robes. "Although we are mainly here to discuss our alliance and plans of attack, we would like to discuss the speech you made earlier."