Kings and Heirs (A Da-iCE Fanfiction)

Chapter 3

"So... your hair is red." The king of Silverwind turned to his mysterious companion. The trio had been walking in silence through the woods. Although his castle was large, there was the usual noise of the lively servants who milled about their duties. This silence was deafening and unbearable by Taiki. He raised his eye brows at the man, expecting him to answer.

"My hair is red, and yours is black," the sorcerer agreed with a nod. "Very observant of you."

Although his tone was mostly polite, Taiki heard a touch of sarcasm and even a hint of playfulness in his voice. "Careful how you speak," Taiki warned softly, a sharp contrast to the sorcerer's carefree tone. "You talk to your king."

Sota's eyes widened slightly before shrugging lightly, "I belong to no kingdom. You're not my king."

The captain of the guards had to cough and rustle a few leafs to hide his laughter. King Taiki Kudo was a patient man, however this sorcerer liked to push him to limits even Toru didn't know he had.

When the king sent both his guard and the sorcerer a gaze, the sorcerer sighed a bit. "I.. well when I was practicing my magic, a spell to conjure strawberries went horribly wrong," he explained quickly. "And it... well colored my hair." He rubbed the back of his neck a bit awkwardly and chuckled.

The king opened his mouth to speak before being knocked to the ground. He hit the ground with an audible 'oof' and looked over to see the smart talking sorcerer on the ground as well. Before he could call to his guard, a hand went over his mouth. Panicked, the king grabbed the hand and tried to will it free before a voice stopped him.

"Milord, stay down."

The sound of his guard's voice allowed him to relax slightly but his eyes darted around the forest. All he heard was the rustle of the wind through the trees and the occasional chirping of a bird. There was stillness then everything happened at once.

He felt himself being pushed away, closer to the protection of the bushes and too quickly for his eyes to register, an arrow buried itself in the ground close to his face.

The guard's voice seemed to be amplified with the silence as he shouted at the intruder. "Show yourself! You coward!"

A shout even louder than Toru's pierced the stillness and his guard was under attack by a man who's sword flew effortlessly and dealt blows to his protector. Toru was caught completely by surprise and drew blood before he could raise his sword to parry.

"Leave him alone!"

The attacker paused for a brief moment to look over at the cloaked sorcerer. Toru took that opportunity and knocked his attacker back onto the ground. With a snarl that would have made a wolf run away, the attacker looked up at the guard.

Before he could leap onto his prey, a white light engulfed his body and suddenly he was 20 feet in the air. A childish squeal came from the mouth of the red head and both the guard and the king looked over at him.

He looked over at the two and flashed them a smile, his glowing hands lifted high into the air. "We did it!"

"P-Please let me down!" It was obvious the attacker tried to release himself from the magic barrier, but when he touched the barrier a sound of pain escaped his lips. "P-Please!"

The king quickly got to his feet and took a moment to compose himself. In a voice which did not tremble, he questioned the boy. "Who are you? State your name."

"I-I... my name is Hayate Wada! I come from the kingdom of Celeste... I was sent here by the king!"

Yudai Ohno. Ever since he became the king, the reports from the adjacent kingdom have crossed his hands less and less. Whereas before when their father's ruled, he recalled his father receiving letters from Celeste almost weekly. And now, it was a rare occasion to hear word from the kingdom. "Why does he send you here?"

"I-I can explain! He told me to keep an eye on you, to watch you... You are plotting to kill him-are you not?"

The king was taken back at the accusation and narrowed his eyes. "Who ever is spreading such false rumors will know-"

"It was no rumor. The king received a vision. A vision where you had poisoned his meal and started another war."

Taiki's eyes widened slightly in shock before he glanced over at his guard. "I... Sota, the vision."

Sota's eyes also widened in recognition and he looked up at the intruder. "Your king sent you to ensure that the king of Silverwind did not try to harm the king of Celeste, yes?"

The floating man nodded. "Yes, exactly. He is afraid the two kingdoms will fall into ruins with the new war."

"Milord, is this not the same vision the sorcerer had informed of us?" Toru asked with a furrowed brow.

The king nodded in response. Could it be that another, larger force was threatening the two kingdoms. "Intruder. You will take me to your king so that I may speak to him." If there was to be any chance at keeping the peace, solid communication must be formed. A letter would take far too long, and even if he sent a courier to send his message who was to say that King Ohno would listen?

"As much as I would love to help," the man said and waved from his magical bubble. "I would need your friend to release me."

The king glanced over at the sorcerer and nodded once. The bubble disappeared in front of their eyes and the intruder was left face first on the ground. Taiki watched as his guard stepped in front of the intruder and pointed his broadsword at him.

"If you make one move towards my king, I will slice that young head from your shoulders. Have I made myself perfectly clear, intruder?" Toru's eyes narrowed and his voice carried no remorse over the new ally.

"I give you my word. I only wish peace for the kingdom of Celeste." The man nodded softly and slowly rose from the ground. "I am Hayate Wada, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Hayate Wada... I have heard of you." Taiki mumbled out.

"Oh good! Then I don't need to explain much more. Come along now, the woods can be quite dangerous." Hayate said with a slight smile before making his way into the woods.

A sorcerer who's hair was the color of strawberries, a guard who's sole purpose was to guard the throne, and a hired assassin... it sounded more like the start of a bad joke then his group of unlikely heroes. He could only pray he was doing the right thing.