Blood Rose

#3

Philip was the prince of Mausa. Drunk in greed and selfishness, he cared for none. He did despise one person though, his elder brother, the king of Mausa. The reason was obvious, prince Estevan, being the elder son of the king, was crowned to become the king while Philip, stayed prince.

Their father was a good king, and so was Estevan. But Philip was Estevan's weakness, and even though Philip despised Estevan, Estevan was Philip's strength as he'd never say no to his younger brother.

Me, Adonis, I didn't belong to the royal family. I wasn't strong either, great with weapons but not exceptional. Yet I was the most wanted warrior in the armies of many kings, but I stuck with Mausa, because I was born there. I was also filled with respect for Estevan, except for his uncontrollable, unreasonable love for Philip, he was a great ruler. But love for Philip, that would drive him crazy. But I was the master of my own will, no one could rule me, not even Estevan.

He couldn't afford to lose me, he believed that his army would fall to pieces if I wasn't in it. Maybe it was true, all the warriors looked to me for command. I wasn't this wanted because of nothing, I did have one thing, inconceivable speed. They called me the man with wings, I lost no fight ever because the opponent would swing his sword, and way before it would reach me, I'd have cut off his head.

Estevan called me brother, and that led me to believe that Philip was jealous of me. I won't say I was wrong, considering Philip was never really nice to me. Maybe another thing bothered him, that he couldn't boss me around like he could with everybody else.

"Did you say you know who it is, Philip?" I asked.
"Learn to respect the royals, Adonis. Call me Prince Philip." He said.
"I'd never trade lives with someone royal but useless in the battlefield, Philip. My valour means way more to me than being royal."
"How dare you insult me?" Philip thundered and pulled out his sword and raced at me. I ducked the second his sword reached close to my head.

"Now, now, Philip, you know you can't defeat me. And Estevan won't be very happy to know you tried attacking me." I said. Philip reluctantly put back his sword. Owen and Julian were in the corner, clearly not expecting all the action. They were great warriors, among the best in Estevan's army. Philip didn't like them much either because they respected me more than him.

"Anyway, who did you say it is? Philip?" I asked, sitting down.
"A wounded woman reached here with a baby just a day after she escaped with the baby from Vasilios. And this place is a day of journey from Mausa." He said.
"How did you come to know about this, prince?" Owen asked.
"Quinn told me. He was here when she came." He said.
"Quinn? That old man who helped us sneak into Cyprus and weave the story about the storm? The one who worked for Vasilios?" Julian asked.

"Yes, that's him. The loyal servant of my uncle. He used to guard the beach when he was younger. He was here when she came. He sent a message through a pigeon to Vasilios that the woman had come to Cyprus, and died. He didn't written about the baby in the message. Vasilios died in a few nights, the disease took him. And I was the closest to him. He left me an envelope in his will. He didn't possess much wealth, but being from a royal family, I really thought he'd leave me more gold. But inside the envelope, there was the letter Quinn wrote to him, and another letter he wrote to me. That letter also had directions on how to reach Quinn. So, I could sneak us into Cyprus."

"Why did you wait so much to save this baby, as you say? You could've just told Estevan about it and he would've sent troops to look for the baby." I said.
"I needed to wait till I grew up, Adonis. I know brother would've helped, but uncle left the envelope to me, clearly he wanted me to come for this girl when I grow up. Moreover, Estevan was just 18." He said.
"That is stupid, if the sorceress really wanted to kill the baby to gain power, waiting this many years was stupid. Maybe that girl is dead." I said.

"Adonis, you're ignoring one important detail. The sorceress wouldn't have gained any power if she killed her on seas. So she waited till she reached Cyprus. But I guess there was not much life left in her, like Quinn wrote in the letter. And I knew that the baby would be safe in Cyprus, they never harm anyone." Philip said.

"How old were you back then?" Owen asked.
"I was 11. Our great warrior here, Adonis, was hardly 3, I believe." Philip mocked.
"I'm way beyond your age in the battlefield, Philip. You're a prince and never even been the army, while I'm just 22 and I lead the army." I said. Philip got quiet.

Vasilios was the uncle of Estevan and Philip. Legend has it, he was the elder son, yet Estevan and Philip's father, Stavros was made king. Only because, Vasilios wasn't a good man. And he envied his brother forever. Some say, Vasilios killed Stavros to become king, but Stavros had already crowned Estevan to be king after him, and Vasilios's efforts failed.

However there's no proof that Vasilios killed Stavros. According to what I've learnt from Philip, all of that was probably a myth, Vasilios and Stavros were close brothers, and he never would've dreamt of murdering his own brother for the throne. If that'd been true, he would've killed Estevan too, who was way too young when he became king. This was one of the few things said by Philip that I actually believed.

I hadn't come here with them to sell spices or on a business voyage, and there was no storm, which I guess is pretty obvious by now.

Thank you for reading, I know this chapter has complicating details, as you keep reading the chapters will keep going smoother. Want to know more about the story of Vasilios and the sorceress? Keep reading!

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Love, Kaninika xoxo