A World Of Treason and Tides

Chapter 13: You are a...

I tried once again, and that time I could see the outlines of a house in front of me. I concentrated a bit more till I could see the entire house. The house looked simple— not at all elegant or over-the-top like I imagined fae houses to be. But, the pathway that lead to the entrance was surrounded by tall, slender trees, different from the other trees in the forest.

In science, I had read that trees are living, though they never looked so. But those trees and bushes looked real— the leaves were so lush and green— the bark so dark and brown— everything about them were fascinating. Some sort of creeping plants with bright blue and green, small flowers grew up along the trunk of those trees. Ryan did a hand gesture and those flowers lit up casting a blue-green glow all over the place. In that glow, the house looked elegant and magical.

"What are these?" I asked Ryan gesturing towards the flowers.

"Bioluminescents. From my kingdom," Ryan said leading me forward.

"These are really beautiful," Emma said dreamily. Ryan just smiled and opened the front door.

He lit the hallway in a similar way. The house looked much bigger from the inside. The downstairs was empty except a few wooden chairs scattered around the hall and a kitchen to the side of the hall. A spiral staircase led us upstairs, lit by small, glowing bioluminescents.

Ryan showed Emma her room. The room was so magnificent that she almost squealed with delight. I cast a sidelong glance towards her, to which Emma rolled her eyes. I could not feel the excitement Emma was feeling. I was still wary of all the things fae, around me. And tired, too.

"Your room is the one adjacent to hers," Ryan informed me. I nodded and left Emma's room. Ryan led me to my room— exactly like Emma's except some small changes in the design along the bottom of the walls. There was a glass jar filled with water at the nightstand.

"Where did that come from?" I asked Ryan.

"This house is enchanted to never run out of water. But we need to get food on our own," he shrugged. "You can drink that, it is safe," Ryan pointed at the jar, but he sounded a little distracted. I saw sweat building up on his forehead.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes." He did not sound like he was well.

"What happened to you?" I asked him again.

"Nothing. I should leave now," Ryan said and turned away. He took an unsteady step ahead. Something was really wrong with him.

"Ryan! Wait." He turned towards me.

"You need to sit down. You are clearly unwell," I said but I knew he would not sit, so I went ahead and closed the door to the room. Then, leading him to the nearest chair, I told him to sit. Ryan looked at me amusingly for a couple of seconds and then sat down.

"I would never have imagined you taking care of me," he said. He was right. I, myself had never thought that him being unwell would matter to me. However, I ignored both his words and my thoughts.

"What happened to you?" I gave him a glass of water and sat on the edge of my bed.

He drank the whole water in one go and said, "It was probably the magic I did to bring you water."

"So you did not find a water body."

"No."

"But, are not you used to doing magic? Why would such a small expense of your power make you so weak?" I asked.

Ryan sighed. He was quiet for a long time before he spoke, "Most of my powers were taken away, Spark."

I was taken aback by his words. "Why?" I blurted out.

Ryan sighed again. I thought he was again not going to tell me anything, but he went on, "My uncle, Aeron— for him, his own powers were not enough. So, he took my father's, mother's, mine— all of our powers, to rule over my kingdom."

Rule over his kingdom. "That means— You are a fae prince."

"I am," Ryan smiled at me.

A few days back, I would have been more than excited to meet a faerie prince in real life— but I could not feel any excitement as I sat there with Ryan, talking to him. I was waiting for the delight to hit me, but it never did. Rather than feeling excited, I was feeling dreadful to be seated face-to-face to a prince of a kingdom where my family was taken to.

"What kind of powers do you have now?" I asked.

"As a prince, I have always had more powers than the ordinary fey. But now, my powers are less than even them. Though I am still more powerful, as unlike them, I possess other skills in warfare."

Ryan paused for a while as if remembering something, and then went on, "My country, Odalis is divided into kingdoms, ruled by their respective kings. The kings of all the kingdoms possess great powers— more than anyone, but they also possess the greatest risk— the risk of all their powers being taken away from them."

"How?"

Ryan smiled. "Patience, Spark," he said. 'Patience'— I scoffed at that. Patience was the last thing I had.

I rolled my eyes and he chuckled, seemingly oblivious of me rolling eyes at his absurdity. Ryan went on, "A king of one kingdom is able to posses the abilities of the king of another different kingdom if he defeats that king and takes over his kingdom."

"But...even with all the powers, it is not unlikely for a king to be defeated by another king. All the kingdoms must be in war with one another, in that case," I wondered.

"There is a loophole, isn't there?" I asked Ryan.

"Yes. Both kings must be entirely honest during the war. Also, use of iron and steel weapons are forbidden." He went on, "There has not been any war among the kingdoms since they were formed. Mostly because the destructive magic of the kings will ruin the kingdoms and that's a risk no one wants to take. And, also because it is nearly impossible to win a kingdom with complete honesty and without the use of iron. Moreover, each of the Kingdoms and their kings are very cordial to each other."

"How did Aeron take over your kingdom?"

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Finally, we (and Venus) are getting to know more about Ryan and about his kingdom. I hope you all are as excited as much as I am👾👾 XD

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