3.The One Remaining
He was almost there ,the place where he had spent his childhood and now where he would have to mourn for his brother’s death. He still could not believe it ,his brother -the one who they said could escape death even if it was staring him face on. Perhaps this was all a way of Hoshakh’s to call him back ,back to the kingdom because he would have known, any other way would not work in the circumstances. The cart suddenly came to a stop ,it seemed like they had have reached their destination, the kingdom of Orkhan ,majestic and mysterious with its big palace and their uncountable streets .Horen looked out of the drapes ,there seemed to be a number of soldiers with their own carts standing, some on his side and some facing him , He could see the people were clearing up a way for someone who was supposed to walk up to Horen .At this point he came out of his own cart and started walking up to the way .He could see him ,draped with jewelry and carrying the biggest sword he had ever seen in his life with soldiers surrounding his back .They met halfway ,the king was bold yet humble in every way ,his eyes showed hidden kindness and a hint of pain and anger probably related to the recent incident. Horen incidentally felt small while standing in his fearful presence although the king had not done anything to give that impression .He started to bow to the king addressing him but before he could he was picked up by the king halfway.
“There is no need for this ,you are like family and family does not bow to each other , I am deeply sorry for this pain that we must bear together “,said the King as he pulled him in for a hug
Horen had only met the king once before , and at that moment he did not strike him as an emotional person ,so this was certainly a new side he could see ,but then again he knew his brother was very close to the king .
‘Where did they found his body?’, said Horen, diverting the topic .
“ In the deserts, the most disgraceful death for the most intelligent man, but do not worry ,they will pay ,all of them , the King of Mahqur has done a grave mistake.”
“It is not them I am most upset with ,it is with you ,my king, you knew the danger of sending him ,then why ?”
“You know Hoshakh ,however wise he may be ,he is also sentimental ,he wanted to see to himself that the message gets delivered, I told him there was no use for it but he still insisted .”
Horen could understand this ,he was always the emotional one out of them both.
They had been walking all this time towards the entrance towards the palace every inch of it covered by pure gold.
Horen never liked the palace ,even in his childhood as his brother was busy becoming the closest person to the king in the same palace , he was away usually in the gardens . He never had any friends to play with ,just had his brother who was always too busy for him. There were times though when Flo used to visit them which were always good as they reminded him of his life before moving to Orkhan. Hoshakh used to take time off from the palace to spend time with her too and one time he had caught them having a heated argument .He could still remember Flo shouting that Hoshakh had no right or say in her life before she walked away from him .That was the last time Flo ever came to visit them. As the days went by, Hoshakh become more and more occupied with his duties and Heron to go away to the city of Darkun with much dislike to Hoshakh who wanted him to get enrolled at the Premier High Orkhan Institute of Laureates or PHOIL.
Darkun city showed him the reality, away from the royalties, how people made their ends meet and for a while it was tough like Horen had imagined but he rose his stature to make a name for himself in Darkun in time.
Coming back to Orkhan and seeing the place after such a long time made it all seem like another reality. He never felt comfortable here ,even when he was provided with everything, it never could become his home whereas for his brother the case was opposite.
They had now entered the main hall which was the seating place for the King and his officers .
“Let me introduce you to my officers “,says the king as they reached the center of hall where they all were discussing among each other .The hall was divided among the floor for the common people and the deck for the royalties. There were pathways behind the seat for every royalty leading to what could be assumed their personal rooms. All the seats were at equal space with each other except for one which was kept close to the kings’, Heron did not need anybody to tell him who sat there.
All the officers came one by one to meet Horen and offer their condolences ; Barnacus , Philip, Mait and finally Princess Orelia. Barnacus told him that he was the closest to Hoshakh out of all the officers, they agreed on mostly all political decisions while the other two accepted that they did not always agreed with Hoshakh’s decision but still offered their deepest condolences. Then came the princess who started talking about Hoshakh very fondly ,but Horen kept getting the feeling that she was not telling the whole story. She was not the most beautiful Horen had seen but she had some unseeing quality which made her attractive to him.
“I am deeply sorry for the loss of your brother, the pain is just as much great for me as it is for you”, said Orelia ,although Horen found that hard to believe.
“Thank you princess “,said Horen. He could not resist those eyes, it was as if this was a persona she had made for the public.
“Orelia is very interested in Darkun city, I’m sure you will have a lot to share with her”,said the King.
“Perhaps we could take a walk if it is not a problem with you”, says Orelia looking at Horen with a smile that meant something.
“He has completed a long journey ,would want to rest first I suppose “,intervened the King
It is fine , I think company of someone would do me better right now than sleep .”,said Horen.
The market place of Orkhan was filled with crowds due to the upcoming festival of Jikshat.Small sculptures of the god Yokesh could be seen sold from all the shops , the festival of Jikshat was celebrated as his birthday celebration when he is known to sacrifice his own life in order to defeat the evil king Mahrat
“Is the market always this crowded?”, asked Horen out of curiosity
“Not this much ,but yes, I would love to see Darkun’s markets one day” said Orelia as she inspected a cloth from one of the shops.
“Well , they’re nothing compared to this I can assure you “,replied Horen. She kept the cloth back in the stall and now looked at Horen completely , he could suspect she knew something and thought of just asking her directly
“I know you are not here for your brother”, remarked Orelia with a smug look on her face as she went on” I knew Hoshakh close enough so as to know if someone wrote to him , and not even once did he talk about you. It seemed like he did not have any brother ,I wonder what happened that strained the relationship so much.
Horen was impressed by this , he did not expect someone to know about the nature of his relationship with Hoshakh.
“It was a simple fight, he did not approve of my choice of settling in Darkun city, wanted me to enroll in PHOIL”, lied Horen.
She was not convinced and was looking deeply at Horen as if to reach to the truth in his eyes. Finally when she gave up she asked him for the true reason of his coming here.
“Believe it or not ,I am actually here for my brother , although our relationship was strained, he was still my brother and I would like to be there for his funeral”, said Horen which was not completely untrue, he did intent on coming back anyways for something but his brother’s death had made him prepone the arrangement.
They kept talking and walking deep in the market and had now reached the roundabout with the Orkhan flag hoisted proudly in the center.
“Do you know what it means, the star?”, asked Orelia, looking up at the flag which consisted of a star with its light reaching the borders of the flag, making it look like as if the starlight was barely being contained by the flag.
“I have read about it “,answered Horen.
“ Of course you did”, said Orelia, displaying her smug smile again which was becoming strangely appealing to Horen. “At least that gives us proof that you are indeed Horen’s brother, always obsessed with knowledge”.
“Your ancestors believed”,Horen continued ignoring her comments about her brother’s similarity to him, “that the kingdom of Orkhan was meant to be stretched until it held every land in its domain, the outreaching star was adopted having that vision only.
“The idea is not terrible, but believing something is different than implementing it. They sat still as other kingdoms built up their arsenals”, said Orelia.
Horen looked at the princess whose eyes held deep meaning for her words. They were standing in front of the flag which was a pivot point dividing the way in three distinguished paths and seeing the princess not leading the way to one ,he asked, “Hoshakh once took me to PHOIL, It would seem that was his attempt to persuade me to go there, would you mind if we visit there ?”
“Of course “,said Orelia ,interrupting her own train of thought,” I would have taken you there anyway, I do not think my father would have liked it if I gave you a tour of our city without revealing its main attraction”, said Orelia as they started walking towards the left lane which led to it.
“I studied there like everybody else, although I think my views are not so different from yours when it comes to education but my father insisted on it and would not take no for an answer. “,shared Orelia.
“Hoshakh was the same, he never did find faults in his decision, especially the ones concerning me.”
“Well the Hoshakh I had met was never like that but maybe he acted differently with you “,replied Orelia. She looked at Horen now with a smile, “I am surprised you have still not asked me why I asked my father to take a walk with you”.
Horen smiled while looking down, “I figured it was not a simple tour of the city, but was too hesitant to ask thinking it would be out of line, but now that you have started it, I would be obliged to know the reason “, said Horen.
“I would like you to know first that I had the utmost respect for Hoshakh and always believed he was the wisest man to ever live, and then when my father told me that his brother would be coming for his funeral, I was amazed as he never mentioned to anyone about you.”
Orelia waited for a response as Horen looked down again, deep in thought but seeing nothing from him she continued,”Hoshakh and I believed in something, a vision which would bring forth the prosperity of everyone, in all lands. It included a united nation ,that lived and shared with everyone from everywhere and had no issues with anyone because it was united. Hoshakh dreamed it and I adopted it.”
At this point a smile came over Horen’s face which he could not remove before being seen by Orelia,”It is impossible to accomplish that, nobody would ever agree to it. “,said Horen explaining his condescending smile.
“That was my idea too and I was vocal about it with Hoshakh, but he was nothing but optimistic about it”, said Orelia.
“But you said you adopted it too, in what way?”, replied Horen and by this time they had reached the institute which regarded itself as the most prestigious and ambitious. The building itself spoke magnitude about the place, with its architecture not so different from a royal palace. The building had a grand and imposing front with multiple stories, and long-reaching windows that welcomed the sun’s utmost brightness completely.
“It is a disgrace they have taken down the statue of Grantius, the gallant, nobody played a bigger part in our history than him by still continuing to fight even after the king had decided to revert back from the pointless battle “, started Orelia as though she had lost interest in the conversation happening before. Horen thought of bringing it up again but understood that it was better that the princess handled the direction of conversation and replied, “ some people believe differently.”
“ Well, those some people belong somewhere else than Orkhan if you ask me, but what do you think?”, asked Orelia looking intensely at Horen giving him the feeling that he was free to give his opinion but was necessary that it matches with the answer she had in mind.
Horen looked at her for a moment and smiled, “I think both men stood up for their own opinions which shows the courage and bravery that resides in Orkhans.”
Orelia smiled again and replied,” sharp as it could have been. “
They continued strolling around the institute, seeing children with books and some running around with balls in their feet with some of them recognizing Orelia and staring in surprise. One adolescent even came to talk about how she wants to become just like her for which Orelia replied “believe me, you do not “, to which the girl felt confused as how to respond.”
Horen felt a little confused , some deep obsession which had turned her life from a lavish and peaceful one of a princess to something dark was hiding behind her eyes.
“I was going to ask you something before we were seized by the thoughts of the institute “,said Orelia and continued after seeing no reply from Horen,” I need to know if you would help me achieve my purpose and I do not what you have come here for and I do not wish to unless it concerns me or my dream, but I could use a man like you, with your perception and thinking”,said Orelia as she looked at Horen with the face of someone who has never been told no before by anyone, not because she was spoilt but she was commanding and made others believe in her vision.
“What makes you believe that I am as sharp as you think ?”,asked Horen, to which Orelia said without taking too much time, “my gut and your genes.”, but seeing Horen was not convinced from his face , she started,” let us meet again ,in an informal situation and when we have more time which will assure you about my objectives related to Orkhan and we can also get to know each other better.
Horen thought for a moment and replied,” I will be delighted princess”
“Please, call me Orelia”,said Orelia, to which Horen responded with a smile.
The sun had started to go down now as Orelia said, “ we should be heading back ,get you some well-needed rest, I will hear from my father if he sees I have exhausted his guest on his first day back.”, said Orelia, to which both gave a short lived chuckle and they started walking back the same way which they had come through the marketplace. Horen had started a new chapter in his life, in a formerly known place and had started to fall for a woman about having any idea that she was the one who had his brother killed.