"Would you like to take my hand, and join me in my paradise?"
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Even after taking a long sleep, king Airu couldn't rid his mind of the overwhelming thoughts left behind after his conversation with his uncle, so he decided to go to the surface.
Before he left the room inside the dead tree, Kinte who was still sitting on the giant cobweb above the dark room called out in a tired voice.
"Airu, where do you think you're going? It's time for us to patrol the border for any possible intruders."
The older slender man and the larger man sitting next to him were the next two to have performed the soul-killing ritual a while after Airu had revealed his powers to their society.
Seeing how they were the only three with these supernatural powers, they were voted by the people of the underwater kingdom to act as their leaders.
King airu looked over his shoulder, back at Kinte and ōroro and said:
"You two are the second and third strongest next to me, surely you two should be able to handle this without me. Plus, I've taken an interest in lady Kalah and her request."
ōroro jumped off the cobweb, and walked over toward king airu. His larger figure towered over the king, and he looked down at him with blank white eyes as he said:
"As you wish, king. But I'd like to ask that you send some of the holy knights as our backup. It would be foolish to assume that just because the sorcerers haven't made a move in the past several months that they won't do so now…"
"Not to mention two of the mainlands royal families members have came here, so be wary of them… especially of that woman, lady Kalah."
King airu patted the large guy on his shoulder, and then left. Back outside as he walked down the stairs through the homes resting on the raised slope.
At some point on his walk, he went to the kingdom's training grounds and ordered the a dozen of the holy knights to accompany Kinte and ōroro to the sea's whirlpool.
The holy knights of the underwater kingdom weren't exactly people though. They were just pure spiritual energy infused into the ivory armor containing it, but even then king Airu spoke to them as if they were actual people.
After that though, he made his way to the kingdom's prison, where he saw that Prince Shiro and lady Kalah had been chained down and sitting in the middle of the spacious cell.
The king leaned against the cold metal bars and said to them both:
"My apologies for locking you both up, but I needed time to think… plus, if I hadn't then the citizens of our kingdom would probably hurl insults toward you."
After that, king Airu sighed and unlocked the prison. He took a few steps toward them both and leaned down enough to remove the chains binding them to the ground.
The blindfolded Prince rubbed his wrists and neck. Normally to make up for his lack of sight, he'd hear the songs produced by souls, but the sponge-like animal around his neck seemed to have sent a wave of intense heat through his body each time he unconsciously tried to use his sorcery.
So he had been turning his head from side to side, unable to tell where king Airu was until he felt a pair of cold hands brush against his neck as the weight around his neck was removed.
Suddenly, he heard the sounds of a roaring lion coming from king Airu's soul, and the sound of a serpent rattling its tail coming from lady Kalah's soul.
Before he could ask anything, the king did the same for lady Kalah and said:
"I have a great deal to think about. Loads of new information that gives me a headache and I planned on going to the surface of the old earth to clear my head…"
Then, king Airu offered his hand to lady Kalah and asked:
"Would you like to take my hand, and join me in my paradise?"
Lady Kalah hesitated for a moment. For a split second, she glanced at Prince Shiro who was leaning against the walls to rise to his feet, and then she accepted the king's warm hand.
After leaving the underwater kingdom's prison, they made their way to the surface of the old earth.
***
The first landscape king Airu led lady Kalah and prince Shiro to was a large place with shallow water surrounding a long strip of a dry narrow road.
Tall grass stood through the shallow water and swayed with the wind, and as far as she could see, lady Kalah saw butterflies landing on the sunflowers scattered across the land.
The sight before her was completely different than what she'd been used to seeing on the mainland where she'd spent all eighteen years of her life moving through the war torn six nations.
It was a sight to behold.
Lady Kalah looked around, utterly captivated by the land. Even the air felt cool against her skin which now felt a little moist.
Prince Shiro basked in the sweet smell of the flowers as well. While king airu held up a finger, a second layer a butterfly sat on it, flapping its wings.
"Every time I come here, it clears all of the overwhelming thoughts from my mind."
Lady kalah turned to look at the king, whose voice was suddenly calm and his words flowed weightlessly through the cool breeze.
The king fell silent. Lady kalah looked to the deep dark pools in Airu's eyes, trying to guess what he was thinking.
She wanted to ask about him about his thoughts on their conversation from the other day, but thought it would be inappropriate to bring such distasteful talks to such a beautiful place as this one.
That was until the king offered lady kalah his hand again.
Once he took her hand in his own, he led her to a nearby creek where they both sat down on a flat boulder, and silently listened to the sound of the water crashing into the other rocks, and the bird's chirping nearby.
After a while of the comfortable silence, the king spoke in his usual monotone voice, but it was calmer this time. The sound of him talking was enough to make her feel something in her chest that she couldn't describe.
"I've only spoken to you once, lady kalah…"
"And despite all of the questionable things you've said about how you'd go about bringing peace to those you consider as your people… I've now realized that it's hard for people like us to think that such simple methods would be the best way to go about things."
Lady kalah awkwardly hugged her knees close to her chest. And turned her head to look at the king, who was looking down at two fish in the water, swimming in a circle.
"I've shown you what I consider to be my paradise… what I want to protect…"
"But I've recently had a conversation with my uncle just a few hours ago… and now I I feel a lot of thoughts that I don't want to think."
After saying that the king fell silent, and continued to watch the fish.
Lady Kalah looked at the king for a few moments before she herself spoke.
"Back on the island, i noticed that pregnant woman with you four…"
"In that moment, i was reminded of my sister in law."
The king finally turned to look at her as she spoke.
"She's currently pregnant with my brother's daughter… but she's using secret treatments to prolong her birth."
The king's eyes widened slightly.
Lady paused. Her mind travelled back to just one year ago when Miss Aiko had told her that she was pregnant, even that lady Kalah was the first one she had told of the pregnancy.
But there were a few words that Miss Aiko said that stuck with lady Kalah since that time.
"I'm afraid to bring a child into a world where people die everyday from the dangers that plague our world… for a while, I considered terminating my pregnancy."
Miss Aiko's eyes were red and teary when she told lady Kalah this. But it was then that lady Kalah made a naive vow to her sister in law.
"I will try my best to make a world safe for you and this child. So please, don't do it."
Since that night, lady kalah devoted her life to fulfilling this vow.
After lady kalah finished speaking, there was a comfortable silence between her and the king.
The space became peacefully quiet, Prince Shiro who was still in the fields seemed to be facing the direction of the sea with a worried look on his blindfolded face, but aside from that, lady kalah felt calm.
Though that calmness was soon interrupted by a loud rumble coming from the sea and the underwater kingdom.
One that the king and the lady hadn't noticed yet…
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Continued in chapter 133: Siege on the old earth
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