Fara the nurse in charge of Jason went around looking for him, but no sent of him to be seen, she searched over and over again, behind the stables, around the training grounds, in the centre under the tables, panic grew insider as she walked towards the sea to find him resting on its beach, staring at its blue reflection of the sky, it was so peaceful slowly she walked towards him as he threw rocks at its waters
She sat beside him as he noticed her, no words were said between the two of them, the watched the tides of water come and go,
"So are you going to stay depressed and watch the forever blue until you rot here" said Fara
Jason kept his silence, his eyes focused on the sea
"You know there was a story about us sending some men there a long time ago," said Fara, Jason looked at her with one eye as she smiled to have found what could interest him
"And?" said Jason
"Well, we never heard of them again, some say a sea monster killed them, others say they found a great land to live on, but never came back, fearing that they would have to share it" continued Fara
"Then why not send others after them," said Jason
"If we had more ships we would have did so, but such a luxury only appears in dreams" replied Fara
She sat silent for a moment, he did not ask anything either, trying to continue dragging him to talk she said "You know, I fear the sea" as he looked at her, he said
"Oh really, are you that out of ideas trying to console me here" replied Jason
"No, I am being real, on the other hand, I always dreamt of watching the snow fall, sadly that two is merely a dream" Fara said
"And perhaps what brought to you such a fear" asked Jason
"When I was younger than you are, although I was bigger in size "as she looked up and down at him "I once went with my mother on a small boat fishing, my father, the chief was with us too" she said before he shouted
"Wait your father is the chief!?"
"Are you going to let me continue?" she replied, as he calmed down and listened again
"There were many guards with us, and many boats two, sadly a storm hit the boat, father could only carry one of us," as silent creeped in
"If you have such a story with it, why are you sitting here by its shores" asked Jason
"Some old men from the village tell stories about an icy land beyond the shores" she said as she looked at the horizon, her eyes piercing the foreverness with hopes and dreams
"But you can't reach it because of your fears, we do have something in common I guess, I can't fight in a battle if I am to let my team die after seeing a tiny flame," said Jason
"A bird who trades the beauty of the sky for the comfort of the branch, what use are his wings" Said Vonir the old blind man as he came from behind them with his stick in hand and a guard guiding him
"Ser what are you doing here, you have a class to teach" said Fara as she stood up
"This old man can't commence his class with a messing student, won't you both accompany him back"
The class sat there, no one to teach them so with their own form of amusement they went
"Do you think Jason ran away from the shelter?" Doryon said
"No way, I bet he is only crying under some stable's floors" Seryon brother of Pharam said
Jason entered the class alone, and went to set down beside Doryon
After him old man Vonir sat down with the help of a guard who stood beside him
"I guess everyone's here now" said Vonir
"Now, on orders from the chief, this time you will be hearing what really happened outside the mountain range"
"We, used to have 3 other shelters around these lands, last one fell 14 years ago, with it the blood line of the royal almost ended, thankfully the chief and his daughter are alive" said Vonir
"So, the chief is of royal blood?" asked Jason
"You think he is the chief because his strength or leading mind?" said Seryon
As both Seryon and Jason gave each other a hard look
"So, after the chief she is going to rule us?" said Doryon raising his hand
"Not correct my child, although smart guess" said Vonir "The chief wasn't blessed with any other children, and after his wife's death he chose not to wed another"
"If his daughter is to be wed, and have a baby boy, that boy shall be the take his seat at the table, if he comes of age of course" said Vonir
"And is the chief planning on that? I mean no offence but he is a bit old now" said Doryon
"That, I don't know off, but what I know of is that we are eating of our time on meaningless talks" said Vonir
"Now, that shelter had a younger brother of the chief, who chose not to be in the highest position, some say he wished to fight alongside his brothers and sisters, for he thought of being as a weakness" said Vonir
"Why did he see it as a weakness?" asked Jason
"I did not happen to enter his mind, but from my understanding, a chief is not allowed to be on the front lines, for his royal blood shall live on, even at the cost of his underlings" said Vonir
"He must've have been quite a man then" said Seryon
"Oh boy sure he was, my sight failed before I got the chance to see him, but stories transcend such things, some tell of him as a beast in battle, no weapon could keep up with his strength" said Vonir
"But he wasn't all muscle, they say even though he was the shortest amongst them, he was able to rip the steal of the enemy's chest plates, ripping doors of wood for him was the same crushing an apple" continued Vonir
"If such a man was on our side, how did the king's army kill him?" asked Jason
"It wasn't the king's army, but the current king himself" said Vonir
"Before I say this you need to know about that in the Varish kingdom, a king ruling time is the time of how much his crown stays intact, it is made of special golds that eats itself with time, if it happens to fall, he is no more" said Vonir
"The past king's crown fell in public, but he refused to let another take his seat, he fought his own people, the current king was a commander of the army, he took his armes destroying our shelters while going back to the capital" said Vonir setting silently
"And? What happened next?" asked Seryon
"There he killed the past king, or burned him, for all the people got to see is the broken crown and the burnt body" said Vonir
"And they put him a hero and chose him as a king I guess?" said Jason
"The people were starving, and he brought them bread, and for the past 15 years he ruled the kingdom his crown still intact" said Vonir
"How long does a crown of that kind of metal lives for?" asked Jason
"The crown's origin is unknown, where it is made or who makes it, if such a thing is known the past kings would have used it to their advantage and lived for more" replied Vonir
"What do you mean by past kings living more?" asked Seryon
"Until now3 kings fell, they say the crown is cursed and makes who ever wears it hungry for more, and so they fight their people leading to another" said Vonir
"Then why do they keep on wearing it? Isn't it better to just put them to rule for like 20 years or so?" said Doryon
"The crown holds much more value than curses, it represented the people's first revolution, it is the Sigel of freedom for them" said Vonir
"And if someone happens not to wear it after being king?" said Jason
"Such a person will be far extraordinary than anyone before him" said Vonir
A bell stopped the class, as night have long since have fallen
"Now kids, time for dinner, an empty stomach will only bring down a full mind to his knees" said old man Vonir as they walked out
The moon with all his might, full he was upon the dark skies, clouds here and there but none able to fade his light
The chief sat in his tent in the dark, there was the only place where the moon couldn't shine, his face frowning, fingers of each hand crossing the other, deep in thoughts, not looking at the map, only forward