Chapter 3
The Princes of Arilea
When Serenity woke up the next morning, she sat straight up. Remembering that she was at an inn in the Fief at the bottom of the hill. They had reached it just as night was breaking. Serenity had fallen asleep watching the sunrise.
Her back cracked uncomfortably. That didn't sound so good, she thought and started doing backstretches that she had seen knights and their squires doing in the training yards. As more cracks were heard, there was a knock on the door and she stopped to answer it. It was Joey.
"Serenity," he said, "We are invited to the palace, a request from a…Prince Seto. Get dressed nice and fast. It's already noon and we have to be there in one hour."
He turned and left briskly, turning left down the hallway. Serenity rushed to her bag. She had packed a lot of clothing. Wearing a light gown of golden brown she quickly put on a cloak and riding outfit so her dress didn't get dirty.
Seto glared at the man in front of him. The man, dressed in gray rags caked with mud sat on the dark blue carpet in front of the throne. Sitting in a chair with an extremely high back and golden designs on the edges was an extremely tall young man. Though he was only 18 he gave off an air of being ten years older and twenty times smarter than you were. He had cold, sapphire blue eyes that seemed to pierce your very soul. His chocolate locks were combed neatly but a few strands feel into his pale face.
Prince Seto was the heir to the Arilea throne, but not directly. As the man on the ground continued to talk he thought about how he had become heir to this kingdom. When he was around ten years old, living in the streets of Evankay, dressed almost like the man before him. The only difference was that Seto had had sandals.
That fateful day when he was found, was the day he had went out of the empty room he called 'home' to look for another lunch for his brother, Mokuba. As he was walking through the center square he saw a parade and ran back to get his brother. When they came back, Seto realized it wasn't a parade, at least not a happy one. He heard a few grown-ups whispering. The prince of Arilea had died.
Seto turned and grabbed Mokuba. This wasn't a place for him. As they walked back home, he saw some merchant's sons walking towards a table that was lain out on a square table a few yards from the ceremony. He saw Mokuba run towards, he loved playing Seto. Seto watched him run over and then get pushed into the ground, dust erupting from where he had landed. Running over, he saw one of the boys had pushed his brother down to play the game.
Seto glared up at them. "What did you do that for?"
The boy's ignored him. Who wouldn't? He was just a peasant…
Seto pushed the bigger ones shoulder. "Hey! Why did you do that?" the boy asked.
"Why did you push by brother down?"
"Are you asking for trouble? Do you think you could beat us?"
Seto sized them up. "No, but I can…beat you in chess."
The smaller one chuckled and said, "Face me."
Ten minutes later both boys were beaten. They left, heads ducked and walking very fast. Mokuba hugged Seto. "Thanks big brother."
"You! Boy!"
Seto turned to see a man dressed in fine, red silk from his collar to his stockings. His boots were finely polished black leather and he wore on top of his head, a golden crown with diamonds and opals. "Me?" Seto asked, confused. Was this the…King of Arilea?
"Yes, yes. What is you're name?"
Seto felt like he should say something like, 'I'm sorry for your loss' or something else. Instead he said, "Seto Kaiba."
All peasants had their own last name since they weren't allowed to have titles or to be from a fief or city or you were royalty. "Come with me," the man, the king, said," Oh, bring your brother, too."
Seto growled in annoyance. Stupid Gozaburo. When he came to the pale he was immediately separated from his brother, during the day he was a page, training to be a knight. At night, he would study until he fell asleep on his books.
When he had finally become a knight his training continued. Now, though, he had more freedom. Two months ago…well…Gozaburo had finally kicked the bucket.
He had died in the War against the sea warriors of Shekande. An arrow straight through the throat. Seto didn't even shed a tear. He stared coldly at the grave.
Seto returned back to reality and listened to the end of the man's speech. "Prince we need you to…uh…give m-more food to the lower parts of Evankay."
Seto stared at the man. Twenty minutes of speech and all he needed was food? Okay, all they needed to do was ask, and then…maybe he'll help them. He had a kingdom to run. Arilea was the biggest kingdom in the western world, lots of things to work with.
As he opened his mouth to answer the question, one of the servants dressed in white and black came running in. "Sir," he said, "There are people here to see you."
"What kind of people?"
The servant didn't answer as he was leading two people into the room.
Serenity was waiting with her brother who was nervously shifting from one foot to the other. He had heard stories about the older prince, who they were meeting and didn't like what he heard. Serenity on the other hand, had never heard a thing and wasn't prepared at all. She smiled at the servant who came back to say the prince was ready to see them.
When she walked through the doors she was first shocked to see how well furnished the room was. Pottery from the west littered the room draperies from the south hung on the walls. Straight ahead of them there was a man sitting in a chair talking with a girl in the servant's uniform of black and blue.
When they approached him, Serenity saw that he was actually younger than he seemed. He sat regally in his chair, staring at them one at a time, first Joey then her. When his gaze turned to her, she felt herself turn slightly pink. He was very handsome, pale skin and eyes of a deep sapphire that blazed. They made her feel like he could read her soul, know all her secrets, just by looking at her. He had chocolate hair trimmed short and she thought he looked about 6'2" in height, making her feel like a dwarf.
"Welcome to Arilea. I am Prince Seto, heir to the throne. May I ask who you are?" the prince, Seto, asked. His voice was deep and cold, making her shiver.
"I am Prince Joseph of Sekina, we come-" began Joey but the other prince cut him off.
"Who are you?" he asked, eyes on Serenity.
Blushing, she curtsied and replied, "Princess Serenity of Sekina, Prince Joseph's sister."
"Prince Seto, where is the King?" Joey inquired.
Seto sighed and held back a smirk, "He died two months ago, in a battle against the Shekande."
"We are sorry for your loss," Serenity said, "We lost our father a few days ago."
"How?"
"He was stabbed by a robed man. He got away," Joey said, then out of the blue, he asked, "Have you heard the legend of Six Elements, o prince?"
Seto thought for a second. Where had he heard that? Six elements…six elements. Gozaburo's face appeared in his mind. Oh.
Year's back, when Gozaburo was alive, he had overheard him talking in this very room. Seto had been sneaking out of the kitchen with a sweet roll from the kitchen. He was going to split it with Mokuba. They weren't allowed to have dessert anymore (not that they really had it before). When he walked in, he immediately rushed back out. He had seen Gozaburo talking with a boy not much older than he was. The boy had sandy blonde hair and very tan skin. He must be an ambassador from Typeg, thought Seto.
The boy spoke, "My master is becoming concerned, King of Arilea. Where are the elements?"
Gozaburo's voice was sounded strong, but Seto heard a note of panic, "Tell him not to worry. I already have one!"
There was a pause, and then the boy said, "Who is it?"
"A pheasant boy I found on the streets at Noa's funeral."
Another pause. "Which element is he?"
"Dark."
"Excellent. My master sends his regards. My master wants you to know that there is one more in Arilea, two in Sekina, and two in Crishan. Find them."
"Yes, my master, the King of Chaos," Gozaburo said, and bowed before the lavender eyed man.
A few years later, on his sixteenth birthday, he went to look for the king. When he reached the throne room he saw Gozaburo once again talking with a robed figure. This time, the man had very pale skin and even paler hair. Seto thought that the man must from the far north where people called 'albino's' lived. Seto's theory was crushed when he saw that the man had deep blue-gray eyes.
"Have you found another element? Master wants to know," said the white haired man.
"Yes. A servant girl from the capital, her name is Anzu."
"Element?"
"Water."
"Yes I have," said Seto.
"I believe that my sister and I have something to do with it. We need to find those elements Prince, or we'll die for sure," said Joey.
Seto nodded absently and looked at Serenity, "Are you asking for help?"
"Yes," she replied.
"I'm not sure I can since…well…I do have a country to run…"
Serenity almost gasped. Had he not listened? They were all in danger!
"…but, I'm sure Mokuba can handle things while I'm gone. Puppy prince," Seto said, addressing Joey, "why should I help you?"
Joey growled. Trying to ignore the dog remark, he said through gritted teeth, "If you don't, you're kingdom will be eaten alive by Chaos and it will be your fault."
Seto, glared coldly at the prince of Sekina then said, "Anzu."