AMARANTHINE /VKOOK ✔️

Chapter-21 A white bird

The mountains in Zuersha were filled with snow, the winter this time came with a strong determination and force, though Zuershians were prepared they still needed to take extra care of their security and food. Yoongi had always been a great help in ideas and as a workforce, he acted as a bridge between the young and elderly using their experience and energy to be ready for any disaster or protect themselves from harsh and chill winds. This time the villagers do the needful based on their previous experiences but the elderly in the village were worried, they felt this was a sign given by nature, and this winter is different from the rest. Zuershians always treated nature as the goddess and were scared that the goddess is warning them and they need to prepare themselves for any unexpected events. 

The matron was removing the snow from the stairs of her hut listening to the concern of the group of elderly sitting around the fire, hearing one of the elderly say that she feels bitter inside “The only threat we have is the Royal army at our borders” She was stating the fact, with such cold weather and the snowfall it was expected for troops to back off as usual but this year they were crowded near the borders as if watching every move of the tribe, this was not only scary but felt like threatening. The Zuershians were not afraid to fight, it was just that the Royal army was larger in number than them.

Another reason was that Jeongguk was not commanding the troops at the moment, he would always look for the welfare of both sides, trying to maintain peace, the weather was never good for their comrades and horses, the Zuershians could withstand it but they couldn’t, this time though it is different the General is not guarding them and they seemed to have changed their strategies a bit.

The kids come running to the matron, Durian and his small group of friends all look expectantly at her. She sighs turning to them “What happened why are not you playing anywhere else today?”

“When is the handsome Prince coming back?” Inas, the big girl among the others in the group asks.

“Prince? Who told you that?” The matron asks in surprise.

“He talks like that” The other kids in the group agree with her. “So when is he coming back, we want to make a crown and play with him, he is a good person and plays with us” The matron glances at the elders sitting there and hesitates.

She ruffles Inas' hair “Don’t be sure this soon of others being good, why would he come here, it is so difficult to spend winters in the mountains, if he is a Prince how can he adjust to this place?”

The group feels disappointed hearing it, they show their disapproval of what the matron said to them “He is good and also a friend of Yoongi, he will come to play with us” Inas says and runs away from there, the other kids following her, even the younger Yie and the leader Durian.

One of the elderly listening to their conversation speaks up “The kids are not wrong, he didn’t harm us if not help us, this fight is ours, we decided to be freed from their rule when you go against the course of action, you have to be prepared for struggles” The matron wanted to answer her but a man comes with a letter, she quickly checks it and smiles seeing it is from Yoongi, she wastes no time and reads it, sighing and thinking of what to do next., she checks the letter again.

“We are heading to the south of Qisan. The Crown Prince of Qisan is dead, but it was not by the Prince as we wanted to happen rather by his father, though still, we managed to make enemies here. The Prince is alone if not for us to accompany him, he has sealed his ability to change, it is still powerful but an advantage is that if alone it will be difficult for him to attack especially if it is against humans, he doesn’t want to kill innocents….do we need to do this, he doesn’t seem evil” Lana, the matron burns the letter emotionlessly on the almost dying flame of the lamp. She then excuses herself from the guests sitting in the yard and goes inside the hut. They say nothing and keep conversing among them about the harsh experiences that turned their hair grey.