Behind the Sun

Chapter 4

BEHIND THE SUN; COPYRIGHT © 2017 Purplehamsa; All Rights Reserved.

Current Chapter posted - July 17, 2017

A/N: Quick warning. If you have not noticed, my chapters are in alternate POVS. Enjoy! :*

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Forty five were the number of years it took for The Grand Palace to be constructed. The man behind the structural design had conducted and accomplished the construction from inside a jail cell during Queen Arkhan's grandfather's reign.

Some thought him mad, others brilliant. Either way, Cyphurus had not been killed so that his wisdom and schemes would not go to waste. It was not common for enemies to be kept alive; only those deemed useful earned the privilege of breathing for another day.

Cyphurus had been a normal man, with an uncommon mentality, standing on the wrong side. When he created the corridors of the main palace, disorder and distrust settled among political divisions. They were wary of his intricate paths as many of them ended up in dead ends. It was illogical thinking, a very dangerous card to pull. What purpose did he have in mind to make one feel like a rat inside a labyrinth?

The man went mum and the King never disclosed the intent behind his construction approval. His final words on the subject were, "You have to see what he sees, think the way he thinks. If you lightly believe him to be beneath you, you will fail."

Before being sent to war, General Heydar had spent his youth studying politics as well as learning self-restraint. Even though he became fluent in every class, he did not learn what the late monarch meant; he had been told that that was something he would learn with time.

The day he left to fight for his kingdom for the first time, at the ripe age of seven and ten, his professor looked up to him as he sat there, at the top of his black stallion, dressed in a full battle armor too heavy for his body. "Wisdom comes through life setbacks. Don't let fear infect your mind. When you return you will realize another lesson has been learned."

And learn he did.

He learned that he should never underestimate opponents, and that to keep alive in a dangerous situation one should do the impossible.

He learned that everything and anything could play a hand in arising suspicion. One's action could either elevate positions or lead to swift deaths. Secrets were best left being confessed to men's own shadows as the number of people who could be trusted were slim to none.

General Heydar had spent his life fighting enemies and even though six and twenty moons had passed, all foes' faces still looked the same. To know an enemy meant looking less beyond their exteriors and more into their actions. Perspicacity and wiles walked along, only letting themselves manifest before the anonymous. To that end, the person saving you today could be the person killing you tomorrow.

Thus, it made a feat quite dour for ill-intentioned ministers that wished to eliminate Cyphurus. They had no knowledge of his ambitions, or fears to cow him away to their side. Killing him was not an option since he was under the King protection. In the end, Cyphurus had lived incarcerated, but he had bested them in their own game. He had pulled all the right strings and made them dance to his tune while confined.

To Heydar, that man had left more than his mark in those walls. He had left them a reminder that if you were not prepared to face the brunt of political war, you would commit a fatal mistake by making wrong decisions and become cornered. Life inside the palace taught you that. Life in the battlefield taught you that too. Weakness and trepidation were a terrible combination to have in the present day's world; not acknowledging it predestined a short path in life.