Split Land - A Zodiac Story

Chapter Three

Leo Asquith

"So we're not going to infultrate the Latex Kingdom?!" Leo cried out, staring at the King, his father, in shock. He had just been summoned from training to be given orders, for him and his squad.

King Asquith's dark eyes were steely and hard. "You may be my son." He said sternly, "But I am still the King, and you should address me as such."

Leo clenched his jaw and bowed his head. "Apologies, your majesty." He replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

King Asquith narrowed his eyes but didn't argue. Things must be serious, Leo thought. "You will remain here." The King ordered.

"But why?" Leo demanded. "Sir." He added at the end.

King Asquith sighed. "Two reasons. The first being that competeing with the Telluris Kingdom may cause information inaccuracies, and the second being that the Kingdom of Aer have not shown movement in a while."

Leo frowned. "How is the latter a problem?" He asked.

His father rubbed the back of his neck. "We have to assume that they are planning some sort of attack." He answered. "We have to be prepared, and for that we need as many elite warriors stationed here as possible."

Leo considered this. "That may be true." He said carefully. "But we may lose the chance to invade Latex if Telluris get to it first."

"It will not do us good if we are invaded in the process." The King replies with a note of finality. "You will station your squad, comprising of Aries Glyn and Sagittarius Millar, close to the North Western border. Those are your commands."

Leo has to bite his tongue to stop himself from arguing. As a magical guard, he could easily be prosecuted for being disrespectful to the King, even if he was his son. Leo bowed and left the command room, his hands shaking with frustration. Exiting the palace, he noticed his two comrades standing outside waiting for him.

Sagittarius noticed his seething expression. "What's up?" She asked. "What are our orders?"

Leo explained the situation. As he had expected, Aries had a fiery outburst. "You mean we're not going to do any fighting?!" She cried in dispair. "I was looking forwards to this mission. Damn you for getting my hopes up!"

Leo raised his hands in defence. "I'm sorry! It wasn't my decision." He countered.

"Aries, you need to think about the Kingdom before your own selfish desires for combat." Sagittarius told Aries in a pointed tone. Even though they were friends, Leo was shocked that a peasant had addressed a noble like that.

Aries blinked. "You're right." She replied, her voice softer than it was before. "Let's go before we get caught slacking." She turned on her heel and walked out of the gates.

Leo glanced at Sagittarius, giving her the how-come-Aries-listens-to-you-but-not-me look. In response, she stuck out her tongue and jogged to catch up with Aries. So much for being royalty, Leo thought to himself. He picked up his pace to match his friends'. The walk to the border was just under two hours, so they would have to hurry if they wanted to get there before dark.

Gemini Grey

Gemini got to his feet and brushed himself off, glancing in the direction his new comrades had walked in. He checked his body to see if he had any injuries. Luckily he had nothing worse than a few bruises. That Libra guy has great control over his power, Gemini thought. Up to this point, he had been at the top of his class in combat, winning most sparring matches he had been involved in. Never before had he been defeated so easily. The Amato twins were something else.