The Lions' Den

The King: The Promise I

The atmosphere in the Royal Hall was getting tenser every second, perhaps, because of the dark stone walls or because of echo, which made the feeling of Royal Hall as space without time and borders. But most likely it was the king Abaddon Lionray, who sat in the throne, in front of his royal family's Coat of Arms, which is Lion with a crown on its head and also with two scars across the face. The lions from the beginning are known as the King of Beasts, the title of honor, patience, bravery, and wisdom, they were meant to rule The Great Six before it divided into the Dark and the Light. Lionrays are the dynasty of these values, now the king Abaddon Lionray is known as the master of lions, the commander of Fangs and the protector of the element of Light and sits in the throne of the Great Six, the throne where every breathing Lord, King, and Queen wanted to sit and rule the world, but after the Dark Century, the world has been split and this throne in reality just gives the power over the Ari kingdom, where the Lionrays and the element of Light live.

The only ones, who did not feel the tension were Mi and Ra – two old lions, who are always by the king's side. They were just laying on each side of the throne and cleaning themselves and did not care what is going on. The king personally chose them, when they were just cubs, trained them, fed them, and always took them with himself, now they are showing the deepest loyalty to the King and vice versa.

There was also Lord Tau, which is the King's advisor and the King's trust person. Lord Tau is almost as old as the King's oldest son Amir, but no one knows how he got here, some say he is a charlatan and don't believe him, others say he is a gift from the element of Light because as he says himself, he just woke up in the desert next to the Ari kingdom. Lord Tau, as always, seemed so calm because he didn't see anything to worry about, he is confident, loyal and wise at such a young age, almost opposite of what the King's son Amir is because, in Lord Tau's opinion, Amir isn't smart and suitable for taking part in the kingdom's affair. In reality, Amir is just searching for his voice and personality, but no one wants to see not confident and lost prince at his thirties, so he shows himself as arrogant royalty. Of course, Amir was also in the Royal Hall, Scar was there as well, he is another important figure in this kingdom, because the King just holds the title of commander of Fangs, while Scar is the real commander of Fangs, kingdom's army. In the past, it was believed that they were unbeatable and the strongest army in the whole world, but who knows, what is out there now. Fangs are just an army and the guards of the Ari kingdom, so they are almost everywhere, but Lionesses are the ones, who guard the King, it is the highest ranking in the Ari Kingdom for just a soldier, and to become one of them, you need to be a woman, they are specially trained to defend the King and his family.

"I am the King of the Ari, the master of lions, the commander of Fangs, and the protector of the element of light!" the King shouted and broke the silence in the Royal Hall.

Lord Tau wanted the Messenger of Karhu Kingdom to see that he is also the authority here, and he needs to show respect to everyone in this room, so he said calmly, as always: "In other words, you are not allowed to interrupt the King!"

The Messenger, who was sent here from the Karhu kingdom, the kingdom of bears, which is ruled by the brother of the King Abaddon Lionray, carried an important message but was scared to death, so the King wasn't really satisfied with the messenger's attitude. The messenger looked at Lord Tau and then at the King Abaddon Lionray and said: "My apologies, my King!"

But the messenger was not allowed to look at the King, even not at Lord Tau, because he was bowed down on his knees by Fang soldiers. That made the King angrier, so he couldn't stand him anymore: "I'm done, take him away!"

So the Fang soldiers stood him up and took to the doors, but Lord Tau suspected that this was something important, maybe he knew something more about this messenger and the situation in Karhu kingdom, but at the moment, he said, what came to mind, but he did it as calmly as always: "My king, in my opinion, it would be wise to let him speak, perhaps he carries important news from your brother! Actually, the first news since your mother died!"

It was true, they didn't talk much when mother was alive, but after her death, they didn't talk not at all, there were no messages for each other, nothing, the brother left to rule the Karhu kingdom, so the King heard what Lord Tau was saying, he had thought that already, he looked to Lord Tau and as cold as he could, because he didn't want anyone to notice that he cared about his little brother, said: "Speak!" He didn't take his eyes off Lord Tau, he didn't look at the messenger, he just let him speak, so Fang soldiers turned him around and wanted to bow him down, but the King raised his hand and they Immediately stepped back, the messenger could look to the King and say what brother wanted him to hear.

Lord Tau again wanted to show his authority in this kingdom and to warn the messenger: "The King has given you a second chance, so what has made King Karhu send a messenger to Ari?"

The Messenger slowly looked at the King as waiting for his approval to speak and slowly started: "He asks for help... he is dying and as you know, he doesn't have any sons or daughters and his wife passed away two months ago..."

"Oh, I see, actually we didn't know, how sad, I really liked Queen Madala..." said Lord Tau.

"And? If you waste my time, I will feed you to the lions, right now!" the King angry said and this was only that could bring Mi's and Ra's attention, of course, they heard that someone offered them food, so they stopped cleaning themselves and looked to the messenger with full attention because this was not the first time the King had shouted he would feed someone to the lions, unfortunately for lions, this was also not the first time he had said and hadn't actually done it, so they looked for a moment and continued to clean themselves.

But the messenger was really scared, he had heard that the King doesn't say anything just like that, in most cases he means what he says, so he apologized again: "My apologies king, he is asking for one of your sons to rule the Karhu Kingdom after he is gone..." waiting for the King's approval to continue the message, he became more silent at the end and careful.

Lord Tau again said something out loud, but just so loud that just he could hear it: "Oh, I never saw this coming!"

King didn't fully understand, what the messenger, the King Karhu meant with this proposal, so he just wanted to make things clear: "He is just willing to give away his kingdom to me, am I right?"

After this question, the messenger looked at Lord Tau and then at the King because the King obviously was misunderstood the information, so he was still afraid to disagree with the King, but he came here to make things clear, so as carefully as the first sentence, he answered the King's question: "No, my king, your son needs to take Bearanger name and pledge his loyalty to the king Karhu, after kings death, your son will be supervised by three advisers, he will not be able to take action or make decisions without their consent. He won't be allowed to come home or send letters, and so won't you. If he violates any of these rules, he will be forced to take a bear mixture!"

The King shocked looked at Lord Tau, so Lord Tau needed to take action because the King waited, but Lord Tau knew the meaning of this message, but still: "May I ask, what's the point then? He can give it to anybody, and the kingdom still will be supervised by a stranger just with the Bearanger name!"

The messenger replied without hesitation: "No, the next King must have his blood!" He was ready for this question, it was the most obvious one, which was inside everyone's mind in the Royal Hall except Lord Tau's. The King knew what he was talking about, he knew about this blood link but looked like he was the only one, who understood it. Prince Amir looked really confused because he had no idea what is going on, he missed them at the moment, when the messenger was talking about Queen Madala.

But as the King understood his brother's wish, he also got angry for his courage to send a messenger here and ask about it in front of everyone: "Is he out of his mind! I will never, NEVER, give away my sons! That is my final decision, take him away!"

Fang soldiers did what the King said. The messenger was finally away, this time no one stopped him because Lord Tau knew that everything had been said. The messenger managed to say one last thing before doors closed after him: "He said, you promised!" This sentence came like a shock to everyone because they knew that the King is always true to his words and always sticks to promises, could it be possible that the King promised and didn't mean it, only the King knew that it was possible and this was the case.

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