Saving Her Kingdom

♡ Chapter 27

Chapter 27 (Edited)

When we arrived downstairs, we saw the woman stirring the soup in a big pot. She turned her head and grinned while pointing to the soup, "I got young people to feed now, don't I?"

I nodded eagerly, savoring the delicious smell coming from the kitchen. I looked outside through the windows. It was completely black. I felt my stomach rumble.

"Let's eat!", I said and entered the kitchen with Thomas following me.

"Here, sit," the woman gestured at a table for two. Just as we sat down, she handed us two bowls. I stared at mine hungrily while waiting for her to take one as well. She just rolled her eyes, and said, "Don't wait for me, I have already eaten."

We dug in. She turned back to the stove while muttering something like 'Nobles and their manners...'.

I closed my eyes in bliss. How is it even possible for a soup to taste this good? I looked at Thomas and he had a similar expression on his face. The truth was that we hadn't eaten since the little snack we had at lunch. And so much had happened after that.

"So," the woman began, making us look up at her. "What's the message?"

I choked a little. Way to get to the point. Thomas narrowed his eyes suspiciously. She rolled her eyes again. "Come on. The secret's anyway safe with me. I might even have useful information for you."

I shrugged and handed her the paper with the translation. After she read it, she nodded, somewhat serious. "I see."

She looked at us and then back at the paper, before giving it back to me. "Do you have any idea of what you are getting into?", she asked.

I looked at her, a bit puzzled. She sighed while shaking her head. "Young people, I swear," she mumbled.

I swallowed and asked, "Why? Is there something else?"

She studied me and spoke with a surprisingly wise voice, "Once you are in possession of the secret, you can't afford to make a mistake. The secret may make you the True Ruler, but until that person is truly proclaimed as such, it can be stolen or damaged."

I nodded slowly and finished my soup.

"Is there any time-limit before the secret doesn't work anymore?", Thomas asked.

She shook her head and leaned against the counter. "Not that I know of. But I don't think you should wait too much once you have it."

"What else do you know about the secret?", he asked after he finished his soup as well.

She gave us a small smile. "Let's go in the living room. I will tell you a story before you go to sleep."

We stood up and followed her as she took a candle and walked to the living room. She put it on a small table beside the only armchair. She opened a cabinet and took four blankets, two of which she laid on the floor. She grinned at us. "Your beds!", she gestured at the blankets.

I shrugged and sat down on a blanket, while Thomas did the same. She went to sit on the armchair and started to tell us her story.

"With the forgotten secret of the kingdom of Ravenport, comes a forgotten legend too. It is said, that a long time ago, there was a never-ending war on this territory. It was at the time where Gods lived on the Olympus and humans lived on the Earth. Nobody could decide who should rule, and everyone rebelled as soon as a decision was made. Families were killed, villages were destroyed and land was burned to ashes.

There was a young man, who had lost his parents and had to take care of his brothers and sisters. He didn't care about who would rule. All he wanted was to provide for his siblings. It was hard to do so, so he regularly went hunting in the remaining of the forest.