The Bad News

Prince Ren woke up with a start. He surveyed his surroundings with his eyes just to ensure that he was really in his room, that the scream he heard was mainly part of a nightmare and that he was not in a dreamland of some sort. He rose from his bed and settled himself by the wide window to feel the warmth of the sun's rays pouring into his room. The storm had come and gone too quickly. Maybe the smiling sun could help him recover from the chilling nightmare he just had. The blood-curdling scream of the princess after she called out his name repeatedly rang in his mind. It just sounded too real.

There was a soft knock from behind his door which partially irritated him. He was going to inform his early visitor that he did not wish to be bothered that morning but it was the grave face of his queen mother that appeared by the doorway.

"Ren, your father and I need to talk to you about something."

The morning meal with his parents was unusually quiet. Since he returned from the academy, breakfast had been a regular time for the king to inquire about his education after which he would enumerate all his scholastic feats. However, that particular morning, his father wore a grim expression and was keeping quiet throughout the whole meal. He also noticed his mother's swollen eyes as if she had been crying recently. Maybe his parents had a serious argument this time for the queen was not the sensitive type. He only saw her cry during the wedding of his older sister with a royal from another land.

"You seemed to have been weeping all morning, dear mother," the prince tried to break the deafening silence. "I could only deduce two things: that you shed tears over a hurtful argument," he took a bite from his sausage, "or that you were mourning for someone who had just died."

A knife was dropped on the floor.

"Oh, how clumsy!"Queen Ran reached for it under the table in time to hide a teardrop.

The king stopped eating and laid down his utensils on his nearly empty plate. "There is no use delaying this painful news to you, my son."

"But Yuan, we are not through with breakfast yet," his wife told him sternly as she brushed away the tears from her eyes.

"What bad news had made my dear mother cry?" asked the prince.

His father rested his chin on his two clasped hands on the dining table. He did not speak for a few minutes as if trying to construct a better, less shocking explanation for the bleakness of the morning.

"A messenger from Kouku came this morning," he started. "He told me that… something happened to the royal family."

"Something… bad happened?" The prince felt his chest tightening.

"They were murdered last night."

At the scene of the crime...

Prince Ren who refused to be accompanied by his royal bodyguards rushed to the kingdom of Kouku. He needed to confirm if the news of his fiancée and her parents' killings were nothing but a sick joke. He instantly alighted from his exhausted horse the minute he reached the palace.

All the maids and servants had gathered by the front door. Many let out mournful and heart-breaking wails while some seemed utterly confused. He paid no heed to the shower of condolences to him and dashed inside where he was prevented by one of the king's generals from storming upstairs. A platoon of royal guards were scattered over the place examining every nook and cranny as if looking for evidences of the crime that had just occurred.

"I need to see her, don't stop me!" he tried to push the general away only to be firmly held by two of the palace guards.

"Your Highness, the king and queen died a violent death. I cannot let you see their miserable state. It would be too unbearable for you."

The prince spotted a palace guard in the act of covering the princess' dead nanny with a white blanket. "Then allow me to at least take a glimpse of my fiancée." He stopped resisting which prompted the general to signal the two royal guards to release him and leave.

"Unfortunately Your Highness, the princess is nowhere to be found."

"What do you mean?"

"…We cannot find her body. "

A spark of hope ignited within the prince. "Anna is alive then."

"I'm sorry sire but we cannot guarantee you that. We ruled out the possibility that she had been kidnapped by the perpetrators of this heinous crime. There is a strong evidence that the intention of the intruders was really the murder of the royal family since the palace servants and guards were spared. They appeared to have been drugged to a deep sleep. According to the maids, that one over there…" the general pointed to the cadaver of the princess' nanny, "… had missed eating the dinner served to all palace personnel last night since she had spent most of her time attending to the princess. There must be some sort of drug that was mixed in with their food. This is turning out to be a well-planned crime against the Kouku royal family."

"But you said that the body is missing! She could have escaped," there was desperation in the prince's voice.

"We do agree with you on that point, Your Highness that the princess had attempted to escape. There were three pairs of footprints on the dried mud, an indication that there was a chase from the palace to the forest. The trail of footprints ended near the kingdom's border though. One of the royal guards found this hanging from a protruding tree root by the river. I believe it belongs to the princess."

The general handed the prince the familiar necklace with the rose pendant.

"The killers might have murdered her and dumped her body into the river. If she ever did escape, there's little possibility she could have survived the strong current brought about by the storm."

Prince Ren lowered down his gaze to stroke the piece of jewelry in his hand. "She is still alive, I just know it."

The general thought otherwise but he tried to lift up the prince's spirits, "I have asked my men to search the entire kingdom for the princess. We will keep you updated with the latest developments." He looked at the young lad with pitiful eyes, "I extend my deepest condolences to you, Your Highness. We will do our best to seek justice for the royal family." He patted his shoulder and left him alone.

By the banks of the Great Spirit's River...

He was really hesitant in coming back home that day but he had this odd feeling that he had to. He could imagine how furious his father would be the minute he set his eyes on him upon his return to the Kasai palace. His father would punish him by making him clean the stables by himself all afternoon.

He picked up a pebble and threw it into the river while looking for the trail leading towards home. Never mind the old stories that the Great Spirit dwelled in it. He would rather face its wrath than his father's. He wished for the Great Spirit to send him an obstacle of some sort so that he can further delay his return to the kingdom.

The palace people would make him train hard again as he was the appointed heir to the throne. He was enjoying the carefree life of a lone commoner who had travelled throughout the four kingdoms amidst the death penalty being imposed for trespassing. He was pampered in the palace before but that was only until he turned ten when his twin brother went away and he found himself suddenly being burdened with the responsibilities of a future king.

I wonder how my brother is doing…

He thought of his twin who had been gone for more than seven years after 'that' incident which left an awful mark on his father's face. The King was tremendously enraged as he had stripped his brother's right to the throne and had sent him off to live in a close friend's dukedom in another land. His twin had not visited Kasai since then and if he would ever return to the kingdom, he would easily recognize him since they were identical.

His stomach began to grumble. He hadn't eaten breakfast that morning and his dinner last night only consisted of a piece of bread given to him by an old woman from Kouku as a gratitude for helping her fix her wagon's wheel. His state was so desolate one might have thought him as a beggar than a descendant of the powerful Asakura monarchy. He decided to take a sip from the refreshing waters of the river to momentarily appease his hungry stomach.

An obstacle would only exacerbate the rebellion of his inner digestive fluids. He did not need the delay after all. Then again, the Great Spirit had already granted his wish for he spotted a blond girl wearing muddy night robes lying face down near the river bank.