CHAPTER THREE

I sat down with Arthur behind the coachman who by chance was the guard I knew, Carlos. The wagon has two line bench; one in front and one behind. The one in front was mainly used by the coachman while the back bench can accommodate anyone that doesn't want to sit inside the wagon. Carlos was sitting on the front bench while we sat down behind him. Using the rein he held in his hand to slap the rump of the horses.

The horses started to move slowly nevertheless they pick up their pace in no time. The fresh air was refreshing; the wind blew against my face as the horses started to move at a faster speed. We were following a trail marked out in the forest.

I was looking at Arthur as he roughens up his hair, relaxing his back on the wagon wall, he didn't look at me before he spoke out. "It is rude to stare at someone like that," Arthur said.

I look down at my feet; they were probably the only thing that won't complain if I stare at them for too long.

Arthur sighed as I look up at him again. "Go on, I know you have a lot of question to ask me," Arthur said brushing off the leaf that got stuck to his sleeve.

Knowing that this was my only chance to ask for anything that I wanted to know about, I didn't want this opportunity to slip through my fingers. Where to start? I thought in my head.

"Why was such a beautiful flower given such a name?" I asked.

"Which flower?" He asked confused, looking around for a flower.

"Not there, I am talking about the flower we saw in the morning," I reminded him.

"Oh, that," he paused, "It goes way back in history," he finally said.

"I want to hear it," I demanded.

"The story was passed from one generation to the next generation," he started. I nodded eagerly waiting for him to continue. "But nobody has ever seen the flower, apart from those that were alive during the event," he said bursting the bubble.

"Then -- how come you pointed it out the moment you saw it back there, if you haven't seen it before," I interrupted, questioning him.

"Stop interrupting me, Nicholas, and wait for me to continue," he admonished me. I keep quiet after that. I knew if I kept on interrupting, I might not hear the full story.

"Now, where was I?" He paused. Waiting for a moment to remember where he stopped. "Oh yes," he said remembering where had stopped.

"According to the story, it was during the time of prince Alinex, a man that loves secrecy. Right from the onset, he has been sent to the academy to study. But, due to the fact that he loves keeping to himself, he hardly had any friend or interaction with the people around him.

During one of his holiday, he returned to the castle and was roaming about, trying to keep himself busy, before he will be summoned by his father.

After leaving the west wing of the castle, he went to the direction of the garden which was a mistake on his part. Entering the place and seeing that it was a garden, he wanted to turn around to leave, when his eye saw a flower that was red.

Being a lover of red, it was his first time seeing such a flower, walking through the garden; he wondered why such a flower was left in that spot and was almost well hidden from sight. He won't have knew it was there if not because the color of the flower caught his eye.

However, it was to be made known that he was not a lover of flower, due to his allergic reaction whenever he mistakenly touches a flower. He couldn't stop himself in time before he touched the flower. Holding a flower stalk in his hand, and wanting to pluck it out from where it sprouts out from, the thorn on the stalk pierce his finger. Dropping the stalk he held in his hand, his blood dripped on the flower and the flower got dye to deep red.

He left the garden, and was on his way to his room to treat himself, when, a servant came across him and informed him, that his father has summoned him and was waiting for him. He went to meet his father, who was waiting for him, in the palace.

Entering the palace and greeting his father, he forgot about his bleeding hand and asked his father, what he wanted to tell him.

His father was already getting old and was getting closer to the age where he was supposed to step down. But the problem is; his son was not yet married and he has not confided in him about liking any female. One of the rules for ascending the throne was that the succeeding prince must be married.

The reason for this rule was because a playboy prince that didn't want to get married ascended the throne once in history, and caused a disaster. He flirts with every female he saw, it got to the extent that the officials had to secretly dismiss all the female servants in the palace. But that didn't stop him from sneaking out from the palace, under a disguise.

He went around wooing the ladies and stealing their heart. Leaving them when they had taken in, over time the officials got wind of this and threatened him that they were going to bring one of the female he had impregnated for him to get married to. He stopped after this because he didn't want any commitment.

As time went on, his age caught up with him and he started seeing the mistake he has made, he didn't know what to do, as questions were being raised and asked of him, of who, among his numerous children that he has from different women, will be the rightful heir to the throne.

He has no way out and couldn't even prove if the children were really his. Luckily enough he had a younger brother that loves to travel around and loves visiting the neighboring kingdom with his family. He sent a letter to him and asked him to come to his aid.

When his brother received his letter and heard about the ordeal he was passing through, he cut short his journey and returned back to the kingdom with his son. Being left to take care of his only child, which was his son and was his remaining family member, since his wife had passed away while he was yet a baby …"

"Arthur, aren't you diverting from the real story?" I couldn't help but to interrupt him. "All I wanted to know was about the flower, I don't want to know about any history that wasn't related to it," I told him.

"Nicholas, to know the reason behind the rules and what led to the name of the flower, you must firstly know the full story, those are very important points to take note of," Arthur patiently explained to Nicholas.

There were strange plants and trees with beautiful flowers. I just couldn't stop myself from asking Arthur what they were.

"Arthur," Carlos called out from the front bench.

"Yes, what is it?" Arthur asked.

"We are almost near the place," Carlos replied.

"Stop the horses," Arthur told Carlos.

Carlos stopped the horses by pulling back on their rein.

"Nicholas, you are the only one among us that doesn't know where we are and what we are going to be passing through any moment from now, one single mistake can cause us to be ridiculed if we don't pass through this place spotless, so, while we are at it, don't make any unnecessary noise and make sure to keep quiet," Arthur warned.

"Arthur, why did you stop abruptly?" The lady voice rang out from the carriage that she was in. Arthur got down from the wagon. My eye trail Arthur as he went to the lady carriage, they spoke in hushed tone and I couldn't hear what they were saying. After their conversation, the lady stretched forth her hand, holding a pouch; Arthur collected the pouch from her outstretched hand.

Arthur left the lady carriage, as he went from one horse to another, taking out some white powder from the pouch and rubbing it on the horses' nose, whispering words into their ear that couldn't be heard by us.

"You are probably wondering what this is all about right?" Carlos spoke out.

I nodded, turning to face him; I wanted to know why we have to stop and what Arthur was going to do next.

"It is for the Kardi's, they are about to bloom," Carlos replied.

"What is the Kardi's," I asked.

"They are one of the most offensive fruit you can come across and they are mostly used for attack, especially when they have to guide the forest. Right now, we have to pay respect to the guardian of the forest and any single mistake can cause us to be isolated for two weeks," he said.

"How did you recognize them?" I asked.

"They are not hard to recognize," he stated. "Look at that," Carlos said pointing to a tree that has star shaped fruits on it. It looks to me as if it was a Christmas tree that we do decorate in our world.

"And one thing to keep in mind, guide your thought, your thought can trigger any of them and we will all get soak in its foul smelling juice," Carlos warned.

"How will they get to read our thoughts, when they are not in our head?" I asked.

"Don't you know anything about the world that we are living in? Are you from the rocks?" Carlos asked baffled by my ignorance.

"I guess he might be," Arthur answered as he climbed up and sat down beside me. He had finished what he was doing some moment ago and was no longer holding a pouch. "We met him there, but for now we have to leave this place as fast as we can," Arthur said to Carlos.

Carlos hit the horses and they started moving.

"Remember, Nicholas, no talking and guide your thought," Arthur said as he was looking tensed.

What was to come that could make Arthur look tensed, was it that terrible, I asked in my mind. I have to clear my mind, no thought, no thought, it must be empty; I try to grind that into my brain.

The horses were moving as if they drunk, moving to the left and sometimes moving to the right without a specific rhyme, but they didn't leave their spot. I turned to Arthur to ask him what went awry with the horses and why were they behaving like that.

"No," Arthur silently mouthed at me as he shushed me. "Wait and see," he mouthed at me as he motion with his head to tell me to look around. Everywhere became quiet and peaceful.

Looking around, nothing seem amiss, watching Arthur serious expression, I turn to find out what he was looking at. He was looking at a tree, and was just staring at it as if he didn't want to miss any changes that might occur. I was getting bored, covering my eye with my palm. I was getting tired of the horse dance and the silent wasn't helping either.