a tombstone for every fighter

Emma Jefferson was on her last breath. her eyes were staring at Raku who was watching everything from a safe distance.

on Raku's face was the reflection of an emotion she didn't expected to see on a comrade, not on a situation like this one. he seemed pleased with the outcome.

in that moment Emma died with regret for not fucking Maxwell the day before. and for not been a better sibling. a red tear falls from her eyes. sorrow was drawn on her face.

Robert Larsson is trembling with a tearful face. with his right hand he is trying to stop the bleeding, it was too late for him. he knew he was dying. there was no miracle nor guardian angel to protect him. not from death.

"I, can you please watch for my girl."

said Robert mistaking Cole for Maxwell.

"if it is on my reach. what is her name?"

Cole asks trying to show some respect.

Robert whispers the name of his daughter. it wasn't loud nor clear enough, but it was enough for Cole. Cole puts his hands on Robert's neck and then he breaks it.

Robert Larsson falls dead on the ground. there was regret & sorrow on his face.

"I am sorry. the world was too cruel to you. unlike me, you didn't found peace on this world. I hope you can find peace on the other side."

said Cole with a force smile.

Cole puts two coins on Robert's & Emma's eyes. then he leaves.

.....

inside of the royal palace; King Bradley Manley is on his throne. his royal advisor is at his side with suggestions to fight the enemy.

King Bradley is a man on his sixties. for a King of one of the greatest Kingdoms of the continent, he is quite handsome. he has the body of a man who spends his days on the gym. he is 1.89 cm. he has a long gray beard that makes him look manly, but without the beard he looks more kind.

he has a gaze that makes him look innocent or sad. he has one tiny scar on the left side of his face, the scar is easily covered by his beard. it is said that he got that scar when he fought against the infamous king Ronald Cromwell.

King Bradley Manley is looking at his royal ring. he can feel it. his days are coming to an end. his time as king was long, but not long enough.

any other king on his place will be afraid of dying or will sacrifice thousands in order to avoid death. King Bradley isn't afraid of dying, but of the fate of his kingdom without him, he is afraid that someone cruel will oppress his people and even slaved them.

King Bradley asks the royal advisor for his two boys. the royal advisor tells him that Saer, the youngest is on the castle of Duke Edred Stone. Theobald, the eldest is on a battle against some savages that are on a rebellion close to the 'crying' mountains.

King Bradley Manley wants to leave the throne to his eldest, the problem is that Theobald is a bit of a cold person when it is about making sacrifice for the greater good. Theobald will make as many sacrifices as possible. his son is the kind of man he doesn't want to be king.

he can't let his youngest be king either. Saer is too weak and too sensible to make hard choices. his daughter isn't mature enough to be Queen.

he can wed his kids, but the problem is that on his past he suffer for complicate things and he doesn't want to make his kids suffer.

"I want your opinion, 'Doug.' I want to know what you think about all of this."

said King Bradley looking at his royal advisor.

"I don't know what to say sir. you are my lord and I follow you, but my opinion isn't educated enough to serve of anything."

said Doug the royal advisor.

King Bradley calls for his guards to be ready. soon he will go outside of the palace to face the people of his kingdom. soon he will had to face death on the eyes.

Bradley looks around of his palace for one last time. he sees every detail and every corner of the place in which he has been sitting all this years.

he smiles feeling proud of been a king capable of representing and protecting his people. he is sure that after his death, he is going to go on the history books as one of the greatest and most righteous kings to ever walk on this world.

there is a strange noise. the king looks at his right as his daughter, princess Alice Manley walks on the hallway. she is follow by the royal guard, Garrett Mitchell.

"hello daddy. the dog, and I. we are in here to see you daddy. I want to say that I love you daddy. also can you put a different dog to protect me? this one seems to have rabies."

said Alice with an angelic smile.

"honey, please have some trust on Garrett. he is a good man. it is hard to find loyal men like him on this times of treason and conspiracy."

said King Bradley with a huge friendly smile.

Alice is sad because her daddy isn't listening to her. Garrett feels happy to be trusted so much by his role model.

Bradley asks Garrett to take Alice back to her room. Garrett looks at the princess which is angry with a deadly look on her face.

Garrett wants to do his job, but dealing with such an annoying girl isn't easy. it is worst when she is a princess who can send you to the dungeons if you anger her.

Alice wants to be with her dad and she wants to see her friends. she feels like a prisoner locked on a castle all the time. she wants to have fun and to enjoy her life.

"I love you honey. I love all of my kids equally. that is why papa has to be a little bit overprotective when it comes to protecting you. I hope you can understand me one day, I am not doing this for me, but it is for you. now please go back to your room baby girl."

said the King in a soft tone of voice.

the king has a loud and masculine voice, but every time that he talks to his kids he tries to change his tone of voice to not scare them. he doesn't want them to think that he is scolding them. he might seem like a cold man, but he is soft on the inside.

"okay daddy. I am going to listen to you, only because you are the sweetest daddy ever."

said Alice with an angelic voice.

king Bradley smiles and laughs loudly to see his adorable kid listening to him.

Garrett can't believe that the king who has fought hundreds of battles, the king who has slaughter traitors, rebels, and savages. the king who decapitated a traitor in front of the traitor's whole family. he can't believe that king is so weak when it is about his kids. how can he be so cold, and so soft at the same time.

"sir, if you excuse me, I will be taking the young princess back to her room and I will guard her room with my own life."

said Garrett with a small smile.

Alice looks at Garrett with a deadly look on her eyes. Alice smiles in a creepy way and she walks away while pulling Garrett from the neck. the King laughs loudly while watching those two behaving like siblings.

there are many orphans from wars that he took under his protection. you can call it humanity or the infliction of his guilt, the guilt of not been able to fully protect his people. a king is mighty, but a king will never be omnipotent.

fate be the path given to the soul, but ain't fate, it is an action that causes the path to be built. and by faith is the armor, sword and shield forge.

Alice is walking towards her room, she is follow by Garrett who is thinking about his job. if nothing happens tonight, is probable that he will lose his job or worse, his own head. this is the hardest task that has been given to him.

Alice is a seventeen years old girl. she has this child like appearance. she has an angelic face and voice, so it is common for those who don't know her to think that she is well behaved and nice. which everyone who knows her, also knows that is far from the truth.

her skin is white, almost pale like her mom's. her hair is neon black like her father's hair used to be. her lips are on a light pink tone. her eyes are a cinnamon brown color. she is 1. 69 cm.

"do you think if I find a husband my dad will be less strict & overprotective? I mean, I don't care about husbands or anything alike, but I want my freedom."

said Alice waiting for an answer from Garrett.

"if you want my whole honesty, young princess. I think your father will be worst, if that was to happen. with time he will be less serious."

said Garrett avoiding eye contact with the princess.

princess Alice Manley doesn't care about things like love. she is only thinking about finding her own happiness. she loves to go to the kingdom's festivals.

Garrett opens the door for the princess. she enters inside of her room. Garrett closes the door. he stays behind the door. he looks at the sides making sure that no one is walking near the princess's room.

"I think I need a new dress, can you go tell my daddy?"

Garrett ignores her. his duty is to protect her, not to be her maid. Garrett takes a candy out of his pockets and he eats it.

"are you ignoring the daughter of your owner? don't be a bad dog and do as I say."

yields Alice.

there are some footsteps. Garrett looks at some guards that were send by the King to help him protect the princess.

"did you guys brought the heavy weapons? because tonight is going to be a long night and I hope we all can last till tomorrow."

said Garrett with a force smile.

inside of her room is Alice looking at the ceiling. she is angry and capricious. one way or another, but she will do what she wants to do.

.....

Ji-hye Moon is sitting inside of a canteen. Cole enters inside of the canteen. Cole takes two pistols out aiming at the people inside of the canteen.

Cole sits next to Ji-hye Moon. he puts the pistols on the table. he yields to the waiter asking for a beer and some snacks. Cole then looks at Ji-hye with a creepy smile.

"tell me everything you know about the assassins."

said Cole as he puts a cigar on his mouth.

Ji-hye is looking at him silently. she looks around of the canteen making sure that no one suspicious was near them. she puts a piece of paper on the table.

"thanks ma'am. now I am living to do my job."

Cole stands up. he takes one of the guns from the table. he leaves quietly without looking back. Ji-hye takes the other gun. she stands up and she walks towards some guys. she shoots at them killing them.

Ji-hye leaves the gun on the table. she walks out of the canteen. she looks at Ramiro on the streets. he was going to speak to her. she stops him and she also orders him to go where Maxwell is right now.

Ji-hye keeps walking on the crowded streets. she looks at the people on the streets.