Chapter 7 : Sentariuos

Sentariuos, the school that is right in the middle of the four nations. This school was founded to produce great, strong and unbeatable fighters. The school is dominated by men from both the nobility and the common people. The only place where caste and honor do not apply, all classes are treated by the same rules.

A dark-skinned man with a tall, burly build walked at a brisk pace to greet the sudden guest. "Lehrer Marfiato?"

"Horgiata Morles, how are you?" Marfiato shook the hand of one of his proud students.

"Fine, Lehrer. What a pleasure to see you again." Horgiata is excited to reach the hand of the person who plays a big role in his life.

They haven't seen each other for ten years. It started when Horgiata left SpiegelWelt to become a teacher at the Sentariuos school. Horgiata's eyes lingered for a moment on the group of fully armored warriors standing at the ready. As if they was escorting someone very important from the palace.

"You guys wait here." Marfiato ordered the head of one of the soldiers. The soldier lowered his head obediently.

"Lehrer Marfiato, we better chat in my room," Horgiata said, asked Marfiato to follow him. He glanced at the two boys who followed Marfiato's steps before returning to lead his teacher down the school hall.

Horgiata opened the door to his study. The circular room was surrounded by hundreds of old books, neatly arranged on shelves that reached the ceiling. In the middle of the room there is a set of sofa which usually used to welcome guests, and there is a door that leads to a private room behind a pile of bookshelves in the corner of the room.

"Please take a seat, Lehrer. Do you still like Ingwer Bier? Lehrer must try it, it is the best Ingwer Bier in the world." Horgiata exclaimed excitedly. He poured the dark liquid into two silver cups. "And these two boys? You'd better drink this." he said while handing Kennard two boxes of milk.

"Sit down." Marfiato ordered Alex and Ken who were still faithfully standing beside him.

Kennard nodded obediently and sat down on one of the nearest sofas while Alex strolled towards the large window that overlooked the front yard of the school building. Alex cast her eyes through the thick fog, looking for her footprints that had clearly disappeared under the thick snow.

Horgiata glanced at Kennard who nodded politely then turned to Alex who didn't seem too concerned about the circumstances around her. "Lehrer, who are these two?"

"This is Kennard, the son of General San," said Marfiato. "And, she is Princess Alexandra or better known as Prinzessin des Königreichs SpiegelWelt."

Horgiata gasped in surprise when he heard the title called by his teacher. "Princess!"

He immediately knelt down on his right knee as a pedestal befitting a soldier's salute to the royal family. Horgiata didn't expect that the arrogant kid he mistook for a boy was actually a Princess, moreover a Crown Princess of the SpiegelWelt kingdom.

"No need to push yourself, old man. When I'm outside the palace, I'm just a kid like everyone else," Alex sneered. She pressed the robe she was wearing then clasped her palms together, rubbing them together to dispel the cold air that ambushed her body.

Seeing Alex's movement, Kennard immediately took off the thick robe he was wearing and placed it on Alex's shoulders.

Horgiata chuckled softly. He stood up but kept his posture in a respectful position. "Exactly as expected of King Achilles's daughter."

"Is that a compliment?" Alex raised one eyebrow.

"Princess, would you like to take a tour? This school has a lot of history, I'm sure you will like it." Marfiato interrupted to distracting Alex.

"I guess."

"Clay."

Horgiata called a name and soon, a boy who looked a year above Alex and Ken appeared from behind the door. The young man carried two thick books pressed to his chest. Round-rimmed glasses perched on the top of his nose. The thickness of the glass surface indicated how many books he had read.

"Yes?"

"Show Princess Alexandra and Kennard around the school." Horgiata orders one of his best students in this school.

Clay nodded obediently and turned to Alex. "This way, Princess."

"Grandpa, is this one way to chase me away?" Said Alex cynically.

"Wow, very aggressive. She even dared to speak rudely to Lehrer," thought Horgiata in shock.

Marfiato put on a knowing smile. "No one can match your intelligence, Princess."

"Whatever. I'm not interested in the chatter of two old men anyway." Alex hissed lazily. He turned to Clay. "Lead the way." she ordered in an arrogant tone.

Clay nodded fearfully. He glanced at the teacher, hoping that the headmaster would retract his order. But Horgiata averting his eyes.

"Come on, Princess," Kennard said, taking over Clay's job. Kennard felt sorry for the bookworm. Through the lens of Clay's glasses, Kennard could see tears preparing to spill out.

Alex takes her steps after Kennard's with Clay soon followed the two of them.

"Lehrer, what do you want to talk about?" Horgiata voiced the question swirling in his mind. "Is it so secret that the Princess is not involved?"

Marfiato shook his head slowly. He took out a scroll of parchment from under his robes and gave it to Horgiata. "King Achilles asked me to deliver this edict."

"What's this?"

"Read it, you will know."

Horgiata opened the royal seal with care. His heart beat faster as he unraveled the scroll of paper until it opened completely. "Whoever receives this letter, it is with a heavy heart that I order you to look after Prinzessin des Königreichs SpiegelWelt, my daughter Alexandra until the time comes for the princess to return to the kingdom."

The man looked at Marfiato with another wrinkles on his forehead. "What does that mean, Lehrer? Does the King want Alexandra's daughter to study at this school?"

"More than that, Horgiata." Marfiato took a deep breath. "The king wants us to hide Princess Alex from the Fire Clan."

"Fire Clan?"

Marfiato nodded, as if he could read what Horgiata was thinking. "As you know, ten years ago, the ancestors had predicted the birth of the leader of the Fire Clan and turned out that person is Princess Alexandra."

"This is impossible. I was the one who presided over the annihilation of the forces of the Fire Erden and I also scorched all the books and even the village of the Fire Clan." Horgiata was very sure, he had erased all the chances for the Fire Clan to rise again.

"I know, Horgiata." Two of Marfiato's fingers tapped together on his thighs. Trying to remember the tragic night for the Fire Clan. "Do you remember? What are the contents of the prophecies recited by the ancestors?"

Horgiata nodded quickly. This prediction marked the beginning of closing the main door to the Wahrsagerin nation and denying access from and to the outside world.

"Therefore, we must keep Princess Alexandra out of the reach of the Fire Clan at least until she is able to control and master her powers."

"Lehrer, it's hard for me to believe this. I have to see it with my own eyes." Horgiata shook his head, still in denial of the situation.

"No, Horgiata. Princess Alexandra must not use her powers again."

"Why?"

Marfiato sighed deeply. "When the eternal flame revives, I believe the Fire Clan' will find it again."

"You are right, Lehrer. Forgive your student's stupidity," Horgiata regretted. "Then what should we do?"

"Do whatever you can to hide Princess Alexandra's identity." Marfiato insisted. "Until the red moon on her seventeenth birthday." Marfiato clenched his fists, his emotion raging between a war between fear and doubt.

"Lehrer, is there anything that makes you hesitate?" Ask Horgiata. He saw the lines of doubt on his teacher's face.

Marfiato returned his student's gaze. "Yes. There is something that really bothers my instincts. As if something had gone wrong from the start but I don't know what really happened," he sighed.

*****

Lehrer = Teacher

Ingwer Bier = Ginger Beer