THE VISITOR

A hooded figure stood in-front of the court, his hood drawn, a golden lining decorating it. he wore various belts sashes, although only visible through a small parting in his robe.

The guards surrounded him, spears and swords drawn, a few forming a wall in front of the king, who sat at the thrown and gazed at the newcomer with narrowed eyes. The entire court was silent. Footsteps could be herd. Some casters beside the king were erecting a barrier. It was a silent chaos that the presence of this mysterious figure had caused.

"Pardon my intrusion, O king," The person began in a humble voice that had hints of arrogance, "I did not wish to startle your men."

"Who are you, and why have you come here?" The king's reply was without emotion, bleak as if he did not have a care for anything.

"My name is Lear, and I am from the Dark Continent, I have come here, King to offer my condolences and fair warning."

"Condolences... warning... are you threatening me? and why would a being from the dark continent come so far just to warn us?" The king questioned further, taking interest.

"Are you acquainted with the order of the Assassins?" Lear replied with a question of his own, unfazed by the hundreds of swords spears and arrows still aimed at him.

"I am," the King answered in a guarded voice.

"King of Neraya, the current white. I am from that order, but I have not come here to kill. My intentions do not involve harming you or your people and as such I request that you grant me a private audience, I dare say, people of this court are not worthy of an intimate discussion between beings such as us."

"Fine," The king answered, standing up. This caused an uproar in the court, the viziers advising against it, the guards not giving room.

Lear smiled under his mask. As the king gently shook his head and approached him.

"Silence," he said in a calm voice, but the effect was as though the entire court had the breath taken out of their lungs and again a resonating silence prevailed.

The king came face to face with Lear, whose face was covered behind his drawn hood, and in an instant both of them disappeared.

The court erupted in chaos, the guards running here and there, the viziers in panic as well, some escaping, some frozen in their places, but a strange calm set in as soon as the princesses walked in. She did not ask any questions but simply made her way across the hall, as she passed by the soldiers whose formations were teetered quickly went back in formation, the escaping ministers returned to their seats and the ones in shock came out of it.

Following the princess, the first prince made his way in, and the calmness took on discipline. He walked gracefully and sat in his seat right to the throne, as the princess sat to the left. All eyes gazed at them, it was after they had seated that the second prince walked in, armored. Apparently unaware of what was going on.

"Where is father? I wish to speak with him." The younger prince inquired; the entire court interested in the answer.

"Ahsan, our father is conversing with a visitor, he will be back soon." the older prince replied, his voice confident and convincing, that of a leader.

"Ahaan," Prince Ahsan answered, apparently not satisfied, looking at his older sister, who replied in the most charming and comforting smile so as if to say that the older prince was right. Prince Ahsan, then proceeded to walk towards his own seat, further to the right of his older brother.

"So, Lear, please do tell me again, who you are and why you have come to me"

"Aeron, son of Azaan the white, and father of Arsalan, king of Neraya, and the leader of the white ones, allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Lear, the God slayer, I am Lear the demon hunter, I am Lear the dragon heart, I am Lear the fallen. I am one of the Grand masters in the order of the Assassins, and I was a friend to your father, and his father before him and his father before him. I offer my condolences for the death of my friend Azaan, and for the death of your wife."

Aeron gave a small nod of his head, his gestures finally considerate as if he had accepted the person in front of him to be worthy of his attention.

"Lord Lear, pardon me for my rudeness before, my father had mentioned of friend of your description," King Aeron spoke with humbleness and nobility at same time. "I accept your condolences, be they so late."

"I apologize young king, but after you have lived for as long as I, decades mean little. and deaths mean lesser."

"Surely you are wiser than I, Lord Lear you spoke of a warning as well. May I inquire regarding that?"

"Oh yes, the reason I came here in the first place, as you are aware of the assassins, It makes things much easier,"

"hmmm, what is it regarding assassins that I should be warned about"

"There are some children who have let's say, gone rouge, they have betrayed the order and are wrecking quite a bit of havoc. They have thus far annihilated five kingdoms, one of which hosted a gate," Lear was taking on a more casual tone.

"Neraya hosts a gate as well, as you know, the children are not aware of the gates as it is a closely guarded secret, but in their antics the balance of Illis is shifting for the worse.

"This news is quite alarming, are you implying that these young assassins are headed towards my dominion, for if they are, I think it would be quite difficult to let them leave alive, be they from your order."

"I have no problems with that, after all the fate that awaits them when I catch hold of them is far worse than death," Lear spoke in a soft voice.

"Is there any other detail I should be made aware of, Lord Lear?"

"Ah, an impending war, the arrival of the king, balancing powers. You are aware of most. Oh regarding these young ones, they were trained by quite high-ranking assassins"

"just who are they?"

"Well, there was this faction that tried to make a coup against the order, all were dealt with, these kids were, well the ones who dealt with them and in the way, they tasted blood and war, so what drives them is lust I presume."

"Why is it Lord Lear that your order always manages to produce such great threats?"

"Well, I cannot say, perhaps because fire breeds fire? In any case let us talk about the throne."

...

Neraya was governed by a royal family also known as the white ones, the direct line only had Aeron and his children, Arsalan Ahsan and Anesia, then came the council of the king, which housed minsters and such. The army of the kingdom was commanded by two generals, one who was the leader of the guard and the other lead the military.

The generals were closest to the royal family, with the head of the guard, being a childhood friend of Anesia, while the commander of the military was best friends with Arsalan, both were from a family of knights who had served the white ones, even before they had settled in Neraya.