CHAPTER 3 - HIS DESTINY

The boy before her was tiny and so... scrawny! Except for his green eyes with gold rims, he looked absolutely nothing like the strong and fierce king, no… the emperor in her memories of the future.

"Sister!" he called out to her in surprise. Quickly dropping the small sticks from his hands, that were usually used to build fires to help combat the chill of the nights, he grabbed her hands which caused her to hiss in pain. "Why are you out of bed? Are you feeling better?" he questioned, but after seeing her pained expression he quickly released his grip on her

The boy looked no younger than 5 years old. He was all skin and bones underneath all the dirt and soot that formed a layer on his skin and was dressed in the same potato sack secured with a thin rope tied around his waist.

It was laughable to think that this skinny and malnourished little boy would not only bravely claim the throne, but he would also do what many men and even some women who came before him failed to do, unite the five kingdoms and create the Great Kushar Empire and be remembered for millenniums as the first and greatest father of the world.

Carmen had wondered why out of all the princesses he showed her original owner great favour and acknowledged only her as a sister with her memories of the future, but she had simply written it off that perhaps he had pitied her for having gone through such humiliating torture. Not once had it crossed her mind that they were directly linked to each other.

"Sister!" the worried call of the little boy before her quickly drew her out of her thoughts. She knew that the original owner lived with a little boy whom she considered to be like a little brother but before, his image was always foggy in her mind she thought he was either one of the abandoned sons of the king or of some maid, though that was probably because she had not once thought about bringing him with her, she had only been focused on getting herself out of the palace to avoid the fate of the original owner.

Looking into the green eyes of the dirty little boy destined to sit above the world, she not only saw his destiny she also saw his journey.

For now, he was allowed to live only because he cannot really be seen as a threatening force in the fight for the throne, even though he is the only child born to the late queen making him a legitimate candidate in the running and the crown prince, since the queen was not really favoured by the king because of her paternal family's influence among the common people and their military power, when she died in childbirth the king along with his corrupt officials took the opportunity to sweep the entirety of her family out of the capital, under the pretext of having them guard the borders leaving the newborn prince without any backing and dumping him in the cold palace.

However, in a few years' time, due to the appearance of some prophet who claimed to be a messenger of the heavens warning the king of his and his kingdom's downfall by the hands of the son he scorned and the dawn of a great empire. Basically, stirring up a whole hornet's nest of troubles not only for Kazu but for many other young princes as well. The king's original 13 sons became 8 by the time Kazu rebelled and took the throne. Much blood was spilt in sacrifice for the hope crowning the prophesied great king.

Though the appearance of the self-proclaimed "heaven-sent" prophet brought many troubles, it was because of the prophecy he left behind that made the common people more willing to accept a king who practically slaughtered his own kin to sit on the throne. The common people, though at the bottom of the ladder, possess a lot more power than nobles would care to admit; if they had refused his reign Kazu would simply be remembered as a murderous tyrant who cared little for human life. But they had, held down by their unknowing of the power they hold in just their numbers, endured years of tyranny under the Foolish King's reign not to mention their heavy beliefs in the deities and superstitions. The new king's retainers used these to lead the people into believing that Kazu was the King, no, the Emperor ordained by the Gods to rule over the lands.

Carmen also saw the role the original owner had played in his development, though she was mentally unstable and unable to properly express herself with words she was well aware of the bad forces within the palace that wanted to destroy her little brother and she used her life to shield him from it… until she couldn't anymore. In his eyes, as if she were the one experiencing it all, she could clearly see the cause and effects of their intertwined fates, almost inseparable, ending in a tragedy. An uncontrollable tear slid down her cheek as if mourning the life she had seen being lived by the original owner as if it were her own.