Chapter 4

Myan wondered what she was supposed to do. From the way the princess had acted when she told her to reject the strangest man’s marital offer, she knew there had to be more to his normal-looking self.

She noticed that his hands were empty, and after looking around the dead bear, she found no explanation as to how it was dead without weapons. There were so many questions she had to ask.

Her scrutiny was brought to an end when he interrupted her thoughts. “Who are you?”

Unlike she thought, there was no aggressiveness in his tone. He sounded like every mere man who was curious to get information out of someone.

His voice was deep, nothing like she’d ever heard, and she realized she had been too distracted to pay attention to that detail earlier.

Myan had a feeling the golden card wasn’t going to work on him, he was superior to the royal family.

“What are you thinking about? Answer me.” He spoke a second time, causing her to flinch.

She was afraid, but she was definitely not letting him see that. She straightened her shoulders and cleared her throat, bowing her head a little, habitually used to the action. “Thank you for saving me.” She acknowledged and continued to walk.

She expected that he wouldn’t come after her unless he was a creep, but she could feel his eyes on her the whole time as she left. Knowing she had run a straight path all the way here, she kept walking in that direction while he stood still, watching her until she disappeared from sight.

Looking over her shoulder, she realized he could no longer see her, and that triggered her movement. She took her heels and ran faster than she ever had. Small twigs pierced into her skin, but she was used to the pain.

She was back on the trail, and this time, she wandered warily. Who knew what other creature could miraculously pop out of nowhere?

She wondered if she should turn back and just go back to the longer route, but she shook her head. “I’m here now; there’s no point.” She inhaled and exhaled with determination and continued her journey.

***

“Sir Achu!” Myan called from where she stood by the root of the mighty tree. It was a deserted tree that was about hundred-year-old. It was indestructible and isolated from both worlds. It stood between the borders, and no one had traveled from one world to the other in such a long time that nobody ever came to the tree.

There was an old tree house on the same tree, and it was inhabited by Achu. He hid from the people of the World of Fire while living there, and since he was from the World of Water, he had to live in hiding.

“Sir Achu!” An impatient Myan called even louder. She shook her head and set for the first branch. Balancing on it, she reached for the next attainable branch and continued upward until she was at the entrance.

She pounded on what was supposed to be a door and waited for a response.

There was nothing for a while, but after a few minutes, the door came open, and a huge stick came tossing out. Myan screamed but was fast enough to duck.

Standing back to her full height, huge liquid hands held her ankles and sucked her into the house, draining her as she kept up screaming.

She was held, dangling upside down by the ten feet sized monster made from water, and Achu aimed his arrow at her.

“Sir Achu, it’s me.” She waved her arms, feeling herself go dizzy from the dangling.

Achu stood upright and set his arrow and bow away from her, relief washing over his face. “The palace slave?”

“Servant.” She corrected him. There were no slaves in the World of Fire, but there were so many in the World of Water, so she understood his mentality.

She crashed against the floor when the monster dissolved into normal water that flowed on the floor.

Achu put his bow and arrows aside and crossed his forearms, stretching his pinky fingers. The water from the floor was assembled from its droplets and arranged into a huge-sized ball that was transported into a huge barrel on the left side of the tree house.

“The fourth princess needs your presence.” Myan went straight to the topic.

“What?” He wondered in astonishment.

***

Myan stood outside of the princess’s room. The transportation back had been faster than when she had left alone. Achu had an underground tunnel that led straight to the palace.

“I’m so worried now, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do.” Kassy was literally sobbing against Achu’s chest. Myan had her back against the bedroom door, afraid of what could come if anyone happened to find out about her, or worse, Achu.

“That man is a beast.” Achu was hurt, but he tried to stay strong for Kassy. He pulled away from her and held her hands in his. “Let tomorrow come; let’s see what happens. I promise you I won’t allow anything to happen to you. We were made for each other, and it doesn’t matter what anyone says. Simply tell him your heart. You aren’t giving him what he wants. Let’s see if he has the power to force you into something you can’t do.” He spoke like the most confident warrior, and it was so easy to pull Kassy into his spell.

“I knew you would make me feel better.” She sniffed and sobbed even more. “I don’t want you to ever leave me.” She cried. “Never.”

“I’m not leaving, remember?” He cupped her cheeks. “No matter what.”

Myan stopped pressing her ears against the door because she knew what was going to follow the emotions.

She had returned the cloak and golden card and knew she was no longer needed and so carefully crept back to the servants’ quarters, knowing the princess would fix things her own way.

***

The next day, Myan reported to the king’s courtyard with the princess. They were waiting for the lord’s arrival, and Kassy was determined to maintain her ground.

The three queens were in the courtyard waiting for the decision to be made. The same stools were present, and the king was in his official robe, a plain white one.

“The lord has arrived!” The first queen’s servant, Isha, came to report to the king. She bowed her head and lifted her gown to show her respect before adding, “Your Majesty.”

Myan had never been so nervous in her entire life. Kassy displayed confidence, and the king was worried about what her response would be.

Kassy gracefully sat still, dressed in one of her best silk gowns, black with white petals littering it. One would think she was enthusiastic about the whole thing and was actually dressed for it.

“Are you okay?” Myan thought to ask her. Looking at them both, one would think Myan was the one getting married and not Kassy.

“Never felt better,” Kassy smirked.

The courtyard was silent, as was everyone present there, ranging from the royal family to their servants.

The lord walked in, accompanied by nobody. His shiny hair appeared wavy this time and looked as if it added even more volume overnight. It was the type of hair that looked so tempting to touch.

“King Ron of the Flame Kingdom. My faithful subject, how has the leadership been?” The lord spoke to the king, although his eyes were set on Kassy the entire time.

“Very fine, Lord Ash,” King Ron greeted him, standing to his feet.

So that was his name...Ash. Myan thought.

“As you already know, I’m here for your daughter; no need to beat around the bush.” Ash went straight to the point, staring at his future bride-to-be with lust-filled eyes.

“Y…yes, my lord.” The nervous king swallowed. “I was informed by the second queen and the fourth princess.”

“Very good.” The lord smirked, walking toward Kassy where she sat. Myan had her head bowed the whole time, afraid that he would recognize her from the night before. She knew he would sense her presence if he wanted to, but no one had the time for some lowly servant.

He extended his hand toward her and waited for her to receive it.

Kassy tried to keep up the happy face, received his hand, and stared blankly at him.

The enthusiastic lord blew out a puff of smoke from between his lips, and the smoke formed a ring of fire around Kassy’s waist, disappearing after a few seconds had passed.

“Beautiful.” He was out of words. “My bride-to-be.’“

“About that,” Kassy frowned and withdrew her hand from his. “I am not consenting to this marriage.”

Ash’s face transformed in a second, and he looked like he had just been slapped in the face.

Myan looked up just in time to catch the wrinkles that had littered his forehead. “What did you just say?”

Kassy’s confidence had been replaced with fear, and she swallowed, not so sure of her rendered words anymore. “I’m n-not con-senting...”

He didn’t allow her to finish talking. Myan watched in utmost surprise as his tank top ripped off of him. She gasped and stood beside her princess, pulling her backward when she noticed the man was growing in size.

The servants around shrieked in fear and attempted to exit the courtyard, but one by one, they were falling to their knees, choking on the air.

Kassy’s heart raced in her cage as she looked up at the beast he had transformed into. He had grown twice in size, and all twelve feet of him, and his skin had become a bright red color.

Myan felt the air leave her at the size of the beast. Alice had run to stand beside her daughter in case the angry lord tried to strike her.

“How dare you go against the lord’s consent?!” Ash roared in his beast form. His feet were the size of a big dog, and his clenched fists had green veins popping out of them. His voice sounded like a hundred men had been put together to say the same words over and on repeat.

Kassy shivered in fear and automatically began to cry. This was a lot worse than she had thought.

Ash threw a ball of fire from his clenched fist at the roof of the nearest palace building. “For that reason, you have three days to prepare for a wedding, otherwise it will be the end of the world, as you know it. All of you!” He roared.

Myan sobbed with Kassy, afraid of what she would do.

“Do I make myself clear?” He emphasized every syllable accordingly.

“Yes, my lord!” The king bowed before Ash’s giant feet. “Yes, my lord.”

Ash turned to look at the crying princess, and Myan’s eyes grew wide. His eyes were completely orange in appearance, and that freaked her out even more than she already was.

His aggressiveness calmed when he saw Kassy’s tears and, in no time, was shrunken to his normal size of six feet, and the burning roof was restored to its original state, the fire going out.

Ash moved closer to Kassy. Although he was back to his normal form, his skin still looked like it was a faded shade of red.

“There’s no need to cry, I’m not a scary man.” He lied. “If this wedding doesn’t happen in three days, this whole palace is coming down in the fire,” he said to the king, “the lord’s fire.” 

He made sure to add a smirk to his sentence. “I’ll be back in three days. Get the preparations ready,” he said and turned to leave. He stopped walking and looked over his shoulder to add, “Long live the king.”

With that, he was gone, leaving behind a trail of smoke.

Kassy intensified her tears – their plan hadn’t worked. She fell to her knees, and Myan took the same action. She hugged Kassy to her chest, sobbing loudly, disregarding their statuses.

Kassy wrapped her hands around Myan’s arms and wailed, “Father, please, help me.”