Amadea and the Divinity Blade - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Emperor, having declared that the Imperial wedding of his daughter shall take place exactly three months before his 60th birthday, set the day of choosing for three days before that. He steadily began to receive visitors from all over the Empire, as a multitude of the sons of wealthy and or noblemen arrived to try for Amadea's hand, along with their families for support.

Soon, it was clear that something was necessary to weed out the wrong suitors. So, to that end, the Emperor decided to set three tasks. One of wisdom, one of fairness, and one of bravery. These were the qualities that the Emperor felt were the most important in an Emperor Consort.

The task of fairness was easiest to accomplish, each suitor needed to sit on the scale opposite a judge from a lesser court of law. This was to ensure that the men had a chance of passing the test since not many were quite as fair as the Imperial Judge. Besides, all those who wished to be a judge had to be weighed against another judge to ensure that they were at least as fair. This system had weeded out those who weren't suited to such a career for as long as the Empire had existed.

The Emperor set a deadline for all interested eligible men to arrive in time for the tasks, and set about trying to see if he could figure out just who the best man to marry his daughter was.

*******

"You’re Majesty, must we do this?" A youth protested. "It's so boring."

"Yes, Jason, we must," the King replied firmly, but softened the news with a smile.

"Why?" Jason wanted to know. Jason, as 8-year-old boys were wont to do, complained whenever he was made to do something less exciting than his sword fighting lessons.

"Because, I wish to try for Her Imperial Highness' hand in marriage," the King replied.

"I know that, but why?" Jason asked again.

The King sighed. "Because our kingdom is small, and in need of larger grants from the Empire. Zephyr, will you try to explain things to him?”

Jason turned eagerly to his personal hero, a man who was covered from head to toe in an outfit that made him look very mysterious, and very dangerous.

Zephyr rolled the only part of him that was visible, his eyes. "Because," he said.

"Oh, ok! If you say so," Jason acquiesced.

"You have got to teach me how to do that," King Notus muttered to his older brother. Zephyr merely chuckled. Notus was pleased to see his older brother express any emotion; especially such a light hearted one. Zephyr had been so solemn and grim ever since he’d returned so unexpectedly several months ago. He’d just appeared out of thin air, and at death's door to boot. Transportation was a skill Zephyr could perform, but only when he really put his mind to it.

Jason decided to complain again, even though a page who was going to be trained as a king's knight was not supposed to complain, ever. "But this line is sooooo long!"

"Well, there are a whole lot of suitors who want to meet the Imperial Princess," King Notus explained.

A few minutes passed in relative silence, and a woman floated into the hall. King Notus was occupied trying to figure out if she was real or not, but Zephyr had returned to reviewing his gloomy memories.

Jason fidgeted, groaned, and complained.

"Zephyr! Will you please get him to stop?!" King Notus demanded, uncharacteristically grumpy.

The woman's attention snapped to him. "What did you say?"

Her voice caught Zephyr's attention. "Zira?"

"Zephyr?" Zira squinted at the man. She had come into the hall because she wanted to know just how many more men were left waiting to meet the Princess, and because she’d had a tingling in her senses.

"Zira! I thought you were dead!" Zephyr ran to embrace his one time companion.

She met him half way. "I am dead. What about you?"

"What do you mean you're dead? You feel alive to me." Zephyr squeezed her arms gently. Zira faded out, and then returned to her solid form. "I don't understand."

"The Gods have decided I can still be useful, so they sent me back, but unfortunately, even they can't bring back the dead," Zira explained. "Enough about me. You're alive? We thought you were dead."

"We? You mean not everybody died?" Zephyr's breath caught in his chest.

"Well, everybody died except for Sunny Day," Zira smiled.

"Really? She's alive!" Zephyr hugged the ghost once more.

"Uh... Zephyr? Who's your friend?" King Notus asked. Everybody else in the crowded hall wondered that as well.

"Huh? Oh! Notus, this is Zira, she's the one I told you about, the sorceress who defeated the evil warlock. Zira, this is Notus, my brother," Zephyr introduced.

"Pleased to meet you," King Notus greeted.

Zira nodded and smiled at him, then turned to Zephyr once more. "So, have you come to try for Princess Amadea's hand as well?"

"No, I'm only here to support my brother. I had thought to never marry," Zephyr said.

"Had thought?" Notus and Zira echoed each other.

Zephyr blushed, and was grateful for the veil that covered his face. "Well..."

"You hope to see if Sunny Day still has feelings for you? And here I had thought you hadn't noticed," Zira smirked.

"I didn't have time to notice back then, but ever since then, I have done nothing but relive those moments, and I wondered." Zephyr cocked his head at Zira, "But you said still?"

"Yes, she mourns you still," Zira informed him.

"Wait, you're saying that my brother has a love interest?" Notus probed.

"Yes," Zira chuckled. Just then the door to the throne room opened.

"King Notus, the Emperor will see you now," the royal announcer stated.

"Uh-oh!" Zira exclaimed. "Uh Zephyr..."

"Come on Zephyr, you can talk more with your friend later," King Notus insisted.

Zephyr followed his brother.

Zira braced herself, and followed them. When they stopped in front of the Emperor to pay their respect, Zira kept going until she stood next to Amadea.

Zephyr performed his obeisance clumsily, his eyes glued to the Princess. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing! Zira whispered into Amadea's ear causing her to gasp.

"Is something the matter, my dear?" The Emperor inquired.

"No father, Zira has just told me some wonderful news!" Amadea announced. "It seems that I was not the only survivor of our ordeal." She stood and carefully approached the group of newcomers.

"Sunny Day," Zephyr uttered softly.

"Zephyr?" Amadea searched his eyes. "Zephyr, it is you!" She took one of his hands in hers.

"Father, this is Zephyr. He is one of the men who helped Zira defeat the source of all evil."

"I am confused, sir, if you did not perish, then why did you leave my daughter to wake up to that horror alone?" The Emperor asked.

Zephyr was still reeling over the fact that his Sunny Day, and this Emperor's daughter were one and the same, and that she was alive. It occurred to him that she was even more beautiful then he remembered. He was speechless with shock.

"Father! He fell into an abyss! Of course he wasn't there when I regained consciousness."

"Nonsense, if he fell into an abyss, how is he still alive?" The Emperor reasoned.

"Because, his power saved him, Imperial Majesty!" Jason defended, then realized what, or rather who he had just spoken to, and hid behind Zephyr.

"It's true," King Notus stated. "My brother did indeed appear via his magic on that day, and he was at death’s door. Only a powerful healer was able to save him."

"King Notus," the Emperor nodded in respect to the fellow monarch. "You say he is your brother?"

"Yes," Notus confirmed. "My older brother."

"Then why is he not King?" The Emperor asked curiously.

Notus looked to Zephyr, who had finally recovered from his shock.

"I renounced my claim to the throne several years ago after an accident had left me badly scarred," Zephyr explained. In truth, it had been a magical accident that left his body permanently altered. It was now partly made out of hardened earth and stone. He rarely let anyone see him anymore – though he had trusted his companions enough to show them – and generally considered it easier to simply say he was scarred. He thought that he would have actual scars to show people after the battle, but had been unmarred. He’d only been at death's door because he had used so much of his power, not that it had really mattered much in the end.

"Father, I find I am tired, and wish to reminisce and commiserate with my friend. May we please adjourn for the evening?" Amadea asked.

The Emperor sighed, it would be unfair, not to mention heartless to refuse. "Of course, my dear."

Go To Chapters 5+6