Valerian, The Legendary

195 Breaking walls.

Morgana asked her maid to get the whereabouts of the prince, the news took some time to reach her as Valerian had gone out in an extreme flurry. Even some of the guards could not keep up with him. Priscilla was the one who ‘found’ his position and relayed the news.

Morgana decided to take the trip and talk with the prince, it was not because she had any ulterior motives but because she was very moved by the similarities pointed out by this boy a night before. She thought he was someone who could understand her state of mind.

...

Valerian was sitting on the city wall, a few soldiers were patrolling the place and a captain-level officer was standing beside the prince. The person was not here out of any protocol, he came here because the prince must have a guard beside him in case of emergency. This was an unspoken rule among the city guards, that every time a royal visited the city wall, they must have a guard beside them at all times.

This was more like protecting themselves, if the royalty was not satisfied with them, then they might have to sit at home. Valerian was ‘angry’ so he did not bother telling the guy to go away. He just sat there on the wall, looking at the vast horizon in front of him with a dazed set of eyes.

Silk was left to stay in the palace, to maintain her control over the grandmaster guard. Valerian would let out a sigh from time to time as if he was contemplating something very deep. The guard captain behind him was very confused, he could not comprehend what could make this young man sigh so much at such a young age.

Without them knowing, an hour had passed and a soldier bought over a message, “Your Highness, the princess of Centaur is here to visit you.”

Valerian almost let out a verbal sigh, ‘About time.’

He asked, “Where is she?”

.....

The soldier replied, “Below, Your Highness.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Bring her over. Do not worry about violations, I will take responsibility.”

The soldiers were surprised, they hesitated because the city wall was an important structure and if they allowed a foreigner to enter the place, this might compromise their security. But now the prince was actually asking them to go against the mandate. The hesitation was obvious.

Valerian said, “Do not worry, you can send someone to the palace and get the Empress’s permission for this.”

This was to affirm that the empress was aware of his intentions and the guards felt their burden lighten. The guard captain looked at the messenger, and said, “Bring over the princess through the emergency exit pathway.”

The emergency exit pathway was a special course designed to allow the soldiers to abandon the city wall in a hurry. This would only happen in case of war and natural disasters. The pathway was a pulley-operated platform that could transport all the soldiers posted on the wall to the ground level.

This was not used as a usual mode of travel for the soldiers, they took stairs built inside the wall. This was to keep them all fit and alert.

...

Morgana was standing at the ground entrance of the wall with her maid beside her. She did not make a ruckus when the guards asked her to wait for the messenger to inform the prince. She was aware that this was a sensitive place and thus she waited patiently.

Soon the messenger came back and said, “The Prince had invited your highness above the wall.”

This caused the surrounding guards to reveal a dissatisfied expression. They guarded this wall day and night without even letting a fly pass through but now this foreigner was allowed to go up, was it not demeaning their job and disrespecting their effort? The messenger noticed this and said, “The prince asked her to be transported by the emergency pathway.”

He was a smart man and knew that soldiers at their level should not mess with the royals. After all, they were commoners, while the prince was a battlemage and a strong one at that. So he decided to dissolve the situation. The worry these soldiers held in their hearts was reasonable. No wall in the world was invincible. They all had weak spots and if the enemy gained knowledge of these weak spots, it will be terrible.

However, hearing that the emergency pathway will be used, they breathed in relief. Morgana was taken up the wall but her maid was stopped, when the servant tried to put up a protest, the guard on duty said, “Your Highness, please understand that this is a restricted area and not everyone is allowed entry.”

The guards knew that the princess was the decision maker and thus they asked her directly. Morgana nodded and told her maid to wait for her at the gates of the premise. She was then taken to the platform which slowly took her up the wall. The mechanism was simple but efficient.

Morgana followed the lead of a soldier and found Valerian sitting over the wall with his legs dangling outside. She asked, “Are you not afraid of falling from here and dying?”

Valerian shook his head and pointed his finger to the sky. Morgana looked up and found the azure bird flying around the place. She asked, “What do you mean by that?”

The silver-haired prince gave her a simple answer, “Linea will catch me even if I fell.”

Morgana sighed and said, “I thought you were far more intelligent than your age, but here you are sitting on the wall feeling as if the world is your enemy.”

She did not know where did all this come from, but she said it anyways. Valerian looked at her and said, “I am intelligent, and that is why rather than throwing a tantrum, I am sitting here, contemplating things.”

Morgana sighed and replied, “Fine, you win. I apologize, now can you go and have a proper meal?”

Valerian shook his head and said, “You think this simple sorry would suffice?”

The princess nodded with doubt flashing in her eyes and Valerian said, “Wrong. You came here to apologize after swallowing your pride, that means you have a positive intention toward me.”

Morgana nodded and did not deny this. She intended to befriend him the night he told her about his sleeping habits, but she held back. The change of mind took place when Fragrantia told her about his early life tragedy. This was surprising to her and somehow she felt closer to this boy. This was the reason she admitted her intention.

The prince nodded and waved his hand to dismiss the soldiers and said, “I do not know anything about you.”

The soldiers were out of earshot, so they did not hear what these two kids were talking about. Well, despite the fact that the physiques of a gifted will grow faster than that of a commoner, it was wrong to forget that these guys were kids.

Morgana was surprised at first but then she nodded and said, “I will tell you all about myself, but you must not fight against me in the future.”

Valerian nodded and said, “I hope you will not fight against me either.”

The princess nodded and said, “I will not, but the centurion family will. So, be on guard.”

Valerian shrugged and said, “We will see to it when we arrive at that point, now first, tell me your story.”

Morgana leaned against the wall and closed her eyes before she started speaking in a low tone, “I was seven when I awakened my blessings. My mother was a maid, who worked in the palace, and was raped by my so-called adoptive father. After that mishap mother left the palace and lived a hard life in the slums of the capital. She did not have the resources to leave the capital.

She gave birth to me and nourished me to the best that she could. However, when I awakened my talents, the news flew around and a lot of people began to harbor intentions. One such night, that rapist happened to sneak out of the palace to indulge in debauchery, but then he met me and my mother on the street.

He recognized my mother because Jamal Centurion had punished him severely for this matter. In a fit of rage, he killed her. Right in front of me. That was my seventh birthday, and at that moment, I awakened my blessings.”

Valerian was shocked, Morgana had suffered such cruelty yet she was willing to be the tool for the Centurions. The princess had her eyes closed but tears were dripping from the corner of her eyes. She continued after a breather, “I tried to protest and they put me in a holding cell. I refused to eat or drink anything they gave me. However, nothing worked. Jamal had laid down his decision, I was to be tamed at all costs.

One day, the blood child of that sinner came to visit me, he mocked me and badmouthed my mother. So in rage, I cast a spell, and he was injured. Jamal told his son to deal with me and then I was fed poison.

I survived but I lost my smile, the day I was told this, I made a decision to grow so strong under the nose of these people that they will not see where they go struck from and then die. To do this, I toiled and did all the dirty work they asked me to do. In return, I got status and resources. That is all that you want to know about me.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Thank you for sharing it with me.”

Morgana shook her head and said, “Your turn.”

Valerian was shocked at this but then he nodded.