Dark King

There was a round table in the middle of the dark hall. There were chairs behind the table. The bottomless darkness was dormant behind the table as if it was a monster’s nest. At the top there was a huge throne. It didn’t look like a chair but more like a bed. The edges of the throne had black barbs which gave the impression of large eyes with eyelashes.

In this spacious throne lay a graceful figure. The body of the young woman was covered in a scarlet red robe. The robe was engraved with black flowers and the gown was extremely long. It went down through the throne into the darkness.

The woman looked like in her early twenties as her skin was delicate and white. However she had the charm of a mature woman. Her eyes were half-closed. She calmly looked at the place. It seemed as if nothing could interfere the truth from her sight. She seemed to have the capability to see through all things, right or wrong.

An old woman stood by the dragon throne.

Different people sat on the chairs by the table. Their bodies were hidden in the darkness but the contours of their figures could be seen. Some of the seemed young like six or seven year old kids. Some of them were tall and burly. Some of them had thin bodies and were like pool of mud which laid on the table.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” A stalwart figure sitting on the right side of the dragon throne spoke out. The man’s elbows were pressing onto the table while his fingers were crossed. His golden eyes swept over everyone: “The secret combat arts of the dragon clan were stolen. The investigation has been finished and the saint ‘Aisha’ is deemed to be the one who had presented the arts to her friend from the outer wall. We have recovered the secret combat arts. Now we have to come to a decision on how to punish Aisha. We will follow the old rules and come to a decision by vote.”

“Ha Ha!” A girl who was less than a half a meter tall laughed: “Patriarch, saint Aisha is your daughter. She has commited such a grave sin. How do you think we should act?”

“I have already said that she was no longer my daughter since Aisha became the saint of the clan. She carries hope and responsibilities of the Dragon clan. You guys have the right to correct me if I am wrong.”

The girl continued: “Blood is always thicker than water! Although you say so but listening to you it seems that you want to sway from punishing her. Foruntately, the combat arts didn’t fall into hands of the other two families. It would be like litting up the torch and burning the hard work and effort of our ancestors!”

Patriarch indifferently said as he coldly looked at the young girl: “My proposal is to imprison her and make sure that she stays and reflects on her actions for three years.”

“Patriarch, isn’t that punishment unreasonable?” A young figure shook his head as he smiled: “The saint is responsible for the task! Who will guard the giant wall from the threats if she is imprisoned?”

The little girl grinned: “Patriarch is going easy on his own baby daughter. It’s not a punishment but lets say much like a protection! The dragon worms won’t get close to her in prison! It’s not that we are imprisoning her but giving her three years to enjoy in bless!”

Patriarch indifferently continued: “I have called you for discussion. If you have any ideas then let us hear it. If not then we will go with mine. We will vote and the idea that gets the most votes will be realized! Do I have to repeat the rules?”

“Patriarch why are we in hurry to come up with ideas for punishment?” A figure yawned as he spoke from darkness: “Shouldn’t we speak about so-called evidences before talking about the punishment? Everyone knows that what has been done is a taboo and saint should know of such thing. Personally, I find it funny and stupid and done believe that she has done something like that.”

The little girl looked at the figure: “What do you want to say? Are you questioning the investigation abilities of Dragon clan? Do you want to say that someone has tried to frame our saint? Who would have such a big courage?”

“The one who will gain…” The figure slowly said.

The little girl turned to lookat Patriarch: “Please tell us about the evidences or it will take an eternity to come to a decision.”

The patriarch was silent for a moment before turning towards the old woman by the dragon throne: “Larina, explain.”

“Yes.” The old woman nodded and looked at the woman sitting on the dragon throne. She stepped forward and whispered: “We found Miss Aisha’s smell on the scrolls! In addition the reaction of the kid confirmed that it was miss Aisha.”

She paused for a moment: “We have sent people from the Dragon Guard to investigate the identity of the youth. He is a man sent by the Monastery to the outer wall as a pawn. The guards had searched his residence and found a handkerchief! ” She took out a handkerchief and put it on table.

It was a handkerchief for a small child. There were purple flowers engraved on them.

“Ha Ha!” The little girl couldn’t help but laugh as she looked at the handkerchief.

All the others looked at the handkerchief. They knew that it was not forged!

“Miss Hailey had taken people to arrest the youth when Miss Aisha appeared on top of the giant wall. We checked for her smell and confirmet it. It seems Miss Aisha was going to meet the youth but miss Hailey had taken the first step and arrested the man.” Old woman slowly said.

“The guards stationed in the building said that Miss Aisha appeared when the combat arts were stolen.” The old woman whispered: “Miss Aisha is the most suspected one and she can’t shirk away.”

“Have you questioned saint about this matter?” A tall old man looked at her.

The little girl asked: “Would she admit if they did ask?”

Old woman whispered: “We have asked. She said she didn’t steal the combat arts. She said she was on the giant wall because Miss Hailey had told her. She had gone to the building because she was told that the secret combat arts were stolen. As for the handkerchief… She said that she left it there nine years ago when she secretly sneaked into outer wall.”

“It’s clear that…” The little girl continued: “No one would admit such accusations!”

The tall old man didn’t seem to care about little girl’s words. He looked at the old woman: “Did she provide evidence?”

The old woman shook her head: “No.”

“Saint has always lived alone and in my opinion it would be very hard for her to provide evidence under these circumstances.” The previous figure continued: “However saint has said that Miss Hailey had asked for to go there. At the end if the saint was punished the one to profit the most would be Miss Hailey. It’s without a doubt that Miss Hailey has planned this play from the beginning!”