“So let me get this straight ! You two were actually saved by a lightning bolt ?”. Azar's eyes narrowed. “I never knew that was ever a possibility.”

“A storm separated us from our course, then there was a mutiny on our ship, and we were taken hostage.” The elderly man, who called himself Vladimir, answered. “They were talking about the idea of killing us, but a lightning bolt struck directly at the ship, …”.

That was an unbelievable tale, as in, there was no way a normal person would believe their story. A storm came out of nowhere, separating them from the other voyages they were traveling with. Then there was an assassination attempt on them which killed many on board, and they were ‘saved’ by a lightning bolt that struck directly down on them, destroying the boat. Not to mention, in the end, they somehow drifted toward Avalon’s shore. Absolutely no one would believe them, except for Azar, who might be the one who unintentionally saved their lives.

Azar and Vladimir turned around and saw a disappointing view, Vasili was some good distance behind them, and by the look of him, he wasn’t going to keep up with them anytime soon. Vasili’s father, Vladimir, who even though he had to be pushing his 50s, wrinkles on his forehead, gray hair on his head and beard and the eyes of a man who lived a life full of regret, could still outshine his own son in physicality.

Vasili was a young human; from what Vladimir told Azar, they should be around the same age. However, it was hard to tell just by their appearance. Unlike Azar, Vasili didn’t have the athletic body type; he was rather skinny. Standing at around 5ft 10 but only weighing not more than 136 pounds (62kg), Vasili was definitely not built to be much of a fighter. However, Azar did recognize that by human standards, Vasili wasn’t that hideous. Much like his father, eyes were as blue as the ocean and short curly hair as brown as chestnut and a face that could shout wealthy and noble, Vasili had his charm. From what Azar gathered, he expected the two came from a wealthy background, especially considering how Vasili’s perfect and soft white skin did not look as though it had ever seen the toll of a day of labor work before. However, Vladimir gave him some conflicting clues. Even though he looked wealthy and noble, his hands did show a good number of scars, and his body type gave Azar the impression of someone who saw battle regularly.

The port wasn’t far from where they started; Azar calculated that it wouldn’t take him past noon to reach their destination.

“I apologize if my son has caused you any delay.” Vladimir said. “I can imagine a man such as yourself has many urgent matters at hand.”

“It’s fine. I needed some time to clear my head anyway.” Azar then shifted the conversation. “You don’t seem to teach your son to follow your footstep…” he gazed at the slightly out-of-breath Vasili.

“My son isn’t built to be a fighter, and perhaps, that may put him in a disadvantage.” Vladimir shook his head slightly. “But he is unique. He’s kind and smart, no one has a warmer or braver heart than Vasili. So I know that he can inherit after me well.”

“You’re quite easy on your son. I don’t know many parents who would be so happy when their son doesn't take after them.”

“I’m glad that he doesn’t take after me. A life full of sins has taught me that the farther he is from being like me, the happier his life will be. And there is nothing more I want in this world more than my child’s happiness.”

“So you just let him do whatever he wanted ?”

Vladimir shook his head and gave Azar a cheeky smile. “I never said that. Of course, I look after him, teach him right and wrong. But just like his old man, he could be stubborn sometimes.”.

“Hmm, children huh ….”

“You have children of your own ??!!” Vladimir was quite astonished to hear the news.

“More like a caretaker than a father. Someone asked me to take good care of them, to teach them, train them. But I don’t know how … They are slow, stubborn, and I don’t know if they ever learned the lessons that I tried to teach them.”

“Young children are always difficult. The more you force them to do something, the more they rebel, even if it's for their own good.” Vladimir laughed slightly. “You’re too young to learn how to raise so many children on your own… I’ll give you a secret, if you want to teach children, you must first make them interested in it and then make ;them think that it’s their own idea.”

“Hmm… their own idea huh ..”.

“Father, look !”. Vasili suddenly ran toward them with his wobbly legs. He directed them at 2 incoming ships with distinct red sails.

“It’s ours ! They made it !”. The young man said in pure joy.

Azar took a step back from the two father and son and then quickly went the other way. Vladimir noticed him, but this time, he didn’t stop Azar anymore.

After Azar was nowhere to be seen, Vladimir looked at the clear blue sky and whispered.

“Thank you, God. For sending us your angel ….”

Vasili turned around and couldn’t find Azar anywhere. Baffled, he asked his father.

“Who was he, father? We didn’t even get his name.”

Vladimir wanted to tell his son the truth; that the young man traveling with them was an angel, and he saved their lives. But he knew he shouldn’t. There had to be a reason why the angel chose to look that way. Exposing an angel's true identity had to be the worst sin Vladimir could ever commit.

“He’s the man who saved our lives, Vasili. Remember to live a good life, my son. The next time we meet, I want him to know that we have honored his gift.”.

Vasili nodded even though he did not fully understand what his father meant.

***********************

Leaving the two humans at the port, Azar immediately flew back to Tolemac. Time was running out for him; just like Vladimir said, he couldn’t push the humans to do what they did not want. God had said that Sasha, Elizabeth and Munir were important, and he knew why. Those three indeed processed something unique and rare in the human world. However, they were still young, and Azar still couldn’t see how these three could change the fate of the world. All he could do was believe that God didn’t lie to him and tried his best. But everything took time, and guiding the three young humans would take a lot of time, and the time needed for them to actually make some positive change in humankind's beliefs and history would undoubtedly take even longer. 10 years might not be enough for these young minds to mature enough, not to mention become leaders.

Azar walked back to his room, and unsurprisingly, it was still well reserved for his arrival. His mind was continuously thinking about possible plans for the future. However, nothing Azar could think of seemed plausible. The recent incidents gave Azar a clearer view of the three. Just like any other, they had flaws, a lot of flaws. They were too young, short-sided, emotional, and scared to become what Azar wanted them to be.

When the sun had gone to sleep and the moon awakened from her slumber, someone knocked on Azar's front door.

“Azar ! Where have you been ?!??”.

Azar recognized the voice instantly,

“Munir, what’s with the late night visit ?”.

Munir told Azar the story of what happened in the last three days, and it gave Azar a small grin on his face.

“So, Elizabeth accepted a proposal of marriage. Well, I hope I have enough time to find a wedding gift ….”

“That’s no proposal ! It’s an unspoken threat !” Munir's tone carried clear unpleasantness. “Citnalta knew about Avalon’s current situation, and they took advantage of it. Right now, Avalon could not handle another attack, we have no resources and our army is heavily crippled. So we have to accept the proposal, a bond between the two countries by marriage. The prince of Citnalta and the princess of Avalon …”.

“It’s a normal ordeal.” Azar shrugged his shoulders. “Not many marriages between the royals came from actual love, most are for political reasons.”

“But does not bring anything to Avalon ! It’s just a stalling method !”. Munir slammed his fist against the table. “Citlanta isn’t looking for unity, they wanted to take over Avalon for the longest time. War between the two has lasted for nearly 100 years. The king of Citlanta is notorious for being a cold and cruel man, and his son is well-known for being a spoiled rich brat ! Elizabeth would have to sacrifice her life for basically nothing !”

“Oh and have I failed to mention the obvious past: They were the one who told Harold to kidnap the princess !”

The more Munir spoke of the circumstance, the more it became obvious why he was mad. He couldn’t go two sentences without mentioning the princess. Normally, one would be quite annoyed with the constant whining, but to Azar, that was music to his ears. Azar couldn’t think of a way to push their development faster, and this came along.

“Allegedly … Munir … No one knows for sure if they told Harold to do so, or was it just his way of providing evidence of loyalty to Cinalta.”

“And I don’t like to endorse rumors. Who can predict the future ? Maybe this marriage can bring peace to two neighboring countries and end the war …”. Azar knew what he was saying was a complete lie. An arranged marriage such as this one rarely had a happy ending. However, Azar wanted to see how Munir would react and what he would do?

Munir’s eyes glittered with fire as he spoke against Azar as if they were enemies.

“At what cost !?!?”

“We are risking Elizabeth’s life for a faint chance of an unstable peace ?”

“How does that describe us as people ?! So willingly and eagerly to send a young woman to a fate unknown, just so that we may feel a little bit safer ?!”

…

Munir would go on and on about the morality of the deal, but Azar shut him down with a cold and uncaring voice.

“So ? If there is a chance of peace, wouldn’t you take it ? No matter how slim it might be ?”

“We are talking about the lives of millions against the well being of one ! That’s the odd that anyone would take !”.

“And who are you to make such a daring judgment against someone else ?! If I recall, you should be the one who understands the words “don’t judge the book by its cover” more than anyone else !”

“But here you are, bad mouthing someone else based solely on rumors and personal feelings. Who are you to make the decision ? To say what is right or wrong ? What is good for Elizabeth and what’s not ?”

“Like I said before, she doesn’t belong to anyone, not me, not you, but as a princess, she does belong to Avalon. And she is performing her duty as a princess. It’s a duty and an honor. You have no right to deny her that !”.

Azar opened the door and signaled to Munir.

“You haven’t changed that much, Munir. Still that same little boy who came running to me when there’s something wrong. Only now, you’re not a kid anymore, are you ?”.

Munir left without saying another word, and that was the response Azar was hoping for. Munir had always been too inactive in making critical decisions, but this time he would be put front and center; Azar would ensure that. Of course, Elizabeth was one of the humans Azar had to look after, so there was no chance he would let her do such a thing. But he would wait; there was no real hurry. Munir told him that even though the marriage would be arranged very soon, Azar still had around 5 days to do something about it. This time, Azar would wait until the last second and push Munir to his limit. The king and prince of Citnalta were set to arrive in Tolemac within 2 days. They would meet with the king and princess of Avalon that evening, then the two love birds would get two days to get to know each other before joining hands in marriage, uniting the two nations.

“A classic wedding crashing, … this is going to be a blast !”

**************************

Morning came, one day before the arrival, and Azar sat in a rather remote and quiet tavern, eating while thinking of his next moves. Even though he tried and played it simple, the situation was much more delicate than Azar could wish for.

“I’ll have to see how bad the king and prince of Citnalta are….”

“Then have a backup plan in case Munir does something crazy ….”

“Ah yes, then there is that peace between them … hmmm”.

There were quite a lot of tasks to do, and Azar still held too little information to plan that far ahead. Then someone walked inside the tavern and immediately caught Azar’s attention, even though he did not look back. Wearing a dark cloak and a silk veil, the mysterious person sat next to Azar. But all the disguise meant little to Azar; he could sense her energy and fragrance the moment she walked in.

“Sasha, what brought you to this humble tavern ?”.

“Where have you been for the last few days ???!” her deep blue eyes could cut through glass with that look, and her voice would give any man in front of her gaze a chill running through their hearts.

“Handling some personal issues.” Azar gave a nonchalant reply which did not help his case at all.

“Still as mysterious as the day we met ….”

“You got the sword back, congratulations.” Azar gave the female human a faint smile. “It seems that many have changed in the last few days.”

“I suspect the king's sudden apology had something to do with your time at the belltower ?”

“That’s not much of an apology.” Azar grunted, “Shifting the blame to others, I guess something never changes.”

“Dipping your hands in politics, you’re getting bolder by the day …”. Sasha gave Azar a curious look. “Munir must have came to you about the princess, hasn’t he.”

Azar nodded slightly and soon picked up on why she was there.

“He did, but I sent him away after he couldn't stop whining about the situation.”

“Is that truly all there was?”

“You don’t believe me ?” Azar gave her a cheeky smile, almost as if he was taunting her. “Oh dear, how my reputation has fallen.”

In response, Sasha gave him an elbow to the side of his chest.

“Not funny ! This is definitely not the time for any crazy scheme. One wrong move and Avalon will have another war at hand. And we are not ready for that !”

“People are making such a big fuss about Citnalta. The fact that they came here in person meant the deal was already accepted, this is just for formality.”.

“Doesn’t mean an idiotic decision will not foil the agreement. Not to mention, the King of Cinalta isn’t known for his patience and kindness.”

“You know him ?”.

“I heard stories.” Sasha recalled. “Back in the day, the king was said to be a skilled fighter, leading the charge in the battle field. As such he carried that mentality as a king. Those who oppose him will be met by his steel blade. His son was a notorious good for nothing prince. Many suspected him of constantly abusing opioids and a womanizer, of which the king covered it up.”.

“Well, color me surprised, a dysfunctional royal family …” Azar rolled his eyes.

“That’s why everything needs to go smoothly, if they are provoked, who can tell what they will do !?”

“And you’re ok with the princess falling into the hand of an opioid abusing, womanizing prince and his violent father ?” Azar’s husky voice suddenly turned more serious.

At first, Sasha did not answer, which in a way was an answer itself.

“It’s not a matter of liking it or not.” Sasha’s eyes gave her true feelings away. “It’s a sacrifice to be made for the better of a nation ….”

“I’m not asking if you like it or not” Azar turned to Sasha and looked her straight in the eyes. “If you have the power, if you have a choice, what would you do ?”.

This time, however, Sasha replied quickly, almost instinctively

“Have you forgotten what I told you already ?” Sasha stared back at Azar. “No more children being sold to the wicked ….”

“ … without a voice of their own,” They both said aloud.

“I remember it well …” Azar smiled faintly toward the female human.

“But like I said, this is bigger than us, Azar.”

“And who told you that ?” Azar's voice almost seemed to be taunting her.

“Elizabeth told me that herself.” As if that didn’t come as a shock to Azar already, Sasha then continued. “The king initially wanted to reject the proposal, but then it was her who said yes…”.

“What !!??”.

“Oi ! Hang on !” Sasha pulled Azar by his arm, preventing him from standing up. “Men … always so eager to tackle their problems head first.”. She shook her head slightly in disappointment.

“Your point is ?!”

“This is a very delicate situation, your straight forward method won’t result in anything good.”

After a quick pause, Azar smiled at Sasha.

“You want me to do something about this, don’t you ?”.

“I never said that …” Sasha denied. “All I’m saying is, IF you do try something, anything, unrelated to this of course, … be sure you plan it through.”.

“Well if I was to do something, again unrelated to this situation … will I have your help ?”

“You will not ...” Sasha stepped away from Azar before whispering, “But I won’t stop you.”.

‘

**********************

The day passed as Tolemac ready themself for the arrival of the Cinalta royalty. Azar chose a quiet place and watched everything from afar. As much as he wanted to, Sasha was right. There was no way he could devise any plan to ensure the safety of both human kingdoms while maintaining his secret. He knew fairly well about Avalon and their councils, so much so that he could almost predict their primitive moves. But Cinalta was different; he had no knowledge about them. And when in search of knowledge, there was only one place left to go.

“Hope you won’t get burned down this time.”

Azar stepped into the city library for the second time. Once again, his presence grabbed everyone's attention. For the civilians, their eyes filled with wonder at why a man of his physics was doing in a library. Not to mention, Azar had became quite well-known to some of them as one of the heroes in the battle with the Red Mist. But to the guards, his presence meant danger. For those who knew, the last time Azar did this, Tolemac ascended into flame the very next night.

Searching through dozens of books, old and new, Azar got a brief view of Citnalta and its relationship with Avalon. The bloodshed between the two had been going on for generations, but in general, it seemed as though their main dispute was over lands and power. At least, that was what Azar gathered. In more recent times, the relationship between the two nations remained in a cold war, for the most part. Some records of attacks now and then, but nothing major. Just as Azar feared, there wasn’t much information about the current king of Citnalta. But from what he gathered, Avalon’s history described him as a dictator, ruling Citnalta with an iron fist.

After turning the final page, Azar took a look outside the glass window.

“Hello dear friend...” Azar whispered to the moon.

The next day, the king and prince of Citlanta would arrive at Tolemac, and they were ready … well most of them were. Undoubtedly there would be two souls who were having a restless night, Munir and Elizabeth. It crossed Azar’s mind to take another visit to the princess’s chamber. But he noted to himself that, from how they parted last time, maybe it was a bit too soon.

************************

“MAKE WAY ! MAKE WAY !”.

Azar was awakened from his slumber by loud and constant shouting. Following right behind that was the sound of humans chattering, gasping at some spectacle.

“They’ve arrived …”. Azar yawned and stretched himself on the bed.

From his room, he could see it all. The street was strewn with flower petals, humans flocked to both sides of the roads, and of course, the main event, a company of silver-plated calvaries and, in the middle, two huge, luxurious golden carriages. The carriages were well covered, with a one-way mirror on both sides, preventing anyone from seeing who was inside. That was the normal procedure in the human world, Azar learned. It was said that for many nations, such as Citnalta, a king was considered a direct descendant of God, and therefore, the mere poor humans could not see his face directly as it was considered disrespectful. However, Azar could sense two heartbeats inside, strong and healthy. But other than that, nothing much. The two definitely did not have any magic capability within them. Therefore, in Azar’s eyes, the two had already lost any chance of impressing him.

“Alright, it’s time …”. From what Azar learned, after arriving at that castle, they would have a quick meeting with Henry and then participate in a formal ball held inside the castle wall. Only the royals and the most powerful men and women in Avalon were invited. Of course, Azar’s name would be the last one to make it into the list. However, the toughest part of this ordeal for an ordinary man was getting inside that castle, while for Azar, that was all too simple. The one thing that Azar hesitated about was his appearance. He doubted that the humans wouldn’t immediately kick him out when they saw his face. Azar had to blend in, but that was impossible without…

“Haven’t you heard? The prince and princess will have their first dance at the masquerade ball….”

Chattering such as that came rushing to Azar’s ears as the humans started to whisper among themself about the following event.

Azar gave the widest grin, looked upon the clear sky and nodded slightly

“Thanks Carl …”.

When shadow covered the sky, and the sun went back to her slumber, Tolemac lit up in celebration. In the castle, the guests were arriving, both from Avalon and Citnalta. Every corner was beaming with light, and the sound of music sang nonstop. But within all the joy and noise lay a room where there was complete silence, and Azar was heading there.

For a castle where the princess was once abducted right under their noses, the security was still surprisingly lacking, or was it the fact that no one was prepared to stop an all-powerful being such as Azar from breaching into? Azar made quick work of the guards and flew upward to the princess’s chambers. Unlike his usual method, at the time, the castle was full of humans, guests, guards, workers, maids… roaming around within; as such, it was too risky for him to go through the front door. This time, Azar would get in through the balcony.

Azar peaked inside, and there she was. The princess of Avalon was alone, not even dressed and ready for the upcoming ball, and she didn’t look as though she was looking forward to it either. Azar took a step, and when he was about to knock on the balcony’s door, someone else knocked on Elizabeth’s front door. He immediately hid and carefully took a glimpse of what was going on.

“Oh no …”.

A young man, with the aura of wealth and intelligence beaming through his presence, wide broad shoulders, short curly hair, dark honey smooth skin and deep, soulful sad brown eyes, who else but Munir to be on the opposite side of the door. However, this minor inconvenience brought a faint smile to Azar’s lips. This was exactly what Azar hoped for: something to push Munir forward, take the initiative and show what he was made of.

“Please, I need to talk to you !”

“Which part does “We have nothing to talk about, don’t you understand ?!.” Elizabeth greeted Munir with a blank and uninterested demeanor, not even looking him straight in the eyes.

“So you’re telling me that this is what you wanted ?!?!”

“Yes, What girl doesn’t dream of marrying a handsome, rich young prince and bringing unity to her country ?”. Elizabeth spoke with such an icy tone that Azar half expected Munir to frozened solid right where he stood.

“Really ?! What happened to the girl who wished to sail the world ? Who was so passionate about her kingdom and people that she couldn’t sleep knowing her people were suffering ?”.

“She has grown up and she has a duty to her nation !”. Azar had never seen this side of Elly before. A firm and stoic manner, not anger, not fear, just pure commanding presence in her eyes.

“This doesn’t sound like you at all, Elizabeth !”

“And this doesn’t sound like you, Munir !!!” The princess’s voice grew louder, “Since when do I need your help ?! Since when do I look like some sort of damsel in need of your saving !?”

“I _”

“Your help is unwanted and unnecessary !” Elizabeth kept on stabbing the poor young man in his heart. “ And if you truly value what we have, you will understand and take a step back …”.

Shocked, saddened and out of his mind, Munir could barely handle what he had just heard, and his face showed. Elizabeth slowly closed the door, but before it shut close.

“A wise man once told me: You have a whole future ahead of you,... you can’t just give up and let the world take your life away….” Munir spoke softly. “So please, tell me honestly. Is this what you want, is this what you dream of …”

“You just need to say yes, from the bottom of your heart. And I promise I’ll go”.

…

“Yes … so please go away …”. A voice replied to him from the other side.

Leaning in closer to the door, he sadly spoke, “You know, you’ll be much more convincing if you could look at me in the face and say so….”

Behind that door, Munir could clearly hear a quiet sobbing and a shivering voice answering him. “Please … leave me be …”.

Finally, the door was shut, but the princess sobbing only grew clearer, even though she tried so hard to cover her hand over her mouth. And After Munir slowly walked away, and the sound of his footsteps could no longer be heard, the princess broke down crying.

The little smile on Azar’s face was no longer there. Once upon a time, seeing a human broken and crying would give Azar a pleasing sensation. But now, seeing Elly like that, Azar started to doubt himself. He once called Munir weak, that crying would do nothing, that his life was valuable. However, he could not say the same to Elly. Physically, she had to be one of the weakest living creatures Azar had ever met. But her heart was brave. She didn’t sit there and cry because she let the world rip her from her happiness. Instead, she chose a fate potentially full of sadness and horror because it meant she could bring peace and happiness to millions of others.

There was no reason for Azar to speak with the little human anymore; he had gotten all the answers he needed.

“I hope this will end well …”.