~Sun-World~
”Move it!” A soldier, clad in bright silver armour exclaimed, swinging a long whip at an old man’s back.
The moment the whip struck his back, he cried out in pain, falling from the long line he followed and hitting the ground.
He remained on the ground, breathing heavily and shivering as he was too weak to stand up on his own.
His clothes had been ripped up by the multiple lashes he had received before, and were now stained with dried blood.
“Get up and move, old man!” The soldier yelled, marching forward angrily.
He raised his hand again and was about to swing the whip when a female soldier suddenly rushed before him.
She had a long blond ponytail hanging from the back of her dark silver helmet, and bright blue eyes.
She looked to be the same height as me, but was possibly a little older.
Her armour’s silver was a bit darker than the other soldiers and had a much more beautiful, Knightly design.
Of all the females I would come to talk about, she was the most beautiful.
Her name was Alethea, and she would soon become my very own adversary.
“Is something wrong with you?
Are you trying to kill this man?” She yelled, pushing the soldier back angrily.
“Apologies mam, I was only trying to make the line go faster.” The soldier with the whip suddenly grew nervous as his entire body went stiff; clearly, she was his superior.
Maybe the hierarchy of these soldiers had something to do with the colour and design of their armour.
Alethea turned to the line of women, children and elderly people, then pointed to a young girl in the line.
“You, help him up and stay with him until you’re out of the village,” she ordered, and the little girl rushed out of her place in line and quickly helped the old man back on his feet.
She guided the man back into the line and they both marched forward.
Afterwards, Alethea turned to the soldier with the whip, and said softly and sternly, “The next time you do this, I will personally cut off your head and feed it to the crows.
The king asked us to enslave them not kill them.
We’re soldiers, not monsters.
The sooner you get that into your head, the better for you.”
”Yes mam!” He replied abruptly, trying his best not to make eye contact with her.
Generally, it was seen as a very big mistake for soldiers to make direct eye contact with their superiors without permission; it was seen as disrespectful, and was highly punishable by the law.
You and your men should keep the lines moving so we can leave this dirty village soon.
I have to go have a word with the prince.
I’m sick of being around these people,” Alethea continued, then marched away.
The male soldier stared at her silently as she walked away.
After she had gone a far distance from him, his brows furrowed with disgust.
“Who does she think she is anyway?
The fact that she was promoted recently doesn’t give her the right to talk to me like that.
The next time she does that, I’ll take her life myself.” He spoke disrespectfully, sounding very irritated.
He made sure to bring his voice down so she wouldn’t hear him.
After speaking, he turned to the line and found that they had all stopped to stare at him.
“What are you looking at?!” he exclaimed angrily and raised his whip again.
Alethea arrived in front of a large tent somewhere on the edge of the village.
She marched past some soldiers guarding the tent and stopped in front its curtains.
The curtains that shielded the inside of the tent had a large black symbol between them; it was a triangle with what looked like a large star at its centre.
Only one kingdom had this symbol as their crest─the kingdom of the sun god: Valtoria.
“Inform the prince that I have important news for him, and would like to see him immediately,” Alethea ordered with an authoritative tone.
She carried an expression that made her look like she was angry at the soldier she was talking to or the news she was about to deliver was bad, but those weren’t the reasons at all.
The real reason behind her cold look was the person she was about to meet behind those curtains.
One of the two soldiers who stood in front of the curtains rushed into the tent.
Alethea closed her eyes and drew in a slow and soft breath, then let it out through her mouth.
“You may go in my Lady,” he said, returning back to his original position.
Alethea walked between the two soldiers and pushed the curtains open.
The moment she did, her eyes widened in shock at the sight of her prince half naked on the floor mat, surrounded by women.
A shade of pink faded into her face and she quickly averted her eyes.
Although she was a strong Valtorian soldier, she still had a very feminine side that made her very uncomfortable at that moment.
“Lord Desmond, please… cover yourself,” She asked politely, using her left palm to shield her face from the horrific scene.
“No, Alethea.
In fact, I was wondering when you would come join us inside here,” the prince, Desmond Churchill, spoke with a soft and smooth voice.
He had dark blue eyes, dark brown hair and a perfectly chiselled chin, worthy of a prince.
He was the first son of King Japhet, the leader of a large order of knights, and commander of a large portion of the kingdom’s army.
He was a bit taller than Prince Rowan and looked far more like royalty.
He got up from the mat he laid on and the towel that rested on the lower end of his torso, dropped to the ground.
The women around him moved out of the way and he walked over to Alethea.
“Oh My,” Alethea let out, feeling sudden wave of discomfort wash over her.
Her brows furrowed in worry as Desmond got closer to her and she stepped back.
“Oh, come on, don’t be like that.
You know how much I like you… how much I would love to ravage this body of yours.
Why don’t you just give me this one chance to show you that I can satisfy you better than any man out there,” Desmond said softly, passing his left hand over Alethea’s face.
“Lord Desmond, with all due respect this is not a behaviour anyone should catch a prince of your standard exhibiting.
Besides, you know my heart belongs to your brother, Rowan.
I cannot give my body to any other man,” Alethea responded, pushing Desmond’s hand off her face.