Legend Of The Young Warlock

Complications

Few moments Later.

~Kie and Mara~

"Have you come to your senses yet?"

Mara called, leaning on the back window of the hut. She was in the hut, but looking through the window at Kie, who was at the back of the hut trimming the hoofs of Talia, his horse.

He allowed the distraction and looked up from the last hoof to his mother's face, poking out independently out of the window as though it had no neck supporting it.

"Depends on your definition of sense mother."

He looked back at the hoof too quickly, hitting the handle of the narrow blade which looked like a modern chisel. Only that twas rustier and hardly plain. But it did cut through the hoof, sliding off the hard keratin.

After that push, he took a pause and said to his mother again,

"If getting married to that wench is what you call sense, I'd rather be senseless."

His mother scoffed,

"You call the princess of the land a wench? Do you know what would happen if Wealene hears that?"

He scoffed, speaking to the ground,

"What's worst than what had happened the past week?"

His mother leaned forward, complaining, her face holding a recent plea,

"Son, don't make things harder than they already are. The gods are fair to you, be grateful. How many people have smelt the sacred soil of the palace let alone have the princess fall head over heels for them?"

She paused and her tone softened,

"My love, love grows. And most times love isn't always enough. At the moment, you might feel nothing for her, because of what you think of her from distance. But as soon as you get closer to her, you'll figure out the wills of the gods and you'll fall in love with her."

He stood up suddenly,

"Don't give me that gods bullshit, mother. We humans are always the architect of our own problems. We pretend to represent those we can't see and belatedly initiate our own downfall. And we keep waiting for them to interfere in our activities. And if they fail to do, we pretend we heard them just to support our dark desires."

He walked to the window and leaned carefully on it, else the whole thing come tumbling down. Her small weak hands were on the pane. He held them and squeezed them gently,

"I love you mother, so much. And you're my wife. Please accept whatever I want. Who knows, I might end up with a woman soon. I think I'm beginning to fancy one."

His mother knocked his hands off,

"Don't patronize me with your "I love you ma" cliche. Should I keep accepting whatever you want even if it's illogical and would keep us in penury till the day I die? You know too well that we can't stay here for long. What plans do you have then? We start hiding in caves or what? Because you despise this land so much? All because of Wealene and what he did to me? Enough already, Kie!"

He exhaled sharply looking away. His mother continued,

"If I'm truly you mother, you'll do this for me. And if you claim to love me as you do, you'll give me this last gift before my death days."

He took two steps back,

"I'm going into the woods, mother. I'll fetch an Impala, your favorite meat."

He turned and began to walk away, leading Talia with himself. His mother called in rage,

"Keep walking, Kie. Pray you don't return home to find me hanging from the roof."

He shook his head and climbed on the horse. Talia walked off the back of the hut to the front. Kie engaged her,

"What should we do with women and their inconsiderable desires?"

He paused and added, the horse walking up the open space from the hut,

"One proposed to me because she's affluent, the other wants me marry the one who proposed to me because of her fear of penury. But I think I fancy another one who loathes me for being sassy and daring."

He asked Talia, the horse,

"Tell me, Talia. What should I do? You're a lady. You'll know about your gender better. Should I marry the princess because of mother's threat or wait for time to test a recent feeling building up in--"

He quit talking as he heard a horse neighing few metres ahead of him. He looked up and saw a horse up ahead of him, and a lady seated on it.

"Oh. Speak of the devil."

He kicked at Talia,

"Ah."

And the horse hastened towards the lady on the horse. He got to her and folded his arms. Before he could speak, the lady had wielded her words,

"The Princess wishes to speak with you."

He scoffed, nudging the horse forward with his waist, his arms still folded. As soon as he got to her, he made Talia walk around her horse and then stopped. He could catch a clearer view of her.

"I had no idea that nature favored you this much. Tell me your name, little wonder."

He said to her but she dismissed it too quickly.

"I do not have time for this, asshole. The Princess wants to speak with you. You should be lucky that she loves and wants you. But you would throw it away? For what? Petty pride?"

Her eyes were raging, and her face stiffened. Kie chuckled then gave a reply,

"You know, at first, I loathed the princess because of the mistakes of her father. But then I realized that she's much of the same. Since she was cut from the same cloth."

He made Talia tap two hoofs forward, the horse now very close to hers at the front. Then he added,

"But that isn't all. I knew I should hate everyone surrounding that wench and her father. But as much as I want to hate you, there's a rebellious part of me that thinks otherwise. You might have an answer to that."

But instead of a response, since her horse was very close to his, she leaned forward on her horse and thrusted her hand to strike him on the cheek, but he held that hand and pulled her closer to himself. Such that, their faces hovered over each other's, so close that both could feel warm air from the other's nostrils washing their face.

They stayed like that for a few seconds, his hold on her waist to steady her, sending a wave of shrill down her spines.

When their lips almost met, she pushed him in the chest and made him tumble on his back, off the horse.

Talia whinnied in rage at that but Kie called at the horse,

"Let her be."

He stood up and watched the lady led her horse on. She turned suddenly on her horse and called at him,

"You can only have me through the princess. Come to the palace."

At that, she kicked at her horse and it neighed off up the track. He only watched her go, dazed by the wonder.

But unkown to them, few metres away from them in the midst of a cluster of trees. There was a man who had spied on the two. Jaith.