War And Throne

Chapter 12 : On The Way Home

"This is all because of you, Nail." Cassie sighed as she hugged her book tightly, her long legs continuing to stomp on the ground. 

Realizing that he had indeed made a mistake, Nail did not argue with or deny Cassie's words, the young man simply accepted them. Nail looked up, staring at the orange sky. It was already late afternoon, it would be night in a few minutes. 

"I was wrong, I'm sorry." Nail said solemnly while looking at Cassie. "It's only natural that you and the other friends would be angry with me about that." 

Cassie shook her head. "Yeah, it's good that you realize that, I'd be angry if you were being arrogant and uncaring." 

"I'm not, no wonder Master Jael is so angry." 

Darren chimed in, "And luckily, master Jael is still kind to you, my friend, just imagine if you were punished? Uh, it must not be very pleasant."

"Um, actually, I had already surrendered at the front, because I was wrong, so I can't help but bear the mistakes I've made, but master Jael just let me sit back down." 

"You're lucky, Nail," Cassie continued. 

Nail shrugged his shoulders. "Yes, perhaps I am, I actually still feel very guilty, and I don't want Master Jael to get angry like that." 

"But, what should be done now? Everything is already done." Cassie sighed harshly after saying so. 

Nail was silent, instead, his head nodded in agreement with the sentence that came out of Cassie's mouth. 

"At least you learned from that, you have to be careful afterwards and don't make the same mistakes, that goes for me and Cassie too, our other friends are the same. The point is not to do anything too risky, let alone make Master Jael angry." Darren grimaced as he rubbed his hands. "Let's prevent that from happening." 

"That's right, Darren, I totally agree." 

"I should have waited for the master to come, but I was already too curious." Nail was currently very sorry for what he had done. 

Darren embraced Nail from his left side. "Never mind Nail, forget it, you just be careful in the future, okay?" 

Nail turned his head to look at Darren, the corners of his lips pulling up. "Thanks Darren." 

"You're welcome." 

"And now, Master Jael is postponing the lesson for us, we have to wait, who knows when it will resume." Cassie's attention faded forward, to her footsteps. "Looks like Master Jael still has doubts about us, what can we do?" 

"Maybe next week." Darren replied, guessing. 

"Yeah, maybe, but no one knows for sure," Nail said. "Shit, this is all because of me!"

"Stop beating yourself up, Nail, I know you're wrong. And you remember what the master said? Now that I think about it, he was right." 

"Which one did Darren say? Explain right now, I don't understand." Cassie looked at Darren with narrowed eyes. 

"I don't know either," Nail replied. The other hairless youth was also the same as Cassie, looking at Darren, waiting for an answer. 

"Master Jael is right, if he doesn't come to the field quickly, or if he comes a little later, all of our friends will definitely follow Nail's example of trying to make a big fireball." Darren's eyes moved from Nail to Cassie. There was a moment's pause, before he resumed speaking. "Remember what the master said?" 

Nail and Cassie moved their heads simultaneously.

"Yes, I remember master Jael's words, and you're right, Darren." Cassie snapped her fingers. "I remember, even Gaby was a little interested when she saw Nail trying to create fire without Master Jael's guidance." 

"Oh yeah? Is that true?" Nail blinked his eyes. 

"I'm not lying, I saw it myself." 

"I'm afraid I didn't see that," Darren said. "But, I saw Yoyo concentrating on reading while moving his hands, I guess he was interested too, especially after seeing Nail being reckless like that." 

"Wow, that's right, even Gaby was really interested, I guarantee you, she would have done it too if Master Jael had come a little later," Gaby said. 

"But bad luck befell Nail, he was the only one caught red-handed." 

"Never mind, I was wrong. I'm just glad Master Jael didn't kick me out of class." Nail moistened his dry lips, then his head turned to the left, toward the road that stretched out—the road to his house. "Ah, I'll go first, I have to make a turn." 

"Yes, go ahead, Nail, your house is that way." Cassie shrugged her shoulders in the direction of the road in question. 

"Alright, I'll see you later, Cassie, Darren, I'll be going, and I apologize again for what happened." 

Nail smiled slightly as he waved, which Cassie and Darren reciprocated by making the same gesture. Nail turned the corner, away from the two, towards where his house was. Now, only Darren and Cassie were left, their houses were on the same street. 

The silence permeated the air, thickening in the middle between Darren and Cassie. The two of them walked in silence, only the sound of footsteps could be heard between them. Darren was struggling to find a topic so that the silence wouldn't last too long. Believe me, if that happened, the awkwardness would be even more excruciating, and Darren didn't want to realize that. He let his brain work hard to think. 

Darren turned his head to the side, and his lips parted. "Um, what do you think, Cassie?" 

Cassie replied, "How what? What do you mean?" she asked. The girl looked at Darren, not understanding, she was confused, and Darren's question was still floating. 

"About Master Jael, is she going to teach us about the fire element earlier?" 

"Oh, that one." Cassie nodded slowly, her lips rounding. "Um, I honestly don't know Darren." 

"And what's your guess?" 

"Master Jael will still teach us, but just delay it a bit longer, maybe? I don't know, we're hoping for the best."

"Alright, that's my house, I'm going home first, okay? You be careful on the road." 

"Take it easy, I can take care of myself, I'll see you later, Darren." 

"Yeah, see you later." 

Darren and Cassie exchanged smiles, both waved goodbye before Darren finally turned towards his house. However, instead of going straight into the house, Darren turned towards Yupo's cage. As usual, the big cat had to be fed. 

After dealing with Yupo, Darren then entered the house, took a shower, rested in his room, and came out when Helena told him to have dinner. Darren didn't refuse, he quickly got out of bed, moved out of the room, and joined his mother in the kitchen. 

The food was already prepared, it would be a lie if Darren said that his stomach wasn't rumbling, his saliva was almost dripping down, he was hungry, he needed food. 

Darren pulled out a chair, sat down, and began to savor Helena's homemade food, which never disappointed Darren's taste buds and was always delicious. If he could, Darren would give his mother ten thumbs up. 

"Darren, how was training camp today?" asked Helena, looking at her son, who was currently sitting in front of her. 

Darren stopped his activity for a moment. He lifted his gaze from the table, fixing his eyes on his mother. Darren didn't answer immediately, instead, he paused for a moment, thinking to find the right words to say. 

"It's not very conducive, it's a bit chaotic, actually." Darren nodded and said, "Yeah, that's what happened." 

There's no way Darren would say something dishonest, right? Especially to his own mother. Darren would explain something that did happen, provided Helena was interested in the topic. 

And as Darren suspected, his mother would definitely be interested. Helena quickly shifted her chair forward, looking at Darren with focused eyes. 

Helena's eyebrows almost came together in a straight line when she finally asked, "Not conducive how? What do you mean, Darren? I don't understand, try explaining it again, in more detail if possible." 

"In short, my friend made a mistake that made Master Jael angry. That's how." 

"Master Jael was angry?" 

"You don't need to think too much, Master Jael is not angry at all, just more ... what is it?" Darren pressed his lips together, trying to find the right words to say. 

"Frustrated?" Helena guessed. 

"Maybe, but there's a better word." 

Helena was now confused too. "What is it? Upset with all of you? Disappointed?" 

Darren's eyes lit up, and he quickly snapped his fingers. "Well, that's it! You're right, disappointed. Master Jael is disappointed, that's all." 

"What did you guys do to make Master Jael angry and disappointed? Why are your children misbehaving in the training camp? Hm, it's not like usual." 

Darren hurriedly shook his head firmly. "No, ma'am, it's not like that, I didn't join in. My friend did something wrong, but everyone was affected. That's how it happened." 

"Ah, I see." 

"Yes, that's the point. But everything is safe now, hopefully."

"Well, I hope you all don't make similar mistakes, Master Jael must have accumulated a lot of patience to teach you all." Helena smiled. "Well, now finish the food." 

It was at that moment that Darren remembered something. "Oh yeah, mom, I want to ask you something." Darren picked up his glass and downed it. 

"Want to ask about what?" 

"I was in the field, I was at the training camp, and I heard the sound of the palace horn, what's that?" 

"Oh that." Helena pondered for a moment. "I saw the news in the market earlier, King Edward asked us all to come here, only adults, no exceptions." 

"Only the fire clan?" 

"No, all the clans are ordered to meet His Majesty at the palace, we will blend together there."

"What is it?" 

"I don't know either, Darren, but one thing is for sure, King Edward said that he's going to announce some important news. And to be honest, I'm very curious, I'm sure everyone else is too. Well, just wait for the information tomorrow morning." 

"Tomorrow morning? At what time are adults asked to go to the palace of the full moon of darkness?" 

"Nine o'clock sharp, we're expected to be there. And you are, so I think I'll have to ask you a favor, Darren: Will you take care of the shop early tomorrow? Can you?" 

"Of course, I'll do that." 

"Good, thank you, dear." 

Darren smiled. "Anything for mom." 

Something that no one would expect will happen tomorrow, at the palace. 

Undoubtedly, everyone will be surprised.