Chapter - 4

Prince on white horse

Chapter-4

Lord Caesar

 

“You don’t remember?” Montblanc asked with concern. Zach shook his head. The Harresque slowly hovered around Zach. That’s when Zach noticed, his whole attire had changed.

To put simply, he was wearing what a middle-age soldier would be wearing. He was wrapped with a steel armor. Not fully though, he wore a steel breastplate, shoulder, arm and knee guards. He also wore gloves, which seemed increasingly like gauntlets to him. Behind his palm was a strange orb, fitted to the glove. It had an eerie purple color to it. Inside the armor, he was wearing a Caribbean blue full-handed shirt with a dark brown, tight fitting pair of pants.

For Zach, it felt completely new to be wearing armor.

Montblanc, on the other hand was almost convinced he was nuts seeing as to how Zach was staring at his own self.

Zach didn’t mind. Why in the world was he wearing these clothes? He stood up and dusted himself off. He noticed something else. A sheath attached to his waist. The hilt proved that it was very much a sword.

The hilt itself was oddly designed. The Pommel was shaped like a circle, with a hole in the middle to let a finger or two inside, it shone like a diamond, transparent like one, and very much could cut like one. The grip had strange designs engraved on gold plating as its base. It had a design to what it looked like dragons and fire. The cross guard was beautifully made in a swirling design, signifying wind and water.

 

Zach felt like drawing out his sword. But what would Montblanc think?

Besides, the Harresque was already staring at Zach.

Before anything could be decided, the quiet air around Brownlog forest was filled with distant cries of people. Montblanc raised its ears. Zach listened closely. “It’s…erial…my!”

What was that about? He could see Montblanc tighten up, something Zach could read, “Oh no, not that again” was in its expression. Zach tried to concentrate. He heard it clear.

“IT’S THE IMPERIAL ARMY!”

“CLEAR WAY!”

“THEY’RE PASSING THROUGH BROWNLOG WOODS!”

Montblanc sighed and put down his head. Zach was confused. “The…Imperial Army?”

Something else interrupted Montblanc’s reply. The sound of hooves.

It sounded like many hooves, and it was growing louder, heading for where Montblanc and Zach were.

“Uh-oh,” Montblanc whispered. It hovered over to Zach’s shoulders. Surprisingly, Montblanc very light, Zach could picture himself a plush doll on his shoulder. “Let’s go, don’t wanna get caught do ya’?” Montblanc pointed the other way. Zach could see a trail leading them. Zach nodded and began following.

And before he could take a step, he heard a hoarse voice behind him. “Hey, who goes there?” Zach turned back. He saw a soldier, unlike Zach, he was dressed in a full royal armor, except his helmet, he held it. He was a scary man with black hair. He looked like a guy from his early 40’s.

“You…you’re a soldier, what’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in the palace?” Zach perked up. Palace? I’m not a soldier! Heck, I’m not old enough to be one in the first place!

“Or are you from Pyros?” The soldier on his horse drew his sword. His was a normal sword with a normal blade. Zach stepped back. What in the world was happening?

“Calm down, Lucifer,” came a voice from behind the soldier. “Can you not see his sash?” Another soldier rode a magnificent white horse along Lucifer. This soldier seemed much less scarier, and he was wearing a tailcoat for armor. His tailcoat was cream in color, contrasting him to the horse. It had emeralds studded to its collars and cuffs. Something about the tailcoat made him look royal and princely. “L-Lord Captain, sir!” exclaimed the soldier, now called Lucifer and immediately put back his sword and withdrew.

The princely man looked excessively handsome, had a gentle face with shining emerald eyes, exactly like Zach’s. He wore a snow-white scarf around his neck.

Zach concluded. He was the prince. But why did he address him, ‘Lord Captain’?

The soldier hastily got off his brown horse and then raged forward to Zach. He then pulled Zach by his collar and whispered sternly, “Address him, you idiot!”

Montblanc quivered from behind Zach’s shoulders and replied politely, “Uh, sorry soldier, he’s, uh new to these parts. I ask to pardon him on my steed.”

The soldier made a ‘buh’ face and muttered to himself, “An authorized Palace Verg soldier in the middle of Brownlog Woods. Dunno how I feel about that.”

“Aside, Lucifer, don’t accuse anyone without purpose.” The princely man said calmly. Lucifer turned to him, surprised, “B-but we have a more reason to suspect him! This is the only boundary area between Verg and Pyros. And, My Lord, we’re on this mission under impression that the Pyros are launching an attack on Verg!”

The Lord Captain sighed and shook his head, “And I was under the impression that you knew better than that.” He climbed down from the saddle. From what Zach could deduce, he certainly wasn’t a soldier for a major reason. The Lord Captain wore a sheath enough to fit a thin sword. He was a royal fencer. He was also a very dignified, elegant young man.

His short golden-blonde hair shone in the peeping sunlight from the netted sky. He walked toward Zach.

Zach had a weird feeling. A sense of feeling like he’d met this person before. Was he forgetting someone? He could feel something odd hit the back of his mind. But he couldn’t just put the finger on it.

The princely man walked to Zach with his hand tied back, observing him keenly. Zach stood like a statue. The princely man gave a slight laugh and then said, “Young man, what’s your name?”

Zach choked and then stammered, “Z-Zach, sir.”

“Hm…Zach, where are you from?”

Zach didn’t know what to answer. He just couldn’t say ‘I don’t remember.’

Montblanc nudged Zach neck. He could feel it whisper something. Zach shuffled his feet and straightened his back. “Say you’re from Verg…if you want to live anyway,” Montblanc whispered in a meek voice, fortunately no one seemed to hear it.

Zach cleared his throat and said, “I’m from Verg, sir.”

The princely man put on a thoughtful look and nodded his head and turned to Lucifer. “Let them pass, this area is clear.”

Lucifer bowed respectfully and got oh his horse, gave Zach a look and rode away.

The Lord Captain turned to his horse and held its reins. He paused for a moment and then said, “Just so you know, Zach, I’m Caesar, Captain of Eternal and Lord of Cavalry, also Captain of Royal Fencers. I have a feeling we’d meet again.”

He then stroked his horse and climbed on. By the time he did so, Zach could hear the sound of hooves again. This time, in a steady pattern of steps. Lucifer had made his way back, he sided to the right, where Zach and Caesar were.

In a few minutes the forest trail was filled with soldiers. Unlike Lucifer, they wore red imperial suits. Montblanc silently sighed, “Goodness, it’s not war.”

All soldiers looked proud and strong. No one was goofing off, not even a stir. They led in a perfect line. Everyone looked nowhere but forward. It was not an army, not a full army, a part of the royal army.

As they were marching past, Zach heard Lucifer say something in a low voice to Caesar. In return smiled and this time Zach could hear what he said, though they were quite some meters apart. He kept a close eye-contact with Caesar; somehow, it reminded Zach of his own green eyes. “We’ll keep an eye on him,” Caesar said and then unexpectedly turned to Zach. Zach instantly looked at, where it seemed to be nowhere in particular. He hoped Lord Caesar didn’t catch him eavesdropping.

After the soldiers had past, Lucifer bowed his head and then went along behind the army. Lord Caesar then smiled at Zach and bid farewell, “Adieu then, Zach and Montblanc, I presume?”

Montblanc nodded. Lord Caesar gave a nod and then rode away.

That guy, Zach wondered thoughtfully, is so familiar…