Chapter Five: Lucas

Lucas stood at his desk, staring at the paper that he was confronted with while he waited for the guards to bring back his slave. It was the worst of his problems, causing his father to kick him out of the palace and for him to be challenged with how he would save his kingdom.

A couple months ago, a year after the plight had started a dream had come to him where the gods told of a savior who would return the land to its former glory, within a lake that only princes and kings could go.

One of spirit saving soul

One with hair of Oak

Eyes as green as emeralds

Bravery

Heart

And hope

To save the forsaken world

As far as prophecies go it wasn’t the most confusing but yet at the time he hadn’t been sure how to find the person who would save them all. And he still hadn’t found the one who would fulfill the prophecy and save them all. Yet he had the feeling that the one to save them was close at hand, closer than it seemed.

He moved on to the next set of papers which contained the newest news of the plight, collected from all around the kingdom.

The fields in the north were suffering the worst, crops dying and hearts failing everyday. His thoughts turned back to the girl as he sighed, her mother was the owner of the small farm which she had been working all alone without help from even the brother. The farm would most likely fail but he had to take the girl.

He had been in need of a new servant for some time now, preferably one with little to no pay since his money was running low and after sending people to find him a new one he had come across the girl. A perfect catch since no one had seemed to be around her and he was informed she took rides down to the beach every night, by herself. His informant had said she was broken but strong, yet it seemed you couldn’t trust anyone but yourself to do the job correctly. She clearly wasn’t broken and had found himself growing attached to her efforts, she had only continued to prove herself since.

The flap to his tent was thrown open wide and the elder slave woman who had treated the girl's wounds before entering, bowing low when he turned to look at her.

“Rise.” He commended and she complied, “What have you found out about the girl’s wounds?”

“The lashes along the girls back were indeed laced with Iron your majesty.” He nodded thoughtfully and turned back to his desk.

“Dismissed.” The slave woman left and he let the gates to his thoughts open.

Iron was often used for those with magic or powers that needed to be submerged, often it was done by the people who had the magic to hide it, himself having a single iron ring.

The stronger your magic the more iron that was needed and the girl had a lot of iron in her back. That fact that she seemed to have no idea that she had magic was even more confusing, especially when her mother did.

He sighed and turned to leave the tent just as the tent flap was thrown open once more and a soldier strode in. He bowed stiffly then spoke.

“We have found the girls trail my lord.

“Good, bring her straight to me.” He smiled and strolled out of the tent.