King Thorn restlessly paced the room. “So, this is the day we’ve all been warned about. The trial of our kingdom has finally arrived. My fate is determined, and I have no option but to accept it as it is.”
Confused, Queen Thistle questioned, “Thorn, what are you talking about?”
Thorn sighed, “You are already aware of this… the coming of the destroyer of our world.” The Great King detailed the signs, describing severe lightning storms accompanied by heavy winds and rain.
“We have never seen anything like this,” Thorn continued with a heavy heart. “The rule is to immediately look for the couple and execute them—the female, the male, and the child born must all be killed.”
Thistle, concerned, questioned, “So, what should we do now? It’s only a short time till he arrives. The search party will need to find a boy, or even possibly a man because your great-grandfather said that he will grow fast, outrun any Leapian, and that his eyes will have no iris or pupil.”
Thorn, determined, replied, “I will immediately call for a search party to begin the search.” A sudden slam of a tree limb against the window startled both of them.
“It really is the sign; the storm is truly a destructive one.” Thistle affirmed.
“Have you checked on our to-be child?”
“Yes, he developed fully just a moment ago, and the maids are taking care of him.”
“Go, look after him and wait for tomorrow while we begin our search. I’m afraid many will think our child is Drain.”
He kissed her on her forehead before she left.
They had already planned to name their child Mash if he turns out to be a male.
Rumors were already spreading throughout Leapia about the newborn child and recognizing the signs of the night. By now almost all the people thinks the king himself has broken their greatest taboo…
After Thistle departs, she feeds and cares for Mash and then begins to prepare the room they had agreed upon in the palace to ensure the safety of the baby.
Thorn then prepares for bed and tries to sleep. The king was not really happy, he felt it unfortunate this was happening at his time of rule. He could not sleep and was lying down thinking how to capture Drain. It will be a really difficult task because they have no hint of where this baby or child could be.
Five months prior to this event, Thorn told his friend, Luis, about the need to have a child. The king told his friend that he will be fusing soon with his wife. Luis smiled and told him that would be good because they need a prince for the kingdom.
Luis then confided in the king and told him that in the past he had tried several times of fusing with his wife Nitta but it never produced a child, they came to understand and realize Nitta’s hair was not fertile to produce a baby.
The King let his good friend know that he was sorry to hear of Luis’ predicament. Little did the King realize Luis’s thoughts were elsewhere.
Luis now hearing and knowing when the King will have a fuse was an opportunity for him. He then planned on fusing on the same day the king does. He convinced one of the maids in the palace to fuse with him.
Upon hearing Luis’s proposal, the maid hesitated out of fear, but he reassured her, promising they wouldn’t be caught. She had admired this young man for a long time and had a longing for him. She thought to herself if she had a child with him, he may come to love her. So she agreed and they fused on the same day the king and Thistle did.
Three days before the babies were due, the King’s friend Luis, told the king that he must leave for a journey which will take him three days. He told the king he will be back when the king child is ready. The king agreed to his departure.
Knowing when the king child would be ready, Luis then secretly decided to go to the place where he hid their to be child and moved it to a thick forest and placed the child there so that no one could see or harm his child.
The journey took him one day to reach the place where he had placed the hairs. He then slept there overnight. The next day he brought the baby to the forest where he spent the day protecting the area where the child now lay. He used the last day to return.
Everything was going as planned, he was convinced now. The vision he had seen was all playing out, the signs he saw. He believed that Drain, his son, will come and rule the realm.
Now seeing the lightning and knowing what it meant as described from The Book of Leap, the maid was now afraid and was worried.
“I must hurry and tell the king before something really bad happens to me.” feeling a sense of urgency, Maid Malissa muttered to herself. She proceeded to the Kings room.
When she reached there, the guards at the king’s door denied her to see the king at the hours she was asking.
Pleading with the guards she told them it was urgent, but they refused to let her in.
The king hearing the voices from outside his room came out and asked why she wanted to see him
“Your majesty, may I humbly request to speak to you in private?”
“No, you may say what you need to say right here. What brought you here?”
“Your highness, we’ve committed the greatest mistake, we….”
What do you mean by that?”
“We have broken the greatest crime” Through tears, Malissa confessed.
“What do you mean? This is not the right time to test my patience”
“… Lu…, Luis, Sir Luis and I …” she whispered.
“What! Are you crazy? Who is this Luis”
“Your friend …”
The king, unwilling to believe her, questioned, “Luis? He will never there do such thing; how can I believe that whatever you’re saying is true?”
“I will never dare to lie about anything relating to this issue, I was convinced to fuse with him, I contributed in creating Drain and I’m ready for any punishment.”
“Since you brought your self of free will, I will wait to make a decision tomorrow, report your self to the court tomorrow”
After the maid had left, the king went back into his room and he began thinking about what the maid had said, but he did not want to believe it.
The King’s friend, Luis who had embarked on his journey had safely returned.
The guards at the door, having heard what Malissa had said, removed their doubt of thinking the king was the father of Drain.
They began to spread what they heard from Malissa among some fellow guards, in the process of sharing what they heard from Malissa, little did they know that Luis overheard what they were saying.
Luis knowing, he will be in trouble the next day decided to come up with a plan to defend himself.
After some time of thinking, Luis knew he would need to convince people that the king broke that law.
He also thought that, for his plan to work there must be some tragic events to take place in order for people to believe him, so he decided to have to kill some people.
Luis did as he planned. He killed Malissa first, by suffocating her while she was sleeping with one of the other pillows on her bed.
Then knowing the castle so well, he secretly entered where the queen was sleeping and killed her in the same manner as the maid so it looked like the same person did it. Then without wasting any time went to the adjacent room and killed her handmaidens, all except for one who was able to hide behind the door as he had entered and his back was turned.
This maid, when she escaped, quickly went to tell the guards at the king’s gate. When the Kings Guards heard this, they immediately went to the king and told him that Luis just killed the queen and all the maidens except one.
The king quickly went to the queen’s room.
Mash was crying. The king rushed to pick him up and held him.
“Hush hush little man I am here now”.
The king looked at his beautiful wife.
“I promise I will avenge you, my love. I will capture Luis and make him pay for what he did to us.”
As the king cradled his son, he ordered the guards to go search for Malissa, as she may be in danger too.
The guards were too late in finding her of course. She had been dead for a while now, and Luis already on his next part of his plan to make the king look guilty.
When the guard reported Malissa was dead, the king realizes at that moment that she had told him the truth.
The king then called for another set of search party, now for Luis. The search began to bring Luis back alive for proper judgment and execution.
After Luis escaped, he went around the town telling people that the king broke their greatest rule. And also murdered the maid that he had fused with.
“I saw the king do it” Luis said
“He killed his own wife…. Can you believe it?”
“The king will come looking for me. Just wait and see”
The people easily believed his lies because they saw the signs of the coming of Drain earlier that night, and they also heard that the king’s son had been born.
He told as many as he could. As many as would listen. The lie is spreading. And those who hated the king began their plans. But, as always a few knew the king would never do such a thing.
After some time of searching, the guards found Luis. In another town telling the same lies, and now getting food as he told a story. The guards took off everything that made them look like guards and sat down to eat with him. He obliged when asked if it was true that the king killed his wife and after he said he saw the king do it, they grabbed him and placed him under arrest. Once they reached the palace, they locked him up for trials for the very next day.
A new blessed day has arrived, all Leapians are frustrated. The king call for the trial of his best friend, in the court the king’s evidence were now left with the guards who were present when Malissa told the king what happened and the maid who manage to come escape at the time Luis attacked the queen. They came out and defended the king. The Judges decided the king was not at fault and that Luis will be killed for breaking their golden rule. Some of the Leapians in the court believed the king influence the guards and maid to come up with something to defend him. So, most of them were not happy and still believed the king was behind everything. Luis was sent to the right place specified by the book of leap to be killed. The group responsible for execution of criminals known as the “Excute or Xcute”. The Xcutes executed Luis. Luis was also part of that family but because it was an order to kill him, they did.
Excute who are a noble family, has powers of turning any kind of metal to a sharp object to kill an enemy. They can transform the metal with their bare hands. Because of their powers the great king once upon a time, appointed them as executioners of any criminal. The Xcutes also form part of the Leapians army. They are not ranked high in the army; they make weapons for the army.
As the gong was struck at the top of the hour Luis was then executed. Not in the normal fashion of executions, but in an honor execution where he was spared any agony and was stabbed quickly and accurately to the back of the head where the spinal cord attaches to the brain.
