On a dark, foggy path in the night, where darkness prevailed and the only light was being provided by the moon, the rider made his way back to a strange place on the outskirts of city Empire's bay, the city where the royal castle resides, the city where Shira lives.

The strange place was a small hut made of wood in a village on the outskirts of the city of Empire's bay.
The village was lightened up by candles and the huts looked all the same, the only thing that differentiated the huts were the color marks on the main door. One hut had a white color mark while the other had lightening blue. The village was no different than the others in Empire's bay when compared. The people spoke the common language and wore the same dresses and had the same culture,but 500 years ago, when King Victor Bailey discovered and conquered Empire's Bay, a few people in the city refused to bow down before a king and so they were banished to the outskirts of the city.

The rider entered a hut marked with lightening red color and opened the door to go inside. A man in his late thirties wearing a black Hood which covered him from head to toe was sitting by the fire in a wooden chair and was sharpening his blade.
The man had a squared face structure, light brown eyes, wheatish skin color and shoulder-length brunette hair.

As the rider entered the hut and made his way to one of the chairs beside the fire, the man turned to the rider with a curious look as if he was expecting an answer.

" What news? Where's the girl? " The man asked in a heavy, suspicious tone while sharpening his blade.

" My lord, I offer you my deepest apologies but I couldn't take the girl, the old man was too strong " the rider said while having a conscious look on his face.

" Tell me, how can a man at his weakest point in life defeat another man who is at his strongest? " the man in his black hood questioned the rider.

" I'm sorry, my lord, the girl was right there but I didn't know that the old man was so strong that he could still hold me up with only using his one hand and could nearly choke me to death. " Said  the rider.

" So you're telling me that you let that old man nearly kill you while you did nothing to defend yourself? " the man spoke while still sharpening his blade and then he continued further " but let's put all of this apart , why would that old man even harm you? Did you tell him that you had orders from the King? " Said the man.

" I did, my lord but he refused to obey and ordered me to tell 'my king' that he doesn't care about his orders. " Spoke the rider.

" Ha! " The man tittered. " No wonder he doesn't obey the orders given by his 'king'. The King has many enemies, including the common people but I never thought that Murray would deny handing over the girl when we used a fake warrant and even used the name of our king " he continued further " oh goodness, it took me a month to make an exact replica of the Royal warrant , it's all gone in vain now. "

" But, my lord, if I may ask, why do we need this girl? What do we have to do with her? " The rider questioned.

" Say my name, boy " the man replied.

" Lord Austin Sebastian " the rider said.

" And what am I? " Lord Austin asked the rider.

" You're my lord, I serve you. " the rider replied.

" I am not a lord.... not anymore...  "
Lord Austin sighed and his face expressions quickly changed from serious to deep guilt as if darkness had suddenly entered his mind and Lord Austin then continued " Years ago, I used to serve as Commander of Queen's Guard to our former Queen, but I couldn't save her. I'm not a lord, boy, not anymore." Lord Austin sighed yet again and looked back at the fire with the same darkness and guilt in his eyes.

The rider was stunned and his eyes widened with curiosity."You don't mean Queen Barbara? You don't mean 'THE' Queen? The queen who was murdered?" Said the rider.

Lord Austin got up from his chair and stood by the fire and took a deep breath while looking down at it, but didn't say a word for a few seconds.

" The girl is important, her life is important and I'm sworn to protect her, we need Shira more than ever now " Lord Austin continued while looking at the fire but now with a firm and promising look.

" Then why didn't you keep her with you all these years? Why are you here in exile?" The rider questioned.

" This village has never been visited by the people of Empire's Bay or the Royal Army, that means they wouldn't search for me here but they would search for Shira anywhere but that time was different, I couldn't take care of Shira, I had no money, no land and nothing so I handed her over to Murray for time being when she was a baby girl. It took me ten years to build all of this but till then it was too late so I decided to wait until Shira came of age and when the time is right" Lord Austin said and then he continued " It's been 17 years now and finally it's time for vengeance and Justice. We will avenge our former Queen"

" But, my lord, I don't understand. The former queen and Shira? What's the relation? Why is a lord like you living in exile? Why is an ordinary girl like Shira so important to you? " The confused rider questioned.

" I will explain everything when the time is right. But for now,boy, I'm leaving exile. Now it seems like you're good for nothing so I'll have to go myself for Shira." Lord Austin spoke "Bad times are coming, boy and we have to be ready to face it. We will face it for our one True Queen Barbara and we will defeat it for her " Lord Austin continued.

"Does that mean you will be wearing your armor back again?" Asked the rider.

" Yes, boy and I will be needing your help. Where did you say you bought this armor from again? " Lord Austin said while pointing at the armor that rider was wearing.

"The great trade market, my lord" said the rider.

"Good. Seems like my old red cloak fits you well but I won't be needing that." said Lord Austin and then he continued " I need to be the man I was, once again. I need to protect Shira and this city, I need to bring Justice to our former and one true Queen Barbara. "

"But how?" The rider asked.

" By showing Shira the right path, by leading her to victory " Lord Austin replied.

" Since you won't give me any answers , I won't question you anymore. So, my lord, what it is that I can do for you?" The rider asked as he waited for a command.

" At dawn, you will head over for the Great Trade market and find me the best suitable armor possible in this city and be sure that the armor is black in color " Lord Austin commanded.

" Will that be all, my Lord? " The rider asked.

" Yes and now go to sleep, you need rest. Tomorrow's a big day. " Lord Austin replied.

" Good night, my lord" the rider said.

" Good night, boy " Lord Austin replied.

The rider made his way back to his room upstairs and Lord Austin just say by the fire and stared outside the window in that room as if he was ready for something, ready to face something dark.

Hey guys , I hope you like this chapter , I have so much more to write haha but thankfully I'm done with chapter 2 woohoo. Now I'll be delaying the release of chapter 3 because I was not well and I'm not done with it , although I hope I can publish it as soon as possible.

All the love x Disha x