Daigon: First Dance Water Swordplay (Dance Of The Minds Book 1)

by R. K. Star

  “It’s not appropriate for us to sit. We are not close enough in status or ranking and by sitting we will insult the chancellor. Only by invitation of the chancellor to seat, may we respectfully take seat without shame,” Jhan whispered delicately in Layana’s ear.

  Peter had looked away to the side and pretended he wasn’t listening in as Jhan whispered.

  Layana want to ask more questions at this time. Now she was wondering why earlier Jhan ask her to return the greeting but then stopped her when she was about to bow back at Peter.

  “Serve the food,” Peter called.

  “At once your chancellor,” a maid responded and hurried off.

  “How long does Daigon Nito plan on staying at our great city?” Peter asked.

  “We have stayed a few days already but will be leaving later today.”

  “What a shame to be leaving so fast, you cannot have seen a fraction of what the city of Highnar offers.”

  “Yes, but I must continue with my training. Jhan tells me we are short on time.” Layana glance to the right where Jhan was standing.

  Jhan had an uneasy look on his face. his intuition told him not to trust Peter.

  “The next time you are here, please allow me to host you for your entire duration. It will do me great honour.”

  “Thank you, I will remember your gratitude.”

  Peter smile at Layana in mutual appreciation. There was a moment of silence where you could sense the comfort and calm in some and the restless and weariness in others before several maids returned.

  They brought plates and plates of food with them. Slow cook pork ribs with a garlic sauce. Bone in lamb stew with carrots, onions and celery. A soup with tomato, basil and various herbs that was cooked to a thicker consistency then what she liked. A mystery local fish that was fried very crisp, it was almost burnt, there was some black charring of the skin. Stir fried fancy mushrooms with a thick glazed sauce. There were a few other dishes that were more exotic to her but was probably common to the locals. As they brought out the food they poured a sparkling champagne type of drink in an elegant cup and water in another. Her curiosity made her reach out for the sparkling beverage immediately after it was poured to try it out. It was a faint orange colour and had scented tones of fermented apricots or maybe plums. She took a careful sip and it was slightly sweet and fragrant but very smooth down the throat. She could detect a very low concentration of alcohol, maybe a two or three percent alcohol concentrate. After all the food was laid out she was shocked to see how much food was prepared for two people. Saying it was too much for the two of them was an understatement. She doubted they could eat one-tenth of it even if they treated it as an expensive all you can eat buffet. It was a tradition to make sure your guest feasted on arrival, it would be shameful on the host if there wasn’t an abundance of food. Food wastage wasn’t a concern for the wealthy, and least of all for royalty. It didn’t matter if there were people starving, it was no concern to them.

  They continue to engage in insignificant chatter while slowing sampling a bit from each plate. Jhan was feeling more and more relax as the meal progress, soon she would be finished and they could leave without incident. When Peter was finished eating he whisper into the ear of his reaeslave who then instructed the maids. Jhan didn’t like what was going on.

  Layana put her utensils down and Peter looked at her eagerly. “Are you finished?” He asked.

  “I am, thank you.” She wiped the side of her lips as she felt something sticky, probably from the ribs. “This was very good but it was too much food.” They had only eaten about one-twentieth of all the food set on the table. A couple of items hadn’t even been touched.

  “I would like to offer you a personal tour of the manor. It is always good to walk after a meal to help with digestion.”

  “I would love that.” Layana got up from her seat.

  Peter and Layana began to walk toward the door. Her reaeslave and maids followed behind her.

  “Your reaeslave and maids can stay here and dine on some food. You can rest assured my manor is very secure and alert at all times, you will be safe.”

  “We are bound to serve and protect our daigon.” Jhan snapped back, he didn’t want her to walk alone with Peter.

  “Are you saying I can’t protect Daigon Nito without you by her side?” Peter ask that in the form of a rhetorical question. “I assure you, your daigon will not come to harm in my presence.”

  “It’s fine Jhan. I’ll be okay, you three should sit and eat.”

  Jhan didn’t have any way of coming back around that. Reluctantly he agreed and sat at a table where Peter’s maids had already brought out a feast for them. Although there was not as much food prepared compared to what was prepared for Layana. The food was put on a side table off the platform. They were not honourable enough to eat at the main table on the platform. Jhan sat there and watched Peter and Layana walk away.

  At the entrance of the great hall Peter stopped. “Leave us.” He ordered. His reaeslave nodded and walked away with his maids.

  They continued walking alone and he pointed out the artwork and decorative pieces as they strolled past. The walls were stacked bricks, one on another, they were grey in colour and some had cracks and were deteriorating. At the top, the bricks curved to form an arched ceiling. There were light bulbs on the side of the wall. A minor modern addition to the building to reduce risk of fires from having to light up the hallways with torches. Everything was old and was of the same time era of the new settlers. You could tell everything was cleaned and dusted off regularly. The building showed its age but was kept in very good condition.

  “Please pardon me for being frank my daigon. You should give orders and commands to your reaeslave and maids. They are not equal to you.”

  “They treat me so well I feel bad ordering them around.” She was happy to have friends, if you could call Jhan and her maids that. It was an experience she didn’t have throughout her life and now she relished it. She related to what Lisa must have felt being the centre of attention. She didn’t want to be rude to them and lose this feeling, this connection she had with them.

  “They are your servants they must treat you this way. You are their daigon! Earlier you should have commanded your reaeslave and maids to sit and eat. If you give them the impression that they have a choice what will you do when they don’t do as you suggest. What would you do if your reaeslave and maid chose not to sit and eat and followed you around?”

  She didn’t have a response for that. They were her servants and must treat her this way…that meant if they weren’t her servants they wouldn’t have even talked to her. They weren’t friends, they were never friends to start with. It was obvious their relationship was a professional one and one of power and subject. She knew that in her head from the start but her heart wished for something different and she treated them differently. Now she wondered if she should have never sat together with them to eat. They only sat down because she asked them to, otherwise they wouldn’t have. She had a feeling of depression inside again and she no longer cared for the tour around the manor.

  Peter continued to walk ahead and she follow him. He continued to chatter on about the manor and its hidden gems but she wasn’t focusing on his words. She mindlessly walked on but she did take note of the guards posted everywhere. She lost count of how many there were. It was no wonder Peter said she would come to no harm in his presence. This place was heavily guarded. The only person that could harm her was Peter. She felt a little doubtful and casually ran her hand across her side where her blade was concealed.

  Peter led her into a room, with rustic vintage furniture. There were two burgundy chesterfield sofas facing each other with a large aged wooden coffee table in the centre separating them. At the ceiling, there was another elegant chandelier made of crystal that provided modest lighting in the dark room without windows. In the side of the room there was a black desk that had obvious years and years of use. Wear was visible on all the wood. At
the corner there was mini fridge, another modern addition for comfort. He closed the door and gestured Layana to take a seat. She felt a bit uncomfortable and was a bit hesitant but she figured if he wanted to harm her it was too late to run now. She took a seat very uncomfortably on the end of the sofa as if she was just about to get up. She wished she had gotten Jhan to accompany her now. Peter went over to the mini fridge and retrieved two glass bottle drinks and handed one to her. She noted that he was quite fond of these fancy sparkling beverages. This one was a light yellow colour. On the label, she found it had two percent alcohol concentration. Peter took the beverage and popped open the capped lid and returned it back to her. It had a mild sweetness with a taste she couldn’t register on her palate. It was probably a fruit, vegetable or some kind of grain that was local and not present on Earth.

  “This room I secretly altered myself. Even if someone is trying to eavesdrop on us they won’t hear a thing, not even if we are shouting.”

  A fear of panic shot throughout her body, oh god I’m dead she thought.

  “Do not worry, I plan on doing you no harm. I just want to have a conversation.” Peter could tell from her body posture that she freaked out when he said that.

  “About what? And why are you so worried about someone eavesdropping?”

  “Eventually you will come to learn that the walls have ears. What we are going to talk about I hope you will keep between us.”

  She didn’t like where this was going but who could refuse gossip. It was human nature, almost a natural instinct to partake in gossip. Perhaps it’s why people say yes when someone asks them if they can keep a secret, even though deep down inside they know they are a blabber mouth.

  “I can’t make any promises to you, depends what we are talking about.” She responded curiously.

  “I don’t expect you to make any promises, especially before I have even said anything. You should be careful of who you trust, notably those closet to you.”

  She could tell he was referring to Jhan and her maids. She didn’t respond to his statement and stared at him. She held on to her beverage nervously and very unnaturally brought it up for another sip to avoid the silence. She hit the bottle rim on her chin before finding where her lips were.

  “I take it you are not originally from one of the three planets of; Yhonar, Plitarth or Bressi?”

  “No, I’m from Earth.”

  “Earth, yes I’ve heard about Earth. I’ve never been though but I think I would very much enjoy it there.”

  “It’s a very nice place. Beautiful really.”

  “I’m not originally from here either. I come from a planet called Stive.”

  Layana realized she was not uniquely brought here. But if she put her thought into it, it would make sense. How could she be the exception? There must have been many others before her.

  “Did Qunor Moon bring you here?” She asked.

  “He didn’t. I assume the emperor daigon brought you here?”

  Layana nodded gently, she assumed he was referring to Qunor.

  “I was just an ordinary citizen at Stive, living quite a plain life you could call it. If I drew out my entire life at Stive it was plain staking boring as if someone purposely created my life to be so boring. Do you know what I mean?

  Layana could sort of imagine what he meant but then not really. How was she supposed to say if you’re a boring person then you’ll have a boring life straight to his face. It would be insulting to say the very least.

  “Everything was boring except I had a weak telekinetic ability. I could levitate a pen and move smaller objects about freely. One day I met this beautiful woman name Eva who made my life full of excitement. I thought we were going to get married but she always kept a small distance from me and made sure I knew she thought of me as a friend only. She brought me to the planet Yhonar, to the capital of Ysvanar.”

  “Wait, isn’t the capital of Yhonar, Songnar?” Layana interjected.

  “Songnar is the capital of Qunor Moon’s Walyron Empire. Ysvanar is the capital of Ava Isvara’s Empire. Ava appointed me Daigon of the city Maytrinar in the planet Bressi. I had servants as well, they were training me and my telepathy and telekinesis skills improved exponentially, until my potential ceiling was hit. At that point I was told my skills was not sufficient to hold the title of Daigon of Maytrinar and hence it was stripped from me before I even sat on the daigon’s seat in Maytrinar. I was left with nothing for a long time. Just a plain ordinary citizen in Yhonar without a way to get back to Stive. After many years I found myself at the city of Highnar. I worked my way up and was appointed by the Daigon of Highnar, to Chancellor of Old Town.”

  “I don’t understand why you are telling me this.”

  “I’m just telling you a story. A story of caution and alertness. Take note of those that are close to you and beware of those who you think you can trust.”

  “Are you telling me to watch out for Jhan and my maids.”

  “I’m not telling you that. But I am telling you to put some thought into your past, present and possibly the future. Perhaps one day you will understand what I meant. Perhaps you will find me crazy.”

  “Can’t you just explain it to me clearly what you mean now?” She was getting tired of receiving a taste of information and being promised the rest later.

  “There is a time for everything. If you rush, things that weren’t yet meant to be will become complicated unnecessarily. I should be showing you back to the great hall. If you’re absent for a long time, it will worry your reaeslave.”

  Peter got up and headed for the door. She didn’t want to leave the conversation where it was but she felt she couldn’t pressure him to explained further. Hesitantly she got up from her seat and left her drink on the coffee table. It was surprisingly good, she had finished her drink besides a sip left at the bottom. Deep inside she knew there was more going on and something Peter knew but he didn’t want to say. She felt he was hesitant because of fear. Possibly he was fearful if he said it there was a risk she was going to talk to Jhan or her maids about it.

  “Before we leave, please scramble your thoughts. You never know who may be reading your mind.” Peter gave a wink at her with a soft smile as he reached for the door knob.

  26

  Highnar outskirts, Yhonar

  Layana and her company of three were on their way to the outskirts of Highnar. They would pass a couples of villages and towns on their way to the sea where her next phase of training would progress. They had a couple of hours more on their ride before reaching their final destination.

  “What did Peter talk to you about? If I may ask my daigon.” It was not in Jhan place to ask or any reaeslave to inquire about their daigon. But Layana still wasn’t sure of her position and because of how amiably she treated her maids and reaeslave she lost some of her status authority on them.

  “Nothing, he gave me a very nice tour of the manor. We made some small talk but that was it.”

  “What kind of small talk?” Jhan was getting really bold to push further. If it was another daigon’s reaeslave, who dared to question further, they would have been slapped hard across the cheek and made to wear the mark until it healed naturally to remind them of their place. Layana was not confident enough to put a full stop to Jhan questions. Even she knew Jhan was out of place but didn’t know how to react to it. All she knew was that she didn’t want to discuss the matter further but didn’t know how to get Jhan to stop. She didn’t want Jhan to get annoyed at her because she enjoyed his company. She felt obliged to answer.

  “The weather, where I was going next, how I was enjoying the food. Things like this.” There was some truth to what she was telling Jhan as they did do a bit of small talked but she just stretched the truth.

  Jhan could tell she was keeping something from him. He hesitated for a moment to ponder if he should question her further or leave it be.

  “You should be careful of Peter, my daigon. He is not to be trust. He would say anything if he
could change your opinion to his benefit.”

  She averted her eyes from his. She didn’t know how to respond to that statement and she didn’t want to. She was afraid if she responded it would lead to more questions. The silence left the atmosphere awkward for the both of them. She knew Jhan suspected Peter had told her something. Jhan knew Layana was also alert of his suspicion and they both tried to look away from each other to avoid the awkwardness.

  Layana tried to enjoy the country side scenery the ride offered. She had her head turned to the right to look out the window as the vehicle pass the landscape. It wasn’t long before she felt the muscles on her neck stiffen and ache. Her neck was strained from turning so long but she asked herself if she wanted to look back the other way. If she made eye contact with Jhan it would be awkward. She decided to bear with the neck cramp as long as she could.

  The vehicle pulled up a pebbly pathway to a house. It was no mansion but it was plenty large for the four of them. It was a wooden constructed house that had a white exterior paint. The paint was faded from the bombardment of the sea’s rain. The constant wind against the house tattered it. There were weeds everywhere and overgrown. The house hadn’t been used for many years. When the vehicle came to a stop just in front of the house, the maid on the front passenger seat jump out and quickly opened the door to let Layana out. The maid place one hand over her head as she exited to ensure she wouldn’t bump her head.

  “Please stretch your legs my daigon and have a look around the beach. We will prepare the house.” The maid said as she slammed the door shut then proceeded to get the luggage and head for the house.

  Layana was thrilled to get out of the vehicle. She twisted her head to the left as far she could to stretch her neck muscles then she twisted to the right. She repeated this until it relieved some stress on her neck. She shrugged her shoulders to loosen the knots she developed from hunching in the vehicle. She never maintained proper posture when she sat and now she could feel her back twinge. Her legs were feeling fine so she started to walk towards the beach.