28

'Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself. Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.'

❤️❤️❤️  Emperor Ariadne Will (Part 7)❤️❤️❤️

Everyone's eyes were at the entrance of the palace door, waiting to see who it was.

He walked out, stopping his whistling and gave a lopsided smile when he saw he had their attention.

"Did I interrupt?"

Empress Rose stared at the familiar face which had grown from the young boy he was to this tall magnificent man standing in front of them. His biceps were huge, his chest was broad and he was as dark as the night, his clothes were black. The only color on him were his eyes.

"Storm," Empress Rose finally said with clenched teeth.

"Rose," he said with the same energy. "Let's not start any trouble now, after my father's burial, we can." he added dismissively and his eyes went back to his crew, the horse riders, and then back to Marcus. "We are here for my father's burial, so carry on with what you were doing."

He went to stand where the royals were standing, making sure he was standing in front of them, not caring about the looks he was receiving. It doesn't bother him any more.

"Carry on," he said with grit teeth at Marcus who quickly repeated what he had said some minutes ago.

"We are going to bow down our heads for five minutes to pay our last respect to our late Emperor," Marcus announced once again and then quickly bowed his head. Everyone bowed their heads including Storm's horse riders. The five minutes was over and the Royal family went to touch the feet of Emperor Ariadne for the last time. Storm didn't rush, he waited until Empress Rose and her children had touched Emperor Ariadne's feet before he went last.

Soon, the late Emperor's body was laid to rest and was covered. Storm went inside the house once his father was covered in sand. He beckons to the young beautiful girl and the rest of the horse riders who are with her to come, which they did. Reaching Storm's side, the girl and storm bump fists together and they followed him inside the palace building.

When he had finished all the training his master could give him back in the Garden of Edenis. His last training was to defeat his master's young daughter, Gwen. Gwen was highly skilled in sword and archery but he managed to beat her. They became friends after that and when his master was on his deathbed, he had made Storm promise him to always look after his daughter and take care of her. He had promised. That was five years ago.

During his stay in the Garden of Edenis, his father did visit him and when he could no longer come, they could both exchange letters and Storm was very sure that his father didn't tell Empress Rose about the letters.

He heads straight to the Emperor's room, he could still remember his way. "Wait here, I want to have alone time in that room." he told them once he reached the door that leads to his father's room, and went in.

********

One by one, the people left the palace except Rumi.

Rumi couldn't believe her eyes. She was smiling widely, she knew it was Storm who was whistling and when she saw him. Her eyes were glued to him and couldn't tear her stares away from him. She couldn't believe this was Storm, he has grown over the years, muscles and so, so handsome. The people were quiet when he had appeared not because of his skin color, but because they were in awe of his beauty, his eerie eyes that didn't seem to notice her was all she could think about. The only thing which had marred this god on earth was the faded finger claws in his left side of his cheek. But when he had beckoned that girl to come and he had smiled briefly and bumped fists with her. The smile she was spotting on her face faded into a big frown. Rumi knew she now had another rival. She saw the way the girl's eyes had lightened up when her fist touched with Storm and how she had smiled only at him and Storm didn't notice it. Rumi noticed all of that and tried not to get angry. She angrily turns to leave but stop.

Why is she leaving without talking to Storm? Will Storm still remember her?

Rumi thought to herself. She won't leave without seeing Storm. Rumi knows she was beautiful, and her beauty is no match for the new girl so if Storm sees her, he will be swept by her beauty.

**********

Touching his father's bed, Storm down on it and looked around slowly. He couldn't believe that his father was gone. He remembered how the late Emperor had always pleaded with him to come visit him in the palace for once in his letters, but he has been postponing his visit. If he had known this would happen, he could have created time to visit the palace. He wasn't that scared little boy before.

He stood up and left the room, he saw his brothers and Gwen standing outside the door. As years pass, the five assassin's and five warriors his father had given to him twelve years ago are now his brothers.

"Come on, let's go and have a little chat with my step mother," he said to them, leading them once again outside the palace building and they began to walk towards another building. The meeting room, he could hear some voices.

"Storm!" Rumi shouted and ran to them. Storm halts when he hears his name turning slightly to his side to see who has called out his name only to be pulled in a tight hug. With the arms around his waist and the body against his, he knows it belongs to a lady. "I know you would come." she added and tilted her head to look at him, she had felt his stiff body when she hugged him but ignored it. He could remember her. He was so god damn tall that she was reaching him at his stomach. "I have always prayed to the heavens to be with you and bring you safely home. I missed yo-" she didn't get to complete her sentence when she was roughly pushed by him.

She wasn't expecting the push so she fell down to the ground on her butt. She stared at Storm surprise. Rumi didn't know when she shivered when she glanced into his cold mismatched eyes.

"First of all, do not touch me. I would have had your arms if it was another day and secondly, who the hell are you? I don't know you." Storm told her with a stony expression. Cleaning his front clothes as if she had stained him, he continued his walk. Gwen walked past her and snorted loudly enough for Rumi to hear her.

Rumi's eyes widened at that statement. Did Storm forget her? How could he not remember her? Even if he couldn't remember her, he could have been wonderstruck at her beauty and not giving her this attitude.

She stood up from the ground, hands clenched into fists and she turned around to face their backs, her eyes on Storm's own. "But you remember Juno."

Saying that name stopped Storm right in his tracks.

How he had grown to hate the bearer of that name and the name itself.