Katthike forgot his solemn expression and began to smile widely. That was what he wanted to achieve! Not that salivating meant that much to him, but the empire was easier to rule when the people admired its king.While Katthike was happy about his success, that of Kanaima failed to materialize. Despite great inner tension, the young prince tried to appear calm and he pretended to be interested in the solemn events downstairs in the arena. But all his senses were focused on Setna to the right. It couldn't really be long before the chair would give way, because the little, never calm whirlwind was playing around on it.To the great joy of the mob, Katthike finally opened the actual tournament, and the warriors marched into the arena to enthusiastic cheers. Kanaima continued to squint to the right. But nothing happened. The chair stopped.The sword fighters began and everyone cheered. The fighting was not about life or death, although fatal injuries were frequent.

But Kanaima could not have political reasons, he was still too young for that and had too little knowledge of this business. Katthike stroked her beard. Kanaima was his unloved son. He was crippled, but he wasn't stupid. He had certainly understood what the appointment of Setna as heir to the throne meant to him. Katthike hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. Naturally! It was amazing! He was almost proud of Kanaima. Unscrupulous little devil! This calculating callousness. And that at his tender age. Remarkable! But unfortunately also dangerous. Dangerous for Setna. The heir to the throne had to be protected at all costs, so demanded not only his own plans, but also the prophecy of the oracle. What were the words like? “Protect one son well, Katthike, because he is the son of fate! He will decide the future for your people; Then the light of Askhar will be united with the lights of this world. ”Katthike had to admit that this was obviously not sufficiently the case

And so it was that every third day of his free time, Raen would go to the temple right after school. And since this was the limit of the exception granted by the clan council, he then had to do his work for the community like all the other children of the chorten. But that didn't matter much to Raen. Even if this meant that he was less able to be with Hereke, he soon enjoyed going to the temple, where he had made a new friend - in fact there were two. And gradually the laughter returned to his face.Although he had often been to the temple with his parents before, it was only now that the deep, solemn calm that radiated the sanctuary was revealed to him, and he could not escape the mysterious power that magically lured him there. Even at school in the morning, he was looking forward to going to the temple in the afternoon. On the way home he sang especially happily. When he arrived at the chorten, he separated from the other children, who were still busy making appointments t

Unfortunately he caught us before we could let it go. I would have liked to have seen a lot more funny faces like that! ”Both boys looked at the horse that was tied up in the middle of the barn and was painted bright red."Maybe we should have written something on it!" They laughed out loud and could hardly calm down.In the chorten, the wooden elements of the buildings were being repainted and Raen had taken out a bucket of red paint. Then he persuaded Hereke to bring a white horse into the barn and paint it. The animal had patiently let it go, and it had been fun using the brushes to spread the paint on the fur. And finally, the horse of Raen's dreams had stood before them as if it had emerged straight out of it. Looking faithful, the bloodhorse hadn't looked threatening in any way, but rather a bit funny. And Raen had felt like he was finally meeting an old friend.“The next time we'll take green, then my father won't find it again in the pasture

His father waved his hand, whose face now also looked very tired. “Forget the word, Raen. The best thing is, you really go to bed now. ”Raen nodded, but he didn't like it at all that his father wanted to end the conversation like that. Why did he never get reasonable answers to his questions? He looked a lot at the light sword that was still lying on the floor next to his father, and stayed there pensively.Suddenly his hand shot out in the direction of the blade, but Roman reacted with lightning speed. He grabbed Raen's arm and stopped him just above the steel. With the other hand, he quickly pushed the sword out of Raen's reach, and it struck the wall and made a bright, metallic sound."Don't!" He shouted angrily. His voice hit Raen like a slap.He looked at his father with wide eyes, and was shocked again when he saw his horrified expression on his face.“You mustn't touch it! No way! Do you understand? It's bad for you! &rdqu