Tangled By Fate

Chapter 113 - THE REASON BEHIND THE WAR

She was thinking hard when Arthur pulled her arm. "Hey, are you okay? Your face is pale."

Veronica replied, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you yet. I must go back to the temple. I need to look for some information."

Arthur told her, "If you don't want to say how you got this stone, it's fine. But, it would be great if I could find out. I'm very curious about this stone."

"I'm curious too. That's why I have to go to the temple," she stated.

Arthur thought, 'So, she got the stone at the temple. But, one question still remains. From where did the temple get it? Or from whom? It was a possession of Tybu's Magic Tower.'

Veronica tugged his sleeve. She demanded, "I want to go back as soon as possible."

Arthur started, "But your health-"

"I'm afraid you cannot go back yet," the leader of the desert tribe declared. He came out of his tent and found Arthur and Veronica outside. Thus, he approached them. "It looks like you two are up. That's good. Let's talk while having breakfast."

At his gesture, Veronica and Arthur exchanged glances before following him to the tent beside the kitchen. It was a food tent where everyone usually had their meals.

Veronica and Arthur sat side by side, right across the old man. Their meals were served but they were unable to eat.

Arthur was the first to open his mouth. "What did you mean by we cannot go back yet?"

"I got a message from my men last night. It says people are looking for the person who revived the desert," still eating, Arthur's foster father stole a glance at them.

Veronica's body chilled. She nervously looked at Arthur.

Arthur noticed her gaze and squeezed her hand. Then, he looked at his foster father and said, "Where is the harm? They don't know how she looks like…" his voice trailed off, noticing the elder's expression, "...do they?"

The leader of the desert tribe responded, "Apparently, they do. Since you both are here, now let me tell you the reason behind the war between Riverhill and Synetia. It started seven months ago. We found a traveler who was dying without water. We brought him here and treated him. However, it was just his acting. He stole one of our antique prophecy scrolls."

"Come again?" Arthur felt like something hit his head. His head began to spin.

Veronica couldn't understand what was going on. She asked, "What's an antique prophecy scroll?"

Arthur took a sharp breath and told her, "Antique prophecy scrolls are some ancient papers. At the beginning of the Utahill civilization formation, some great priests and their saint predicted the future and wrote them down. During the Great War, the enemy attacked the temple. The guardian of the secret library of the temple took the scrolls under the order of the saint and escaped. The guardian came to the Govin desert with his family and started his own tribe here."

Veronica's eyes widened. Her head turned toward the leader of the desert tribe. She uttered in disbelief, "You… are the descendent of the guardian of the secret library of the temple…"

"Yes, and we were safely guarding the scrolls for generations until that spy stole one of the scrolls," the leader of the desert tribe grumbled. "Even we don't have the right to read them as we please. How dare they do such a thing!"

"Which part was stolen?" Arthur inquired.

The leader of the desert tribe responded bitterly, "It was Volume 15, Chapter 10."

"If you couldn't read, how did you know what it was?" Veronica asked him.

The elderly answered, "Every year on the birthday of the desert tribe leader, we leaders have to read one volume of the prophecy scrolls. There are 1500 scrolls. No leader was able to finish reading all the volumes."

"Then, why read one volume every year?" Veronica was puzzled. "You can read all of them at once."

He nonchalantly answered, "It is the rule set by the saint. Those who tried to break this rule died early."

"Oh no!" she gasped.

"So, what was written on the scroll?" Arthur butted in between the conversation.

The leader of the desert tribe hesitated before answering this question, "The scroll mentioned the part when a blessed child will come and have a holy power to revive anything that belongs to nature."

Arthur ended the rest of the sentence, "...And the blessed child is Veronica."

"That's how it seems," his foster father didn't deny.

Arthur's veins popped out, but he couldn't get mad. "And you knew it from the moment you saw her unusual silver hair, didn't you?"

The elder's answer was instant as if he was prepared for this question, "I did. It's not hard to differentiate between a normal human and a blessed child, you know."

"You sound like you have seen hundreds of blessed children," Arthur scornfully commented.

The leader of the desert tribe rubbed his chin. "Well, it is vividly written how the blessed child would look like."

Arthur remarked, "Let me guess, that's also in the scroll."

"Aren't your intelligence unparalleled?" the leader of the desert tribe mocked his foster son.

"Perfect," Arthur mumbled. He was totally pissed.

He explained the whole situation, "Long story short, the kings of Riverhill and Synetia found out about the prophecy and they fought for this land thinking the blessed child would appear here. The one who will own the land will have the child. Unfortunately, before either of them could conquer this desert, the blessed child had arrived. Now they have sent their men to get her."

The elderly nodded. "Yes, and that's why I told you not to get involved. But you two are now lovers." He finished with a sneer.

Arthur inquired, "Was it written on the scroll as well?"

"Scroll doesn't mention useless prophecies." His foster father scoffed.

"I don't understand anything about this scroll and prophecy. And, a blessed child? Me? There must be some kind of mistake," Veronica finally opened her mouth. She looked anxious and confused.

The leader of the desert tribe told her, "I know it's hard to accept such an annoying prophecy. I didn't even want to be a leader, yet here I am." He glanced at his foster son and commented, "I think the spy was from Riverhill. They are growing more powerful each day. They must be thinking of conquering the world."

"I don't think it's that simple," Arthur shared his opinion. "And, I think I know who it is."