"Sometimes it's worth lingering on the journey for a while before getting to the destination."

-Richelle Mead, The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines, #3)-

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Dedicated to gulijaboy

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"Is that true? You're the last one from Erland Clan?"

Sekt accepted the blankets from Qaissara but he didn't answer her immediately. He spread a few blankets and piled them above each other on the ground.
After he made sure his place to sleep that night was thick enough, he lifted up his head towards the young woman, still crouching on the floor.

"One of the last maybe. Well, Erlanders never really cared about their family tree." He finally said.

Qaissara arched her eyebrow. She stood a few feet beside Sekt and crossed her arms above her chest.

"What do you remember about your clan then?" She asked.

Sekt shrugged his shoulders. "Not much. Just a fact that I am one of them. There was no meeting every week happened, Qaissara, talking about the future of our clan. We just lived an ordinary life."

He sat above his 'bed'. He left one blanket to cover him during his slumber that night. He moved it a bit, making sure he sat in the middle part of the layered blankets before he saw confusion in Qaissara's face.

"You heard the conversation between your father and me, didn't you?" Sekt added.
"The last Darrek was chosen almost fifty years ago. During the time, my clan and the other clans were nothing than just ordinary citizens in Kamal. The Five Clans position we have just a title achieved from the past, Qaissara. I actually never really thought being part of the clan is important." He said.

"So did my parents. Some people from Erland did take notes about the people who have the blood of Erland but I think, after years, they stopped and didn't care about it either. We lost track about who's Erland and who's Agenor. We don't know where's the Roquildis or the Ritter lived. We even don't know if you and your family are Korouw's bloodline or not. We all mixed together."

"Well, we're not from any of the clans. I'm positive about it." Qaissara replied. "But...if that's true the Five Clans are blurry now, their appearance will make a chaos."

"Oh, there will be. Some people will say that they're part of the clan. A few clans will be busy to find their own people. This Darrek thing makes everyone thought that they deserve to be one. Being a Darrek will lift up the name of their clan, don't you think?"

Qaissara shrugged her shoulders. "How my father knew that you're an Erlanders?"

"Your father knew my grandfather. He showed him the bloodline notes old people of Erland took decades ago, it stopped with my great grandfather's name on it." Sekt answered.
"Like I said, my parents didn't care about it. It's actually my uncle who told me we're part of Erland. After I left Kamal, I had no idea where the rest of my family are."

Qaissara couldn't help herself than think that these people were so reckless.
How could they not want to know anything about their history or their clan?
Wasn't it important to know your past?
She even wondered how Sekt could leave his family years ago.
But she quickly shut her mind. She didn't want to judge him.
It's too soon to make any conclusion about him. There could be many reasons for Sekt to do so.

"If you really are the last, then what will you do, Sekt? Are you going to join as a representative to be a Darrek?" She asked.

Sekt stared at the girl and knew she wouldn't leave until she got his answer.
She's not changed at all.
Still a curious little girl.

Well, maybe he could erase the 'little' part.

Honestly, Sekt had no interest to be a Darrek. He didn't want to attach to a kingdom. Imagining his life as Darrek and serving the king made him shiver a bit.

If he wanted to be an important person, he could just stay in Tara and accepted Kegan's offer to be his trusted man.
At least, with Kegan, he knew he wouldn't work as hard as a Darrek.

He wondered what will happen if no one from Erland came forward to the Five Clans meeting.
Would they postpone the test or would they continue without Erland?
Probably the first. But he hoped for the latter.

Another question popped up though. Would they care if there were no Erlanders sign up for this?

"Sekt!!"

Sekt startled a bit as he came back from his thoughts. Qaissara still stood on her spot and looked at him curiously.
It was obvious that she still had a lot of questions on her mind and he didn't want to answer them now.
He would love to talk to her but the problem was, Sekt himself was still seeking for answers.

Sighing deeply, Sekt looked outside the small window.
"It's too late already, Qaissara. We can talk tomorrow, can't we?"

Qaissara narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You're not going to tiptoe in the middle of the night and run away, right?"

Sekt rolled his eyes. "No, I won't, Qaissara. That is what people in your age do."

"You make it sounds like you're much older than me." She complained.

"I am." Sekt smirked mischievously. "I'm six years older than you."

Qaissara snorted in annoyance and raised her hands up in surrender gesture.
"Oh, alright. I'll leave you to take some rest." She said.

"What? You're not going to sleep beside me?" Sekt asked, widening his eyes. He pretended that he was shocked with her words.

Qaissara scrunched her nose like she just smell something awful.
"Iuuuuuh...why would I want to do that?"

Sekt raised one of his eyebrows. "Well, you didn't mind sleeping beside me years ago."

Her cheeks immediately turned crimson and she made duck-lips in annoyance.
She remembered it very well like it was only yesterday.
Little Qaissara didn't like sleeping alone. So when Sekt came, she used to sleep on the layers of another blankets beside him, hearing his grumpiness about the lullaby her mother sang for her every night. She was hard to stop talking and finally slept after she heard Sekt had snored beside her.

But now, she's grown up and it would be strange to do that again. She even did not need the lullaby anymore.

"Ugh!!!!" Qaissara groaned and shook her head.
"Just sleep, Sekt! Night!"

With that, Qaissara left the laughing Sekt alone.

Sekt removed his curved sword from his back and put it under the blankets. On his right side. He also put a dagger beneath his pillow before finally lying himself there.

He sighed in relief when his back touched the soft surface of the blankets. For days, he slept on the ship and the hard deck wasn't comfortable at all.

Fixing his position on bed, Sekt made sure his right hand touched the bulge of his katana on his side.
He kept his hand there, prepared for anything that could happen.

Looking up, the dark sky filled with stars he saw from the ship before now replaced with dark wood and a few spider webs in the corner.

He slowly closed his eyes. His body was tired as hell but he couldn't shut his mind off.

Erland had to join the meeting. Someone had to be their representative.
And he knew it wouldn't be him standing in that position.

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Qaissara made a growl from her throat when Sekt dropped a bundle of freshly cut herbs to her head instead of her hands one more time.
"I'm questioning your ability to see properly!" Qaissara murmured darkly.

Sekt arched one of his eyebrows. "I'm questioning your existence. How can you expect me to see you if you're not tall enough, Qaissara?"

She snorted hard as she took the bundle of herbs from Sekt. "Give me that!" She snapped. "And if you want to say that I'm short, just say it."

Qaissara walk away from him towards a wagon while grumbling.
The cart almost full now.
It should be.

They had worked from the moment the sun hadn't appeared yet.
The physical activity surprisingly wasn't that hard for Sekt. It's been a while since he worked this hard but it seemed his body remembered how to hold up and it did.

Before he continued to tie another bundle, Sekt looked at the field where he was standing.
These herbs made the place smelled so good. Especially from the lemon grass Nafiz and Jetta just cut from the ground not too far from him.
The spouse had quite large field of their own. Their field and the others were separated by simple wooden fences.
Beside the herbs, Nafiz had a field that he used to plant Lavender. They were blooming at this time and it was something worth to see.

The sun had slipped to the west when they all were done.
Qaissara and Sekt were waiting for Jetta and Nafiz beside the full wagon when two men passed the small path near them.

Sekt didn't care about them but their conversation attracted him the most.
They were whispering but when they said the word 'Roquildis', the 's' in the end of the word was so obvious.

They're talking about one of the clan.

Curiosity might kill the cat. But that sentence didn't affect Sekt at all.
While Qaissara was busy with herself, Sekt slid down from the piles of herbs and followed the men.

He made sure he didn't follow them too close.
Beside, it would be hard for them to suspect Sekt was tailing them because the path they were walking right now was the only path between the fields.

The conversation between those two seemed more tense from time to time.
It just about time when Sekt finally heard their words.

"We can't send Adian as our representative from Roquildis. He's too cocky. Well, he has great muscles and he looks tough, but he actually a whimp." Said man number one.

The man number two sighed a bit.
"Then who do you think should we choose? Brie? Gosh, even his name sounds like a girl."

Number one snorted. "I think Brie would be better. And actually, his name is Brian. Brie is only a nick name."

"So much for a nick name." Number two mocked in bored tone.

"Well, look at the bright side, we have a man to be picked. I heard Agenor has difficulty to choose theirs and Korouw has no other choice than let a woman named Trixie to go for the test. The Ritter and Erland have none." Number one ended with a chuckle.

"Really? I heard Ritter already had one but they do not want to announce it yet." Number two shared his information.

"Bless the Ritter then. It's Erland left then. Do you think we will hear something from the clan?"

"I hope so. The test to choose the new Darrek probably wouldn't be started if the candidates are not complete."

Number one hummed a bit. "Yeah, but we can't wait forever. If the Erland can't send one man when the Five Clans meeting begins, we have to force the other clans to start it without them."

Number two sighed again. "Yeah, I think so."

Sekt was too focused on hearing their conversation. He didn't realize the men stopped walking.
He almost bumped into them and let himself got caught.
Fortunately, Sekt had a good reflexes and he dodged them in time from making them notice him.

In the end of the road, the men turned left and Sekt felt he had enough information already.

The clans slowly appeared and showed themselves.
All except Erland.

Shoving his hands inside his pockets, Sekt lifted up his gaze toward the waterfall.
Behind the magnificent view, a few miles from it, there's a village.
The place where the legend said Erland came from.

Maybe it's time to give them a visit.

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A/N

Chapter four is done!!!!!

Do you think Sekt will find someone from his clan in the village?
Or will Sekt finally come to the meeting and volunteer himself?

Keep reading to find out.

Don't forget to Vote and Comment.

Love ya
18/01/2018

LovelyMiserable
❤ ❤ ❤