Hi, guys! For those of you who read the latest chapter of . . . hold on, can't remember which story it was . . . BRB *dashes off*
*about a minute later* For those of you who read the latest chapter of Kingdom of Kevar: Zanestasio: Son of Ice, you'll know that I said I'd be getting up a story called Runaways and Royalty. . . well, here it is!
After a bit of debating, I decided just to make a prologue instead of including the longer first chapter I had in mind, since it would be cramming too much into the first chapter the other way. So I hope I got ya interested with this prologue.
Some preliminary stuff:
I drew my inspiration for this story from these sources: the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis (I don't remember the exact reference, but it's toward the end of the book); Foxe's Book of Martyrs, and in particular, the accounts of the early Roman Christians; and an old story I never actually tried to post called Royalty. I'm not planning to post Royalty, for reasons of my own (mainly because I can't find it).
This story will contain Christian themes, so if you like that sort of thing, feel free to read. Some scenes will be rather intense (for me, anyway), and will contain blood.
And one thing that's been bothering me for a while . . . is anyone tired of me writing mainly about Jay? If you are, I don't know if you should read this. I'm going to be writing stories about the other Ninja, but the best one for me to write about is Jay, so that'll be my primary focus.
That's enough for now, I'll finish this author's note at the end of the chapter!
Prologue: Ζήλια Φυλές μίσος
It was a peaceful day in the small village of Skuran, on the border where the quiet country of Grecia, where Skuran was located, and their neighboring country, Ninjago, met.
A young man was playing a flute underneath a sycamore on a small grassy hill near the village courtyard, his notes clear and cheerful as bird-song. He was lean and well-muscled, with a slender waist and shoulders. His lightly tanned face was framed by a tousled mess of chestnut hair, his soft rounded cheeks making his face look very youthful and childlike. He was dressed in a light blue short-sleeved tunic and a leather belt, with a simple copper circlet in his hair and sandals on his feet.
Several girls were watching the young man and emitting dreamy sighs. "Jarius' the handsomest youth in the village," one said.
"If only he paid more attention to us," another said mournfully.
A third added, "Jay's sure to take more of an interest to us, now that he's seventeen and old enough to get married!"
"Wonder who his lucky bride will be," a fourth girl pondered. "I hope it'll be me."
"Keep dreaming, Tracy," the first girl sneered. "Jay would never even think of marrying someone like you."
"Shh!" a fifth squealed. "He's looking at us!"
Jarius, or Jay, as he was called, who had been listening in on their conversation with irritation, pulled the flute away from his lips and called, "Hate to sound rude, girls, but I'm trying to practice, and that kinda conversation does nothing for the brain!"
They burst into giggles, blushing and piping their agreement in squeals of delight. With a huffy sigh, Jay went back to his flute playing, his cheerful mood lessening as the girls continued to gaze at him rapturously.
He wasn't watched by only the girls. Several jealous young men were shooting dagger glares at Jay, whose blue eyes kept darting to simultaneously give the girls annoyed looks and glance nervously at the other older youths. "I wish I could teach that pretty boy a lesson," one growled. "By Zeus, he's the Narcissus of Skuran."
"Don't say that!" a second said frantically. "We're not allowed to swear by the false gods of our past, now that we're believers in the Almighty!"
"Why can't I?" the first youth snapped. "This God and Jesus nonsense is puffed-up baloney. I for one will swear by the gods of our ancestors, whether they're real or not!" He glowered at Jay, who avoided his gaze as he continued to play his flute. "That little Ganymede," he muttered.
"First you call him Narcissus, then you call him Ganymede, can't you come up with an analogy and stick with it, Ziliaris?" a third young man snapped.
"Either one works," Ziliaris shrugged. "They're both feather-headed idiots whom either the mortals or the gods fall in love with! He's barely even a man!"
"He's only a year younger than you," the timid youth piped up. "And I wouldn't go so far as to call him a Narcissus; he doesn't love himself."
"But he's stolen the heart of every eligible maiden in Skuran, Atolmos!" Ziliaris retorted. "All of them are pining for this scrawny seventeen-year-old who barely even notices them when they could be in the arms of older youths who can give them more than unintentional glances!"
"I'll bet the guy doesn't even know how to flirt," a fourth youth sneered.
"He doesn't want to!" Atolmos said defensively. His shy exterior fell away as he spoke. "Unlike some people around here, he knows better than to chase after girls who could be swooning over the next handsome guy who comes sauntering by!"
"When did you take such an interest in Jay's thoughts, Atolmos?" Ziliaris mocked. "Don't tell me you're falling for him!"
"That would be both wrong and ridiculous," Atolmos responded. "I'm just saying that he's not as bad as you're making him out to be. I think he's actually pretty nice. He talks a lot, and he's kinda vain about his appearance, but he's nice about it. He doesn't brag like some people around here." He looked pointedly at Ziliaris.
Ziliaris snorted. "Of course he doesn't," he sneered. "He's too much of a pious goody-two-sandals to stoop down to the ways of us lesser mortals."
The other youths, excluding Atolmos, nodded their agreement. "I say we find a way to get rid of him," one suggested. "With that Perfect Perseus out of the way, the girls will be begging like dogs at our feet for us to wed them."
"That's an excellent idea," Ziliaris purred. "And I know exactly what to do. It's time for me to return a favor. . ."
In case you're wondering what the heck some of the words mean, I'll be using words in Greek (which I don't know at all) and Latin (which I know a bit of), as title chapters, and phonetic pronunciations of Greek words for some of the characters' names. Here is the translations: (these are all Greek words or pronunciations)
Prólogos: Ζήλια Φυλές μίσος: Prologue: Jealousy Breeds Hatred
Ziliaris: jealous
Atolmos: timid
Okay, I've got a problem. My avatar creator I normally use is no help when I'm trying to create a story set in Greek and Roman-based countries, and I can't put up my own fanart since I'm rather limited in my display sites. So . . . anyone up for the challenge? Just PM me if you're interested!
I suppose that's it. Valere! (that's Latin for "goodbye to a buncha people" XD)
#God's Not Dead!