Chapter 6: A Father's Daughter
The Beginning of King Elieon's reign upon the moon, year 586
The Imperial City, Uranus
Castle Deagelle
"Papa! Papa!" the little child cried excitedly, teal eyes shining with exhilaration and dirt smudging her face, as she ran to the stone balcony her father was watching over his villagers from. "I did it! I rode the horse without falling off!"
King Bastion turned towards his daughter as she raced up to him and leapt into his outstretched arms. The Uranian king held his daughter close to him and then pulled away from her, gazing upon her dirtied face with great pride. The tiny child motioned to be let down and grabbed her father's arm leading him out into the dusty court yard she had just vacated. The Midday sun was high in the sky and the sun seemed to blind them as they left the shade of the palace.
In the middle of the courtyard stood an amber clad servant holding the leather reigns to a golden horse. The saddle blanket was woven in many different zigzagged stripes and straight edged shapes of different hues of blue, while the saddle itself was light, made of leather, its high back studded with gold; sporting no stirrups or footholds . The horse pawed the ground with gray hooves impatiently. The little girl pulled her father over to the horse's side and then attempted to climb up in the saddle, her tiny arms struggling with the effort of lifting her weight upon the horse's back.
The Uranian king chuckled as his daughter's sun kissed face reddened in frustration and then blanched in surprised as the leather saddle began to slip from the horse's back, sending the small princess to the ground with a resounding thud.
Regelle sat up and rubbed the back of her neck, with her teal eyes still closed from the impact of the ground, "It hurts." She whispered, more to herself than to her father as the servant strapped the saddle back into its place, but after hearing her father's chuckles; she rose to her feet sheepishly. With newfound determination, Regelle hopped up onto the back of the horse, barely secure on its side, the horse grunted and shifted as if trying to gauge what type of small freeloader was clinging to its backside.
The king took pity on his daughter, and with laughing teal eyes, he grasped one of her legs beneath the knee and gave her a small push into the saddle. She floundered with a yelp and almost fell over the other side, but righted herself and sat upright in the middle of the saddle.
"Be careful, Regelle." Bastion cautioned as Regelle took up the reins in the proper hold.
"Watch me, papa." Regelle called as she kicked the horse lightly on both sides. The horse broke off into a straight forward gallop and true to her word, Regelle stayed planted on the saddle, her navy cloak fanning out behind her.
The wind seemed to blow with her, its current incorporating her into its main stream. She was a fast as the wind, not racing it, but becoming one within it. The hot desert sun beat down on them mercilessly, but was compensated for by the cool breeze now rapidly blowing.
The Uranian king had a smile on his face fit for a sated predator. Teal eyes were alight with joy. There was a time when Bastion had wished his daughter had never been born, but that time was gone now; replaced with a feeling of contented happiness that he could not conceive of having to live without.
She rode back to him, the wind's current changing direction to follow her. She reigned up before him and smiled down at him happily.
"I did it Papa!" She yelled as the servant grabbed the reigns and she leapt out of the saddle, being caught by her father's sturdy arms.
Regelle laughed as the horse was led away and her father began spinning her around in a circle. Bastion stopped circling and placed a kiss on his daughter's cheek and then gazed at the child in his eyes adoringly. "My girl! I am so proud of you!" The Uranian king began spinning her around again as he spoke, "And I would not trade you for a son on any given day. I am nothing without you and your mother. You are both my very reason for being and that will never change."
"He is not exactly ideal, Lucilla." Jafari cautioned as he spoke to the Uranian queen.
"Enough, Jafari." Lucilla narrowed her eyes while looking up from the view at the window to the chamberlain standing beside her. "I have heard enough of your meaningless warnings and I will suffer no more of your predictions to be told in my sight."
Jafari clenched his jaw, "But I only speak the truth, my lady. Without my words where would the crown be now? Have my predictions ever failed, Lucilla?"
"No, but they have never turned out as intended." Lucilla eyed him suspiciously, "In order for one to come true a price must be paid. For every prediction granted something important must be sacrificed, some further problem must be isolated and solved before peace can return to us. Please, Jafari, speak to me no more of any of your visions, for what the future holds I am eager to find with my own two eyes."
"The consequences associated with my visions are not of my own making." The chamberlain defended his vastly growing wounded pride, "They come on fate's demand. Why, even in our own world everything is bartered for a price. Exchanges are based on the principals of gain and loss. A life for a life, a law for a law, happiness for war, loyalty for tyranny, death for life, loss for peace, destiny is in demand of such things. No, queen, all of this is none of my doing."
"No, but it is what you wished for." The queen accused her gaze never leaving the chamberlain.
"My lady, my only wish is to ensure this crown's survival, I was defending the king's honored reputation." Jafari argued.
"You were shielding yourself, by hiding behind your title and remaining behind." Lucilla reprimanded, "Bastion is the king of this land and it is not without consequence that a chamberlain openly condones disputes against his orders, not even one as distinguished as yourself."
"The Southern king's representative had no right-"
"Jafari, we do not need a war. Not in these rare moments of peace." The queen stated firmly, silencing the chamberlain with a glare, allowing the disrespectful man know that this conversation was over.
Lucilla returned her gaze to the window as a peaceful smile overcame her features. Outside in the courtyard the king and his daughter played, each chasing and holding captive the other; the little girl laughing as her father picked her up from the ground beneath her feet.
"There once was a time when the king wished that his daughter had never been born." Jafari commented, testing the previously turbulent waters. "That time is over now."
"Times change, Jafari, as much as people themselves change." Lucilla replied the warm fulfilling feeling inside her growing with her smile as Regelle chased her father around in a circle and then tackled him, still laughing, to the ground. "He is so content that he loves her more than he could love any son and if he could he would instate her to the Uranian throne."
"He cannot, the law says so." Jafari argued defiantly.
The Uranian queen gazed slyly up at the chamberlain, "He has been seriously contemplating changing that law and I believe that soon our history and our fates are about to change with the acceptance of one other."
Jafari's shock showed purely on his face, "He would not dare…no king in the history of our planet, of either the north or the south would dare bring disgrace upon both himself and his heritage by defying the law of their ancestors! This is insane! The ruler of Uranus has and always be a man. No amount of greatness could ever come from a woman ruler."
"You do know, Jafari, that women are quite competent of more than just giving birth to young heirs." The queen replied, no surprise on her face as she had been expecting a statement of that caliber coming from the chamberlain. "All we lack, is a proper chance to prove ourselves."
And for good reason, Jafari seethed turning his displeased gaze back towards the window. The king was twirling young Regelle around in the air, planting a kiss on her tanned cheek. The queen's smile became heartfelt at this. All she truly needed to feel completely content was not this kingdom, not the wealth of the north, not the pride of Uranus' warriors, but her husband and her child. This, something so simple as a kind day to spend time with one another, was her entire fortune. All she needed was their love and happiness, nothing else mattered to her, not even the collapse of this fragile kingdom itself.
Before this time, she and Bastion had so wished for a child, for a living embodiment of their love and devotion to one another and here she was. The single light that lifted the darkness from their lives. She would live a charmed life. The austere life Regelle's father had originally had in mind for her, dissipated the first day she cast a happy toothless grin up at him when she was an infant, melting the ice covering his heart. From that day forward, she had been his little girl, his to protect and guide through life. Bastion was so protective over his girl, that while other royals sent their children to other planets to be educated, young Regelle was educated inside the palace walls by tutors brought from far and wide to teach her fundamental skills, but what she was lacking was the lessons of occurrence that life was to bring.
With only so much access to experience life inside the palace walls, the queen wondered what kind of woman Regelle would grow up to be. She loved riding horses and dressing in breeches and tunics, finding the exploits of great rulers and heroes more beguiling than those of the damsels in or rather of distress in the legends of their planet.
"He will have a son." Jafari interjected as he watched a frown crease the queen's face, destroying the happy moment.
The queen's features became disturbed and a terrible dread grew in her heart, then she asked urgently, "What price must be paid? Jafari, what penalty?"
A satisfied grin crept upon the chamberlain's face as he watched Regelle and her father tumble to the ground laughing out in the courtyard, "It is complicated to explain, my lady, but I am certain this foresight will come to its terms, whatever the costs."
That night the chamberlain raced along the outer walls of the castle, taking shelter in the dark shadows there. He stopped to catch his breath beneath a square archway. Jafari chanced a glance out of the shadows, before quickly darting back into their depths as two armed guards passed him on their rounds, the gates were never closed during nightly rounds.
He turned his head, glancing around him nervously, then he raced out into the darkness; being careful to keep his distance from the torches lighting select areas of the walls and arches. Jafari ran with only the legendary speed a pure blooded Uranian possessed, passing into a thicket on the outskirts of the walls. Why is this area so scantly guarded? He wondered as he entered the thicket. Normally, the Uranian king would have placed guards at every entrance and yet he had slipped through an archway and into wooded cover undetected.
Practice makes perfect, Jafari mused. He meandered deeper through the dense underbrush searching for his contact. He suddenly stumbled over a heavy burden on the ground, landing on top of the soft object. The darkness and shade of the tall brush leant no light to identify the object. Jafari felt along its surface. The exterior was cold to the touch and engraved suggesting metal, but it gave precariously in one area, yielding a sticky liquid from the soft cushion beneath. He felt further, feeling wool and then the very distinct features of a human face.
The Uranian chamberlain shot away from the dead man on the ground, breaking out in a cold sweat of nerves and stress.
"What took you so long to meet me." The voice was cold, leaving no room for mercy or questions.
Jafari stood cautiously, searching for the owner of the voice, "The wall guards came after you? How did you escape?"
"I did not have too, they did not escape me." The voice drawled as a soft thud was heard as another armored body landed at the chamberlain's feet. "Now, my little informant, what took you so long to find me?"
"There were whispers about the palace. The king knows about the plot, he has gathered that there is unrest within the reaches of his own bloodline. With no son, he feels that his throne is under increasing threat from outside the borders of the north and, he fears, from within. That is why he has chosen to school his daughter within the palace walls, to protect his only child from death." Jafari swallowed hard, his dry throat uncomfortable as he trembled fearfully in the dark of the night, "What if they find out that I am connected to you? The queen has grown suspicious of me, since the fight with Nultra and his southern mongrels; she will not trust my visions. What if she tells the king to be weary of me along with his own family members? Then he will order both of our heads on a silver platter. What if-"
Jafari lost his ability to speak as the blade of a sword, was pressed dangerously close to the skin of the underside of his throat, the limited ethereal light of the moon reflecting on the curved blade, revealing its owners teal eyes.
"No more 'what ifs'." The gruff voice ordered, teal eyes narrowing dangerously, the film over the left blind eye becoming an opaque white. "If my brainless royal cousin does find out, it will not matter. The rebellion has begun and because of your predictions we will be able to place our own heir onto the throne, an heir of their same royal blood, without consequence. Regelle will pose no threat to us and the queen will play no more of a part in this performance."
"But, Scaevus, the king-"
"Bastion is a weakling, his kind heart makes him feeble and I will take care of him." Scaevus answered, the moonlight from his sword blade catching on the gold of his signet ring, causing the antiqued image of a hawk preying on a serpent to shine on the ring's surface. "Be patient, we still have but a year to wait. Timing is everything." The sword point at Jafari's neck dug a small gash into the chamberlain's flesh as he gasped, a flare like sharp pain erupting beneath his skin, "And for your sake, my good chamberlain, your visions better come true, because if they do not." The blade dug another gash, this time deeper as Jafari flinched and cried out in anguish, "Then your life will be in very grave danger. Do not fail me."
A rush of wings was heard above them as black birds fluttered noisily from the branches above their heads. The offending blade quickly flew from the exposed neck as teal eyes disappeared along with their owner into the darkness.
"For another time." Was the gruff response as the royal rebel retreated into the coldness of the night.
Jafari breathed, his breaths coming in short and relieved gasps, as sweat streamed from his weathered forehead. He brought a trembling hand up to his neck and felt the gashes their, wincing as pain shot through his nerves. He pulled his fingers back feeling the sticky blood there, as a reminder of his stinging wounds. These gashes were a warning and in truth, he was lucky this was all he had been dealt. Yes, Scaevus was a killer, a eighteen year old tyrant who gorged himself in bloodlust on the battlefield and who could not live without some form of mayhem to create. And here he had set his sights on the highest of all prospects, the Uranian throne to the north.
Scaevus was not a honorable man and it would not be wise to allow a man such as that to rule the north. He would tear them in two and then suffer a civil war between both sides, it would be the end of them, but then again; Jafari was in no position to oppose him. All those who dare to stand against the heartless prince ended up falling to his blade. Not even the king in the south would cross him, no matter how many soldiers he could muster to face him.
He moved back one step and then started as a loud ruckus sounded from behind him, a startled desert thrush flying loudly out of the brush.
"Over there!" the captain of the guards shouted, as he and his patrol party advanced further, the sounds of marching boots coming closer. "Scout the area! Search the brush!"
Cold fear suddenly took hold of Jafari. He had to run, but where too? Who knows. Who cares. Just run and run he did. Jafari ran back into the thorny brush laying low to the ground, as flat as his linen garments would allow. Before him he saw the animal hide boots of the royal guards, illuminated and shadowed by the light of the torches carried by the guards.
"By the gods…" a distressed sentinel uttered in unpleasant surprise as he stumbled across one of the corpses of his fellow guards. "What horrors happened here?"
A crackling torch was brought down to enlighten the carnage on the ground as the captain of the guard kneeling down to inspect a disfigured body. Jafari had not noticed in the dim darkness, but the ground beneath all of their feet was red with cold blood. The corpses of the fallen guards almost floating across the vermillion sheen. The odor of death was pungent here and it hung in the still night like an unsightly fog. There were ten carcasses in all, each one mutilated brutally beyond compare.
"The sentries of the South shall pay dearly for this treachery." A guard muttered amid gritted teeth.
Pieto, the Captain of the royal guard, turned the pale face of one of his dead countrymen to the side to reveal where all of the skin of one pallid cheek had been cut away into specific shapes, very recognizable bloody images of an angular hawk clutching a serpent. Pieto sighed in irritation as he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"The sentries of the South are not responsible for this slaughter, Arestus," the captain said, "This bloodshed in the product of one man, a consort of our royal blood."
"But, Captain, does this all mean-"
"Yes." Pietro opened his eyes once more to the horrifically mangled bodies strewn on the ground around him, "The tyrant is no longer dormant." The captain looked to his troops, "Search the place! Leave not a bush unexamined nor one rock unturned, do not flee here until you have found him!"
A guard protested, "Captain, he may be well away from here by now."
"Never the less, he is a great threat and we must capture him before he draws more supporters to his cause." Pietro said and then shouted to his guards, "Do not relent in your search until he is found!"
Jafari laid completely still, barley breathing as the soldiers began to sweep the area, their torches bent precariously close to the dense underbrush to show what was being hidden there. It was only a matter of time before they found him, now. The royal guards were dogged in their search, looking beneath every stone and bending over every bush. The royal chamberlain scrambled away, crawling on hands and knees backwards. Not taking note of the dangerous terrain about him, his hand slipped on some loose sand and he plummeted back over a small over hang and knocked unconscious upon a bed of rocks.
"What was that noise?" a guard asked as he crept among the brush.
The captain of the guard came up alongside him, there was something here, though the torch light was too dim to discern it out from the darkness.
The commotion was heard by the guards, as Pietro descended the treacherous scar swiftly down to the motionless body of the chamberlain cast onto the rocks. The captain of the guards bent over the chamberlain and gently cradled his head in his hands, as the young Pietro gazed at him almost tearfully, with the breath of a lost child.
"Father." The captain whispered as he leaned respectfully over the chamberlain feeling the slippery blood at the base of his wounded neck, then he turned sternly back to his guards. "Carry him on your shoulders, we must flee underfoot, hurry!"
The guards scurried about and then lifted the unconscious chamberlain on their shoulders, cradling his injured frame with care as then climbed dangerous terrain. It was imperative that the chamberlain lived until they reached the palace. They marched quickly.
Hold on father, Pietro thought, Please hold on.
This had better be important, Bastion complained as he sat in his throne room. He had been disturbed from his slumber by a rather frantic servant whom in his nervousness, had startled his wife, frightened his child, and had sent him on a rampage through the castle corridors in his haste to get to the throne room where he now awaited the Captain of his royal guards. The double doors opened with a creak as the captain entered his main hall. He seemed quietly disturbed as he bowed lowly before his king.
"My Lord Bastion, I bring you urgent news." The blonde head snapped up and indigo blue eyes riveted to the throne and the king sitting in it, "May I approach?"
"Yes, Pietro." Bastion waved his hand dismissively and yawned, his fatigue showing in his ragged features. "What is it?"
"A slaughter in the woods outside the palace." Pietro said stepping closer, "Ten of my guards were brutally slain." His teeth ground together in his mounting rage, "And carved into the side of the face of my younger brother's corpse were the emblems of a hawk clutching a serpent in its talons."
Bastion had straightened up, a look of abrupt horror in his teal eyes concealed by a only slightly mortified expression on his face," Scaevus? Is Scaevus responsible for the massacre!" the Uranian king's voice was urgent and commanding, "Well! Speak your peace boy!"
"Yes." Pietro ground out, "That monster killed nine of my men, murdered my younger brother and left my father laying unconscious in a ravine. I swear to you my lord, my loyalty to you is true as strong as my devotion to my family and If you send me, I will do everything under my power to eradicate this threat to your supremacy. I will support Regelle's rule, if placing her on the throne is what you wish, I will ensure its happening. "
Bastion had turned his gaze from his fuming captain and was gazing off into space, his thoughts racing distastefully through his head, "A rebellion has begun…under Scaevus. This has begun now because they see my only daughter as a liability, no doubt. Vultures drawn to the festering carcass of power, all of them. The moment they sense weakness, my eligible family members ready themselves for the death blow."
"My lord are you listening to me?" Pietro shouted at the king upon his throne, but Bastion did not break from his revere.
"If he can cause mayhem like this among my guards then he can deplete the wall patrol, overcome the castle defenses and sack this palace. If he can sack this palace…"Bastion's eyes narrowed as he starred at some far off object in the empty space before his eyes, "Then he can sack the Imperial city, and if he can sack the city then what is to stop him from invading the northern providences?"
"We will send an army, my lord, we will stop him!" Pietro shouted. "My king, make some plea of action. Give me an order, we must do something!"
"Who would I send with the offer of peace?" Bastion inquired to himself, his voice despairing and hopeless. "Not Lucilla, not my only child, and not my unconscious chamberlain. Who then? What are we to do to weather this threat? What must I do?"
Author's note: And the story becomes more complicated! I apologize for the lateness of my update. My family was struck by a grave misfortune as my father passed away this week. It has been hard to endure, but the main point of hope is that we do continue to endure. Thank you for all of the supportive reviews, without which I could not continue to write this story. Please R & R!