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Chapter 22
A week after Phoenix’s 10th birthday the princess Jumi turned 7 and a feast was thrown to celebrate the anniversary of her birth with Phoenix in attendance as her personal maid. It was a wonderful, evening with the setting sun casting a golden glow on the kingdom. The palace was a buzz of activities with the servants, cooks and guards moving about to ensure that all was ready before the arrival of the guests who were mainly chiefs and nobles.
Phoenix walked through the ever-bustling street of King’s road. The King’s road was so-called because it was a direct passage to the king’s castle. She was on a mission to collect Jumi’s robe, a special present from Queen Merea, from the royal weaver. Her cloak was around her shoulders as she hurried on, she was supposed to have collected the cloth since the early hours of the morning but the head servant had tasked her with the duty of cleaning the kitchen storage room and peeling the ingredients required to prepare the meal for the fe
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As soon as the door to the huge hall was open the musicians at the corner of the room began to play their instruments. The room was brightly lit with lamps and sconces. Servants were milling around carrying plates and goblets to and from the large table that was set on the king’s dais. Around the king’s table were the head of noble households. Noblemen and women of 10 in number sat with the king while the lower part of the hall was set up with tables and velvet-covered chairs for their families. The crowd of people in the hall rose in honor of the queen and princess as they passed by the guests and made for the king’s table. As they passed friends of the queen reached out to congratulate Jumi on her birthday, many of them handed the gifts they brought for her to Phoenix until she was hidden under loads of gifts. “Here comes the princess of Eyrotia,” king Barigo announced as he rose from his seat and held out his hand to his daughter to support her ascent on the king’
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It was late morning and the sun was already hot against the back of her neck as she scrubbed the kitchen floor. The servants had just finished serving breakfast and they were waiting for the arrival of the royal family in the hall. The head servant had called Phoenix from Jumi’s room where she had been laying the princess’s dress for breakfast. Phoenix had tried to explain that she was barely done with preparing Jumi for breakfast when the queen entered and in a very uncharacteristic manner told her not to worry about taking care of Jumi since she, the queen, wanted to dress Jumi herself. Phoenix had bowed and left the room with the head servant in the kitchen where a bucket and rags awaited her. Without any question, she dropped to her knees and began to scrub away the scraps of food and soot from the floor. Another servant stood by the washbowl cleaning the tools which had been used for the preparation of the meal while another polished the utensils that would be used by the king,
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Her mind was blank but she knew she was being lifted and taken away from the room where the king, queen and princess were. She knew she was being carried but she didn’t know who held her, the voices around her were just a blur of words. All she could ask herself as they moved was; Why would Queen Merea do this? What was her aim? What did she hope to gain? She must have known that the king would demand that she should be punished if the box of jewelry was found in her room. Was that what she wanted? For her father to prove that he hated her more than anything and was willing to believe anything against her? She hung limp in the hands of the guards, her head bouncer with each step they took, her eyes were dry and her mind was immune to the pain on her wrist as a result of the guards’ stronghold. They entered the dungeon which was below even the servants’ quarters, it was the lowest part of the king’s castle and there was barely any light penetrating through the high wi
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“Take this.” Phoenix stretched out her hand to collect the bowl. She was laying on her stomach on a thin pallet because her back was hurting. The seer had rubbed some oil into the welts on her back and was now making some concoction for her to drink to ease the pain. She put the bowl to her lips at gagged at the smell of the liquid. It was greenish and had a very sharp and pungent smell. She started to push it away from her face when the rough hands of the seer held it in place against her mouth. “Drink it, child, if you want the pain to subside quickly you have to drink it.” His voice was hoarse as a result of the thick smoke that always covered the interior of his home. “My powers can heal the wounds faster.” “But you do not have your full powers yet.” It was true. Though she had a little bit of control over her powers she could not utilize them fully. The seer had identified a seal on her neck as a child that kept her from having any contro
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“Get me my sandals.” A nine-year-old Jumi sat at her dressing table adjusting the small jewels on the earrings pinned to her ears. In the corner of the room, Merea sat down with embroidery in her lap. She kept an eye on Phoenix’s movement. She was a constant presence whether Phoenix was working for Jumi. The heart of the wicked knows no rest and that was true for Merea, she felt Phoenix was going to try to harm Jumi which was why she kept a close watch on her every time the both of them were together. “Phoenix, get the princess her sandals.” Phoenix left the clothes she had been gathering for washing and went to the trunk where Jumi’s clothes were. She pulled the sandals out of the trunk and went to give them to Jumi. Before she could drop them a tiny hand smacked her head. She looked up in shock but before she could blink Jumi spat on her face, a few drops of her spittle ran into Phoenix’s eyes. She squeezed her eyes tight as thoughts of hitting Jumi in the
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There was a great buzz in the kingdom of Eyrotia. Every 2 years they celebrated one of their many festivals. This year they were celebrating the festival of Fists, a festival where many of the strongest men in the kingdom came together to compete in a show of strength. The winner of the competition at the end of the 2 days festival was added to the king’s army and the members of his household were given honorary titles in their towns, titles which were lower than that of the nobles but those titles were respected. The celebration of the festival of Fists was divided into two; the first day was for merry and welcoming of the guests both gods and foreign, the second day was when the real event happened. Every two years young men all over the kingdom would gather at the King’s Seat, a large arena built by one of Eyrotia’s past kings. The legend surrounding the King’s Seat was that it was carved from rock by the hands of the king in honor of the gods. There were multiple seats of stone
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The walls Oya walked past were black and slimy, the walls rippled as though they were alive. Slime ran from the top of the walls to their bottom in big slimy gooey drops. The walls reeked of death and misery and aptly so for this was the abode of Neifler, the ruler of the underworld where ungodly and cursed souls came to rest. As she moved down the long passage that led to the center of his abode she prepared herself for the discomfort that awaited her behind the heavy black doors that were built into the walls with human bones. Oya forced herself to stay calm as she approached this door. She was the most powerful goddess, after all, the only one who could face Demeus in a battle with the possibility of winning. The doors to the gloomy interior of Neifler’s abode threw themselves open before she got to them and from within came the voices of the condemned souls, there were cries of anguish coming from the cursed souls and wicked laughter poured forth from the underlings who
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Somehow Phoenix found a way to wiggle through the crowd and found a tight space that enabled her to see the center of the arena clearly. It also provided a clear view of the seat where the royals and nobles were to sit. The cowl of her cloak was over her head to avoid being recognized by the king or queen. From the second gate a tall, broad man walked into the center of the arena, the thousands of people gathered at the arena stood and hailed him, the roar of the people was deafening. In his hand was a cone-shaped metal which he held to his lips. “The festival of Fists is about to begin.” The cone-shaped object amplified his voice so that despite the large arena his voice could be heard by all. “Strong men of Eyrotia have subjected themselves to many days of training to show their strength and to gain entrance into the royal army and we the people of Eyrotia are here to witness this.” He let the hand holding the cone drop slightly as he waited for the people to finis
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