The Banishment of the King

by A. J. Chaudhury

  Another thing that contributed to his nervousness was his indecision whether or not to propose to Olwyne. He didn’t know if tonight was the right night. And if he did propose tonight, should he do it right now—when the two of them were alone—or after the meeting, when there was some chance of them being alone again? The former option was slipping from his hand fast though.

  “It’s a thick forest,” Angus said, just to lighten his own mood.

  “That’s why it’s our hideout,” Olwyne replied.

  “Only about a hundred rebels you have, don’t you? I wish you had more men to fight the king’s army.”

  “Army!” Olwyne laughed, with a sarcasm Angus didn’t feel aimed at him.

  “What?” Angus asked, not quite getting the point. Olwyne looked at him, her eyes shining with the yellow light of the torch she was carrying. Angus thought she looked dazzling, and a lump formed in his throat. His breath constricted.

  “We don’t want to fight the king’s army, Angus,” Olwyne replied, “all we want is to kill the king.”

  “But the army will kill you, then,” Angus said, baffled. “I get that some of the soldiers hate the king, but there are many others who support him.”

  “No, they won’t,” said Olwyne, “we’ll run and we’ll hide. In the intervening time the king’s soldiers will fight amongst themselves.”

  Angus raised a brow.

  “The king does not give the best of food or ammunition to his soldiers," Olwyne continued, "there are always many complaints. It’s a wonder how he has managed to hold his throne for this long. The only plus point is that the army is allowed to attack and plunder pretty much any village or city that isn’t much important to the king, and keep most of the loot for themselves.

  “And perhaps you might have heard that retired soldiers—at least the ones who had been good men—mostly die in poverty. And if they lost body parts during battle, then that is a minus point.”

  She said the last lines with a knowing wink. Angus reckoned the servant had told her about him visiting the slums. He recalled the pitiful people there. Angus didn’t know about others, but if the rebels succeeded in killing the king, those poor men and women would surely bless them.

  “So you expect that killing the king would start a chain reaction?” Angus asked.

  “All the anger within the citizens would come out, and they would help us in getting rid of the current rule, and ushering in a new age.”

  That was perhaps too optimistic, Angus thought. But boy, it was something to aspire for.

  They trudged along for some more time, and then Olwyne suddenly stopped. She let out a howl into the night air, which sounded identical to the howl of a wolf.

  Moments later countless men and women emerged from the trees. Most of them weren’t carrying torches, and it surprised Angus how they had found their way to the spot in the utter darkness.

  “Have you brought them, Kiya?” Olwyne asked a lady who was slimmer than her but looked a few years senior. Kiya was carrying a basket covered with a cloth. She now held up the basket in response and removed the cloth.

  Angus gasped.

  Two little heads popped out. One of a young man, the other of a lizard-like creature. The lizard-like creature had wings.

  “Everybody,” Olwyne addressed the rebels, “meet Xuhn,” she pointed specifically at the lizard, “and Mortugal,” she pointed at the young man.

  A wave of gasps passed over the many rebels.

  “Are they the ones who discovered that the magical object was a —what do you say?— dragon egg?” a man asked.

  “That’s right,” Olwyne replied, she raised her voice so everyone present would hear her clearly, “Mortugal was brave enough to accompany me to the palace, and he slipped into the room and saw the egg. He was unfortunately unable to retrieve it though, due to the purple essence present that expelled him from the room through a hole in the ceiling.”

  “Are they not from our land?” another man asked.

  “They are from a land far away,” Olwyne replied, “they are from out of the purple screen that envelops our land. Apparently, where they live, most of the things are much smaller than ours.”

  “The elders say that we were small too,” a short man chimed in, “when this land was first created. We were savages apparently. But things are changing fast.”

  “So, Olwyne, how do you plan to steal the egg?” Kiya asked.

  “I say we attack the castle,” a man said with much heat. He was one of the few carrying torches, and he now waved it in excitement, “we’ll kill the king and steal the egg, and destroy it!’

  “I am not really supportive of destroying the egg,” a tiny voice said that Angus recognised to be Mortugal’s, “you are free to kill the king though.”

  “Wait, wait,” Angus said. He felt strange speaking to a group of people he had never met in life before. Besides Olwyne, the only person he had met before was the servant, who now beamed encouragingly at him.

  “Go on,” Olwyne said.

  “Um, I was just thinking that we could steal the egg with nobody knowing. I mean, why get ourselves killed and our families put into danger, when we can do everything secretly?”

  “So, you don’t want to attack the palace directly?” the man with the torch asked.

  “Well, we can avoid doing that if we steal the egg without anybody knowing. It’ll be less dangerous, especially for our families,” said Angus, “but that will only be possible if Xuhn and Mortugal help us.”

  “It can be dangerous for them,” said Olwyne, “and remember, this is not their battle. They are only helping us, and we cannot get them killed at any cost.”

  “We’ll help,” Xuhn squeaked. Angus was astonished that an animal could speak.

  “Thanks,” Angus somehow managed to say despite his surprise, “um, I heard there is a hole in the ceiling of the room where the egg is, is that true?”

  “Yes, that is,” Mortugal replied.

  “So I was thinking, if you people can somehow manage to get in… Say, Xuhn flies just above the hole in the ceiling on the outside; and Mortugal, you can go through the hole in the wax sealing that Olwyne created for you.”

  “The last time I touched that egg, I began to levitate almost immediately,” Mortugal said.

  “Did you ever see if there is a way to open the sealed door from the inside of the room?” Angus asked.

  There was a moment of silence as Mortugal searched his memory if he had seen something like that. He shook his tiny head.

  “Nah, I was way too busy marvelling at the purple substance streaming down through the hole.”

  “But there should be a way to open the door from the inside,” one man said.

  “How would it be like if we find out tomorrow?” Angus suggested. He had been thinking earlier if Mortugal could use a rope to tie up the egg. Then as a part of the rope flew up because of the purple essence, Xuhn could pull the egg up from the outside after catching the rope. But apparently that would be impossible if Mortugal began to levitate the moment he touched the egg.

  “That could be tried out,” Olwyne said.

  “It’ll cost us time,” Kiya said in disagreement. “I say we kill the troll king tomorrow itself. It’ll be stupid to wait till the birthday. And do you think if the egg is stolen, the king won’t realise it? He’s a cunning man.”

  “Kill him tomorrow!” some more rebels shouted. Angus didn't think it would be a good idea. He had been thinking of telling the rebels to use an archer in the king’s birthday. The king would be more exposed partying and mingling with guests, and a skilled archer could easily sink an arrow into his heart or head. The archer could then flee, and their goal would be achieved without much risk. With some hesitation, he let this known to the rebels.

  But his suggestion once again met with poor response. This time even Olwyne shook her head, though not as aggressively as the others, who said they didn’t want to fight ‘like rats’. His heart sank. All thoughts of proposing to
Olwyne fled Angus’ mind.

  “That won’t do, Angus,” Olwyne said with a look of understanding in her eyes.

  “Why?” Angus asked, not getting why everyone was behaving so crazy. “No rebel has to lose their life that way.”

  “Do you think such an assassination would inspire anyone?” Olwyne asked. “If anything, such as assassination would make the king a martyr! We want to expose his bad deeds. Only a direct attack on the palace with a small group of our warriors would produce the desired effect. Yes, we might die, but we’ll inspire.”

  Angus nodded, realising he couldn’t change the mindset of the rebels.

  “Okay, as it seems good to you.”

  Mortugal cleared his throat.

  “You can do what you want on the birthday of the king, but tomorrow, Xuhn and I would try our luck at stealing the dragon egg. Would that be okay?”

  At this some of the people present passed agreement, while others disagreed and wanted to attack the next day itself. They said that they had suffered enough years under the king, and it had gone past bearing limit now.

  “Look, if we want to do this, it’s best that we do it right,” Olwyne finally said, siding with Mortugal. “We have waited years, and we don’t want to ruin our chances of success by being impatient for one day. Who are with me?”

  Most of the people present raised their hands. A few didn’t though, and Kiya was one of them. She shook her head disapprovingly at Olwyne.

  “This is just costing us time,” Kiya told Olwyne.

  “But it’s for the best, Kiya.”

  Kiya shrugged.

  “As you please, then.”

  The rebels talked for some more time, in which they strategized how they would attack on the birthday. Olwyne drew a rough map of the king’s palace on the ground with a stick, and everybody huddled around it as she explained the positioning of each rebel on the day of the attack. Angus watched her awestruck. Olwyne had a very commanding presence and there was something very charismatic about her. No doubt, she was the undisputed leader of the rebels, and was able to quell any disagreement easily.

  Olwyne also seemed to know a lot about the king’s palace, even the location of traps and hideouts that the king had designed specifically for such an uprising. Angus could only hope that he would be able to speak his heart out to her once everybody dispersed.

  And after some time Olwyne told the rebels to go home as it was getting too late, and it was risky ifan informer of the king saw their gathering, despite them being in the middle of the forest.

  “Take the two of them back to the house,” Olwyne said to Kiya, referring to Xuhn and Mortugal in the basket.

  Kiya nodded and put the cloth over the basket.

  “And you? You want to stay here all night?”

  “I will show Angus the way back to the road from which he can return to his house the fastest,” Olwyne replied. Angus was so happy—like someone had lit fireworks in his heart.

  After Kiya went the other way, Olwyne and Angus took their own. The silence was overwhelming, and the insects singing merrily helped to an extent. Finally Olwyne spoke, just as Angus was contemplating whether to tell his thoughts to her.

  “So,” Olwyne said, and from her voice it seemed like she didn’t really know what to say even as she led with the torch, “um, who do you have at home? You surely don’t live alone like me, do you?’

  “I, er, oh, yes— no,” Angus finally succeeded in taking over the reins of his tongue. The awkwardness was killing him. Olwyne looked at him with a very confused expression. Angus thought she looked only beautiful in her utter confusion, though he tried his best not to meet her eyes.

  “What happened to you?” Olwyne asked.

  Angus took in a deep breath, just to calm his nerves.

  “No,” he said, as firmly as possible, “I, er, don’t live alone. I have a mother. I also have an uncle who regularly visits our home and helps us.” He managed a weak smile.

  Olwyne pursed her lips.

  “So a family of two?”

  “Yes, excluding my uncle’s family,” Angus replied. The sound of wheels and galloping hooves reached his ears, accompanied by merry love songs of drunk drivers.

  “Well, we have almost reached the road,” Olwyne said. “It’ll be okay, right, if I leave you here? You can get a carriage, but be careful… The drivers are mostly drunk at night.”

  Angus nodded, not knowing what to say.

  “Okay then,” Olwyne said. “I’ll have to go the other way to get home, so long then.”

  And she turned, perhaps wondering why he was just staring at her without any sort of response. But she didn’t know about the battle going on in Angus’s head. Two parts of his brain were at war. One wanted him to yell out his love for Olwyne, while the other was too concerned with all the things that could go wrong.

  As Olwyne took some steps away, the former part of Angus’s brain won the battle. A warm sensation spread through his body as he made up his mind.

  “Um, Olwyne,” Angus said. Olwyne stopped in her tracks and turned around.

  “What?”

  “Um, I wanted to say something to you,” Angus said. He gulped as a shiver caught hold of his body.

  “Go on,” Olwyne said.

  “I, er, I don’t know how to say it,” Angus said. Olwyne stepped closer, puzzled over his strange behaviour. Angus closed his eyes. “Olwyne, I love you.”

  A silence followed, while a voice inside his mind ordered him to show her the ring. But he couldn’t manage that. Hell, he didn’t even have the guts to open his eyes.

  But after a moment, at the lack of response from Olwyne, Angus opened his eyes. And there, albeit a bit muscular, was the most beautiful girl standing in front of him—with a befuddled look engraved on her face.

  And right then, from the way Olwyne stared at him, with her face creased in emotion, Angus knew that something was wrong. He had chosen the wrong moment to speak out his heart.

  “I- I am sorry, Olwyne,” Angus said as Olwyne took a step backwards. He had made a total fool of himself. “I- I didn’t know you had a man… friend.”

  Yes, that had to be the case. Olwyne already had a lover. Angus felt as though he was trying to hold water in his hands, even as the liquid dripped down from between his fingers.

  And then Olwyne spoke.

  “I am married,” she said in a broken voice, “… was married. My husband is dead.”

  Angus could only gape. So was that the reason Olwyne lived alone? Why hadn’t he thought about that possibility earlier? A tingling sensation took hold of his right foot, and despite being quite sure it was a spider or a centipede, Angus kept his eyes locked with Olwyne’s. Angus wasn’t afraid of tiny creatures tonight.

  “I am sorry,” Olwyne said. A tear rolled down her cheek, and she sniffled as she turned and hurried away into the darkness. The glow of her torch was visible for sometime before the tress blocked it too.

  That was epic.

  Angus gritted his teeth, furious at himself. At least he should have tried to know her a bit more before telling her his feelings. He had screwed up in such a big way. He would never forgive himself for this.

  He kicked away whatever had climbed over his foot, and marched in the direction of the road. He stopped an oncoming carriage and climbed onto it. To add to everything, the driver began to sing a tragic love song about a lover from an age ago, and this made Angus’ eyes swell with tears. This was the first time tears had come to his eyes in a long time.

  Oh boy, what had he done!

  ***

  Ritika didn’t know a lot of things. But one thing she knew for sure was that the island they had reached was not the continent that the fake-Xuhn had told them they were headed for.

  The island was mere metres in diameter, and a single tree was its lone inhabitant. It was a peculiar tree with long leaves that made Ritika think of really long arms.

  The ship was anchored, and everybody looked at Xuhn for further command. A
pparently the soldiers too were perplexed as to why Xuhn had stopped the ship at the island.

  “Sir?” a soldier said. The silence had reigned for way too long. The soldiers were getting confused, even as Xuhn stared at the island with his dragon eyes, lost in thought.

  The soldier’s word seemed to break Xuhn out of his trance.

  “There is something down below on the ocean floor,” he said, not addressing any one in particular. He exhaled, “I am the only one who can bring it to the surface.”

  Ritika exchanged shocked looks with Ruponi and Breda. Even the soldiers looked at each other in puzzlement.

  Xuhn began to take off his clothes and handed his garments one by one to the soldier closest to him. In a few moments he had stripped down to only a black cloth covering his essentials.

  Xuhn approached the edge of the ship. Everyone waited with bathed breath as time seemed to slow down. The fake-Xuhn was totally out of his mind. A wise voice inside Ritika’s mind told her that the fake-Xuhn had always been crazy. Only she had been so blind in his love, thinking him to be the real Xuhn, that she had ignored all his craziness.

  “Sir, this is risky,” a soldier said. It was clear from the voice that he really feared for the king’s life.

  Xuhn climbed onto the railings.

  “Only I can do it,” he said in a voice that sounded like the hiss of a snake. “Do not worry for me.”

  And then he jumped. A great splash.

  Ritika ran to the edge of the deck, as did everyone else. There was no sign of Xuhn, just the foamy water.

  At snail pace the moments passed. Everyone waited for Xuhn’s return though it was clear that nobody really expected that to happen.

  “He’s not going to return,” one soldier said sadly. “Who will lead us now?”

  “I feel I must check,” another said. He took off his clothes and jumped into the water. He waved at them once, and then he dived into the depths of the sea.

  Ritika was sure Xuhn had drowned. Nobody could hold their breath for so long. She even doubted if the soldier would return.