by W. C. Jasper
Thaymas, unaware of Kareema’s combat ability, asked Prince Jared with urgency and concern, “My Prince, why would you allow the Princess to come this deep into the wild without any guards?” Prince Jared turned slowly towards him as he caught Princess Jeniah who landed on his chest with great force like a cannon and flashed a smile at Thaymas. He then turned towards Princess Jeniah and bounced his eyebrows as if conveying something to her. Princess Jeniah let out a smile stretching from the west to east with explosions in her eyes as she howled with all her might with her head falling all the way back. Thaymas stood confused, staring at the Prince and Princess. He turned towards Kareema to see if he would get any hint from her. But she offered no information other than a kind and sweet smile.
Chapter Three
Families, Packs, And Alliances
Giant, majestic wolves ranging from 6 to 7 feet in height started pouring in out of the dense trees from the north, west, and east. The tremors in the ground below Thaymas’ feet told him that these were no ordinary beasts.
The pack consisted of 23 wolves, including three-month-old adorable twin cubs with white and grey fur. Their fur was exceedingly thick, luxurious, smooth, and silky. The alpha of the pack, with gorgeous, pitch-black, lustrous fur and glowing emerald eyes was 6 feet 5 inches tall. Though these wolves were one of the scariest beasts on Earth; when they ran towards them, Thaymas’ could sense no danger, but only saw guardian-care in their eyes and a protective shield in their aura.
The first to reach the company was the alpha wolf. As he ran with his glorious, thick black fur dancing in the wind resistance like tumultuous, wild waves in a black sea; his glowing emerald eyes shone on, leaving behind an afterglow of bright green light in the wake of its path like a ray of a beautiful green flame. His eyes were intense, fiery, and yet, also carried deep serenity. Even though his height was only average for the pack, he was far more intimidating than any other in the pack, and his gait spoke of his elegance as much as his fearsomeness. As soon as he reached the Princess, he licked her face insatiably, as she feigned embarrassment and weariness, all the while enjoying it and craving more of it. Same as the Prince, the alpha wolf too, had changed from the most fearsome beast to the silliest and meekest cub in no time.
The wolves surrounded the company and played around as if enjoying themselves in a festive celebration as the alpha wolf sat beside the Prince, asking for a caress. The sight that Thaymas beheld now was not of terrifying wolves, but of silly cubs playing around in their den. The Prince caressed and kissed the alpha wolf; and they both stood side by side, watching the Princess play with the wolves with joyful and pleased eyes. Thaymas could see very clearly that the alpha was bonded to the Prince in a way that they had a strange gateway to each other’s emotions.
There was a visible difference in the size of the twin cubs with the golden-eyed male cub standing at 1 foot 1 inch, and the silver-eyed female cub at 1 foot 3 inches. Clayus, the male cub was a plump and fluffy cub with a silly and exceedingly cheerful personality who was incapable of any emotion other than pure joy. His twin sister, Clovis was leaner than him and possessed enough seriousness and meanness for the both of them. Nevertheless, they were both baby cubs who enjoyed playing with the Princess and Prince more than anything else in the world. Prince Jared ordered the wolves to calm down and fall in line and the wolves understood it as well as any human would have and complied at once. As the alpha wolf stood beside the Prince, admiring the Princess playing with the pack, she ran over and leapt and sat on the Prince’s shoulders with her legs hanging down and resting on both of the Prince’s pectorals.
Thaymas had heard about the Royal Family’s supernatural dominion over beasts, and also about the beasts that were raised by and taken care of by the Royal Family. But this was the first time he was witnessing it with his own eyes and beholding their glory. Even though Thaymas’ eyes could see that the wolves were playing around and that they were on protective duty, it did not make the wolves any less terrifying. The air was buzzing with crushing power and child-like excitement at the same time. The wolves’ terrifying presence was overwhelming, and every time a stray growl was let out, Thaymas’ legs faltered. Even though Thaymas had heard all about this, he always assumed that they were just embellished stories being spread by the people. But now that he was beholding it, it was surreal.
Prince Jared said to Thaymas who was standing a few feet away, “No need to fear. Not only do they obey my every command, but they are smarter than most beasts. They understand what they are allowed to do, and what they are not. They even understand human tongue as well as any four-year-old can.” Thaymas’ eyes blew up in disbelief.
Prince Jared continued casually, “My wolves are highly intuitive and sensitive as well. Would I really have trusted Jeniah to play with them otherwise? I assure you, they have already understood that you are a person of importance and that you are trusted by me. Be at ease.” He called Thaymas and asked him to stand by him, and called for the wolves to come forward and greet Thaymas. The wolves came forward, sniffed Thaymas unhurriedly, and rubbed their fur against him. A few sat down in front of him while the rest proceeded to lay down around the company at a distance of a few feet.
Prince Jared walked around with the Princess sitting on his shoulders and playing with his hair and spoke, “Well. I’m sure you are well aware of your visual gift, so go ahead, Thaymas. Tell me, which one would make the best companion for you?”
Thaymas was taken aback and stared at Prince Jared with a million questions plastered on his face. Prince Jared laughed at Thaymas’ reaction and responded to his unasked questions, “I did tell you that you are going to be my protege, didn’t I? That makes you part of the pack. Everyone who is part of the pack, has a companion wolf, including Lady Kareema here.”
“Miss Kareema, please,” corrected Kareema with her immensely timid and gentle voice.
The new information did not help Thaymas to deal with his shock. But he proceeded to look around and walked over to a wolf laying down away from the company at the south, licking its feet without a care in the world. He looked over at the Prince and pointed at that wolf.
Standing at 7 feet tall, it was the third tallest wolf in the pack. Its exceedingly gorgeous fur was waves of gold and white, its eyes shone golden with a sharpness that could penetrate any wall.
Prince Jared spoke with an impressed expression, “Do tell me what made you choose that one?”
Thaymas answered with audible humility, “Most times, my eyes tell me things without the reasoning behind it. But yes, a lot of it, I do deduce with my mind. I cannot tell you that my mind consciously made the final decision here, My Prince. But what I do ascertain is that this one here respects me… but… also…” he finished with doubt, “wants me to prove my worth by approaching it…”
“Well, truth be told,” replied Prince Jared, “my eyes work in a similar way too. I, too, do not always see the entire reasoning behind what my eyes perceive. But with time, you definitely comprehend more of what your eyes ascertain.”
Thaymas asked curiously, “But my father once told me that the animals choose their companions. So, shouldn’t he have come to me?”
Prince Jared smiled whilst tilting his head to the bottom-left and answered, “Well, it is true that they choose their companions, and Paakun here has chosen you too. He has just not done it in a way that you expected him to. My guess is that it is because he believes that you are not living up to your potential. And because he thinks you are not living up to your potential, he wanted you to prove your worth by identifying and picking him out from the pack. And you should know this - he is correct. You are living far below your potential, Thaymas. But, worry not. We will fix that soon. Anyway, I can see that he takes you seriously now.”
Paakun was now staring straight into Thaymas’ eyes as if peering into his soul. “Your companion is your spirit-mate. It’s just one of the many terms we use. Understand that they will have a bond with you that will make them privy
to your private emotions, and even thoughts at times. But that is a bond that develops over time,” added Prince Jared.
Princess Jeniah had now reached her limit for sitting in one place without any action. She pulled on her father’s hair with punishing force and yelled out, “WHEN WILL I GET MINE, APPA?????!!!!!”
“Aaah!!!” screamed the Prince, restraining his voice, “Aaaaaaahh!!!! Soon enough! Soon enough!!! Aaah!! Soon!!!” as he lowered the Princess from his shoulders. He knelt down on both knees, set her on the ground in front of him and added, “Your time will come, My Lady. And when it does, I assure you, you shall have no equal.” He kissed her forehead and embraced her to the point of smothering. And violently shaking her in his embrace as he got up, he announced, “It’s time to go for a ride!”
Just like that, Prince Jared and Princess Jeniah sat on the Prince’s companion wolf - the alpha wolf, Jiraai. Jiraai’s aura and demeanour was as commanding as an alpha wolf’s ought to have been, and his spirit was as protective as a fortress’ walls. Kareema Biano, with cool ivory skin and silky, black hair, who was in her physical prime at 67 years of age rode on her companion wolf, Hogosha. Hogosha was the tallest wolf of the pack, standing at a height of 7 feet 2 inches, and had a perfect coat of fully grey magnificent fur without a single blemish and glowing silver eyes. As Thaymas mounted on Paakun for his first ride with his new companion, he realised that the two of them were not quite in sync. Paakun was an extremely self-assured and confident wolf whose every move was decisive and firm; whereas Thaymas was quite the opposite, with a personality whose personhood he himself knew to be mostly undiscovered.
Much like today’s wolves, these wolves too, were creatures of loyalty, elegance, fierce love, and affection. And just the same, they were also capable of unmatched rage, ferocity, and annihilation when their loved ones were under threat. There was much that Thaymas would discover about these magnificent beasts, but that was not just yet.
As they rode back to the palace, Thaymas had become comfortable enough with the Prince to speak with him as friends - Prince Jared had that effect on people, he could put people at ease around him almost immediately, and he himself also became friendly quite quickly (unless his instincts told him otherwise). Feeling comfortable around the Prince, Thaymas asked him about how he could have missed the deception of the woman in spite of his visual prowess. Prince Jared laughed softly and answered, “Never doubt your visual gift or your intellect. Your visual gift might even be as good as mine. But you lack experience. With experience, you will learn more and more about how much evil and deception humans are capable of. You are naive in most things yet. You will also develop a lot of personal wisdom which will help you size people up from the very first moment. For example, when that woman entered the court hall, her brazen theatrical performance had already heightened my brother’s alertness, but all her flattery just put her in a worse position. Think about it, will a woman who is so shaken and tormented by her suffering really go through the trouble of starting her statement with so much flattery? Additionally, my brother hates flattery with a passion, and the moment she performed all that flattery, my brother’s suspicion was definitely breaking all measuring scales. There will come a time when you too will have developed such personal wisdom, but it will take time.”
“I’ve heard that the King is the greatest judge the world has ever seen, does it mean that he perceived the truth of this situation even before you?” asked Thaymas curiously.
Prince Jared was pleased with the question, “I would say my brother and father were both equally great judges. And you should remember that no one’s intellect, wisdom, and knowledge match my brother’s. I might have a little more knowledge on certain specialty topics, thanks to the extra time I get to invest in studying and researching, but even that does not nearly put me on the same level as him. He probably understood more about the situation in the first two minutes than I would be able to deduce with even hours of thought to it. But when it comes to our visual giftings, I would say perhaps your father, me, Maomi-ma, my brother, and you - all of us are more or less equally gifted. But never forget that what makes us valuable is the uniqueness of our gifting more than anything. Never forget that, Thaymas. A huge part of what will carry you to the fulfilment of your purpose on this Earth and to your destined greatness is embracing your uniqueness to the fullest.”
“I will remember that, My Prince,” answered Thaymas with the utmost sincerity, “So, what do we do next?”
They had just then entered the compounds of the Royal Palace as they happened upon the King, Queen, and General Thayman sitting on the grass in the garden at the front and merrily laughing and enjoying mangoes. Thaymas was stunned at seeing how unbecoming this was of the King and Queen because the rulers and royal households of those days never indulged in behaviour such as sitting on the grass or really doing anything the way ordinary people do. He was even more shocked at how his father was laughing and talking with the King and Queen as equals. Thaymas knew that his father was supposed to be the King’s uncle, and also heard from his father that he was very close with the King. But it was considered very unbecoming of kings and queens to behave in such manner even with their own blood, and General Thayman on the other hand was still only adopted into the Royal Family.
As they approached the party, Princess Jeniah ran over to King Jeraash like a bolt of lightning and jumped into his arms. King Jeraash and Princess Jeniah got busy in their own conversations as the Queen rushed over to the Prince and embraced him with all her strength as the Prince reciprocated every bit of the affection.
Queen Maomi inspected for any injuries like a concerned mother and asked, “Are you sure you are not hurt?” Before the Prince could answer, King Jeraash spoke while struggling to handle the Princess, “I told you, Love, he is fine… do express a little more faith in him.” Queen Maomi turned around with a swift movement of the head and shot a look at the King which let him know he should keep quiet. Prince Jared trapped her in his embrace, “I promise you, Ma! I do not have a single bruise! I did, however, have a wonderful bread and chocolate pudding!” Queen Maomi rolled her eyes and calmed herself down with some effort as Prince Jared continued, “But, I heard you enjoyed yourself quite a bit… can I be sure you are unhurt?” “It would take an army to land a single bruise on your Queen, my dear,” she answered with a genuinely humble tone and proceeded to greet Thaymas with a warm embrace. Holding Thaymas’ hands in hers, she said, “We’ve heard wonderful things about you, Thaymas, it’s a shame that it took so long for us to meet. Our struggle with your father about his decision to keep you away from us has been a never-ending one. But it is good to know that you will soon be exploring your true potential, and also that we will get to see you every day!”
Thaymas was embarrassed and highly uneasy about being treated like equals with the Royal Family, which King Jeraash noticed at once and confronted him about it immediately, “Thaymas, I can see that you have too many misconceptions. We need to have a proper conversation about this. Shall I call for some chairs?”
“No, My King,” answered Thaymas with a very stiff demeanour, “I love sitting on the grass!”
King Jeraash shook his head in soft laughter at how Thaymas still spoke as if they were in the courtroom.
Queen Maomi stole away Prince Jared from the party in a hurry and signalled for the King to follow them. King Jeraash asked Princess Jeniah, “What is a king’s greatest peril? What is a ruler’s greatest threat for downfall?” Princess Jeniah drifted into deep thought, stroking her non-existent beard, trying to imitate her father. King Jeraash set her on the ground and added, “You sit right here and think of the answer until I return, okay?” and kissed her on the forehead and followed after the Queen.
It seemed to be a lengthy conversation; and based on what General Thayman could see, he decided to interrupt the conversation. He said to Thaymas, “Son, please go tell them I have asked them to postpone this conversation.” Thaymas nodded once and proceeded t
o do so. As he lowered his head while rising to his feet, he was shaken by the sound of a thunderous slap that echoed through the cool evening breeze. He swallowed his spit in nervousness and looked to his father with terrified eyes at which General Thayman shook his head, in an attempt to dismiss his fears. A failed attempt of course. But, as terrified as Thaymas was, he decided to do as he was told.
As he neared them, he unwillingly overheard Queen Maomi’s voice - “The question is not the legitimacy of the kill. The point is that YOU ought not to have been the one to do it!” Before Thaymas had even reached them, King Jeraash looked over at Thaymas and spoke with a sweet smile, “We’ll be right over, Thaymas. Tell him we need nothing more than a minute.” Thaymas nodded once and returned without having spoken a single word.
The very next moment, Queen Maomi asked the Prince to leave the two of them alone. As he left, with his head hung low, he said in a low and deep voice that housed unspeakable rage that was tightly shackled in his earnest obedience, “It was not just my queen he was talking about, it was my mother that he was saying those… If not me, then who?”