Sovereign Servants - The Sending (VIRGIN EARTH Book 1)

by W. C. Jasper

  Sitting with his legs intertwined, he lifted the Princess off his shoulders and sat her on his lap and announced, “Jeniah will be singing a song for us tonight! I want complete silence.”

  Princess Jeniah jumped off like a professional acrobat and now sat in Queen Maomi’s lap and responded, “The Princess sings of her own accord! Not on anyone else’s bidding!”

  As everyone broke into boisterous laughter, General Thayman reined in his loud laugh and spoke, “Well, given that she has her father’s stubbornness and his curly hair, let us hope she does not inherit that hellish hairline as well.”

  Everyone’s laughter roared louder as Prince Jared looked at the Queen with a pitiful pup’s countenance. But all that thunderous laughter quickly died down as Queen Maomi petted Prince Jared and shot a threatening look at everyone.

  After a lot more joking and teasing, King Jeraash said to his little brother, “I think Thaymas should take Jeniah to Lady Kareema. We have something we wanted to speak to you of.”

  Prince Jared replied with visible disinterest in the topic, “I know well what you wish to speak of. And you must also know what my answer is going to be. So let us skip it altogether.”

  King Jeraash caressed his face and responded with a great deal of affection and care in his voice and eyes, “Brother dear, let us first have a conversation before you dismiss it altogether.”

  Prince Jared was about to refuse again as Queen Maomi spoke with equal parts of affection and chastisement in her voice, “We are having this conversation. Thaymas, please take Jeniah to Lady Kareema.”

  Prince Jared complied unwillingly. He pulled Princess Jeniah close, kissed her on her forehead, and said, “No more sweets! You have had enough today!” He kissed her forehead rapidly a few more times, followed it with a raspberry kiss, followed by another tight kiss and sent her off as Thaymas held her hand and walked her off.

  After a little while of silence, King Jeraash began, “Well, you said you know what it is about. So, what are you waiting for? Speak.”

  Prince Jared, with his head on Queen Maomi’s lap, answered after a sizable length of silence with a gloomy voice, “I found the one, Brother… I found her. And then I lost her… There’s nothing to talk about.”

  General Thayman spoke with a caring tone, “These five years, never did we ask you to remarry. Because we knew that Jeniah would never lack love, and because once your brother married Maomi, she also had an ideal mother figure in the house. Your brother never wanted to compel you to remarry for the sake of being married. That is absolute evidence of the fact that any expectations that other people have is not even the smallest factor when your brother asks you to marry. But Son, Hana is someone you are clearly fond of. And despite her… scary demeanour, she too, is just as fond of you. Your brother is asking you to marry her only because of the fact that you both are fond of each other and because we all can see that you two will make a wonderful couple. You know well that he would not do so otherwise. And come now Son, we all know by now that you can only be in a romantic relationship with women whom you have tremendous personal respect for and consider an intellectual equal. And women who fit that bill are rare across the face of the Earth! Hana is one of the handful of women who fit that bill. You have a great deal of respect for her as a person, and she is also smart enough for you. Not to mention the fact that she already loves Jeniah as her own and has such a great bond with her.”

  Prince Jared replied, “You know damn well that—” as Queen Maomi slapped his forehead with considerable force. He continued as he rubbed his forehead, “Ah! Sorry! You all know very well that I trust the three of you far more than I trust myself. You all know that this has nothing to do with how much I trust your intentions as well as decision-making…”

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After a sizable break of silence, he continued, “I cannot. I simply cannot. It is beyond my… I am not capable of doing this. Wardiela was the one for me, and when she left this world… it ended for me.”

  King Jeraash spoke with a considerate tone, “Even though you will never admit it, the truth is that Wardiela was as blessed to have you as you were to have her. But now, even after five years, you seem to have been clinging on to the day Jeniah was born. You have been holding on to that day because you think that if you stay in that world, then it would be as if Wardiela never left.” He took the Prince’s hand and continued with a pleading voice, “But she did, Brother. She did leave this earthly realm. And it brought me greater grief than it did to you because I have had to see my baby brother suffer unspeakable agony every day for five years. In these five years, not a single day have you missed reliving that pain.” His voice grew slightly louder, “How am I supposed to live with that? How am I supposed to watch my brother be stuck in that same grief his whole life? Do you expect me to sit by you and do nothing as you destroy your soul with ruminated grief and absurd, baseless guilt? Is this my fate? To watch my child hurt and harm himself over and over again being unable to do anything?”

  King Jeraash fell silent for a while in order to avoid an outburst and continued after a long pause with a soft voice, “You do not realise how fond of her you are because you do not wish to untether yourself from Wardiela. And while I understand your love and your pain, is it fair to us to have to watch you suffer in pain? Is it fair to Jeniah to be fathered by someone who chooses to imprison himself in his sorrow? Does Jeniah not deserve an emotionally healthy father?”

  Prince Jared sat up now with his inner elbows resting on his bent knees and his head hung in shame.

  “Let us forgo the marriage discussion for the moment,” added King Jeraash, “You know very well that the Holy Scriptures teach us that the power to shape our destiny lies in our tongues, even power to lead unto life and unto death. How long have I now been struggling with you to cease your toxic speech that you use whenever you lament?” His voice expressed some of his deep and secret dismay and vexation as he continued, “Speaking of being cursed and whatnot? How many times have I begged you to stop it? I know very well that you do not hold the Holy Scriptures in high regard; but even so, do you not owe it to me to turn away from this toxic talk? Do you not owe it to Jeniah? Does she not deserve a father who does not bring darkness upon his own soul with such awful and wicked words?”

  As the Prince got to his feet with his head hung low, he spoke with a weighed down voice, “I’m sorry,” and proceeded to leave the terrace. As he started to walk away, King Jeraash, sitting beside him, caught his hand. He stood still for about four seconds as King Jeraash held his hand and then spoke, “Just sit, please. Just be with us. I always give you the space you need. It is only fair that you respect it when I wish to be with you.” He sat down by letting his body free-fall to the floor in a demeanour of quitting resistance against gravity as he sighed weakly. Everyone sat still and dead silent for a while, after which King Jeraash asked Queen Maomi, “Do you have nothing to say?” Queen Maomi answered in a soft tone, “Perhaps if you both had not opened with the matter of marriage, I would have. Do you really think it was fair to open with that? Should we have not first spoken to him about leaving his grief behind? You two instead told someone who ruminates his grief and guilt to do something that would add to his already unbearable pain. What am I expected to say now?”

  King Jeraash fell back on the floor with a sigh of defeat and lay flat on the floor with his hands behind his head. General Thayman stood leaning on the fence. Queen Maomi and Prince Jared sat leaning on their hands behind them. And the King lay flat with one leg on top of the other as they all marinated in the silence of the terrace over the background noise of the lively and jubilant celebration in the city below. Queen Maomi spoke after a long bout of silence, “Do you have something to say?” Prince Jared raised his head a little and replied in a regretful voice, “I’m sorry… I will do better. I do not intend to get rid of my wedding ring, but I promise to no longer purposely ruminate my grief. Jeniah deserves better. I’ve done wrong by you all, an
d by Jeniah. I promise to do better than I have. That is the best I can do for now.” Once he finished what he had to say, he lay down with his left cheek on his elder brother’s abdomen. King Jeraash caressed his head and said with a gentle whisper, “Thank you.”

  As the end of the day and the birth of the new year approached, Queen Maomi got to her feet and declared, “I will go fetch Jeniah and Thaymas. The day is about to end, and we would not want to miss the grand moment of celebration.” The Queen returned with Princess Jeniah, Thaymas, Akini, Yaakub, and General Hana to see General Thayman, the Prince, and the King sitting (left to right) on the eastern fence of the terrace with their legs hanging out and looking at the city below. King Jeraash sat in a dignified posture with his hands interlocked in front of him as the Prince and General Thayman expectedly, sat swinging their legs like little children.

  “Do not jump!” shouted out Queen Maomi as the Princess dashed towards her father. Prince Jared, knowing what was coming, stretched out his hand behind him and as soon as the Princess touched his hand, he swung her into the air like a doll and set her on his shoulders in a very casual manner.

  King Jeraash disciplined her, “What did Ma say just now?”

  Princess Jeniah answered in her adorable voice, “She told me to not jump. I never jumped. Appa swung me with his hand. So we did not disobey her at all!”

  Queen Maomi: “Yes. Most definitely a future lawyer!” while King Jeraash shook his head and mumbled, “Of course she is your daughter…”

  General Thayman laughed out loud and added, “Come now, let us not act like you two did not cause your father a great deal of stress running around the Kingdom, harassing guards and soldiers… and not to mention doing it all in the name of ‘testing our skills’.”

  Prince Jared and King Jeraash stared at each other like a couple of cookie-thieves caught lying and burst into laughter.

  King Jeraash spoke as the rest of the party got close to them, “I hope you did not have to wait too long.”

  “Not at all,” replied General Hana, and the rest of the party proceeded to join them on the fence.

  The Queen sat at the right-hand side of the King, Yaakub sat on the left-hand side of General Thayman, Thaymas on Yaakub’s left-hand side, and Akini on the far-left end. General Hana stood on the far-right end, leaning her hands on the fence. Everyone sat in silence, enjoying the view of the capital city of Radaa chirping cheerful sounds of merriment and dressed in a multitude of colourful, festive lights.

  The 1st district was the equivalent of a metropolis in today’s world and had a good amount of trees and bushes that were no taller than 20 feet. Situated right in front of the Royal Palace, it was the district closest to it. This night, it was completely drowned in bright lights and the streets were flooding with adults, children, performers, entertainers, magicians, sellers, and much more. Even though man-made electricity and electric inventions did not exist in those days, there were many chemicals and other substances that provided incredibly bright lights with such long sustenance that would seem miraculous today. Artisan decorative lights fashioned inside coloured glasses made from various chemicals and oliones, the beauty of the city streets was truly mesmerising.

  As the first of the 24 bells for the end of the final hour began to toll, a multitude of horns and trumpets started sounding throughout the city in perfect harmony. These were being blown by soldiers of Prince Jared’s military arm - SAS Arm (Stealth and Sound Arm) who were placed in acoustically strategic points throughout the city only for this night. The call of the steady horns sounded majestic as if news of some great deliverance was arriving. As the sound of the horns and trumpets echoed powerfully throughout the city, all other sounds fell completely quiet. For the first eight bells, the horns belted out their majestic sounds in perfect continuity. At the tolling of the eighth bell, more SAS soldiers throughout the capital city started playing harps and lyres from the rooftops and terraces throughout the city. The harps and lyres were sounded through special megaphones crafted for this occasion by the Prince. As the harps and lyres joined the sounding of the horns, the ringing of the strings cut through the call of the horns like the zest of citrus cutting through a rich slab of meat - like a harmony that complemented each other perfectly. As the 16th bell tolled, a roll of various types of drums playing diverse complementary rolls joined in to complete the rich and fabulous symphony. As the thumping beats of drums joined the wind-call of the horns and the vibrating ringing of the strings; it was as if the beasts of the land, the air, and the sea had come together to perform one big orchestra for welcoming the new year. It was like a glorious symphony that nature itself had composed for declaring the dawn of a new beginning. At the final bell, the music ceased instantaneously as if a switch were flipped. And despite the instantaneous close, the symphony ended with a perfect conclusion - a conclusion that provided perfect closure to the listener, and yet made the entire symphony replay inside one’s head in reminiscence.

  Everyone in the entire city including the party on the terrace started applauding and cheering for the sensational symphony. Everyone complimented the Prince for the wonderful short symphony he put together with words of appreciation that were overflowing with delight and joy. Yaakub extended his arm around General Thayman and patted the Prince twice, conveying his hushed compliments. General Hana waited for everyone’s loud praises to end and added with a very formal tone, “Good job! It was great!”

  Everyone sitting on the fence wanted to burst out in laughter, yet no one dared to move a muscle. Only the King and Queen smiled at each other for a second and then continued to gaze over the city. People all over the city hopped and hollered in joy at the arrival of the new year and the party on the terrace watched over them in blissful silence. The King, Queen, and Prince smiled over the city at successfully ushering the Kingdom into a new year of enduring peace. After five minutes or so, King Jeraash left the terrace and called for mattresses and food and drinks. Some of the most delicious food that was still light on the stomach was served. A lot of it was snacks. King Jeraash did not allow wine or alcoholic drinks that night. But that was not a problem, for even the non-alcoholic drinks of that time were sensuous beyond the imagination of anyone today. Everyone indulged themselves in food and drinks that night merrily and without any worries of the world.

  Akini and Thaymas horsed around and enjoyed each other’s company like old friends, although most of it was just Akini insulting him under the guise of jest and perhaps even bullying him. General Hana sat curled up with King Jeraash in a corner. This was the first time Thaymas had seen General Hana genuinely smile. She was smiling with her whole heart and even laughing merrily. And despite the supreme charm of her joyful countenance, Thaymas somehow felt odd. For seeing General Hana laugh merrily like a normal human being was something he had never imagined. Thaymas could see that the King seemed to possess some magical power to open up her soul unlike anyone else. As if he alone had access to the most vulnerable and most heavily guarded parts of her soul. King Jeraash seemed to be the only one around whom General Hana dropped the walls in her soul.

  Akini said to Thaymas as he was watching them, “It really is beautiful, isn’t it? She has always been that way… I once heard Prince Jared put it as… … … Yea! ‘The fearsome monster becomes a harmless dove when she is alone with the King…’ or something like that.”

  Thaymas nodded very slowly, continuing to watch them as if he was trying to see something else that was difficult to notice.

  Akini continued, “Everyone fears her. Even I. But if someone sees her spending time with King Jeraash… Well… I don’t know how to put it into words… But…”

  Thaymas: “The persona of the frightening and fearsome General that she wears throughout the day… The role that she dons to keep people from underestimating her on account of her being a woman… She does not have to wear any of those when she is with him…”

  Akini: “Oh Yes! Prince Jared said something more… ‘She knows that he
sees the entirety of her soul and still loves her. She knows that he sees the real Hana underneath and it does not change his affection for her. She knows she never has to worry about how he sees her… If his perception changes…’ Argh! Forget it! I will not be able to remember that…”

  Thaymas chuckled and continued watching the two of them.

  Princess Jeniah had fallen asleep in the Prince’s lap as he continued to pat her chest. His eyes were glued to her face as if with every passing second, his marvel and wonder at her beauty were being renewed. He would have continued to stare at her sleeping face for days if no one interrupted him. Queen Maomi and General Thayman sat together and watched the Prince and Princess with proud and joyful eyes, chatting about them.

  Thaymas and Akini decided to join King Jeraash and General Hana once they had had enough food and drinks. As they sat beside them, General Hana instantly reverted to her usual stern self.

  Akini was the first to speak, “Does General Hana only enjoy the presence of kings? Or will us commoners also ever be able to make her laugh?”

  Surprisingly, General Hana did not let her displeasure slip out and made no response while King Jeraash answered with a soft laugh, “Well, it is said that those who are not prepared to be pierced by thorns, ought not to desire the precious rose. And my Hana here…” he turned towards General Hana and continued with a gentle smile and eyes melting in adoration, “is as precious as one can be. She does have a lot of defensive walls and she plants a lot of thorns on those walls because they can be effective for security. And someone as precious as my Hana deserves all the security in the world. But I do agree,” he looked down and chuckled ever so softly before continuing, “she does need to become more open with others…” King Jeraash turned towards her once again and smiled wide and continued, “But I know what she needs for that to happen, and it will happen in time. It might take a while, but it will happen in its time.” He pulled her close and kissed her temple as even the mean megalodon-like face of General Hana blushed and glowed bright red in embarrassment.