by W. C. Jasper
Unable to control himself, Thaymas broke into laughter and immediately throttled it when he noticed General Hana’s nose flaring like a dragon’s.
Eventually, everyone huddled up around Prince Jared since he could not move with Princess Jeniah sleeping on his lap. After a long session of wholesome fun, Queen Maomi spoke with disappointment, “It sure is a shame that Aunt Hesaai did not join us. How much longer do you think it will be before she will sit down and have communion with us like a typical Jerudian family?”
General Thayman replied with a voice that tried to maintain the cheerfulness in the air, “Well, it has been more than 11 years now, maybe you ought not to save the pickles in her await. Ha Ha Ha!”
King Jeraash got to his feet and spoke, “Well, we shall wait for Aunt Hesaai for as long as it takes. But if we do not move soon now, we shall be welcoming the morning along with the roosters. Let us move.”
King Jeraash proceeded to obtain ritualistic blessings from General Thayman as he was the eldest in age in the Royal Household. The Jerudian tradition was to get down on both knees and bow the head as the elder proclaimed the blessings over them. King Jeraash got down on his knees, and bowing his head he spoke with a solemn and strong voice, “My beloved Uncle. You have been as a father unto me all the days of my life. Bestow on me now your blessings so I may continue to serve my people as a righteous ruler.”
General Thayman placed his hand on his head and declared, “King Jeraash! A righteous king if there ever was one! Jerudia is most blessed to have a king as noble and sacrificial as you. One who carries the burdens of others as his own so they may be unburdened and lightened and free. And henceforth too, shall your righteousness shine forth like the morning sun, your strength and power shall increase and be mightier than all the lands of the Earth, and your legacy shall be unparalleled in greatness like the very first lions of the Infant Earth. Longer shall be your reign than you predict and immortal shall be your legacy.”
King Jeraash got to his feet and they kissed each other on both cheeks and embraced each other tightly.
Queen Maomi knelt down after, and spoke, “Bless me today, dear Uncle! For you have been as a father unto me, and I thank Sathyam for my fortunes to be blessed with a parent such as you.”
General Thayman placed his hand on her head and declared, “A queen supreme in her grace and strength. Unmatched in her love and beauty. Powerful, yet kind. One whose beauty is greater than the lilies on the highest peaks. Jerudia will forever be blessed to have you as her queen. Your wisdom and unsurpassed strength will serve to be for Jerudia a most needed pillar in her most troubled hours. The fruit of your womb shall be innumerous. Your descendants shall be like the stars of the sky. Greater shall be your progeny than any other. Women throughout history shall envy your womb and its fruit.”
Queen Maomi stood up with silent tears as General Thayman kissed her hand and she proceeded to hang on to him in a long embrace. After a long-enduring hug, she kissed his cheeks and made way for her son.
Prince Jared handed Princess Jeniah to the Queen and knelt down with his head bowed low and proclaimed, “Dearest Uncle! I could not have asked for a better elder than you, whose shoulders and wisdom have forever been to me pillars that I leaned upon. Bless me this day, so I too may serve my land beside my father and mother who shelter me under their wings and make proud my father and mother who birthed me.”
General Thayman declared with a sure voice, “The Prince who is the joy of his house. The dear one who is the treasure of his King and Queen. The one who is hidden in the shadow of their wings. The greatest warrior the world has seen, greater will be your might in battle than the King himself. Though Jerudia now counts you as only the lesser son, soon will she see your true glory.”
Everyone else was blessed by General Thayman too. Everyone shared exhaustive expressions of their affections. Akini was already yawning when the party broke up and went on their way. King Jeraash said as the party started moving out, “You all go ahead, I would like a small moment alone before I leave.”
Queen Maomi replied, “Everyone knows you are staying back to clean up! You are not fooling anyone, wise King.”
General Thayman added, “Even the greatest kings cannot best their queens! Ha Ha Ha!” Everyone burst into a peal of loud laughter as he added, “That piece of supreme wisdom comes from the King of Kings himself! Your father is the one I heard it from. He also said that there are times one should simply obey his queen instead of indulging in his habits. This would be one of those. It is the first day of the year, Son, let us go.”
King Jeraash replied with a gentle smile, “And if I leave it like this, it would mean that a servant in the palace would have extra work on the first day of the year.” He had already started cleaning up as he continued, “I am not sleepy anyway, so it is better for me to do this and offer that poor servant one less thing that will keep them from enjoying the first day of the year.”
General Hana said, “You do everything to ensure that the servants live lives that are as prosperous and enjoyable as any other citizen’s! You know very well that it is for that very reason that the servants will be delighted to be able to help you.”
Queen Maomi interjected, “Everyone knows it is pointless to try. You all go on and try to get some sleep, I will help him so it is at least done quicker.”
Breakfast in the Royal Palace that day was set very late at the start of the eleventh hour. As the ten bells for the start of the eleventh hour tolled, the Royal Family had gathered for breakfast. Prince Jared, as usual, was the first one to attack the food and started devouring it as if his life depended on it. Princess Jeniah ate in a very dignified and princess-like manner with everyone admiring the Princess’ pseudo grown up demeanour.
A few minutes into the meal, King Jeraash asked Thaymas in a very laid-back tone, “So, Thaymas, Prince Jared tells me you are quite arrogant. Would you say that that’s true?”
Thaymas looked around the table like a rat as if he expected someone to help him out. Upon noticing that Prince Jared and his father were too busy with breakfast and realising that no one was going to rescue him; he answered with a pitiful voice, “Uhh… No, My King… I… I, No… I…”
King Jeraash interrupted him, “No need to call me ‘King’, we are having breakfast. And we are all family here. Anyway, here’s the thing. We are going to test how smart you can be when something you desire is on the line. You wanted a weapon from the Royal Armoury, so I am going to give you an opportunity to win it. I have here in my hand an object. It could be anything from a grain of rice to a small gemstone. You have two whole minutes to guess what is inside my closed fist by merely looking at it. If you can do it, you can have a weapon of your choice from the Royal Armoury. You get only one guess, and your time starts now.”
Thaymas spent the entire two minutes in agonising anxiety while everyone else continued eating their food, paying no mind to his trial as if they could not even perceive the incident. It was as if everyone else already knew what the outcome was going to be.
Right as his two minutes ended, he blurted out, “A coin!” It was very obvious that Thaymas had no belief whatsoever in his answer and quite naturally Akini and General Hana got a good laugh out of it. King Jeraash opened his hand and revealed a splinter of wood while continuing to enjoy his breakfast.
Thaymas protested at once in a soft voice, “But how is that fair? No one could have guessed that with that little information. That really does not prove anything.”
King Jeraash looked up at him and spoke, “Hmm… I can see what he was saying. Not only are you a terrible loser who is incapable of taking a defeat with honour, but you also just insulted your King’s wisdom.”
Thaymas looked down at his food apologetically as General Thayman, who he thought was oblivious to everything that was going on, spoke, “There are three people at this table itself who would have guessed it accurately within one minute. Stop questioning your King’s wisdom just because you failed at s
omething.”
An awkward silence was about to descend when Princess Jeniah yelled out, “Papa-Jur! Appa’s not eating his green food!”
King Jeraash slapped the back of the Prince’s head and everyone burst out in a guffaw at which he squealed with a stuffed mouth and a high and squeaky voice, “I am the Crowned Prince! Can I have a little dignity?” On noticing that not a single person gave heed, he added pleadingly, “Please!?”
Queen Maomi replied with a slyly reproaching voice, “Yes. Exactly. Can you have a little dignity dear? Please?”
Prince Jared’s eyes bounced around like a child caught stealing sweets and he returned to enjoying his food, trying and failing to act like it did not bother him.
“It seems your messengers have arrived. But please first finish your breakfast slowly without choking yourself on your food,” said King Jeraash. King Jeraash was the first to finish his meal and he said to the Princess as he left the table with his plate, “You hardly eat anything, darling. The least you can do is to eat it faster.” Prince Jared finished his food in a hurry and rushed out after kissing Princess Jeniah.
Chapter Eleven
Gifts And Promises
Prince Jared came running out to greet two messenger falcons over three feet tall sitting around the pool on the northern side inside the Royal Palace. It was a gorgeous pond about 1700 square feet in size, set with colourful stones and rocks on each and every surface including the half-foot platforms on all sides. It had no fishes, and its delicately sweet and wonderfully refreshing water emerged from the ground beneath with a feeble yet steady force. Despite being relatively small, it had many plants at the bottom that kept the water completely pure and worthy of drinking at all times. Nature’s wisdom was so magnificent that the plants at the bottom managed to get rid of any new impurities that entered the pond within minutes. Even any dirt or soil that entered the pond was dealt with within minutes and the water at the top always remained suitable for drinking. The insoluble impurities were swallowed up by the aquatic plants that existed for the specific purpose of cleansing. Such plants could not turn all impurities into food and sustenance for themselves, yet they swallowed every foreign object or impurity and returned it directly back into the Earth through their roots. It was their part to play in the ecosystem and they were engineered by the infinite wisdom of mother nature to do so.
The pond was found when King Jahous started digging upon realising that that part of the Royal Palace must have an underground source of water. King Jeraash, who was a 15-year-old prince at the time, had designed it to serve as a reliable source of refreshing drinking water and also a place to relax and spend time with loved ones. Each and every smallest part of the pond was designed and built by Prince Jeraash himself. He also constructed the platforms to be completely smooth so that it was comfortable for sitting on or lying down upon. Its crystal-clear water rippled ever so gently on account of the soft and steady breeze and the water springing from the ground below. Decorated with beautiful and colourful stones, its floor looked hypnotising through the perfectly transparent water dancing tenderly. It was almost 20 feet deep, and Prince Jeraash had fixed a pipe at the eastern end at a depth of one foot so that the excess water would not overflow and would be redirected for storage.
As Prince Jared arrived at the pool, the falcons were sitting on the platform in a very dignified position and drinking from the pond. These falcons were vastly different from the falcons of today. Their eyesight was almost as strong as those of eagles’ and they flew as high as the vultures. When he approached them and sat beside them, they stretched their necks and offered their heads to be petted. This was not common behaviour for falcons, but Prince Jared had a special connection with not only the land animals, but also the birds of the air. And these were old friends of his. He sat with his legs crossed and intertwined and petted them as they enjoyed the touch of an old friend. Both of them had white and black feathers, and golden eyes with black pupils. Their eyes were sharper than daggers, yet conveyed gentleness and kindness. Such was their nature too that they disliked violence and enjoyed peace and quiet. After a little while of enjoying his companionship, they retrieved two scrolls they had placed nearby and presented it to him. He received the scrolls and started reading them right away.
The first scroll read as follows: “Greetings and Blessings, My Prince. I regret being unable to write to you any sooner. We are ashamed of ourselves and apologise for the lapse in intelligence that allowed for the attack on the capital city. We are greatly ashamed of our failure in our mission and I swear on our honour that never again will such a thing happen. Somehow, Thon learned of the fact that there is a leak of information in his forces. Having learned this, he plotted this attack on the capital city secretly, without the knowledge of anyone in the fortress. Now that we know about this, Lord Yuvan and I have decided to take turns to make sure that one of us has eyes or ears on the emperor himself at all times. The timeline of the war remains the same. They cannot attack us any time before four years from now and Emperor Thon is extremely wary of executing an imperfect attack. The development of their bioweapons is progressing quite rapidly. And their already terrifying technology in explosive devices also continues to improve further and will soon be perfected. I estimate that they will have perfected their bioweapons and explosives in five years and once those are ready, I’m quite sure that Emperor Thon will set out to war as soon as possible.”
He set aside the scroll and proceeded to read the next one: “It was becoming more and more difficult to ensure the safety of the families of the soldiers you are holding as prisoners. Hence, Lord Yuvan has sent them away to some other land where he has trusted contacts. He has not informed even me of where they are. Their safety is absolutely guaranteed. Juggling information gathering, plotting, and other general mission activities while keeping up with the activities of our cover identities is difficult, but we manage it by dividing the surveillance duties between us efficiently. We miss Jerudia, and all our people. Thank you for taking care of Kaveri-ka, tell her I miss her dearly and long to see her and embrace her again. Lord Yuvan wishes to convey that his agony in missing the Princess is great and would like you to kiss her on his behalf. I heard about a wolf stealing the traitor’s scroll and getting shot. I presume it was Chiati, my sympathies. And no need to worry about our covert status. We have taken care of the situation. Let us continue to share messages only through Luka and Lufi, as any other birds flying in will be counted as enemy birds and captured. And the situation on that front only seems to be getting worse. The security here is being strengthened with every passing day. Please give our regards to everyone. Blessings and Peace. - Satya Tyagi”
Prince Jared stared at the pond with blank eyes for a while as he petted the falcons. In a moment of a sudden remembrance, he then rushed into the house with both the scrolls in his hands. He ran to his brother at once and handed him the scrolls for him to read. King Jeraash read them and said, “Okay. Keep it between us for now. Do not tell Maomi-ma either.”
Prince Jared replied, “You want everyone to enjoy the time of celebration instead of worrying ab—” as he was interrupted by his brother, “Yes. And it is not as if we have any new information that calls for urgent action. We already knew about these new weapons. The only new information is the timeline. And it is not as if that information changes our response in the short term. But Maomi, Uncle, and Hana will definitely ask you about it since they know that the messenger birds have arrived. They will press you to at least tell you about their well-being, so tell them that they send their regards and are doing well, and no new information has arrived so everything will be discussed when we have a meeting. Clear?”
“Yes, Brother” he replied and left.
Around noon, Akini and Thaymas were summoned to King Jeraash’s workshop. They arrived to find the King and Prince playing chess as they overheard King Jeraash laughing, “That would not happen even if you and Uncle played against me with your collective minds! Ha H
a Ha!”
Prince Jared growled as Akini and Thaymas arrived, “Ehh… I only lose to you because I would not want to disrespect the King in such manner! In any case, they’ve arrived, let us call this one a tie.”
King Jeraash retorted, “Of course! Praise Sathyam for saving me from this humbling defeat! Let us call this a tie lest my younger brother defeats me!” with a ridiculing tone, showing a rather human side of himself.
Akini and Thaymas stepped into the workshop as Prince Jared put away the chess set. Thaymas noticed that the chess set itself was marvellously beautiful. An ingenious, elegant, gorgeous design born of Prince Jared’s creativity and King Jeraash’s unmatched artisanship. The wooden board had a texture that complimented the squares of the board perfectly and the chess pieces were made of wood, but coated with a layer of glass. The wooden chess pieces, wrapped inside the beautiful glass, looked as though real knights and bishops were frozen and trapped inside a magical crystal cage.
As soon as they entered the workshop, King Jeraash said to Thaymas, “While I remember you turning down my proposition earlier, I would like to confirm this once again. So I am giving you one more chance. Tell me, are you absolutely sure that you do not wish to use dual swords?”