by Joseph Pryce
Nash’s face blushed tomato red once more. “What the hell am I supposed to do about one crazy Hannix, King Shaka?! Those blue haired fools are born maniacs!” He exclaimed.
Thoth cleared noisily cleared his throat again and spoke up once more for the king. “Part of our arrangement with you, Clanhead Chrine was conditional on your direct participation in keeping all Volgags on your side of the continental border. What if this maniac as you called her had detonated her explosive inside of the capital? Or the Creator forbid, near the royal palace?”
“But I am doing my part to uphold our bargain!” Nash protested. “Do you have any idea how difficult it has been to negotiate with the Clanheads of the other five tribes?! We all cannot stand each other! It is only the hatred the tribes bear for you outworlders that binds us together. Otherwise we would be ripping each other pieces again!”
“Which is how our ancestors found you when we arrived on this planet. If not for us, the lot of you would have slaughtered one another into extinction and this entire world would have become a barren waste”, Thoth coldly stated.
Bornu leaned forward and stared hard at Nash. “You have become an extremely wealthy man under our arrangement. I have provided you and your family with enough gold and diamonds to last several generations. But what has been given can also be taken away”.
Nash opened his mouth to speak but the king held up his hand and he immediately closed it.
“As King of Summerhill, it is imperative that I ensure the safety of my realm, Nash Chrine. If invaders are able to cross my borders and kill my subjects with impunity, then my realm can no longer be considered safe, can it?!” Bornu dropped his hand to give Nash the chance to respond.
“No, your majesty”, the clanhead responded chastised.
“A few weeks ago, an entire platoon was wiped out by the Degox”, Bornu paused for effect before continuing. “I want you to get things under control with your people, Clanhead Chrine. I want you to do this immediately. Do you understand?”
Nash’s large Adam’s apple bobbed nervously in his throat. “Yes, your majesty”, he replied quietly.
Bornu smiled and rose grandly from his chair. The others followed suit.
“Let us now toast to our renewed understanding, shall we?” Bornu said.
The Grand Vizier clapped his hands together and the chamber doors slid silently open. Two teenaged boys from the Chrine tribe wearing simple white tunics stood at the entrance bearing golden serving trays holding diamond encrusted beakers filled with wine. Thoth waved them inside the chambers. “Come in, children. The king wishes refreshment”.
The two boys silently walked inside and bowed humbly before Bornu and Zaria before passing them their beakers, after which they served Thoth and then Nash. The Clanhead reached out and roughly tousled their long orange hair.
“What is this, boys? No greeting for your Uncle Nash?” He asked with a smile that seemed rather forced.
The two boys looked gloomily down at the floor and muttered a quiet “Hello, uncle”, before leaving the chambers.
Thoth stepped forward and respectfully took away the king’s cup from him. He took a long sip of the wine before handing it back. Zaria watched the Grand Vizier for a few moments for any visible reaction but saw none.
After all these years Bornu is still deathly afraid of being poisoned. She commented mirthlessly in her head.
Thoth nodded his approval at the king. “The wine is safe to drink, your majesty”, he simply said.
Bornu raised his beaker into the air and waited for the others to do the same. “Let us drink to a prosperous future”, he commanded.
The five of them sipped the wine in a respective silence and sat the beakers down onto the table.
Thoth glanced at the chronometer on his wrist when he noticed a green notification light blink on and off.
“Begging your pardon, King Shaka. But the Royal Budgetary Council is ready for us now”, he informed.
“A king’s duties are never done”, Bornu chuckled. He exchanged a firm handshake with Nash. “Until next time, my friend”.
Nash hesitated at what obviously was a dismissal. “King Shaka? My daughter?”
“Will remain at the palace”, Bornu finished. “At least until the Trans-Plasma power plant is fully completed”.
Realizing he had been defeated, Nash curtly bowed at Bornu and Zaria in closing. “Your majesty. Your grace”, was all he said before exiting the chambers.
Malon waited until the chamber doors slid shut behind Nash before turning to Bornu and asking, “Do you think he will comply, my king?”
“Nash Chrine is utterly untrustworthy but as long as his daughter is kept here at the palace, he will continue doing what we say”, Bornu replied flatly.
“Do you think that he was behind the suicide explosion in Heatone?” Zaria asked him.
“The investigation team over at The Hive are still piecing together their clues from the explosion. So I cannot say for sure but I would not doubt it”, Bornu answered.
“And Clanhead Chrine’s sister’s sons, your majesty? The servant boys that were just here?” Thoth asked.
“They will remain here in the palace for the time being”, Bornu informed the Vizier. “At least until I have their mother executed for her crimes against the realm. After that I will advise you what to do with them”.
All of this compromising! Zaria thought angrily. “Why are we making all of these political arrangements with these savages?! Let us send in our armed forces en masse into the Coldlands and obliterate them once and for all!”
Thoth and Malon were stunned into silence by her outburst but the king just laughed heartily at Zaria.
“My wife, the military tactician!” He roared merrily. “I should make you head of the Royal War Council”.
Malon did his best to suppress a snarky smile as he did not want to be seen mocking the queen. The Vizier’s face remained unreadable.
I cannot believe that Bornu is laughing at me in front of these two old fools! Zaria shouted in her head.
“I do not see what the joke is here, my husband”, she told him under her breath.
Bornu grinned at Zaria as if she were a silly child.
“Have you forgotten, that we already at war with Ocean Imperial and Sandstorme, my love? To fully engage the Volgags and the other two kingdoms, would mean a war on two fronts”.
“And what of it?” The queen snapped. “We have the largest army of all three kingdoms! With our superior forces we can crush the Coldland tribes in a fortnight!”
Bornu stiffened at Zaria’s tone and was not pleased that Malon and Thoth were present to hear her speak to him thusly.
“Leave the military planning of the realm to me, my wife. It is the reason that I am the king and you are the queen”, he said dismissively to her and turned to Malon. “When will the plasma pipeline be completed, Malon?” He asked the business magnate.
“My engineers assured me that the entire project should be done by next summer, your majesty. We ran into some difficulty with the Rogen Tribe over at Frozen Lake but the King’s Royal Guard have already disposed of them”, Malon replied.
Lickspittle! Zaria raged inwardly. Malon Uhuru would wipe my husband’s ass after he took a shit if he were asked to.
Thoth glanced once more at his chronometer and its telltale blinking notification light. “We really should be going, your majesty”, he begged to Bornu.
The king exchanged a warm embrace with Malon. “We will speak again before you leave the capital, my old friend”.
Thoth waved the chamber doors open and allowed the king to walk through them before following him out. Malon turned to Zaria and bowed graciously. “Your grace”, he said to her respectfully before also leaving the chambers.
Zaria turned away from the doors and angrily crossed her arms over her breasts and stared out the chambers large stained glass window. There was a magnificent waterfall in the courtyard below made of pure crystal and she a watched the
flowing waters in a grim silence.
Bornu has never taken me seriously! Not once since the day we were married! I will have to change that…..
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One hour later, Zaria was surprised to find Thoth waiting for her in the royal throne room’s antechamber. The throne room was located at the very top floor of the palace and it was here that security was the tightest but it was an indication of the Grand Vizier’s status that allowed him access to places other subjects in the palace would not dare to tread.
Zaria did not enjoy the intrusion though and gave Thoth an icy stare. “What are you doing here?” She haughtily asked the thin man.
Thoth bowed graciously at the queen. She noticed how clean and soft his hands were as if they had never seen a day’s labour.
“Please forgive my unannounced presence, your grace. I wondered if I may have a word?”
Zaria dismissed the two seven foot tall gold plated android palace guards at her side with a small wave. Once they left the antechamber, Zaria turned back to Thoth. “What is it, Grand Vizier? I have an extremely busy afternoon ahead of me”, she said acidly.
Thoth glanced over his shoulder as if he expected somebody to be there. “I wanted you to know that I agree totally with what you said back there in the king’s chambers. About invading The Coldlands?” He told her with hesitation.
What kind of game is this skinny fool playing at? Zaria thought to herself before answering Thoth. “It is a pity that you did not speak up in the king’s chambers, Grand Vizier. You could have saved me some embarrassment”.
Thoth bowed his head slightly at the queen. “My humblest apologies, my grace. But publicly, I must always be seen as being in total unison with King Shaka. That is my duty”.
Zaria arched an eyebrow. “But privately?” She asked evenly.
Thoth chose his words carefully before speaking. “I believe that the time has come to end this unsavoury alliance with Nash Chrine and his kind, it is no longer beneficial to the kingdom”.
“But my husband?”
“The king still believes in the old arrangements. He must be made to realize that summer is over”.
A skinny fool he may be but much more ambitious than I knew. Zaria let the tiniest of smiles play about her thick luscious brown lips. “Very well, Grand Vizier. I shall mull over what you have said today and then decide whether or not to further press my point with the king”, she replied aloofly and held out her hand to allow Thoth to kiss the royal ring.
Ananzi bent his head and dutifully pecked the large exquisite black diamond ring sitting on Zaria’s finger. “I thank you for your audience, my queen. May the Creator continue to bless you”, he said and left the antechamber.
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Later that night, she reached out across the bed and realized that Bornu’s side was cold and empty.
Damn the man! She thought. He is down in crypts again.
Zaria threw off the black and orange silk bed sheets in frustration and covered her naked body with a thin transparent white robe that was hanging on the nightstand. She pressed a hidden with behind the nightstand that signalled her bodyguards. The two tall androids appeared at her chamber doors within seconds.
“Help me with my dressing gown and then escort me down to the crypts”, she commanded the two droids. I should find a name for these two someday.
“Yes, your grace”, the two palace guards replied obediently.
Zaria shrugged off her robe and waited patiently while the two machines picked out a long black dressing gown and high heeled slippers from the nearby armoire and dressed her as gracefully as any handmaiden would. To hell with my handmaidens. Zaria thought. The last thing I need right now is talk floating about the palace, that the king leaves the queen’s bed in the middle of the night. The best thing about droids is they do not gossip.
The two droids silently escorted the queen to a private lift that was located immediately outside of the bedchambers. The doors slid open and Zaria entered. The lift contained an elegant black sofa complete with orange velvet cushions which she sat down upon. The burial crypts were located several levels below the palace and took a full minute for the high speed lift to make the descent.
Why must he disrespect me like this?! That damn woman has been dead for over almost twenty years now!
The lift doors slide open soundlessly and Zaria finds herself in a long narrow corridor with well-lit mirrored walls.
“Wait here until I return”, she ordered the palace guards and proceeded to stride down the quiet corridor alone. After about one hundred metres, the corridor widened into a grand rotunda with a large dome made entirely of pure crystal. The diamond entrusted floor orange floor tiles were completely covered with black rose pedals. Ornate vases emblazoned with the Shaka family crest sitting on gold plated side tables, held burring sticks of scented incense that filled the room with smoke. There were entranceways for five different corridors that led from the rotunda to the separate burial vaults. Zaria exhaled with barely suppressed frustration and stalked agitatedly down the middle corridor. She found her husband sitting on a gold plated chesterfield with black silk cushions that appeared as if it had been carved out of the gold lined walls of the vault staring forlornly at the ground. A six foot solid gold sarcophagus covered with glittering diamonds and precious colourful gems laying on a solid gold pedestal, dominated the centre of the elaborate vault. A completely life like holographic image eerily and silently hovered directly above the coffin. The image was of an incredibly beautiful woman, similar in appearance to Zaria but even more astounding. Her name was Amanitore and she had been Bornu’s first wife and the mother of Gambolt and Kadilla.
Zaria stared coldly at her dead’s sister’s image captured forever young in a hologram. I have always hated my sister. Even in death she looks absolutely regal.
Bornu glanced up slowly at Zaria not surprised at all to see her standing there, as if he had been expecting her. “Why are you out of bed so late?”
Zaria sat down beside him. “I could ask you the same question”.
Bornu picked up a large crystal tumbler filled with mulled wine sitting at his feet and took a sip. “Are you vex with me now?” He asked her carefully not really in the mood to start an argument.
Zaria crossed her arms across her chest and threw Bornu a sarcastic smirk. “Why I would be vexed? Just because my husband leaves my warm bed in the dead of the night to mourn his long deceased wife, who just happened to my sister? Is that something I should be upset about?”
The king sighed heavily and sipped more wine in silence.
Zaria looked more closely at him. Bornu was twenty years her senior but rarely did she take notice because he always appeared so robust but here in the witching hour of the night under the polished light of the crypt, he looked old to her.
“It is more complicated than that Zaria and we both know that”, he finally replied.
“What is so complicated about it?” Zaria shrugged more to herself than Bornu. When Amanitore had died from drinking poison wine, Zaria felt no remorse about it. She had dreamt of being the Queen of Summerhill since her childhood days but Amanitore had been the eldest daughter and was first promised to the king once she reached of age.
My sister had been the only woman in the world that was able to make me feel frumpy. She thought dourly giving the hologram a baleful stare.
“I loved your sister, Zaria”, Bornu continued. “Just like I love you”.
Zaria shook her head negatively at Bornu. “No, Bornu. You do not love me like you loved Amanitore. Why can you ever admit that?”
Bornu sipped his wine once more and tried to pull his eyes away from Amanitore’s image but found that he could not. “Of course I love you. I married you, did I not?” That sounded weak said even to his own ears.
“You only married me becau
se I reminded you of her”, Zaria snorted back. “Marrying the younger sister of your beloved Amanitore kept everything safe and familiar”.
“Why does it bother you so much that I come down here to pay my respects to her?”
That question was enough to cause Zaria’s patience to snap. She rose from the chesterfield and stared down at her husband. “Because I am here! Your wife. The queen of the realm! Lying in our marriage bed alone while my husband sits by the grave of his dead wife! And you ask me why I am bothered by that?! Come back upstairs to bed once your senses return!” With that, Zaria turned and stormed from the vault.