Tales From the Cave-Wally and the Magic Lamp

Wanting to Be Free

It was early the next morning as light and heat from the golden African sun spilled in through the open windows of the royal palace. In the throne room, there was an aisle of thick, red velvet leading to the actual throne of the king. Lined up on either side of the aisle were golden statues of Buddhas and the Hindu gods, sun rays shining off the statues.  Lined up on the sides of the walls, upon white marble podiums, were treasures from every corner of the globe—vases from China, statues from Greece, golden figures from India, handmade rugs from Thailand.  A giant mobile hung from the ceiling, like a chandelier, dangling holy symbols crafted from shining bronze, bouncing light from the sun into every corner of the room.

Sitting in the golden throne covered with royal purple silk, was King Kamobye.  He was not dressed grandly, only in a simple emerald green African frock, loose-fitting and not very eye-catching, with a little matching cap over the thick, course black lock on his head.  He wore gold and silver rings on his fingers and his toes, and a special silver pendant for good fortune over how neck.

He was reviewing over the scroll in his hands when he overheard a great yell of anger.  It was so loud and so sudden, it made Kamobye jump in his seat in fright.  Moments later, who should storm into the throne room but Prince Jupenando himself.  His brown face had turned red, with purple in some places, and his eyes had the sane look in them as in a madman right before he committed murder.

"THAT'S IT!", he roared, making everything in the throne room quiver a bit.  "I am leaving this place at ONCE!  I have never been so humiliated in all my life!"  Kamobye jumped out of his seat and scrambled over to the fuming Prince Jupenando.  "What?!  You're leaving?!  But why?!  You only just got here!"  He threw himself in front of the prince.  "Why can't you stay?"

"And spend another moment with that self-absorbed, snarky little cow that you call a princess?!", the prince snapped.  "I think not!"  He followed his servants, who were carrying his bags out the door.  Kamobye took one look at Jupenando's backside and put a hand to his temple.  The seat of the prince's purple satin pants had been ripped away completely, leaving his red silk underwear exposed for all to see.

Prince Jupenando was the last one out the doors.  He poked his head in one last time and stared daggers at the king.  "Good luck marrying HER off!"  And with that, he slammed the giant doors behind him.  Kamobye felt the veins in his head bulge out.  "Oooooohh...Artemis!"
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He saw his daughter in the royal gardens in the back of the palace, sitting by the grand marble fountain that was the centerpiece of the botanical masterpiece.  He strode in her direction, ready to pop off at her.  "Artemis!  I want to talk to yyyoooooooooooooouu!"  Before he could finish talking, Kamobye found himself face to face with his daughter's pet tiger, Sultan.

His frustration worsened when he saw the large white-and-orange beast had a piece of purple satin in it's mouth.  He grabbed Sultan by the collar and dragged him over to where Artemis was sitting.  "Young lady, you've got a mighty bit of explaining to do!", he shouted, pointing to the torn fabric clenched between the tiger's white teeth.

Artemis giggled and tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder.  It was arranged in a long, thick braid down her back, while a golden crown with a single point circled around her forehead.  She had on a silken halter top with a shining emerald green color and an off the shoulder look, with transparent, loose-fitting sea-foam green sleeves that fell over her arms.  She wore matching color silk harem pants with golden fabric at the top where it covered her hips and her feet were protected by golden sandals.

She had a dozen gold bangle bracelets, six on each arms, hanging from her wrists, some decorated with glass beads or precious gems of greenest green.  She wore an exquisite pair of golden hoop earrings, and a golden chain around her neck, complete with a perfectly shaped emerald dangling in the middle.  She looked like a genie, or, even better, a princess.

Artemis laughed and pulled Sultan close to cuddle him.  "Oh, come on, Father.", she said as she pulled the purple fabric out of his mouth.  "Sultan was just playing around with Prince Jupenando!"  She scratched him behind his ears.  "Weren't you, Sultan?  You were just playing with that overdressed, pigheaded prince, weren't you?"  She looked up and saw the stern look on Kamobye's face.

"Artemis, this is not a joke!", he said in a firm voice.  "That was the seventh prince you've driven away this month alone!  I'm not counting all the emperors, kings and sultans you've turned down!  Prince Jupenando was your last chance!"  Artemis picked up her archery set as she got up and walked over to the targets the servants had set up just for her.  "Father, have you met me?  The day I marry someone like him is the day I turn in my bow!"  She pulled an arrow onto the bow strings and shot a perfect bullseye once more.

"But Artemis,", the king told her.  "You cannot keep rejecting every suitor that comes to the palace!  Remember the ancient laws!"  Artemis groaned.  The ancient laws.  The ones that clearly demanded that any Royal Princess next in line for the throne, be they of birth or adoption, must be married to a suitor of royal blood before her eighteenth birthday, lest she be dropped from the royal line of succession.  That was why her father was exposing her to this endless parade of stuck-up, hoighty-toighty men who, in the end, wanted her kingdom and her wealth and not her.

"I told you, I don't care what the law says!", Artemis cried.  "I'm not going to be forced to marry someone I don't like and who doesn't like me!  IF I ever do get married, I want it to be for love, not for privileges.  Just like what you and Mother had!"  "It was different for me and your mother!", Kamobye yelled.  "We got lucky!  We fell in love the moment we met!" "Than why can't I have that, too?!"  "Because not everyone in a royal lineage can, Artemis!  If your mother was here, she'd tell you the same thing!"

A deadly silence fell upon them both.  It had a been a year since Queen Isis had passed away, leaving Kamobye to raise their only child alone.  It was only after her death had the king decreed that the Princess was old enough to be married to a suitable young man, and sent out invitations to every male of royal blood residing in every corner of the world.  Princes, kings and emperors traveled to Timoria from far and from near to win the hand of the beautiful Princess Artemis.  Many tried, but none succeeded.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Kamobye broke the silence.  "Artemis...listen to me."  Her blue-gray eyes locked with his deep brown ones.  "Its not only the law.  I won't be around forever.  Someday, I will have to pass on from this life to the next.  And I want to make sure that when that happens, you have someone to take care of you." Artemis turned her back towards him. "I can take care of myself."

"Of yourself?"  "Yes!  I did that plenty before you took me in!", she exclaimed, sitting back on the side of the fountain.  "And I can do it again, if you just let me!  But you never do!  You keep me locked up here all day, with you and the staff!  I've never made any real friends!  I've never even been outside the palace walls!  I've never even seen anything beyond these walls!"

Kamobye stood beside her.  "But, Artemis, you're a princess!"  She looked at her reflection in the waters—her fine clothes, her sparkling jewels, her beautifully done hair—and frowned.  "Well, maybe I don't want to be a princess anymore!", she announced, splashing the waters where her face was reflected.  Kamobye groaned in frustration.  "Oh!  Why must you always be so difficult?!"

He stormed back into the palace.  Artemis lifted her head, watching him go, and sighed heavily, suddenly feeling bad she'd upset her father.  She loved him with all her heart, and she was grateful for everything he'd done for her, but she was tired of him coddling her.  After finding her barely alive in the desert, Kamobye feared for her safety.  So, to protect her, he kept her shut away from the rest of the kingdom, with only Sultan and the animals in the garden for company.  Artemis felt as trapped as the tiny white birds that her father kept in ivory cages within the walls.

Speaking of which...

Artemis bonded over to one of the cages and threw open the ivory gates sealing them in.  In a flurry, they all soared out of the large hole, flapping their wings as they ascended into the air and over the palace walls.  Artemis watched with awe and with longing as they flew higher into the blue sky and disappeared into the light of the sun.