The King and the War Dancer

Deathly Vixen

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The morning after King Enrik left the palace, Ntami tried to ignore the surge of activities about the palace. She stayed in her room instead, but from her balcony she could see the servants running around panicked. No one had bothered to serve her meals or tidy her room, it was as though they were fleeing the palace. Ntami thought about going out, blending in with the chaos and getting away, but she couldn't dismiss the bottomless gorge in her stomach at the thought of not knowing his fate before she left. The man was an enigma, one that fought destiny, fate and any force of nature, overcoming them all by sheer force of will. She could already feel the wheels of fate staggering as if the madman had some magic, twisting it against his tragic destiny.

Frustrated at her own attitude, Ntami resigned not to leave till she got definite news of the war at the northern borders. Till then, she decided to enjoy the tantalizing dish of chaos that the palace had boiled down to. It was a pleasant way to burn time while fueling her power after all.

She dressed up in colorful yellow and red cotton robes and began tending to her nails. A light wave of dizziness came over her as she applied a dark green liquid, a special treat she had fermented for Enrik, on the tips of her nails. Gritting her teeth till the nauseous episode passed, she took to admiring her nails. Then she remembered that he was no longer around to tease her or endure her punishing scratches. Ntami groaned and crawled back into bed feeling unmotivated to join the commotion outside.

"Discord already at work and he hasn't been gone a full day to quell the chaos at the borders. I can already feel strife taking root, stupid man!" she mumbled, pressing the side of her face against her pillow and groaning in boredom. Usually, she would be busy scheming new ways to rid herself of the king but now that he wasn't there, she felt empty.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid man!" she yelled into her pillows.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open and guards donning a different uniform from that of the king's soldiers entered her room. Ntami raised herself from the bed as they approached her, and quickly advised herself it would be a wise decision not to struggle. Without a word to her, they dragged her out of the room to the throne hall where all the court ladies had been lined up.

King Enrik was obviously not present so Ntami ruled out this abrupt summoning being his order. It was then she looked at the throne and sitting on the throne was a man with a familiar face. She stared at him for awhile, wondering why she felt at odds.

"Your majesty, I present to you the ladies of the court of the exiled monarch," said the announcer.

Exiled? Ntami had heard no such news. She looked between the announcer and the man on the throne feeling out of sorts.

"A mutiny? Where are the palace guards? Who are these soldiers?" Ntami whispered to herself.

"Yes I see, and which were part of my brother's harem?" inquired the man on the throne, his cold black eyes skimming over the ladies as he spoke.

Realization dawned on Ntami that it must be the king's brother, Boyar. The only other person who could boldly lay claim to the throne, but almost 10 years prior, he had been exiled from court.

Guards dragged her and six other ladies forward, successively cutting short her turbulent thought process.

"Only these few? My brother is truly a work mule," Boyar commented surprised.

"It was his loss, Sire," agreed the turncoat announcer. "But your majesty, these past months he had a favorite, spent an awful amount of time with her," the announcer revealed, attempting to make up for the disappointment.