The Blessed Curse : A King Indeed

A King Indeed

Joyous in the world, Joyful as a whole. Joy I hope . The soul is dyed with the colour of your thoughts

--x--

AAR

       There was a word in ancient O're tongue, more ancient than old, that described a moment in time where life itself held an extreme notion of balance. It was neither this nor that, all of it and none at all...they called it 'Joro'. Not that anyone but a few knew what it was, or how to identify it. It had been too long since the last time it came around. Everyone benefited from the wonders of it, until they didn't. With the balance, Joro brought fruitfulness, fertility and impossible miracles. But at the other side of it, unmistakably the balance prevailed. With the prosperity came about the treacherous hand of failure, along with unfortunate events so great a country rarely healed after.

  No one could ever concluded why Joro came and could predict when it came.. but came it did. 

          In O're at that very moment in time, a few days after the prince had become a King, the Sarasota market boomed with loud voices from merchants and sellers, all reaping unseemly huge profits. The fishermen by the Mad river had never witnessed a more fruitful catch. The fishes seemed to pour from the skies. More children were born and no one saw the end of life. And the palace echoed with a fever of anticipation that was felt even further than the borders of Osera.

     The palace courtyard, a sizeable piece of sandy land situated at the west side of the castle, with a single symbolic Iroko tree at the center of it, was filled with more people than usual. Each person occupied with a different task.

    Under the shade of the Iroko, the new King laid flat on a beaded mat, lost in thought. His arms resting behind his head, and his eyes closed. One would have thought him oblivious to the organized chaos surrounding him. But part of the chaos was for him and the other part directed at him. As his laying form held the eyes of many, mostly women of the younger age. The stares plotted and conjured up plans on how to catch Ade's eye and gain not just his attention but his interest. He was to choose one of them to be Queen after all.

     Among them lurked the spark of Aar's golden iris. She sat on a wooden stool at the far corner of the yard, her hands suspended in mid air, fingers gripping the end of a knife, with the intention of connecting the sharp end to the neck of an anxious chicken which she held in place with her other hand.

    "You know, if you look at him like that  for much longer, people might start to notice" a voice laced with the purest form of mischief came from the back of Aar focus.

    Aar's head snapped towards the voice, like a thief caught in the act and met Job'e smug face, her devoted friend and one of the court maids. In her surprise, Aar's hand loosened on the neck of the submitted chicken, who took the opportunity and fled from its captor, running mindlessly into a crowded yard.

       "Aaaisss" Aar cussed, and watched as the chicken ran towards a group of children playing catch and release.

    " Look at what you made me do!" She stood up from the stool ready to chase after the escapee, but before the chicken could move any further than a few feet, the children caged it in. They discarded the game they played to find a new one with their mission to catch the fugitive. The chicken seemed to have realized that death by Aar's knife was probably a better option than to be chased and probably manhandled by a group of hyperactive children, because it made its way back towards Aar's direction. But it was too late, one particularly spirited child with fast legs had caught it by its wings. Jubilating at his success, he held the animal above his head like a trophy. The other children had gathered him and cheered him on, until one of the girls in the group decided it was her turn to hold the chicken. The victor did not allow her, snatching it away from her reaching hands. The girl pressured and the boy started to run and they all chased after him towards the gate of the yard. It was then Aar realized she would never see that chicken again.