- 517 ʙᴄ -
| ᴅɪᴠɪɴᴇ • 8 ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴏʟᴅ |
The young prince who now stood at 4'2 in height, used his tiny feet to hurriedly drag himself throughout the palace. He sported nothing but a reasonable length of the finest linen wrapped around his waist in a colour similar to the moon, stopping right above his knees. His tiny ears both held small hoop earrings made from the richest gold, along with a gold neck collar perfectly sized for a child his age, that shined ever so brightly on his shirtless upper body.
He smiled to himself once he found his way in front of the king and queen's bedroom. He slowly opened the door and eased his way into the room where his parents were still fast asleep. The light of the sunrise beamed through the window and sat wonderfully on the resting couple, sparking up their brown skin to glow as bright as the heavens.
Divine took a few steps over to the king's side of the full sized bed and tapped the shoulder of his guardian. "Father." He spoke just above a whisper.
When the king only responded with a light snore, Divine laughed and shook his father with a little more force. "Father, wake up!"
The king squirmed and groaned, flipping over to turn his back to his son. Divine frowned but he wouldn't let that expression last too long. His lips formed into a smirk and he instantly hopped on to the bed, jumping up and down in the space provided between his parents.
"Wake up, wake up! Rise and shine, your highness!" He exclaimed excitedly as he continued to jump. "You promised you would take me to explore the kingdom today. Well, today has arrived! Let's go!"
Queen Sarabi's petite frame shifted as she released a soft chuckle. "Your son wants you." She didn't even bother facing Aziz, knowing that he was definitely awake now from Divine's antics.
"Come on, fatherrrrr!" Divine dragged, finally plopping down on the bed with a pout on his face.
Aziz just laughed as he rose up from his slumber. "Alright, alright." He playfully mushed his child's head. "Just give me a few moments and we'll be on our way."
Divine didn't say another word but responded by happily hopping off the bed and exiting the room to wait for his father in the foyer of the palace.
Once the king had completed his daily morning routine and put himself together in a similar attire to his son's, but adding his royal headpiece to finish up the look, he and Divine made their way outside and into the king's horse-drawn chariot.
The chariot transported them to nearly every inch of the kingdom. The purpose of this journey was for the king to help the young prince understand what his role will be in this life when he grows and matures.
"This will all be yours one day, son. Everything." Aziz grinned while he admired the beauties of Egypt.
The male transporter guiding the horses, gestured for the two mammals to halt. Divine scanned his surroundings before looking back at his father. "I can't wait. I'm going to be the bestest ruler ever."
The king chuckled at his son's anxiousness. "You sure you can handle it?"
Divine instantly stood up in the chariot, with his head held high just like how his father's would be. "Of course!" He boasted. "And the greatest part of it all will be that I can do whatever I want." He proudly stated and sat back down.
"That's not what it's all about, Divine." Aziz rested his right arm around his child's shoulders. "See, when I'm long gone, you have a legacy to continue. Sure, I'm able to do as I please as king. But I have a job. My job is to protect the people of this land and make them feel safe and comfortable. They respect me because I am their king, but I respect them because they are human. And that is why I receive the extraordinary love that I do from the people. At the end of it all, you must be remembered as someone who was a decent human being."
Divine paid close attention to every word his father was advising him. He wouldn't dare go against anything Aziz was currently saying. He admired his father and wanted nothing more than to be just as strong, courageous, and kind-hearted.
"You are an image of me, a reflection." King Aziz continued. "You and your future queen must continue on in your mother and I's footsteps with grace and dignity."
"Queen?" Divine scrunched up his face in a distasteful manner. "Do I have to kiss her like you and mother?"
Aziz couldn't contain his laughter. He obviously couldn't blame his son for thinking of something to be so nauseating, since he was still very young.
"Why, of course!" Aziz began to poke and tickle the young prince. "You're going to fall in love one day and have a young princess or prince, just like yourself!" He teased and stopped tickling, causing Divine's hysterical laughing to die down.
"That's just the 'Circle of Life', my son. When you are gone, it will be your child filling your shoes, and theirs filling theirs, and so on."
Divine nodded, completely understanding what his father meant but still wasn't comfortable with certain aspects. "That's great and all, but I still don't want to kiss."
Aziz just snickered and shook his head, soon signaling for the transporter to continue on their way.
Divine squinted his eyes at an area that was secluded from where they were currently observing. It was a bit further away, making it difficult to make out who or what could be over there.
"What's that place, father?" Divine pointed at the strange piece of land that gave off an eerie tone.
The king looked at where his son's eyes were fixated. "Those are the Bandlands, Divine. You should never go there."
"Why? What's there?" He questioned curiously, bringing his attention back onto the king.
"It's very dangerous, that's all you need to know. Not even I like stepping foot over there. That place is off limits, do you hear me?"
Divine nodded frantically at his father's sudden seriousness. He took one last glance at the Badlands before the chariot strolled away completely out of its sight.
•••
After they arrived back home, Divine played around with a roaming dog that was wandering outside of the palace while King Aziz called for Rakeem to visit so they could have a brotherly chat.
It was just one of those days where Aziz would try get his brother to cut his animosity, but of course that conversation went absolutely no where as always.
Divine soon spotted Rakeem leaving the palace and cheerfully greeted him. "Hey Uncle Rakeem!" He stopped playing with the dog and walked up behind his uncle who had no interest in entertaining the prince.
"Go away, Divine. I don't feel like babysitting." Rakeem nonchalantly replied as he kept walking.
"I'm not a baby!" Divine quickly made his way in front of Rakeem, causing him to stop from walking any further.
"Guess what me and my father did today." He smiled brightly as he looked up at his stale faced uncle.
When Rakeem remained silent, staring at his nephew with little to no expression, Divine took that as his cue to go on and tell him anyways.
"We explored the whoooole kingdom today!" Divine excitedly circled around Rakeem.
Rakeem scoffed and rolled his eyes, beginning to walk while the prince continued to skip around him, rambling on and on. "Father told me that when I'm king, this will all be mine! He also said that I have a legacy to continue and that I'm going to have a princess or prince who will take over my place one day. I don't want to kiss anyone though so I don't think I want a queen. Oh! Oh! There was also this really strange looking place that I'm not allowed to go to because father says it's too dangerous-"
Rakeem abruptly stopped in his tracks and raised an eyebrow. "What place?" He questioned the little boy.
Divine halted his movements as well and stood back in front of his uncle. "The Badlands."
Rakeem's eyes suddenly lit up. "The Badlands, you say?" A crooked smile formed on his face as he squatted down to his nephew's level. "That's not a dangerous place at all. In fact, there are alot of fascinating things to see over there."
"Really? Like what?" The prince became intrigued.
"Do you like magic, Divine?"
The prince replied with a frantic head nod, in which Rakeem grinned back to in satisfaction. "There's plenty of magic and magical beings and creatures over there. Things you wouldn't even imagine." Rakeem stated.
Divine gasped in excitement. "Wow! I want to see!"
Rakeem chuckled and stood back up. "I know. And I won't tell your father if you plan on seeing it for yourself. Your secret is safe with me. Just don't tell him I told you what's there, we all know how he can get."
"Oh trust me, I know. " Divine agreed and shook his head. "You don't have to worry, Uncle Rakeem. I won't say a word."
Rakeem nodded and tapped the young prince on his head before walking off. "Wonderful."
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