Julius & Juliana

CHAPTER 1

Duncan, King of a certain kingdom in Scotland, relaxed on his throne feeling so sad and depressed about his condition. He thought to himself " I'm married to three wives, yet there's no child from any of them, be it a son or a daughter. For how long shall I be without the voice of a crying baby in my palace? I simply can't continue like this". He stood up from his throne, removed his crown and scratches his head " I must find a way to secretly adopt a male child sooner or later if worse comes to worst. I simply can't live to see no heir apparent to my throne." He sits back in his throne and remained in his thoughts. He has been told several times that he was the cause of his inability to impregnate his wives. He felt very sad and unhappy at this and would refuse to eat sometimes to show his grief.

One bright and cold winter morning, a strange looking sorceress came to visit the king from no where. She held in her right hand a magic wand and she had a long and pointed nose. Her eyes were as scary as hell and frightful to be seen. Her lips were painted red and her fingernails were very long and sharp. She knocked at the huge door to the palace and the guards attended to her. " Who do you seek? For I see no reason why the king will want to have a meeting with a sorceress" said the chief guard. "Son of man, I forbid you to deny me entrance to the palace because my message is of utmost importance to the king. Let me through at once!" She retorted. " I'm sorry but I don't think we can allow you in without you telling us the reason behind your quest to meet the king." He added. " I suggest you go and seek permission from your king to allow me in before deciding. Tell him that my message is of utmost importance to him." The sorceress had a mischievous look on her face and the guards didn't seem afraid or frightened by her appearance. They have been trained to be fearless. They once again asked about her mission and she told them that it was for king Duncan's ears alone. They asked her to wait while they go and seek the king's permission just as she's said before they can allow her come into the palace.

King Duncan was at first gobsmacked at the thought of a sorceress coming to visit him but he allowed her to come in. She went straight to the throne and asked for some privacy with the king. The king told his men to let them be. After the guards had left, king Duncan asked the sorceress to explain her mission. " I'm quite perplexed to behold a sorceress who has come from heaven knows where to come and deliver a message to me. Speak thus, for I'm all ears" said Duncan. He was full of excitement and inquisitiveness, seeing a sorceress standing before him to deliver a message to him. She glared at the king for sometime that made him begin to wonder what the message was all about. She was offered a seat by the king but she refused to sit down. She looked downwards and looked back again at Duncan then she began "oh great and powerful king Duncan, you shalt indeed have a child but it shalt be a daughter and not a son as thou halt desired. However, thy daughter shalt not be born by neither of thy wives but by a poor and mad widow who lives thus down the hills. Thy daughter shalt grow and become a beautiful princess and her mother will be cured of her illness. Thy daughter will become a renowned artiste and would fall in love with a stranger but you will not agree to their marriage which will lead to your death" she finally concluded.

After hearing this unbelievable and ridiculous prophesy by the sorceress, the king was mad with anger " How dare you! How dare you, you shameless old timer. You have the guts to stand before an all powerful king and utter these rubbish talks? I would rather die without a child of my own to succeed my throne than to impregnate a mad and dirty woman. Where did you come from? You had better leave my sight now or else, you will regret ever stepping a foot in my palace." He concluded in a rather harsh manner. "Oh Duncan, how mean and evil you are. Your wickedness and evil deeds have brought disaster to you that you can't have a child of your own to succeed your throne. The evil that men do surely lives after them and you will be a testimony to this fact in the future. Oh! How painful your death will be for the blood of those innocent lives you've taken in the past are crying for vengeance". The king couldn't take it anymore and his rage was as high as that of a hungry lion whose only meal has been eaten by another animal ."What nonsense!" Cried king Duncan. He called on his guards and ordered them to execute the sorceress at once and also bring her head to him so that he could confirm that she's really dead. " Execute her at once, bring me her head in a bowl and go to the hills in search of the mad widow and execute her too, so that this nonsensical prophesy won't come to pass" he said, looking at the sorceress with a grimace.

The guards made an attempt to grab the sorceress so that they could execute her but before they could, she turned around and disappeared from their midst, right in the presence of the king. The king and his guards were frightened at this. However, they still obeyed the king's command and they went to the hills in search of the mad widow that same day.