REJECTED SAVIOUR

NINE

FIRE-CITY 

★ ★ ★

King Bawka and his wife were seated beautifully in the great throne room when Molape, the palace announcer walked in with a message for the king.

They were both dressed expensively in their regalia and Queen Ashti, being the beautiful woman that she was, had a small smile on her face. Her features were soft and her hazel eyes, just like that of her daughter was adorned with green flecks. Her long black hair was braided and decorated heavily with beads of all sorts. She was a beauty to behold and it was obvious Lizvy had inherited her beauty from her.

"Your Majesty," he began after he had done obeisance to the king. "the princess seeks your audience. She said she has something important to tell you."

The upper lip of the King Bawka tweaked but he replied, even without sparing the palace announcer a glance,

"Let her in."   

The old man nodded with his head still bowed, and slowly he made his way out only for the princess to walk in with her maids following closely behind.

The Queen who had been sitting beside the king rose to her feet at the sight of her daughter. A gasp escaped her lips and she gestured to close the distance between herself and her daughter but the king stretched out his hand and held her back. She turned to look at him and seeing the words in his eyes, she reluctantly sat back on her chair, her eyes beginning to water

The princess looked a mess and her parents wondered why. Her hazel eyes which had once glistened with the green flecks adorning them were now swollen and quite red. Her once braided hair was loosed and it looked like it had not been combed for years. She looked pathetic even in her flowering dress and the heart of her mother ached greatly.

The princess on the other hand kept whispering prayers to the fire- god that all these were a dream and she would not be getting married to anyone. She prayed quietly that her father grants her claims and everything falls into place.

As she approached the throne, she tried maintaining eye contact with her father whose bloodshot eyes were stern and unfriendly. She assured herself that he was still her father and so should not be so frightened of him.

The king who was dressed in dressed expensively in red and yellow regalia, waited patiently for his daughter to get to him. He adjusted himself on the high throne which was so gracefully adorned with gold and bronze. The chair's headrest was carved in the shape of a lion's head and it shone beautifully under the numerous candles used to illuminate the throne room. The throne of the queen which was beside that of the King's was a bit lower and smaller in size but beautiful all the same. It was made of bronze and the headrest was carved in the shape of an eagle.

The King's palace, though old, was a very huge building whose walls were decorated with beads and flowers of all sorts. Various portraits of the Fire-god and the past kings graced the throne room. Four bulky guards stood by the entrance of the throne room while four fanned both the king and the queen; other guards stood at strategic places in the palace.

By the left side of the room, stood ten maids specially appointed to walk with the queen. They all stood with their heads bowed, waiting patiently to accompany the queen to her room.

The Princess finally got to the throne of her father and before him, she fell to the ground, her dress spread around her. With her head bowed she said,

"Father, I don't want to marry Morudin, the son of Pi Dogla."

Silence pervaded the room as nothing but gasps filled the air at the princess's unexpected words and for a moment, the king remained quiet, his hard unsmiling face not moving an inch.

The queen glanced at him in anxiety while the princess raised her head to gauge his reaction.

"And why? If I may ask." King Bawka finally spoke in his deep menacing voice and the princess tried not to shiver. She had to be strong and could not afford to give up now.

"I don't love him." She replied in a clear voice, refusing to look away from her father's hard stare.

King Bawka let out a laugh then which sounded like a roar and the princess flinched. She had said nothing funny to provoke his laughter and was therefore confused by her father's behaviour.

"I honestly don't know what you want, Lizvy." All smile vanished from his face when he began speaking and a glare took over. "Many wealthy princes had come to ask for your hands in marriage but you did nothing but reject them all. After thorough thinking, I fell to this conclusion that you didn't want to marry a prince so I organised this contest for every man to participate: both rich and poor, slave or free. I stooped this low to please you because that is a very absurd thing to do, but I did it for you, to make you happy. I organised that contest so you can find a man that is willing to go to the extreme for you, a person who with the ability to endure for you, who will protect you when I'm gone and honestly, Morudin, the son of Pi Dogla had shown me he has what he takes." He proclaimed and then his eyes narrowed, "But here you are saying you don't want to marry him. Who then do you want to marry?" He looked at her intently like he needed a reply but when she opened her mouth to reply to him, he spoke again.

"I have given my words and I will not alter it. I'm a man of my word so in two days, you will be getting married to Morudin. Prepare!" He thundered and the heart of the princess sank.

"But I do not love him, father." She choked in tears.

"Of course you don't. There's no one you love but yourself. You don't even love your parents because if you did, you would have saved us from all this humiliation and married a prince. Where have you heard that a princess like you gets married to a commoner? Where?"

"I do love you both but you should know that I need to marry for love." Princess Lizvy tried to make her father see reasons with her but the old man shook his head vehemently.

"And since you don't love any man, what do we do? Wait a little longer? You're not getting any younger."

"I do love a man," she blurted out in frustration and the eye's of her parents widened in shock.

"Are you being serious?" The queen who had been quiet ever since the conversation began, asked.

"Where is that man?" The king asked, passing the queen a look and she looked away, "Did he sign in for the contest?"

"No, he didn't." Princess Lizvy lowered her eyes, hating herself for stopping Carim from participating. All these were her fault and she wished she could turn back the hands of time. She could have just listened to him and let him go. Why hadn't she? Her father was just so impossible to predict and she found herself hating him a little.  

"Why? Was he scared?" The King's couch was laced with mockery and the princess's head snapped up at that, a deep frown marring her small face. Her mouth parted to speak but the king was shutting her up again, "I'm sorry, Lizvy but such a man does not deserve you. How could he stay back when his mates were competing? It shows he is a coward and no coward would get married to my daughter. Never!"

"He is not a coward," the princess's voice was strained with agony. "I asked him to. I didn't want him getting hurt." A tear slipped from her eyes to her already wet cheek.

The king paused at that, eying her intently, before asking,

"So what are you insinuating?"

"Father," the princess was quick to say, " since you've agreed for me to marry a commoner, can't I marry the one I love and care about?"

"Then what happens with Morudin?" Her father pressed on and the princess sighed.

"We can indemnify him," she suggested but the king shook his head in anger.

"No! Never!" He stood to his feet to everyone's alarm and the queen tried to hold him by the wrist, but he pulled his hand away. Hitting his chest provocatively, he pronounced, "I, King Bawka will never alter my words. I don't care about the coward you love. I stooped this low to organise a contest and I gave equal opportunity to everyone. Your lover chose to stay back. It is his fault, not mine." His voice was low and filled with fury and anyone in their right senses would know it was time to stop, but the princess was already going insane by the adamant and unyielding attitude of her father. Shouldn't he be putting the happiness of his daughter first and not his stupid words?

"Father, please. I love - "

"Leave at once," he cut her short, "Get out of my sight this instance." He thundered, his eyes flaming up and his pupil transforming into liquid fire. Smoke was beginning to ooze out from his flaring nostrils and his body could be seen emitting steams.