Princess Tarella And The Throne Of Avilah

Chapter 2

Queen Anne woke up in the night and just like most nights for the past six months, she saw the king seated on the bed and was seemingly lost in thought. The issue of their childlessness seems to trouble the king so much, and it is understandable while he is bothered. Not having an heir to the throne means he will lose the throne to his younger brother Prince Devy. In the first three years of their marriage when the queen was unable to conceive, the king was seemingly not bothered. But for the past two years, he was looking more troubled as the days went by. The queen was 30 years old, beautiful, slender with blond hair falling over her shoulders. She wore a white nightdress and her lovely fair skin looks so supple and spotless. Merely looking at her skin gives her away has royalty. She is a good-natured lady who loves the king unconditionally. She didn't marry the king five years ago because he is the King of Avilah but rather married him because she truly loves him. They have been married for five years without any child which is slowly affecting the mental health of the king.

She looked at the king as he sat on the bed looking so sad. At a point, he started mumbling to himself incoherently and the only thing the queen could make of what he was saying was that "I need an heir" which got her worried. The King has been acting like this in recent times.

"His Majesty, the King, why do you trouble yourself so much?" she asked.

"My Queen, are you the one asking me this question? Don't you know what it means if I lose the throne of Avilah to my brother?" he replied.

"Of course I know but I think you are troubling yourself too much. I fear it may affect your mental health and you may be declared unfit to rule the kingdom. In other words, you may still lose the throne if you allow this issue to weigh you down and degenerate any further than this," she said.

"I can't help it, my Queen, I desperately need an heir to the throne of Avilah. Five years is too much a time to wait for a child considering I am the king of Avilah. I have done everything possible to the extent of consulting sorcerers, wizards, and witches all in a bid to have a child and all of them told me to perform various types of rituals with some of them simply outrageous, but everything I did was up to no avail as we are still childless to date," he said sadly.

The queen looked the king over. He still looked very much the same way he was when they got married five years ago, even though he was 35 years old when they got married, and he is now 40 years old, he didn't seem to age a day. Her eyes moved from his dark glossy short hair, his handsome gentle looking face, to his muscular physique. Even though he was wearing a floor-length night robe, it did nothing to hide his impressive physique. One of the reasons she married the king was because of his good looks and not really because of the honor that would be bestowed on her as the Queen of Avilah for marrying the king.

"His Majesty, the King, I have seen how worried you have been lately, and to be honest with you, I am more bothered about your mental state than our issue of childlessness. I thought deeply about the whole issue and I think I can find a solution," she said.

"Really? You mean you can find a solution to our problem and give me an heir?" the king asked with enthusiasm as his face seem to brighten up.

"Yes, I guess I know the reason for our childlessness," she said.

"You do?" the king asked in surprise.

"Yes, I do, and that is why I want to seek your permission to visit my mother," she said.

"Visit your mother? What has your mother got to do with our childlessness?" he asked with a surprising look.

"Because I have been seeing you looking more troubled as the days went by, it got me bothered and I sat in my chamber one day pondering about our situation. Then I remembered when I was a little girl, my mother once told me how she had the problem of childlessness for three years, it troubled her so much that she sought various ways to have a child. In her desperation, she also consulted sorcerers, witches, and wizards," she narrated.

"So, what did she do before she gave birth to you?" the king asked.

"After visiting all of them and asked to perform several rituals, still the situation remained the same which made her grow more and more despondent. In her hopelessness and desperation, she remembered that her ancestors used to worship Zedena, goddess of the sea of Avilah but from some generation before her, they stopped worshipping her. It was said that the goddess gives children to childless women. She thought she could seek help from Zedena, the goddess of the sea of Avilah concerning her childlessness. She reasoned that that is her last hope," the queen said.

"Interesting. So, did she visit the goddess? And if I may ask, how did she visit an immortal and invisible being, or was it through a priest?" the king asked.

"According to her, she first visited the sea priest who is the intercessor between humans and the goddess of the sea of Avilah. The sea priest told her that she should be visiting the sea of Avilah at dawn for seven days consecutively and beseech the goddess for a child. He told her to perform some rituals but most importantly, she should get a white spotless male lamb not more than three months old on the seventh day and tie a red ribbon around its neck then throw it into the sea alive. She said she followed all the priest's instructions to the latter. For six days at dawn, she would go to the sea of Avilah and weep and beseech the goddess to give her a child, and for those six days, nothing happened. On the seventh day, she got the lamb and she was accompanied by my father to the sea of Avilah. My father helped her to carry the lamb as they went to the sea. When they got to the sea, my father tied a red ribbon around the neck of the lamb and gave it to my mother who threw it into the sea alive, and my father immediately left the shores of the sea and went home leaving my mother alone because according to the sea priest, any male that accompanies my mother must leave at once after the lamb has been thrown in the sea. After my father left, she said she started beseeching the sea goddess again and after a while, the goddess came out of the sea and told her that she has heard her cries and supplications and has accepted her sacrifice. She told my mother that she would give birth to a daughter in nine months and she should be named Annette. The goddess then told my mother that she should offer a white spotless male lamb in the sixth month of every year and her daughter should also continue with the ritual and so must every female in her generation continue with it annually forever. In the event, a male is born, the mother or any woman in the family's lineage must do the ritual on his behalf but a male is forbidden to perform the ritual. She said failure to do it could result in barrenness, infirmity, and untimely death in the family but as long her generation continues with the ritual, all will be well.

My mother said she discovered that she was pregnant after a month and she was overjoyed. Eventually, in the ninth month, she gave birth to me. She did according to what the goddess demanded by offering a white spotless male lamb in the sixth month of every year till I came to the palace. I witnessed some of the rituals she performed as I sometimes accompanied her to the sea throughout my growing years," she said.

"Does she still perform the ritual?" King Duncan asked.

"No, she doesn't anymore. She stopped performing the ritual when I got married to you. She advised me to continue with it before I came to the palace but unfortunately, I have not done it at all since I got married to you," she said.

"Are you trying to say that our childlessness may be due to you not continuing with the ritual?" he asked.

"Am afraid it could be and that is why I have decided to visit my mother as soon as possible to advise me on what to do. His Majesty, the King, I seek your permission to visit my mother," she said.

"You can see that I am desperate to have an heir to the throne of Avilah and I have visited several sorcerers, witches, and wizards all in a bid to have a child. If beseeching the sea goddess would give us a child, then I permit you at once to visit your mother," King Duncan said with enthusiasm.

"Thank you, His Majesty, the King. I believe after visiting my mother and following all her instructions, we would have a child who would be the heir to the throne of Avilah," she said.

"And so shall it be. May the gods of our land grant our heart's desire," the king enthused.

"Amen! His Majesty, the King. So, please, I implore you now to have some sleep," she said.

The King's countenance was seemingly different as he looked happy. He lied beside his wife and kissed her on her forehead.

"I will be very happy if I have an heir and somehow, I suddenly feel optimistic that we will soon have a child," he said with a smile as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. For the first time in years, King Duncan slept like a baby.