Rising from the Ash

KAIN i

She just spilled a bowl of medicine on me. I wasn't even angry for I was captivated by her eyes. They were so yellow with perfection. And those lips, I've never seen anything so succulent and pink. In that moment, I traced the contour of her face, her cheekbone and her bald hair that seemed to do this yellow skinned goddess more good than harm. I began to think about the things I could have done with her if she weren't a Ztafa. Why did she have to be a Ztafa?

Next came the punch from Olga, my trusted guard and best friend. That snapped me from my fantasy. She stumbled backwards and hit her head on the table. I had been so engrossed on her that I didn't notice I had stretched out my hands to catch her but missed. She began bleeding immediately she hit her head on the table.

I rushed to her immediately and applied pressure on her wound. I don't know why I did that, sympathy? No. I've been directing the hard labour of the Ztafas since I was sixteen years old and not once have I felt an ounce of sympathy for them. But why did I feel this way about her? As I applied pressure, Olga shook my shoulder and pulled me away from the girl. My grandmother stood up as well, alarmed and disappointed by what I was doing. 

"Guard! Send for the doctor at once!" I shouted to the guard at the door. 

"No. Send for Zelda the Ztafa. I won't have the royal doctor touching this-thing and examining me with the same hands."

My grandmother told the guard who dashed out of the room. I now stood watching the unconscious beauty bleed out. After what felt like forever, the guard arrived with a young,skinny girl who gasped when she saw the unconscious. I guessed they might be well acquainted for the Ztafa almost shed tears for the state of her "friend".

"Take her away."

Grandma said to the girl. She walked closer and tried pulling the other lady up but she wasn't strong enough. I was moved again to help but I restrained myself this time. I called to the guard to help the girl. He obeyed and in about five minutes, maids came in and all of the blood was cleaned off and the room was back to normal. I sat down and looked at my grandmother who didn't take her eyes off me. Olga sat down as well but grandma sent him out, saying she had to speak with me alone. 

'This is not good'. I thought.

After Olga had left, grandma cleared her throat. 

"I guess you know why I sent for you Kain." she said to me. 

"You send for me for a lot of reasons grandma. I'm kinda confused which one this is about." I said to her. 

She sighed and handed me an apple from the fruits that was brought to her earlier. I took it and started eating. Whenever she hands me an apple,I knew what was coming next.

"Kain, in six months time, you'll be Thirty years old."

Yup. This is exactly what I was expecting.

"I want to you to get married Kain. Tradition demands you to be married On or before thirty Otherwise you'll loose your status as the crowned prince."

"Grandma, we've gone over this before. I'm searching for her. I am, truly."

"You're the future king and you don't need to search. What about Councillor Jane's daughter?"

"Cara? No! She's horrible."

"She wasn't when you were removing her clothes."

I shot grandma a quick look and she shrugged. It appears she had seen us getting dirty at the garden a few days back.

"I like her. You should work on that."

"Grandma...'

"I do not want excuses. At you age, your father already had you. Your mother was a good woman and I choosed for my son the same way I'm choosing for you. Make it work."

The last part was more of an order than a request. Grandma was one who never took no for an answer. I loved her for how she raised my sister and I and I promised not to hurt her in any way. But Cara? I was wondering how I'll build a home with her. She was a beautiful, sweet girl but she was too clingy and immature in the head. She was easily offended and her anger issues was another story. But if grandma liked her, I had to like her also. 

"Alright grand. I'll send for her and discuss It with her."

Grandma smilled.

"Of course you will. Now be careful how you associate yourself with the Ztafas. I'll pretend I didn't see what I saw today but should it happen again, your grandfather will hear about it. I'll have to pay the guard off for his silence and I know Olga can be trusted."

"Yes ma'am."

I said and stood to leave. I guess I had some cleaning up to do. I bowed to her and left the room to meet Olga waiting outside. We began walking in silence as we marched out of the queen's quarters. I could see Olga sending me looks and when I couldn't handle it anymore, I looked at him and frowned. 

"Whatever you're thinking, stop thinking it."

"If I didn't know you I'd say you showed some affection for that Ztafa earlier. Why?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

I lied and in that moment, I had a vision. In the next few seconds, someone will attempt to s***h my head off. I'm a seer and is one of the reasons why the assassination on my grandfather's life wasn't successful. Growing up, I thought I was maybe a Ztafa but I didn't have dreadlocks and I soon got to know that there's more to Ztafas being the only ones with extra senses. Although I didn't forsee my parent's death, Grandfather made good use of my foresight in dealing with state matters which proved tricky to him. I stopped and dived, creating a space for my attacker to fall into my trap. Somehow, they changed course also but I grabbed hold of the knife and flung the attacker over my shoulder. The attacker stood unhurt and turned to me. It was my younger sister Eva. It wasn't the first time she's done that and although she claims its to sharpen my senses, I felt like she really wanted me dead. She blamed me for our parent's death,saying I couldn't help my father. But a year after our mother died, she said she'd forgiven me. 

"Eva! What do you think you're doing?" I yelled at her. 

"Again." Olga added quietly and sheathed his sword. 

Eva smiled and sent Olga her usual flirtatious look. 

"What's this I'm hearing about you helping a Ztafa?"

How did she know this? I looked at Olga who send me a 'I didn't tell her look'. 

"I overhead you guys."

"You heard wrong. And do not surprise me next time. You may be one of the best archers in the kingdom but you're not impervious to harm. Besides, you should be thinking of how to get married."

"Guess we have a thing for being single. Besides, I'm just twenty three. I still have two years before my royal obligation becomes dire. Take care brother."

Eva smiled again and headed for grandma's room. I hate it when she smiles like that. She was a three headed snake I feared a lot. Olga and I continued walking our way as I kept thinking of cara and my impending wedding. 

It was going to be a disaster. I just knew it. But what of that Ztafa? How was she doing? My mind wandered again.