BloodLust

Chapter 2

As she steps out of her room and into the long labyrinth of halls she keeps reminding herself to keep her back straight and to breath in through her nose and out through her mouth. ‘Keep your composer’, she thinks to herself.

She knows the ways of the palace better than the back of her hand, probably because she never really bothered spending time just admiring her hand while she grew up roaming these walls. However, she still takes the time to admire the looks of the palace, the decoration and the design. If anyone had to put a look to it that would relate with the Lost World it would probably be Egyptian. They used a lot of creams and blues. The creams and beige helped making the place brighter and cooler because of the warm temperatures and the blues were from their great source of lapis lazuli and their mines in their land. For that reason, their family’s coat of arms was mostly blue. In fact it was adorned with a gold moon with a blue telescope to symbolize the importance of discovery and knowledge, right below it an armor, a symbol of bravery and a memory to all those lost in the past for their kingdom. In the center a gold tree, the Tree of Life, to represent Mother Nature and to honor her for letting human beings having a second chance after almost extinguish every son and daughter of hers, surrounding her on each side two blue unicorns, with gold wings and horns, to show the connection to animals and the magic of the world if we seek to believe in it. At the bottom, Nabyra’s favorite part, a banner that reads Humanity Pro Patria which means Humanity for Country a constant reminder of what they once lost and how much it cost them. The sacrifice of the constant reminder meant the blessing of a land, kingdoms, generations and a world. The whole coat of arms was then surrounded by branches and leaves of gold, another reminder of the richness that comes from nature.

You could see the same pattern of colors and movements in the palace architecture. As she made her way down the hallways she noticed the walls to be beige, and the massive windows to be surrounded by blue curtains of linen, a light fabric to avoid heat, lots of plants like dwarf palm trees and papyrus plants gave the floors a splash of green and then hanging from the 20 foot tall ceilings you would see long hanging crystal chandeliers with some hanging wicker baskets with cascading purple lobelias dangling by the walls opposite to the enormous windows. Soft, fuzzy blue, brown, and white mixed carpet rested below the princess’s bare feet and made her journey to the Throne room a lot more pleasant. In all, the place was eye-catching. Not that she has seen many palaces, in fact, any other palaces being this one the only one, but she could tell that this place was build to impress. But all that is good has to end.

After descending the main staircases of the palace she is finally on the lower level where the Throne room is located. The Royal Adviser guides her to the door, gives her a small bow and turns around to leave, leaving the princess astonished to say the least. This causes her to react and slightly touch his arm to halt him in his movements and call his attention back to her. Once their eyes have met again, she enquires him, “Are you not coming in?”

“I’m afraid Your Highness made it very splicit that you were to enter alone.”

“Does that mean you would not be able to follow after me? What if I request your presence in the meeting with the King?” She did not need him, she would be able to hand whaterver was coming her way. She just could not believe her ears and the fact that her dad wanted to have a one-on-one with her. She can not remember the last time she was with her dad all alone. He was always surrounded by counselors, advisors, servants, priests and even his people with request. Her dad was loving, she never doubted how much her dad loved her and her brothers, he just showed it in a different way that her mom did. In a way, the Royal Adviser was like an uncle to her, you knew he wanted the best for her and for her family and even her maids were like the sisters she never had, as despite them having to respect and follow her orders they were all so close that some gossip and feminine talk would often occur.

Her fake but very real uncle gives her a tender smile just before replying, “I’m afraid this time you will have to do this without me looking over her shoulder.” and she before partying he puts his calloused hand on her shoulder and says “Do not fear this, you are ready and I believe in you.” and he turns around and vanishes from her sight.

The words playing in her brain like drummers, a constant and loud reminder of what is to come. She straightens her back some more, raises her head and nods to the guards by the door as they open the door to the room. This one is empty with just guards standing outside all the doors of the room and just her dad sitting in the throne right in the back center of the room. With a move of the hand he instructs her forward and then waves at the guards, all of them, as in sync, close all doors and just like that, they are alone in silence.

“Nabyra.” Her dad and King Khut warmly calls her. You can see the warm in his eyes but the crease between his eyebrow, the circles under his eyes, the veins popping in his hands, the skin wrinkling in them, and the wrinkles from stress forming in his faces. His position remains the same until she gets so close to him she can almost touch him. He looked like the famous statue of the Thinker with a cheek resting on his fist, but as she crosses the throne room he stands up from his royal chair and embraces her. She rests her face next to his chest and indulges in this moment, hearing his heart beat as hers gets in sycn with his. Her father is tall to say the least, not just that but buffed too, he could be a scary man if it was not for the warming face he had that you know it would avoid hurting a fly unless it would hurt those he vowed to protect. In this hug she has a flashback of being a child, no more than seven, no younger than five and being like this in the throne room which she had just moments before played hide and seek with her dad behind the columns that decorated the room and made a straight pathway from the main door to the throne. A rare moment, but very cherished that now, she recalled, and in this embrace she feels like she is a child again, protected and safe in the arms of her father.