Blade and blood

chapter 3b

"Princess, your bath is ready." Sunya quailed as she entered the bed-chamber. She looked at her princess, admiring the curves of her body which could be seen through her translucent white tunic.

The princess was admiring herself in the mirror. She turned back at Sunya. Sunya was a sixteen-year-old girl, with long beautiful dry green hair almost touching her hips. Behind her, another girl stood at the entrance of the tub room.

"Princess Seola," Sunya called her, "it seems that you were daydreaming." Sunya chuckled at the thought.

A soft but lusty smile appeared between Seola's lips. "No, I was not daydreaming. I was just thinking about my dream," Seola retorted.

"Oh, your beautiful dream, a blue-eyed prince riding on a white destrier." Sunya closed her eyes as she was trying to imagine the dream. "You will soon find him, princess. I hope Prince Aada has blue eyes." Sunya gave her hope.

Since the day she flowered, Seola had been dreaming the same dream in the darkness under the moons. She looks at the twin moons, Hoghra and Treya, as the story says so, and dreams of him. She never got a clear glimpse of his face. All she could see was his blue eyes staring with love at her. He was mounted on a destrier as white as snow. He was riding on the red sands of Barrended. Red dust was flying away behind him as he rode his horse forward. The man had a black fabric that masked his face.

A girl was standing in the middle of the sterile land, sand slipping away beneath her feet. Tsaush was fierce above her head and the heat was too much for her. From the appearance, Seola could say that the girl was her. She was standing there, alone and lost, tired and thirsty. Her fabric was covered with mud and blood. The red sands underneath her were further reddened by blood. Barrended felt like a battlefield post-war. She couldn't see any bodies but blood everywhere.

The girl waited and waited, but it seemed like an eternity. He wasn't reaching her. Then she saw the sands behind him rising. Sandstorm! Her heart thumped fast in her breast. She wanted to warn him, but no voice escaped her throat. She raised her hand, pointing behind him.

When he was so close to her, she saw his blue eyes, glittering like precious stones. He was tall and handsome and fierce. She could tell that. The sandstorm was almost behind him. Before he could grab her stretched hand, a sandstorm covered them.

And Seola wakes up from her dream.

Princess Seola is seventeen. Her hair was auburn, long but not as long as Sunya's. Sunya loved the princess's reddish-brown hair with golden ends more than her darkish-green hair. Her hair felt silky smooth while Sunya had thick and rough and dry hair.

Seola had purple eyes and a mark of a crescent moon on her right iris. It was her mother who said the mark was a crescent. Everyone believed she was the incarnation of Hoghra as she was as beautiful as the moon goddess. Hoghra is said to have purple eyes.

Sunya ambled towards the princess. Asya walked towards the door of the bed-chamber. She locked the door so that no one would come inside.

Seola's tunic slipped down, revealing the beauty of her tender body.

She is really a goddess, Sunya thought, as she would every time she saw the princess bare. Her small breasts were round and well in shape. Her lips were pink, and they trembled for a kiss. Her reddish-brown hair flew in the air as a mid-sun breeze came through the open window. Her curves were gorgeously crafted by the gods.

"Prince Aada would love you," Asya said. She was walking towards the princess after locking the door.

Sunya was caressing the soft skin of the princess. Her hand moved up on her hands and rested on her soft breasts. The touch made Seola's n*****s hard. A soft moan escaped Seola’s mouth.

"You were really thinking about him, the prince of your dreams," Sunya commented. "Was there anything more that you saw?"

Seola shook her head. "No, I woke up." She was disappointed. She wished to see the dream forward, expecting to be in his arms and surrendering to his might. She tried to imagine further but she could not. Is Prince Aada the man in her dreams? She was not certain. She hasn't seen him.

Seola’s beauty has become a topic of discussion not just in her kingdom but also in neighboring kingdoms. Many suitors from the other four kingdoms came to Hroshala to see her and her exquisite beauty.

The king of Hroshala, Shautila, was not impressed with the number of suitors. He decided to test them. He put forward a criterion, the first of which was that her groom should not be aged more than twenty-five. The second, he should be from a royal family. Members from many rich and noble families, merchants, commanders of the army had to return without even having a glimpse of the princess. In the end, only six men remained.

The new king of Magandry, Oshura, stood first among them. His father, the previous king of Magandry, had an untimely demise which paved the way for Oshura to the throne. He was twenty-four. He was red-eyed, with short curly golden hair, and always had a grim look on his face. He moved like a cunning fox. It is said that he poisoned his father to claim the throne. After seven days of mourning, Oshura only accepted to have seven days instead of the customary ten. He proclaimed himself as the king. The king had no other sons who had a claim to the throne. Three elder sons of the king were dead in mysterious circumstances and the youngest, Oshura, was the only heir to the throne.

Both princes of Persara; Falx and Sholx, were also among them. They were handsome as well. Two princes from Tistara also passed the first criteria.

But when the prince of Voreshius came, the princes of Persara and Tistara decided to take their leave. Prince Aada is the firstborn to king Skar, the king of Voreshius. He was nineteen and was known for his heroics and striking features. The ‘Starborn’, they called him, as a new star was seen in the night sky when he was born. The star was brighter and bigger than the others.

King Shautila wanted to test their bravery, combat skills, and knowledge along with wisdom. Aada passed every test and fared far better than his counterpart.

The king of Hroshala, Shautila, decided that Aada would be his daughter’s husband.

Aada was allowed to admire the beauty of Seola from the garden, yet they were not formally introduced to each other. Aada and Shautila agreed to their formal meeting and the betrothal should be done in the presence of the parents of both.

Seola wished to see him once, at least, because she wanted to know if he was the unknown man in her dreams. Those blue eyes haunted her. Her father said nothing about the prince. He wanted to give her a surprise, yet he promised that she would definitely like him. He made her wait.

Her maids, Sunya and Asya bribed some of the men who were present in the courtyard but none of them said anything. The king gave them strict orders to keep the details secret from the princess. He wanted to see the bliss in her face when she saw the prince.

Sunya and Asya walked Seola to the bath where rose water was filled along with scented oils.

“Have you ever seen such a dream?” Seola asked her maids.

“No princess, never.” Both of them replied in unison.

“Dreams are for princesses. We never dare to dream.” Asya added.

Sunya was married to a soldier three months back. He gave her mother ten silver and one gold coin to earn her hand. He is under the command of Gord and on the way to Blue Hills or Devilsearth beyond Blackwoods at the foot of the Korostary Mountains. She bids him with a kiss so that he wins the battle and comes back victorious to her arms. She will miss his scent and the warmth of his embrace and the fun he gives her every night. Until he is back, Sunya will remain beside the princess with Asya.

Asya is yet to be married, but she had her suitor, a boy who works under a blacksmith. He is busy making blades and sharpening the weapons. The boy is earning coins to earn her hand.

Seola descended the steps into the stone bath. The bath was rectangular and made of stone. The water was cold. The aroma of the oils filled their nostrils.

Sunya and Asya removed their clothes and stepped into the bath behind the princess. They scrubbed her body gently as Seola lay down on her back with her head kept above the water.

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