CITADEL

            Upon the hills of Orion, I stood in silence, wondering where exactly my life was headed. As I watched the sun set on the horizon of the land of the Ediba tribe, I heard a gentle whisper from behind, “I knew I would find you here.” I turned at once and realized it was Arletta, one of the few friends I had been blessed with while with those of the Ediba tribe.             Looking right into those dazzling eyes, I asked, “Did you need me for anything?” She responded, “Why don’t you walk me to the hill top.” Without another word, I got a hold of her right hand and leisurely walked her up to the summit of the hill. On arrival we sat upon the rocky hill amid the fading light of day and listened to the song of the birds. Arletta then said to me, “You are a mystery Tej; you showed up out of nowhere and stole my heart as you willingly took on our way of life. Sad to say I’d be leaving soon but I don’t want to depart this life without knowing the road that led you here.” A part of me understood the deep meaning of the words she had just whispered so softly but I was in denial, so I began to tell the tale of my long strife; the very one that drove me from the motherland. It all began on a Tuesday, exactly ten years after my mother’s sudden disappearance. I was still in disbelief the last thing she did was help me blow the candles on my fourth birthday. While many in Citadel had long accepted her death, a part of me strongly doubted she was gone for good. That little doubt became a glimmer of hope within, and for once I felt like I needed to abandon my life and go out in search for her. I owed that to her; it was the one thing I felt I needed to do to let her know she was worth more than the world to me. Once I made it out the front door that morning, I saw my older brother Phil rushing home on his horse. When we caught up to each other, he said, “Jump on brother! Our governor Yves II sent for you.” Without saying another word, I jumped on the horse, and like a shot through the wind, we headed to the far north east of Citadel to the home of our governor, the ultimate authority of our kingdom. All of Citadel was bathed in the lush greens that came with the shine and warmth of summer. With eyes drifting hither and there as I looked upon the vast array of monuments that kept the institutions of our land, it seemed like we made it to the governor’s home in a flash. Once we arrived, the governor Yves II and wife Naomi met us with the warm embrace and holy kiss, as was normative in our kingdom. I then said to my governor, “Honored as I may be to be called on by the governor, I cannot help but wonder what you have in mind.” He rejoined, “I see a brave leader hidden in you, and as the father of the land it seems prudent I take you on my pivotal journey to the valleys of Migdol in lands to the far north of Citadel.” In that moment, I was torn between the two; leave home in search for mother or head out with my governor. That brief moment of silent contemplation was nonetheless met by the ever-nearing sound of loud camels. All four of us turned at once and noticed two men approaching; one completely bald, dark and muscular while the other was covered in a fluffy silver cloak. Soon after the two men arrived, the bald fellow fell at the feet of our governor in tears and said, “I had nothing to do with this; I am only a messenger.” It was then that the sack of load on his camel also came tumbling down and spilled open. I couldn’t believe my eyes; my heart just couldn’t stop pounding at the sight I beheld. In fact, none of us could believe when we saw the sorrowful sight of the dismembered body of one of our own, Maya, niece to our governor and his wife. While Naomi and I knelt by Maya’s bloody remains, Yves II took in a deep breath and looked up to the heavens. He then said to the messenger balling at his feet, “Who in Perseus did this to my girl?” At that point, Nabeel, the old man in the cloak took off his pointy wizard like hat and stepped off his camel. He then said to Yves II, “Perseus now has an oligarch that will stand up to you. Maya’s death is merely a subtle way of telling Citadel to surrender soul and everything that belongs in your great land. Do so peacefully or Tarsus our oligarch would compel you to do so forcefully.” It was such an intense moment of sorrow and complete doubt for all of us, despite the lifeless remains staring us right in the face.  Much to our shock, the old man wore the hat again and got on his camel. “Get up, let us go!” he yelled at the messenger at the feet of our governor. Ali the messenger then cried, “Can we at least show some respect to the governor of the highest kingdom?” Seconds later, Nabeel took off and faded into thin air before our very eyes. Though I couldn’t believe what just happened, I immediately helped Ali off the ground. Naomi then said, “Son, I see and understand what those tears mean; dry your eyes. We would not take your life just to make a statement to your oligarch.” Before he could say a word nonetheless, Yves II asked, “What on Gods green earth just happened in Perseus?” Ali responded, “It all happened like a sudden flash of lightning. It seems like the past six months have somehow plunged Perseus, your neighboring kingdom to the south into an abyss and somehow the masses take delight in all that is happening.” “Just cut to the chase friend!” I whispered.  Ali then said, “Tarsus from the tribe of Athena somehow rose to prominence with a huge following, spreading the lie Luke our monarch was weak and had allowed Citadel to go scot free after all the evil done to Perseus. Before long, Luke was murdered and the monarchy swept away as Tarsus gained power over the entire kingdom.” After those words, I noticed tears trickling down my governor’s cheeks, but he quickly wiped them away, forcing back tears into his eyes as he gazed at Maya’s remains. He shook his head and whispered to the winds, “Maya, I know you can here me; my heart bleeds I wasn’t there to save you. I will nonetheless see to it that Citadel honors you and brings to book the fellow who did this to you.”             Phil then said to us, “What do we do now? It is clear that Tarsus wants us to bow down to him and let go of everything life has blessed us with. I am worried and fearful a battle may ensue. I don’t think Citadel is prepared for battle if it came to that.” I then turned to Yves II and asked, “What do you say governor?” Following a sigh, he walked off as one who knew not what to do or say. I then said to the others, “This shouldn’t be a problem. I am confident a simple dialogue would resolve our differences with Tarsus and Perseus as a whole.”             By noon the following day, Maya’s remains had been cremated and despite the grief in our hearts, the real worry was our fate as a kingdom in the days to come. Together with Adam, former General of Citadel’s army we headed over to the governor’s home from the crematorium. Such a bitter silence was with us while at the dinner table.             Nonetheless, it all changed in a twinkle of an eye; Yves II rose to his feet and said, “I must head over to Perseus at once to face Tarsus. To doubt in the strength and blessing our great kings of the past handed to me once I became governor is to betray my throne. Whatever Tarsus wants from us, he will not get as surely as I live.”             In that moment, our former General Adam also rose to his feet and said, “I have spent a lot of time in Perseus, and I know who this Tarsus fellow is. I’d go with you, just to be on the safe side.” “Okay gentle giant.” responded my governor, understandably so because Adam stood at almost eight feet and was as calm and collected as one could ever imagine.             Moments later, Tamar, Maya’s eighteen-year-old younger sister broke into the governor’s living room and said to Yves II, “Take me with you to Perseus; my sister came to me and asked me to join you in the journey to Perseus.” In that same instant, Yves II said to Phil and Naomi, “I must head out now, together with Tej, Adam, Tamar and Ali! There is work I must take care off.”             When the light of the moon is all the night could offer, we took off on our horses, totally unarmed as we headed far south of Citadel. It was all calm and peaceful as we journeyed along. Although the day had unexpectedly put me on the road to Perseus, it was coincidentally the very road I felt I had to take in my quest to find my mother. Somehow, I’d adorned a robe of baseless certainty and believed finding my mother was just a matter of time.             By midnight Tamar asked, “May we stop somewhere just to pass the night; I am beyond weary.” Yves II then said, “My daughter, you must learn to endure not only the storms but even the attack of the lions while on life’s journey. There is no time to spare; there will surely be rest once the aim is achieved.”             That said, we continued through the vast prairie lands of the far south of Citadel, where very few uninhabited cobblestone mansions stood in a widely disseminated manner. Along the way Adam said to us, “I have warned many in Citadel the time will come where we would unwillingly have to battle Perseus, our neighbor to the south. Undoubtedly, we are not prepared for battle.” Yves II responded, “Trust me Adam, our journey would yield nothing but a peaceful solution.”             Thankfully the journey landed us at a crossroads close enough to a seemingly abandoned property. It had transparent windows covered in dust and a part of the roof of the two-story concrete building had caved in. Ali then asked, “Governor, may we at least head into that home in hopes we would find water and rest? We have been on the road for over twenty-four hours at this point.” At that I rejoined, “Surely wouldn’t be a bad idea because I am certain like me, all of us are overwhelmingly exhausted.” Following a moment of thought, Yves II responded, “Lets head in then; its dark and I think we all deserve rest before finally arriving in Perseus. With the door to the home slightly propped open, we walked in and straight away sat in the dark with backs to the walls. Like a mere joke, each and every one of us dozed off moments later. Soon after that, I began to hear, “Fools!” from afar. I roused immediately and remembered I wasn’t home. Strange as it seemed, I felt drenched in gasoline even as the rest were still snoring. “Wake up!” I yelled, adding “Something strange is happening!” My voice echoed loud enough to wake all the others. I then maneuvered my way around the house for a while, feeling my way up and down till I accidentally flipped on a light switch. To our utmost surprise, Ali the messenger was standing at the door with Nabeel, the old wizard from Perseus. As I looked round in surprise, I realized Nabeel had poured gasoline all around, and what was in the making was written on the walls. Ali then looked at us with a cheeky grin and said, “Wake up from your slumber fools!” Before any of us could say or do a thing, Nabeel lit a match and dropped it on the gasoline-drenched wooden floor. “No!” yelled Tamar as Nabeel and Ali disappeared, leaving us to face the inferno at hand. Adam and I then darted to the door, hoping to break through at once and free ourselves from the brewing inferno. A deep sense of panic began to set in when we realized the door was locked. As we tried to break it down, the fire spread all across within seconds, sending Yves II and Tamar up the flight of stairs. Amid futile efforts to push down the door with bare hands as an inferno took over the entire house, I said to Adam, “Follow me upstairs!” The journey up was literally a race against fire. By the time we made it up, I’d sustained a few burns. I looked all around me and realized how tall the flames had become, putting us at the crossroads between life and death. With nothing to lose at the end of the day, I found a glass window and yelled, “Look! Let us break through that window before its too late.” At that Yves II rushed and broke through the glass window, sending him out and down face first. The remainder of us followed along without any hesitation; we never sustained any glass cuts though. Once out we got back on horses and rode off before a complete collapse of the building could occur. Before long, we made it far off into a nearby barley field. We were no longer in harms way so I looked back and saw the flames and smoke from the inferno we had just escaped. I then said to the others, “I am glad we survived; today could have given us to the fire and our dreams to the abyss.” Following a deep sigh of relief, Tamar whispered, “I am not sure time would ever take away the pain of losing Maya in such a gruesome way. It helps nonetheless that she was laid to rest by the very people she loved the most. Tarsus would never get away with his evil schemes; one way or the other life would entangle him in his own web.” Yves II rejoined, “Oh yes, my child! The wicked may get away with a lot but in the end, they taste the vile nature of their own wine. I have seen that many times even through my reign as governor.” Moments later Yves II continued, “Adam, I fear the brewing battle you kept pointing to is lurking behind closed doors.” At that I said, “The dark of night is still upon us. Though we found nothing but danger in the home Ali lured us into, we surely can find rest here in the open, where the wind and stars would keep watch over us.” Once they all nodded in agreement, we got off our horses once again and laid carefree like children in the field. As we gazed at the stars, my only prayer that night was that our journey to Perseus wouldn’t turn out futile.