STEEL BORN

THE CUP

Princess Cara awoke late the following day, it was early afternoon and the last day of the harvest festival. Amand was standing at the foot of the bed chamber waiting on her.

“Good day, your highness… I hope you are well rested”.

“Yes, Amand where is Morinda?”

“I will get her at once”. He responded as he bowed and went in search of the Royal servant. Cara’s memory was flooded with all she had experienced last night, especially the handsome young man. She smiled as she remembered the way he stuttered, totally losing control around her. Her thoughts were interrupted by Morinda, “good day, my Princess… you look tired”, she said as she approached the bed. She helped the Princess out of the bed, “I have drawn your bath… you must bath and dine at once, your father demands your presence at the throne room this evening for the receiving of offerings”, she informed her.

“Did you see the young man I met last night, Morinda?”

“My Princess you met a lot of young men last night”,

“Yes… yes, I know. But there was one”, Morinda actually understood who she was talking about, but she decided to let her speak her mind. “He was so tall… his height had caught my attention when I looked down from the balcony… by the time I finally met him, I noticed he was taller than I thought. Oh, he was so handsome, Morinda”,

“Yes and he left with the cup I served him”, Morinda said amused. They were walking past the large clothing closet towards the wash room.

“Are you saying he stole a glass?”, the Princess questioned in shock.

“No… no, he must have forgotten he still had it when they left”. She responded.

“You are right, he was totally out of control… he is definitely not a thief”. The Princess said, her voice quivering with doubt.

“Yes, my Princess. He seemed a responsible young man”. Morinda responded trying to reassure her, she was filled with regrets.

“He was a commoner, Morinda”, Morinda was amazed and a little scared by the news, what would have happened had the Princess been harmed? She would have received most of the blame. "No wonder he took the cup", she silently thought.

“Did he say how he managed to come in here?”, she questioned.

“He was accompanied by a man of noble birth… I think his name was Du Pakins… yes, yes, Elias Du Pakins”, She had struggled to remember.

“Oh the rascally son of the Duke of Pakins”, Morinda said relieved.

“You know him?”

“Yes my Princess, castle Pakins is located on a large piece of land in the noble city… Elias is a rascal but a responsible one”. She undressed the relieved Princess who began descending into the large bath tub. There were female slaves standing n***d in the water, some were carrying trays filled with bathing materials for the Princess. “How I would love to see him again”, she murmured to herself. Morinda stood observing at the corner of the tub.

* * *

It was the custom that offerings are presented to the King to mark the end of every festival. It was a medium for the King to breech the gap between the throne and her subject. Bogina and his family were among the people on the queue. Santux hoped to see the Princess one more time.

“Next” , the man at the entrance to the throne room shouted. Santux lifted one of the medium sized barrels of wine to his shoulder, his father carried the second. They were accompanied by Maya who walked between them into the presence of the King. The room was large and rectangular, there were few people seated at a corner by the left of the hall observing. The throne area was at the far end of the room, it was elevated seven stairs above the ground. The King sat far within, he was flanked by the Princess. Their faces were obscured by golden rattling coverings flowing down from the roof, only their feet were clearly visible. A black man as huge as Santux stood by the end of the stairs, hands tucked beneath his robe. It was Kudo - a Royal eunuch. Bogina and his family set down their burden and bowed towards the throne, Santux deeped his hand in his pocket and produced the cup he had mistakenly taken with him last night and placed it on one of the barrels. They bowed again, turned around and left. Two slaves went over and carried away the barrels.

“Was that a smile on the face of the Princess?”, his mother who had been short enough to see properly under the rattling cover into the throne, questioned.

“How do I know? I couldn’t see anything behind that god forsaken veil”, the father responded. They were on their way back to Ludia. Maya watched the silent Santux out of the corner of her eyes, he was smiling lost in thought. He had seen, alright. Their morning had been filled with stories upon stories about the party and especially his meeting with the Princess. They had worried about the beautiful heavy glass cup he had brought with him, they had advised him to return it. “But mother Elias said it won’t be missed”, she had insisted he returned it as he did. There was a long journey before them.

* * *

Cara was seated on a stool beside her father, the way she had done on certain occasions when she had accompanied him to the throne room. Her feet was placed on a foot stool, it had been tiresome watching different people approach the foot of the throne without entertainment, but she understood her presence was important to her father, it was another method of learning. She could see the hall through the rattling golden covering, when the breeze coming from the big fans held by the slaves shook them. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the handsome young man entering the hall accompanied by a couple. From their appearance, she understood they were family. The little woman walking between the men was looking directly at her smiling, she blushed and looked away. She admired the ease with which the young man lifted the barrel from his shoulder, dropping it on the ground with no difficulty whatsoever. She was surprised to see him put his hand in his pocket, and smiled when she saw him place the cup on the barrel before him. She was greatly pleased, he had won her heart completely.

The King sat like a rock thinking about matters of the large Kingdom on his shoulders. He wished it wasn't necessary for Kudo to stand where he was receiving the the offerings. The King was dying of thirst, he decided that if the influx of visitors didn't cease, he would request for something to drink. This was one of the hardest parts of his duties - having to sit like a god for hours. He was certain his daughter wasn't having fun either, but this is one of the duties she must perform in her time, it was necessary that she began getting used to it. He watched the exceptional young man before the throne with interest, he compared him to his Kudo standing by the stairs. If Kudo hadn't been born and raised in the Royal city, he would have thought they were related. The men who become eunuchs are selected from children born by the palace slaves, they were separated from their mothers at the age of five and taken to the trainee. They were put under the knife when they were fully grown and ready to serve the Royal family. He was surprised at the shiny glass cup the young man placed on the barrel that must contain wine. The sight made him thirstier.

"I saw him again today", the Princess announced to Morinda during her nightly bath.

"Really?",

"Yes, he brought gifts to the throne room with his parents... He returned the cup", she added.

"That is wonderful", She wondered what sort of man would do that, a hundred glasses can disappear from the kitchens and no one would care, as a matter of fact, many had been broken during the party last night. Young children are uncontrollable, all the same, she was pleased.