War

"Not having a proper suitors selection process during my Coming of Age would invite war, no, that is not possible," I shook my head vehemently.

"But you already want to marry me, why waste everyone's time? Might as well invite them to attend our wedding," Jeff whined. I let my hands go from Jeff's grip.

"Oracle, can I cancel my own Coming of Age and not invite the wrath of the kingdoms, not starting a war?" I had to make sure.

"It is possible to do it peacefully, Your Majesty," the Oracle said.

"I told you so, Your Majesty," Jeff looked smug.

"I don't know... I am not sure if that is the best approach. How can we make sure no wars will be waged? The Kingdom of Opheum had been waiting for us to open our doors to them, they won't take this news lightly."

"Announce the wedding and extend the invitation for all of them to come. I shall send an entourage to formalize the Royal proposal," Jeff stated.

"Oracle, is this the best course for my kingdom?" I turned to look at that ageless beautiful face.

"I cannot say what is best for you or your kingdom, Your Majesty. The reason we choose to be born is to experience and exercise our free will. It is entirely up to you, Your Majesty," she said.

"Why not you ask her how many royal babies will we have, Your Majesty?" Jeff joked.

I blushed. The Oracle smiled.

"Will we have many royal babies?" I finally asked.

"Yes. And they will grow to be strong men and women, protecting the kingdom," came the answer.

I thanked the Oracle and proceeded to stand up and leave when she placed her right hand on my right hand. I felt a jolt of shock as light electrical currents passed through her to me.

She was sharing her visions with me and just with me alone.

I saw happy faces and laughing babies. Then the happy scenes turned red with swords and shields and armors. We were training our children, there were four of them, close in age. Then the war happened. It was inevitable, just delayed but could not be avoided. The war was long, it depleted the kingdom of our resources and we were at the mercy of Jeff's kingdom. His brother who became king bullied us and provided very outrageous terms of trade as he knew we were desperate for food for our people. No other kingdoms would help us as the jilted suitors who never had the opportunity to win my hand at marriage banded together to wage war against our kingdom. They waited 15 years to plan the entire war. And the war lasted 5 years.

At the end, we lost. We admitted defeat when we lost our future king, our heir and our firstborn son. He was only 19. Barely a man!

When I saw that we lost our eldest son in battle, I immediately broke down in tears as the Oracle continued her grip on my hand, not letting me pull my hand back. I knew she wanted me to see more, I had to see. Now I understood why my late mother the Queen would cry at the end of her meetings with the Oracle. Because I was there the Oracle only wanted my mother to know and see her vision. Hence she shared her vision only to the person the message was intended for. This time, the message was only intended for me.

As the suitors could not win my hand in marriage, they forced us to hand over our princesses to marry their sons. Our daughters were married off to form alliances with kingdoms that threatened us. As if losing our eldest son was not enough pain for us, our youngest son was maimed from the battle. He was crippled from waist down. Our elder daughter's husband took over the kingdom by force and locked our youngest son in the dungeon, keeping him barely alive.

It did not look good at all. No, this future looked bleak! It already broke my heart to see my unborn children suffer these horrible fate! How could I know all this and still make the same decision which would lead to their death and suffering, and their imminent misery?

I tried to see what happened to Jeff and me but it was not shown immediately. Maybe we died. I would rather die than live and know that our children suffer. Just then I saw a forest clearing with tall trees surrounding the area. I saw that Jeff had a wooden left leg and limped as he walked with an axe, dragging himself to cut woods for the fire. It seemed like we were in hiding in the woods, living a simple life in a small cottage. He was angry, resentful and very bitter. The former King and Queen were living in exile. We never saw our daughters or son ever again. How awful! We lost everything. He would ignore me and blamed fate everyday until the day he died.

I felt I was feeling very lonely and cried as tears fell down my cheeks again. I died of a broken heart. I broke contact with the Oracle. I had seen enough.

"What did you do to Her Majesty? Why is she crying?" Jeff looked accusingly at the Oracle.

I stopped sobbing and got up from my seat, raising my hand at Jeff, signaling to him that I was alright. Suddenly the room seemed not as mysterious anymore. I noticed the odd trinkets behind the Oracle and a brown dream catcher caught my attention. It was the same one that hung there the last time I visited with my late mother.

"Thank you for your time, Oracle," I dropped some gold ingots and precious gems on the table.

"I bid you goodbye and wishing you all the very best, Your Majesty," she said.

The Coming of Age Ceremony must not be cancelled. Jeff must prove his worth along with the rest of the suitors, fight them fair and square.