To the West

Alejandro worked hard to build the most beautiful palace in the world, and he succeeded. If, at first, he worked to forget his pain, after a few years of living with Zaelia, he began to appreciate her. He liked her determination. She was admired by all for her strong will, and her golden eyes were resplendent. The tribe didn't have a culture of slavery, and Alejandro had the same advantages as any other member of the tribe; in the end, she treated him with the same respect as anyone else. Xzander made sure the young man lacked for nothing. Even if the circumstances of his arrival had been traumatic, Alejandro couldn't deny that the tribe had accepted him as a full-fledged member, and he felt quite at home there.

He made for her a palace of five hundred rooms. All more glorious, one than another. The golden columns framed the long and large corridors. 

The entrance was not a closed room, the throne was placed at the top of the stairs, allowing Zaelia to watch her Kingdom prosper. All around were the different sections of the palace. Behind her, Alejandro created a magnificent garden, even being in the middle of the desert. He managed to create a full ecosystem and grew fruit trees like they never had before. Zaelia had the luxury to taste apples for the first time in her life there, and she loved them. Alejandro made a full fifty-meter square of apple trees. The palace also had baths, the architect loved this challenge, he had to admit that building this palace in the desert was thrilling, he imagined large pools of gold with clear and always fresh water, he imagined them with a cherry tree losing pink petals. He did it. The place was poetic and beautiful. It was a resting place, deeply peaceful.

Alejandro still wanted to do something in memory of his village's dead. He secretly built a temple in Tridjan's name. It was his passive resistance against his oppressor. Zaelia would never have forgiven him for this affront; there was nothing worse for her than a temple in honor of another god, let alone in the golden palace of Archanium. 

When Xzander learned of the hidden temple's existence, he understood its importance to Alejandro, and Xzander chose to say nothing. He became an ally to the architect and someone he could trust.

He made a bedroom like no other for Zaelia. The bed was covered in silk fabric and the large window had the most beautiful view over the city. Anyone watching through this window would feel as powerful as a god. Zaelia was content with his talent. She was a cruel queen and a ruler, but she knew how to respect people who served her, and Alejandro understood it. 

Once he finished the palace, she freed him, and it is a free man that he decided to stay. There was no one left in his village, his legacy would be there with her. He decided to help her to build more and more beautiful buildings. The full city was unmatched in the world. The rumor spread about the wonderful golden city and people from everywhere came to live there. The original members of her tribe were living in the palace next to her, but soon they mixed with the newcomers.

This society was living all together in peace inside the walls, in the glory of Archanium and everyone was having the most devotion to the Sun god. That was what truly mattered. 

The raids stopped and with the number they were now, they became a powerful army. Zaelia learned with Alejandro how to read, and she started to have a growing interest in the history of battles of the world. She was smart, she was learning, she was in constant evolution, and she became a true tactician, a warlord who led her men to victory in great grand battles. 

Alejandro met his wife, and as Xzander did, he eventually had children on his own in the city he built for Zaelia.

Time flew and Zaelia was the fierce warrior leader she always was deep inside, she was watching everyone around her having families, and she remained alone, leader of the tribe that became a city. 

Ten years passed. Around her, nothing was looking like what she knew in her childhood. She succeeded where the elders have failed. She transformed her little tribe into the powerful nation they were meant to be. In the middle of the desert, in the glory of Archanium, in his light and for his love. 

She became the Queen of the Sun. She was feared and her name was enough to scare the children in their bed to make them behave. Once her army was big enough, Zaelia decided to invade the West, the territory where she saw the first temple of Tridjan. 

She gathered her men and led the offensive. Alejandro knew this time would come one day, he didn't try to stop her. Zaelia was great, nobody could deny it, and one day she would have the full world under her control. Little by little, everyone understood that nothing and no one could stop Zaelia now that she was on her way to conquering the world.

Xzander was next to her to lead the offensive. They now had horses, he walked next to her, watching her like he could have watched her before. They were older, but her eyes always had the same fire inside. She had the sparkle of someone who didn't fear death, they were friends for so long, and she never changed, like a trace of their past, a souvenir of the bloody desert's tribe. 

Zaelia set out to attack the West, still totally resistant to the submission of the only valid God according to her. She decided to attack from the south, taking all the major cities and working her way up to the capital. Once the first imposing city was in sight, she yelled as she pushed her horse to run, and all riders followed. They ran through the streets with their sabers, swords, and maces. As usual, they did carnage. She was attacking in the middle of the day without any discussion possible, and she was using all her armies on civilians. Ravaging everything around and erasing every spirit of rebellion. 

Once the wave ended and every defense defeated, she left for the temple. This city was worshiping Tridjan, she hated them more than everything for this. Once inside the temple, she took care to burn everything inside. Fire reflected in her golden eyes, Xzander knew she was no longer totally human when he saw her, he knew he lost her long ago, the day Archanium gave her those eyes. Xzander came to think that this was no blessing. They took a different path when he founded a family and became a father, looking after his own while she remained the bloodthirsty hyena of the desert, ravaging and pillaging.