CHAPTER 14. AGNIS

Meryl was woken by the early birds. The fire was dying and the kids were waking up too. She was sleeping on the grass. She opened her eyes and Slain was not there. She sat up and looked around. She saw him standing a few steps away his hand crossed from behind. His hair seemed to be glowing in the morning. He then turned and looked at her. She couldn't help but smile. She often wondered why she always found herself smiling at him.

"Good morning," he greeted her walking towards her.

"Uhm morning," she stuttered as he crossed the distance between them.

"Had a good night sleep?" He asked and she nodded. "Well we better wake the the kids and get moving." She agreed andwent to wake the kids.

   Slain asked the kids to lead the way as he told them the directions. Slain wondered who was trying to hurt the village to the extent of kidnapping the kids. He wondered if it was him they were after and whether someone sent them. As he fought them he could tell they were not that skilled with the sword but they were much stronger. He first thought it was the king who was after him but he knew the soldiers were slow and it would take ages. They also could give up and leave him as a bounty to the bounty hunters. They came to the river and allowed the kids to get some drink and wash their faces.

  "This is river Agnis. The purest and first high priestess in a thousand years. She was with the last savior and after failing to protect him she came to this place and hid this village from the world.  Only the savior could open it up again," Meryl said to Slain who was drinking the water.

"This place has great history," Slain said and they crossed the river proceeding with their journey.

  It was past noon when the village could be seen. They just had to walk a little further and they would arrive. Their arrival was celebrated and thanked by the people. Slain and Meryl were called by the chief into the temple. The council of elders sat at a round table. The two were placed at the centre and waited to hear their judgement. The high priestess, Meryl's mother spoke.

"Well it is difficult but you must understand that we did what we had to do not what was right. We were blinded and we accused you which we are sorry about. The reason those intruders came here was that they were not after you yet," she started.

"What do you mean by yet? Will they be after me?" Slain asked.

"Yes. As for now they must gain as much power as they can and build an army which is why they had to come here. This place harbors the book of Agnis which was written a thousand years ago. It holds the secret to the  calamaty that happened in power struggle the last season. They are here under their leader's order. The leader became immortal after defeating you in the past life. You lost Sepher. Agnis wrote the secret to your awakening and as we speak the book is no longer in our possession. They lured you away and broke into the records. As for now they are no  longer in this place. They left." She said.

"Why are you telling is this?" Meryl asked. She never knew that such a book existed.

"Because you must retrieve it in order to restore peace," said the woman.

"What makes you think that I will go after them?" Slain asked.

"Its up to you to wait for the enemy to get stronger or go after him before he does but you should know that in the end you must face him," she said.

"Why should I go when I know nothing about what is happening. You all call me savior but none of you dares to answer my questions. Why?" Slain asked.

"We can't give answers to those questions yet. Both of you will have to go after them tommorow at sundown." She said and it was final.

"Why must she come?" Slain asked looking Meryl. He did not want to put her in danger by getting her involved. She already was involved far enough.

"Because its her duty as the next high priestess to bring it back and fulfil her role. She must prove she is worth it," her mother said. Slain walked out and Meryl followed him.

"Remember what I told you. I want to help bring peace to the world together with you." She said.

*******

There were a total of six provinces in the kingdom. Each led by a Lord. Three bordered the capital while the others were after the three. The furthest was to the ocean. In old maps consisted of a place that disappeared which was next this province. The Lords had to always meet the king once every moon days on the day of the full moon. There were daily court meetings in the morning where they discussed about the collection of taxes and construction of new palace or expanding the present one. The ministers also had to discuss many factors such us how to defend the king incase there was an attack. Many soldiers had been stationed in the capital and in some days they discussed on the impeachment of some ministers who opposed. They also discussed how the crown prince had to learn to follow the suggestions of the ministers. Today's court meeting was to discuss the coming wedding which was to take place in three days.

They all sat as the king walked to the throne followed by the crown prince. The king sat down and the prince sat next to him. They all greeted him and bowed. The king allowed them to stand straight and brought the subject matter on the table.

"We must prepare a wedding that will be remembered in history. We must prepare a lavish party that will go down the other three kingdoms. How are the preparations going?" The king asked.

"Everything has been prepared as per your wish. We have made sure that the stadium can accommodate two thousand people. The arriving guests have been showed to the guest quarters. All the lords have arrived and your meeting tonight has been scheduled as usual. The princess has been practicing on her performance and her wedding dress has arrived as per the crown Prince's taste.  The kings of all the kingdoms have arrived and the crown prince is scheduled to arrive on the wedding day. We are doing our best to make sure that all the guests are comfortable," the crown prince who was in charge said, bowed to his father and went to sit back. The king smiled as he received other written letters from important officials. All were as usual while one talked about dismissal of minister of defence.

"That is going to be discussed after the wedding," the king said and from his tone that was final. "Has Lord Dominique arrived?" The king asked.

"He sent a letter saying that he would arrive by noon. His room has been reserved as commanded,he said he expects the king to officially greet him on his arrival" the prince said. The king nodded and dismissed the meeting. They walked out and went to greet the guests who arrived and those who arriving.

   The roads in the capital cleared as a procession entered the capital. About thirty guards and ten horses. Two carriages were guarded and about ten servent followed behind. A guard on a horse was the last one.  The carriage were well adorned and a servant went forward shouting. "All of you make way for lord Dominique greet him as he passes." Everyone knew the great Lord Dominique. They bowed as he passed. He was feared for his influence towards the king and no leader dared get on his wrong side. Two kids running after another tripped and hit the carriage. The Lord opened a window and looked. His face showed no emotion as he brushed the kids hair. The parents of the kids rushed to him and apologized and bowed as he closed the window. Inside the carriage he took a white pice of cloth and wiped his hands. He then threw it through the window. After he passed the people scrambled for it. The servant announced that they were approaching the palace.

The carriage stopped and the doors opened. The king rushed to them and stood there waiting. The Lord was the first to come out and his wife second. The second carriage opened and the daughter of the Lord stepped out. She was a beauty who could be mistaken for royalty. She was dressed and adorned as a princess. The king greeted the Lord with tremendous respect and so did the prince. The lord brushed his beards as they chatted with the king. They laughed and the Lord introduced his daughter.

"Meet my daughter Jasmine," the Lord ushered her with his hand. She bowed and the king greeted her. "We're gonna have a lot to discuss with each other privately.'' The lord said brushing his beards laughing as the king joined.

*******

  The boring thing about the wedding week was that she had to stay put in her room and try all the clothes. She also had to eat less so she would not get fat. Sometimes she allowed Calixta inside for she was the only person she could talk to other than the maids. These days she was supposed to neither meet her father nor her brother or any males. Even the guards were all female.  Arriety was in the bathroom and they had finished bathing her. She wore a fur gown as she got out of the water. The red rose on her has thrown back into the water in the bath tub. Her skin was steaming as they tied a white towel on her hair. They sat at the dressing table with the mirror at the wall. All sorts of makeup were on the table. All this beautifying just to keep her locked up. Just before they were to start with her facial, the doors opened. Her worst nightmares got inside the room. They just came from their trip and learnt of the incidents that had taken place. They were here to mock her. Arriety stood up to meet them but they gestured her to stay put. She kept wondering why she had to get married first when she was the youngest.

"What a beautiful face, would you like us to do your facial?" The eldest mocked.

"I heard that her handsome knight committed treason i would like to see your face for putting him in the wanted list, how much is his bounty by the way?" the second sister said. The two walked to her and took the black one for the eyebrows and started putting it on her lips. They then used it to draw three lines on her cheeks from her mouth like the whiskers of a cat. They then poured the red ink on her face as they laughed. Arriety held in her tears as she swallowed hard. If there were people who were perfect at tormenting her were the two. They forced her to look into the mirror as they laughed.

"Isn't she beautiful?" The two laughed and then removed her the towel. They took the scissors and were about to cut her hair when her mother walked in. Arriety could not help but shed tears as her savior walked in.

"Isabella and Diana get back to your rooms! You are going to be be locked down and you will not leave your rooms until the wedding. Guards please show these two to their room," her mother said as four female guards came in. They took their hand but they shook them off and left the room. The guards followed them. The queen dismissed the maids and took the towel from the ground as she wiped the mess.

Arriety stood and hugged her mother. Her mother was the second queen thus the two stepsisters always bullied her being born by the first queen. Arriety hugged her mother as she shed tears.

"Don't be scared my daughter. You are going to leave them here and live happily with your husband," her mother assured her. She led her back to the bathroom where she called the maids and asked them to empty the bath tab and add new water. After all was done she led her daughter inside and helped her bathe.

"Mother, would you be the one to prepare me for the wedding?" She asked. Her mother brushed her hair and promised to help her. She promised she would make sure that her sisters did not interfere with her preparations.