CHAPTER 11- THE THREE CHAIRS

During the night, a tribe that had settled in the middle of the forest was immersed in the ecstasy of their new Buruzagi.An entire dry tree was felled and burned by the Delarths to make a massive bonfire that shone in the darkest of nights.A few women and little children were performing some sort of dance in front of the flames, some of the women were offering cups of wine to males; some of the men were pretty happy, while others seemed to be very sleepy after the booze.There was a sizable wooden table nearby the bonfire, and seats were built around it by rounding off tree stumps on which some elderly men and women were seated, deeply engaged in conversation.But there were also three gorgeous oak chairs tucked in between these seats, and a newlywed couple was sitting on two of them; the third chair had a little figurine on it that resembled an ascetic wearing a blindfold and standing without hands,a crimson diamond is also fastened to it's head.The groom, who was seated next to it, appeared extremely perplexed due to his unfamiliar surroundings;however, he was also content because of a blue thread that bound his hands to those of his spouse, who was seated next to him.Frequently his eyes would wander off to the direction of the enchanting flawless beauty on his side.Ameira,who represents the ideal conception of beauty held by mankind.He would, however, shift his focus to the opposite side each time she moved her head a little.Fear of love is the result of this happening with every new partner but to him, it was nothing new.The person he had already fallen in love with, his first love, had turned down his fate.He was lost in the moments that bind him with sadness and loneliness, his thoughts and emotions were still vividly filled with the events of the night that saw him exiled from the realm. It seemed as though it had happened only yesterday.Everyone who he thought would bring him happiness had rejected him as if he was never a part of their life.These moments were torturing Asher.

Far from the wooden table, next to the big smoke-blowing firepots, where some people were slicing vegetables, cleaning wooden cups, and breaking the branches of the trees into pieces to ignite additional fire. A young, slender man with a light black beard and piercing eyes stood among them and was staring at Asher. That's when, "Hey boy! Where is your attention? Why haven't you split the sticks yet?" He was confronted by a stern looking man holding several long sticks in his hands that disrupted his thought process.

"Ahh....I was about to," The young man stumbled, saying.

"In this place, folks like you are worthless, so learn to focus on your task, boy." He dropped the stack of wood he had in his hands onto the ground in front of the young man and,"If you want to live, learn to finish your work on time." He said this and walked away. The young man, however, switched his attention back to the large table without paying any attention to what he said.That's when,"You should pay close attention to what is being said"He heard a voice behind him.When he turned around, he saw a woman behind him, dressed in a red robe, with some of her blonde hair exposed but messy and wrapped in a piece of brown cloth.

"I know." He said.

"Knowing something is not enough." She said.There was nothing he could say to that.After a quiet, she said,"You were brought here today, weren't you?"

"Yes"He said, wiping off the small pieces of wood from his hand.

"And what happened to your companions—did they abandon you and flee?"She asked him.

"I was alone"

"What caused a young man to be wandering alone in these dense forests?"

"Wandering is what a traveller does"He said as if he didn't want to talk anymore.The woman in front did not appreciate his manner of speaking, and;"A traveller whose journey is over now, it would be better for you to concentrate on your work, a small reason is enough for these people to kill you"She said this and walked away.He picked up a piece of wood and looked back at Asher, who was lost in thought.

"Asher... Asher.. "As someone yelled out to him, Asher glanced over and noticed Audrey, who was occupying the seat in front of him, staring at him anxiously.

"What's ailing you?" Audrey asked him.

"Nothing just...huh..just thinking about some old memories"He said with a light smile.

"So"

"What?"

"How do you feel about this new scenario of life that has been presented to you?"

"Nice"Asher said in a sluggish tone.

"Once a man has accomplished something, he views even the greatest accomplishments as minor"

"I'm aware of how to value accomplishments"

"Of course, I can see that"

"You know what happened to me, Audrey—everything to which I was legally entitled was taken away from me as if it had never been mine"Asher spoke with a loud, emotional voice.

"Wise people don't believe in things like rights, rights can be taken away anytime and"He sipped some wild wine from the glass that was set in front of him,"We were lost in the forest a few days ago, but today destiny has brought everything we were craving for right in front of you"Asher found this statement of Audrey somewhere right. A while back, Asher had nothing to lose, but suddenly life had given him something that he could not have even dreamed about.

"You haven't eaten since the morning, so you might need to eat something"Audrey said.

Asher observed the variety of meals that were set in front of him; some of them were delectable and others were pretty odd,most of the dishes served there were made of meat, except for a few soups,he found a soup to be quite attractive—a pale pink broth. But he wanted to make sure about it first, so he asked Audrey while casually pointing at the soup that,"What dish is that?"

"The red one. It's known as 'Boquryl'. The finest rabbit flesh is used to make it, and it tastes pretty good."

"No, not that one, the one next to it"

"The light brown one, it's called 'the soup of Buruzagi', made with Del guata's meat.But I don't think you want to eat that...I don't think anyone would want to eat it now because that elderly man has already consumed all of its best bits, including its eyes and heart"Asher turned to face the elderly guy Audrey had indicated; the man had a frightful visage and was adorned with a garland of stones.

"His plate still has some of the eyes' pieces on it"Audrey said it like it was something common to him.There was nothing Asher could say to that.After a quiet,he said,"Straight ahead of it"

"Ohh...that one, that's 'the soup of sweetness', probably the best dish made by Delarths. Would you like to taste it?"

"Probably, yes"

Asher was enthralled by the fragrance emanating from the dish when Audrey handed him the bowl.He poured the soup, which was not very thick, into a small bowl placed in front of him.Asher was hesitant to sip the soup in spite of its potent fragrance.He tasted a little soup, and he likely had never experienced such a flavour from any other dish.It was quite tasty.

"Delicious"He muttered and used his tongue to remove the remaining soup from his lips.

"It's nice, isn't it"Audrey said, ignoring the gestures of the old woman next to him who was wearing a strange white necklace, probably made of bones.She was probably trying to say something to Audrey but Audrey was obviously interested in something more important right now.

"Of course, but what exactly is this meal made of?" Asher asked him.

"Umm... you'll just have to wait a bit for your answer because these are some of the things that I don't know but am certain I can"After saying this, he turned to the elderly woman who had been waiting to speak with him for a while.

"Huhh... "He sighed, that's when, "Extract from 'flowers of Glaunus' is used to make it"From just next to him, a voice that was more sweet than that soup could be heard.He slowly turned his neck that way, Ameira was gazing at him with a slight smile on her face;her voice startled him.It seemed a bit unbelievable to him, he thought that Ameira might not know his language like the rest of the Delarths, he was wrong but it felt good to be proved wrong.His heart was pounding, she had an angelic or nymph-like beauty that had him entranced.

Asher struggled to find the right words to express how beautiful her face was.Maybe Ameira was the only one who made him realise how lucky he was.However, he abruptly realised that he had been staring at her for a while, which was somewhat odd.He turned around and looked at the other side, his face reflecting his intense feelings of guilt and anger toward himself.He saw Audrey, who was paying close attention to the elderly woman.Obviously, Asher could not understand a single word that the woman was saying, so he did not pay much attention to her.However, Audrey then turned to face Asher.Perhaps he had already got his answer,he did not pay attention to what the woman said after that.

"I can now answer your question"He said, Asher could hear the triumph in his tone.

"So what is it"

"It is made from the juice of the 'Glaunus' flower, which is very rare and can only be found near bluestone lakes"

"Consequently, this soup is another one of those unique items"Asher said.

"Yes, we can say that"Audrey said, thinking how badly he needed another strong drink.

Ameira was looking to the other side and appeared to be in good spirits as Asher cautiously moved his gaze to her.Then he noticed that some of the women were removing the dishes from the table.He gulped down more soup in a hurry, which caused him to cough.At that very moment, one of the women who was carrying the meal poured a cup of water in front of him and took the bowl of soup from there, this treat pleased him.While drinking from his cup, he observed that everyone in front of him had closed their eyes except Audrey.He looked to Ameira, who had her eyes closed. Her closed eyes resembled the petals of a beautiful flower as Asher stared at them intently for a moment.Then, waiting for an answer, he regarded Audrey with a curious gaze.

"Huh....prayers of peace"Audrey said, but Asher was still confused, though."An easy way to get rid of worried thoughts is to pray for peace...we still need to learn a lot"Audrey spoke after recognising Asher's expression.

"𝘖𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘵𝘻 𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘫𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘪!"Together, they said as they all opened their eyes.

"Rely on God's favour"Audrey said in a light voice.

"𝘚𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘢"Someone said loudly. The sound came from behind Asher, but even if he wanted to, he couldn't turn around since the back of his chair was too large.But he could tell that four or five people were slowly making their way toward the table since he could hear their footsteps coming from behind.The others seated in front of him were also peering around his chair."Audrey"He whispered.However, Audrey's focus was elsewhere, just like everyone else's.The same old Delarth who had proclaimed Asher to be the new Buruzagi suddenly passed by Asher's chair, he was followed by a woman and two males.Asher began to up when he noticed that everyone else at the table had already gotten up,that's when,"Sit down, you don't have to stand"Standing in his place, Audrey stated in a stern voice.Asher sat back and observed Ameira, who was also sitting peacefully, next to him.Then he noticed that the old Delarthi was holding a small cage with something inside that looked like a cotton ball.

"𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘭 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘶𝘻𝘢𝘨𝘪"The old Delarthi bowed looking at Asher and said, to which he simply nodded.

Putting the cage in the centre of the table, the old Delarthi motioned for everyone to take a seat.He then approached Asher and took a position close to him."𝘈𝘭.. 𝘊𝘭𝘳.. 𝘑𝘺𝘯𝘭..." Something was muttered by the old Delarthi, then he set three pieces of cloth in front of Asher, each of which had figures drawn in three distinct colours and appeared to be very old.Asher observed the pieces of cloth, each of which featured a different image—a white human skull on one, a scarlet flower on another, and a dark green warrior's helmet on a third.The old Delarthi ran his hands over those three clothes and then made some gesture to the woman standing behind him,the woman responded by bowing her head, after which she proceeded to the locked cage,she gave the cage a little shake before opening its tiny gate.That little cotton ball thing slowly came out of the cage and opened its two huge blue eyes."Owl"Asher heard himself say in a small, thin voice.

"𝘉𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘵𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘰" The old dearthi said loudly.

"Audrey"Just to gain Audrey's attention—who was closely examining the bits of cloth—Asher muttered.

"Three wishes" Audrey replied quietly.

"What?"

"Delarths believe that marriage is the beginning of a new life and every person has many expectations or desires for their life, which Delarths can already perceive from God's point of view"

"But...but how is that possible, how can one see the future?" Asher kept his voice low.

"Before we realise something is possible, it seems impossible to us.You must now remain silent and observe what previously seemed impossible become into reality"Audrey said in a firm tone.

"But could you please tell me something, something about these...strange things"Asher looked at the pieces of cloth with confused eyes.

"Pictures of the future, it provide a peek of what may lie ahead, like a dream that occasionally comes true"Audrey said.

The old Delarthi then raised both of his hands in the air and began to pray in a tremulous tone.No other sounds could be heard, except the shrill screech of the owl on the table pounding its beak against the surface.Asher was filled with questions, but he dared not break the eerie silence.The eyes of every person sitting in front of him were watching that old Delarth very carefully, if those people were not breathing then there was no difference between them and the idols.

"𝘎𝘩𝘢𝘪"With his hands lowered, the Old Delarthi yelled, and took the owl in his hands, which was now trying to flee by expanding its wings.

"𝘓𝘪𝘮𝘯 𝘥𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘦"The old Delarthi said to Ameira.On hearing that, Ameira started untying that blue thread.

"Is it necessary" Asher said in a sad tone.

"Yes it is" Ameira said with a gorgeous smile.

"Aah.. okay"Asher was ashamed of himself and immediately regretted what he had spoken.He was cursing himself for not paying attention to the advice given in 'Guderian' about how a prince should conduct himself.

"𝘉𝘢𝘬 𝘥𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘴"The old Delarthi took the thread from Ameira and said.The owl repeatedly assaulted his hand as he attempted to tie the thread around its neck, but in the end,he eventually succeeded.The owl was still making a lot of noise, though.He left that owl back on the table, as soon as it was out of hands, the owl spread its wings to touch the sky but, "𝘝𝘢𝘩𝘪"On hearing these words of old Delarth, one of his two men clutched the owl's wings with his hands, causing the owl to shriek.Asher and Audrey were the only ones at the table who were startled by what they saw,even Ameira's stunning eyes were expressionless as she observed the situation.The old Delarthi put both of his palms over the owl's eyes and,"F u l k"He said this word so loudly that its echo was breaking even the silences of the forest.

"The sky" Audrey said.

"𝘉𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘫"

"The ocean"

"𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘻𝘢"

"The land"

"𝘒𝘢 𝘻𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘯"

"The lord of all"With each new phrase, Audrey's reactions would change.

"𝘒𝘭𝘪𝘻 𝘥𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘫𝘢𝘯𝘻 𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘻𝘦"

"Will see the future by the divine vision"

"𝘉𝘭𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴"