Guilty As Charged

When you ask me who will stand by even when the whole world is against you, the answer you expect is: parents. You create poems about the pure, undying love they have for their children. But too much of anything can mess up the balance and thus chaos is born.

- The Brown Book

That evening in the royal chambers:

"What do you think about the Crown Prince of the Isles of Apollo?" Zeus asked his beloved curiously.

" He'll make a great King one day and the people of the Isles of Apollo will hail him in their hearts." Danaë replied in an absent tone while grinding a few herbs in her special stone mortar using a pestle made of the same material. The piece of stone from which the mortar and pestle was made was found in a unique place. It lay submerged in a small pond which had water coloured green because of the abundance of the herbs that had been deposited in it. They knew not of the origin of such a pond. Zeus and Danaë came by it accidentally. And how they found the stone that had been submerged deep in the water is a story for another day.

" That is not what I meant, dear wife. Could you please pay attention to me for a second?" Zeus went to Danaë and asked in an exasperated tone.

" What is the matter with you? I'm making a special concoction of various herbs for our injured daughter and you want to chit chat about the guy who hurt her?" Danaë asked with a disbelieving expression.

" I think he may be interested in her, Danaë." Zeus sighed.

" Who may be interested in who?" Danaë decided to humour him and went along, not giving the conversation her full attention.

" I said, I think the Crown Prince of Isles of Apollo seems to be interested in our daughter, Celosia!" Zeus repeated in an exaggerated patient tone.

" No wonder. Our girl is a beauty. He suits her. What is the problem, Zeus?" Danaë asked him with a casual air about her.

" He hasn't seen her in her female clothes!"

" So what? Isn't it good that he accepts her whims and.....what? Do you mean to say that the Prince saw her in her male clothes and was attracted to her!? Well, doesn't that mean...." Danaë sounded crestfallen.

" Exactly. This is what I've been trying to tell you for a long time. It's not like I have something against him being interested in men, but our daughter is a woman. If he felt like confessing or something, the situation would be so complex." Zeus sighed.

" That is not the main issue, Zeus. What if Sia falls for him? Now, that would be the real trouble. She is not aware of the sexual orientation of the Prince, and my baby would be heartbroken. No. I can't allow that to happen. I should protect her. We should keep them apart from each other." Danaë said with finality.

" Well, yes. Not to mention that Prince himself would feel cheated since nobody has told him yet that she is not 'he'. Both the children will be crestfallen. But, aren't we making haste? We are not sure about the Prince's sexual orientation and all of these are mere assumptions." Zeus murmered in an unsure tone.

" Maybe we are wrong, maybe we are right. I can't risk my baby's happiness. Let's just keep them apart till atleast we are proven wrong."

-------------------------------

Celosia sat on her bed, staring at the forest through the window. It seemed like a green ocean getting ready to embrace the rich orange-hued ball of energy into its own midst. The green waves were slowly getting themselves coated with a light layer the brilliant reddish orange. But Celosia was not in a mood to enjoy such wondrous sights offered by the nature. She was lost in her thoughts about a certain someone who had numerous wounds on his body due to her hasty decision and about the look-alike who appeared in her dreams.

' Curiosity may have gotten a cat killed, but not sating it is eating me from the inside. Damn these wounds! I would have gone into the forest today if not for these. I shouldn't have visited Jason this morning. The stitches were broken and I hope Epione won't insist on checking it again. I had to know that he was doing well. Those poisons Epione comes up with are pretty strong. He must have been in agony. Yet he held on, I heard. He's brave, I'll give him that. Brave, handsome and has a sense of humour. ' She was unaware of the smile blooming and the pink that was creeping up her cheeks while she went about reminiscing about his grin.

" Sia!"

"Huh!?" Celosia turned towards the source of that energetic call in haste. "Epione! You startled me."

" Now, that's new. Aren't you the ever vigilant devil?" Epione kept her hands on her hips and asked teasingly while Celosia rolled her eyes. "Sia, your face is so red. Are you running a fever?" Epione rushed to her sister and checked her temperature and pulse.

"I'm alright, dear. Am'nt I?" Celosia said reassuringly.

"Yes, you are. But why...?

"Isn't it hot in here!?" Celosia shrugged.

"Well, I guess so?" Epione didn't sound so sure.

"Yes. It is. Now, tell me. What's going on in the island? You haven't let me go outside for a whole day." Celosia said with an aggrieved expression. It always worked on her softhearted little sister. She knew that Epione meant good. But for someone like Celosia, who was like the wind - wild and free - spending more than a few minutes cooped up was like being imprisoned in a dungeon.

"Sia!! It's been just a day!!" Epione threw her hands up in exasperation. " Don't make such a face at me. I always give in, don't I? And you have scars to show for it! Not this time, dear patient. You stay put till you heal and don't worry, I'll be your news bearer till then." She said with finality.

" Well, alright." Celosia smiled resignedly and Epione let out a relieved sigh.

" Nothing much happened today. The usual things. We held the daily medical checkup session. Captain Aries is training Alec instead of you and he asked to pass a message that everything is fine at the training camp." Epione said while handing Celosia her pills and water. "Now, let me see those wounds."

" Well, that reminds me. How's that guy?" Celosia asked with a fake casual air.

" The Crown Prince? He's healing very nicely. Thank the gods, I had the antidote made earlier than usual. But then, this new poison was a tricky one. It was supposed to hurt like being stabbed with thousands of tiny needles. Well, he shouldn't have hurt you!" Epione ended with a "duh!" expression on her face.

"Oh.."

" Don't worry. I haven't been too courteous with him. He hurt you. I won't show him mercy!"

"Huh!?" Celosia was startled. "No! I mean, we shouldn't be rude to our guests, Epione. Afterall, I was also at fault. And he has already suffered the effects of the poison. We should be kind to him. You are a doctor. Healing is your duty. So..." Celosia sounded frantic to herself.

" Yeah. I won't let our kingdom down. I was not that rude to him. I wanted to, I swear. But he was so nice to me. Considering the fact that I had created the poison that troubled him, I expected him to be hostile. But his lieutenant is of a complete opposite character. Rude, brash, uncultured and loud-mouthed." Epione ended in a bitter tone.

Celosia let out the breath she had been holding in. She couldn't figure out why, but she was concerned about him; about his welfare, about his pain and everything. She got lost in her thoughts again about Jason and forgot to prevent her sister from seeing the wound on her waist.

"Sia!!" Epione's stern cry brought Celosia down to earth with a crash. "You went out!" She stated with accusing eyes.

'Oh, no. She found out. What to do?'

" I had to see him dear. I wanted to make sure that Jason is alright." Sia decided to come clean with Epione.

" I can understand your reasoning. You must have felt responsible. But couldn't you have informed me about the wound reopening itself? It's been hours since that happened and the wound must have got worse."

" You know why." Celosia gave an amused snort and grimaced at the next second due to the pain.

" Fine! Let me get the needles and thread, please sit still." Epione sounded stern and turned to leave.

" There is no need. I did it." Celosia continued on seeing the incredulous look on Epione's face, " I was also taught by Mama. I just chose to wield the swords rather than the needles and herbs. "

" You had always refused. No matter how serious your injuries were. Or is it because you took for granted that we will cure you?"

" No. No, Epione. You and mother were never taken for granted. I swear. I don't know why I feel an aversion to the art of healing. It's not hate. Hate is too powerful a word to use for this particular feeling. Wish I could explain. The wound was not so serious and I felt like polishing my rusted skills. See, it's not too bad. " Epione opened the newly done bandages and observed the wound carefully, hummed her approval and bandaged it again.

" Why now, Sia ? After all these years." Episode asked while helping her tie the knot that held the upper part of the chiton together.

" Wish I knew. It was almost like a habit. I did it without thinking twice."

" What is up with you? If you think that I've not noticed the changes, you are wrong. You wake up screaming on most of the mornings. You never told us why. You brood too much. You train like a tireless entity. Your forehead has these wrinkles most of the time." Epione patted her forehead. The ever playful teenage princess now had a serious expression on her face.

" I...."

--------------------------------

Copyright 2020 owned by Mila Alaia

All rights reserved

Have a nice day.

Lots of ❤

Mila Alaia