ANUNDR: THE EXODUS Read online

  Akasha placed the sleeping child on the altar. He raised his staff and swirled it around her, making incantations, ‘Dimitriv irk von rickos salamon kin derskia,’ He continued with fervency, ‘Rakuski yantba sat kalislanus rashi. Show me her future.’

  There was silence. The candles flickered and out of nowhere came a strong current of wind milling around the room. Akasha saw the flames from the candles rise out of their wicks and come together to form a ball of fire before the altar. Akasha went down on his knees and dropped his staff. The baby woke up crying but he could do nothing to soothe her for he too was afraid. It had been a long time since he had seen the god manifest in such a form.

  The ball of fire shaped itself into the figure of the three-headed snake. Akasha bowed.

  ‘O great one, our great protector, I present to you the child--’

  ‘Ah…’ said the snake head in the middle, ‘she has been born.’

  ‘Forgive me, but you said the child would be male.’

  ‘Don’t be deceived. This girl child is worth more than your best warriors. She’s far more dangerous to us.’

  ‘What do you mean more dangerous to us?’

  ‘Among the spirits, she is called the Adarakanthis, but you’ll know her as the heir of Anundr. She’s the enemy. The beginning of her reign will mark the end of ours.’

  Akasha’s eyes glowed with recollection of long buried memories. ‘What do you suggest should be done?’

  All the heads spoke as one, ‘Kill her.’

  ‘But she’s a girl. She cannot sit on the throne.’

  ‘You know well enough that her throne is beyond this world.’

  ‘But I cannot kill her without proof.’

  ‘You fool! You’ll have your proof. Tonight, if the king names her Natalia, know that your days are numbered. You couldn’t kill her then, I doubt you could kill her now. Remember, her progress is your destruction. Machish has spoken.’

  The ball of fire disintegrated and the room returned to what it had been, but Akasha was forever changed.

  CHAPTER 6

  Akasha had never feared death, but as Natalia grew, his faith in his immortality weakened and in came nightmares of what had been and what was to come.

  The girl was placed under his mentorship and he watched those dark eyes grow with curiosity, understanding and mischief--and those olive lips began to laugh, talk and question. Yes, Natalia questioned everything. It drove him mad and he wished he could burn all ‘why’s and ‘how’s and throw their ashes into the sea.

  By the age of seven, she would run about the temple and enter forbidden rooms. By the time she turned eight, she knew more secrets about the temple than the king. Her father alone indulged her and was the only one who knew how to discipline her. Whenever she heard his voice low and angry, she would go and sit in a corner, remaining silent until he called for her. Her mother, however, watched her grow from a distance like she was a vision, and indeed she was. Her wild raven-black curls and bronze skin were exotic and in contrast with her parents’ lighter features. It caused a stir in the court with many raising suspicions of her parentage. The voices would reduce to whispers whenever she passed or she was brought to stand by her father’s side in the court. The rumors reached the king’s ears. He had cast it aside with a frown and laid the issue to rest in court by stating that whoever made such a statement would stand trial to face his wrath. However, it had still inclined him to ask his wife while they watched Natalia play in the garden, ‘My love, sometimes I wonder where our daughter gets her unique spirit and features. She reminds me of the mountain dwellers.’

  Celeste’s heart raced. She said, steadying her voice, ‘She reminds me of my grandmother, Lady Wlamir of Ismin. She’s in fact her very image. It’s a pity you never met her.’

  ‘I thought you said your late father was your only surviving relative in your childhood.’

  ‘True, but I met my grandmother a few times before she died. My father also told me many stories about her.’ she said, focusing her gaze on Natalia. Meldric looked on at the little girl through narrowed eyes. Celeste held her breath, knowing he was deciphering the information she had given him. After a few moments, he turned to his wife and smiled, ‘I hope one day you’ll tell me these stories.’

  ‘Of course.’ she said. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief. The king, however, never remembered to ask, and she never reminded him.

  Natalia continued to be a cause for concern. She enjoyed wrestling with the stable boys and would start fights with them for that purpose. When she was ten, Akasha finally convinced her parents that she needed an older girl around as a positive influence. The girl chosen was twelve year old Amira. She had been born and brought up in the temple and was on her way to becoming a rahai. Celeste didn’t like the sight of her and would keep a stern face whenever she was present but Meldric and Natalia loved her. They showered her with gifts of jewelry and fine colored linen even though they knew that as a rahai she could only wear white robes, and jewelry was, to her sect, vanity. Amira taught Natalia many things about etiquette which the latter had refused to learn from her tutors and they grew close, doing everything together.

  CHAPTER 7

  The fourteenth year of every girl’s life was an important time in Helmford. It meant she could take part in the Coming of Age Ceremony and could finally be introduced into society as a young woman. For most girls, their fourteenth birthday was the happiest day of their lives, for Natalia it had begun as the worst. It had rained hard all day, throwing the grounds into a muddy splurge. She had stayed in her room, hiding under the covers crying to Amira that no one would come for the festivities.

  ‘They will come.’ Amira said.

  ‘No, they won’t! And the lords’ daughters will make fun of me. It can’t get any worse.’ she said, covering her face with the sheets.

  Amira was right. People came. When a servant announced that her father wanted her to receive her guests, Natalia jumped out of bed and rushed Amira to dress her up. But things got worse. She had to stand in her beautiful blue dress on the soggy castle steps under the drizzling evening as the guests rode in, splattering mud everywhere. She saw the jeering looks of the girls’ faces as their fathers made jokes with the king about the weather. Natalia bent her face to hide her burning cheeks and she fiddled with her hands. She wished no one had come. It was even worse that the guests had to wait outside with them to receive a messenger from Arngeirr. Natalia could hear the giggling behind her as time passed but no one came.

  ‘Father, can we go in now?’ Natalia said. Her eyes burned but she refused to cry.

  ‘Wait.’

  ‘But he’s not coming.’

  ‘He will come.’

  When Natalia turned to her mother to side with her, she heard the sound of hooves. She turned and saw the banner of the golden bear raised high as men in black armor rode towards them.

  ‘I told you he will come.’ King Meldric said with a smile and brought Natalia and the Queen down the steps.

  A rider came towards them and dropped down from his horse. The mud splashed on Natalia’s dress. She gasped.

  ‘Wha—’

  Her father held her arm and shook his head to stop her.

  ‘Forgive me.’ The rider said and took off his helmet, displaying a young angelic face and golden brown locks. He didn’t look older than sixteen.

  ‘Prince Ishkhan of Arngeirr, welcome to Helmford.’ Meldric smiled.

  The young man bowed. ‘My father sends his best wishes to you and to—’

  ‘Ah yes,’ said the king, ‘Natalia, meet Ishkhan, son of King Hametis.’

  She bowed and met his soft brown eyes.

  ‘Happy birthday.’ he said

  King Meldric turned to the guests. ‘Now the feast can begin.’

  But the worst wasn’t over. Prince Ishkhan was beside her all night and all attention was on him. They addressed him and ignored her. She felt like an intruder in her own celebration. By the time the night was over, Natalia stormed out of the hall with her eyes burning.

  ‘Wait.’

  She turned around and saw the prince a few steps behind her.

  ‘What is it?’

  He smiled. ‘I’ve been wanting to speak with you all evening.’

  ‘You sat beside me all evening.’

  ‘I wanted to be alone with you first. For a prince, I’m not very good at talking in public.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have guessed. If I may take my leave—’

  ‘You looked very lovely tonight.’ he said, stopping her in her tracks.

  She turned around. ‘Yes, I thought the same before you smeared me with mud.’

  ‘But I apologized for that.’

  ‘I didn’t accept your apology.’

  He stepped forward. ‘So how can I make amends?’

  She sighed. ‘First, you can try jumping into the first pond you can find.’

  ‘Is that all?’

  ‘I’ll think up the rest later.’ She hugged herself and stomped away.

  CHAPTER 8

  Natalia shielded her eyes from the sun as she stepped out of the castle the next morning.

  ‘Of course, today had to be sunny.’

  ‘My lady?’ Amira asked.

  ‘Nothing.’ She was in a sour mood and she wished she could lie in bed and die after yesterday rather than go to the temple for another lesson, but she didn’t have a choice. The carriage stood waiting with the guards ready. A guard opened the carriage door and she drew back on seeing Ishkhan sitting on a couch, dressed down in a shirt and with a wide grin on his face.

  ‘You!’

  ‘Me.’ He chuckled and bowed. ‘Your father allowed me the pleasure of accompanying you.’

  ‘I thought you would be leaving today.’


  ‘I thought you would be happier I stayed.’

  ‘You thought wrong.’

  ‘My lord.’ Amira said, bowing.

  Natalia sighed and got in the carriage. They were quiet as the carriage rode into the streets. She stared out of the window but she felt his gaze on her.

  ‘What?’ she snapped.

  He smiled and looked out of the window on his side. ‘It’s a beautiful day, don’t you think?’

  ‘If you say so.’ She turned her gaze back outside.

  ‘What do you think?’ he asked again.

  ‘I think I would rather have stayed at home.’

  ‘Then why didn’t you?’

  She said nothing. As if yesterday wasn’t bad enough, she was here with him again.

  Amira replied, ‘My lord, she has lessons with the Rahmon.’

  ‘Oooh, that sounds very important, but she could still have chosen to stay.’

  ‘My lord, she has lessons with the Rahmon.’ Amira repeated.

  ‘But she is the princess.’

  ‘And he is the Rahmon.’ Amira replied.

  ‘He doesn’t sound very important anymore.’

  Amira gasped. Natalia turned and noticed the reddening of her neck and cheeks. Ishkhan turned and winked at her. Natalia covered her mouth and stifled a laugh.

  When they reached the temple, Amira bowed and said, ‘My lord, my lady, if you would excuse me.’ She hurried up into the stairs into the third passage where only the rahais took.

  Ishkhan watched her go. ‘I don’t think she took it very well.’

  Natalia glared at him. ‘Of course, she didn’t. You just insulted the entire temple.’

  ‘I didn’t go that far.’

  ‘Are you always this annoying?’

  ‘People usually find me funny including you. Don’t pretend, I saw you laughing.’

  She sighed and headed up to the middle entrance. ‘I’m going for my lessons.’

  ‘Wait. I can’t go with you there.’

  She turned. ‘And why not?’

  ‘It’s boring, and to be honest, you’ll rather be somwhere else.’

  ‘So what do you have in mind?’

  ‘You show me around and allow all my whims today.’

  ‘I am no servant of yours.’

  ‘I know but I would prefer your company.’

  ‘Really...and what do I get in return for this inconvenience?’

  ‘Three wishes.’

  ‘Three wishes?!’ she laughed. ‘Can I ask for your head on a saucer?’

  ‘I meant three reasonable wishes.’

  ‘Four.’

  ‘Four what?’

  ‘Four wishes and you’ll have your adventure.’

  ‘Why four?’

  ‘Because I noticed in all the stories, three were never enough.’

  ‘Fine, four it is then.’

  ‘So where would you like to go from here?’

  ‘Show me around the temple.’

  She climbed up the steps. ‘Come along then.’

  ***

  ‘And this is the statue of Machish.’ Natalia said, stopping at a stone work of the god standing with the scepter in his hand. Ishkhan came forward and touched the statue staring into Machish’s face.

  ‘Of all the statues I’ve shown you.’ she said, ‘you seem most interested in this one.’

  ‘Well, he reminds me of someone.’

  ‘Let me guess… you.’

  ‘Well, I do look like a god, don’t I?’ he grinned, imitating the statue’serect posture.

  She sighed, ‘It’s time we move on.’

  ‘No, no more statues. Let’s go somewhere.’

  ‘To where?’

  ‘Anywhere.’

  ‘My lady.’

  She turned to see a rahi bowing. ‘The Rahmon sent me to find you.’

  She gulped and looked at Ishkhan. He was right. She would rather be anywhere else. She grabbed his hand.

  ‘Let’s go.’ she said, running the opposite direction.

  ‘My lady?’

  ‘Tell him I’m not coming.’ she shouted. They ran, crisscrossing past people till they were out of the temple.

  ‘So how do we get out of here? They will never let us through the gate.’ she said, staring at the guards on the grounds.

  ‘Wait here.’ Ishkhan said, setting his gaze on the carriage by their right. He walked briskly, not causing any awkward turns and said something to the carriage driver. Before the man could react, Ishkhan pushed him to the floor and untied one of the horses. The driver shouted for the guards as Ishkhan rode to Natalia. The guards rode towards them

  ‘Get on.’ Ishkhan shouted. Natalia got behind him and he rode out with the guards riding to catch them.

  ‘My lady!’

  Natalia turned and saw Amira’s shocked face as she stood outside with other rahais.

  Natalia turned to Ishkhan and said, ‘Ride faster.’

  Ishkhan rode fast, moving through the narrow corridors and into larger streets to shake the guards off. They burst into the market and overturned a table of with sacks of wheat.

  ‘Be careful.’ Natalia said to Ishkhan.

  ‘Forgive me, but I’m trying to help you escape.’

  ‘You can do that without destroying the market. Do you know how much wheat costs?’

  ‘I thought you had a lot of it here.’

  ‘But not everyone can afford it.’

  He hit another table, overturning the meat.

  ‘Aargh—’

  ‘Don’t you dare say a word.’ he said to her.

  ‘They’re coming.’ Natalia said, seeing two guards still following.

  ‘Which way do we go?’ he said as they came close to a cross road.

  ‘I don’t know! Turn left.’

  People scurried out of their way. They went down a corridor and met a wall.

  ‘What a brilliant idea you had. Turn left.’

  ‘I told you I didn’t know.’

  ‘Shh.’ he said and backed the horse behind a wall to prevent them from being seen. They heard hooves slow as it came closer to them. Ishkhan gently pulled his legs up and stood on the horse.

  ‘Are you mad?’ she said.

  ‘Shhh.’

  As the horse and its rider came into view. He back flipped, hitting the rider in the shoulder. When his feet touched the ground, he hit the rider in his face and knocked him over. Natalia gaped. It wasn’t possible.

  Ishkhan got on the horse and said, ‘Stop fancying me and ride.’

  She followed him past through the market and down a field. They rode till they got to a lake.

  ‘The land belongs to Lord—’

  ‘It doesn’t matter.’ he said, getting down the horse, ‘we’re safe now.’

  She got off her horse, ‘We’ve caused so much trouble.’

  ‘Does that bother you?’ he asked.

  She laughed hard and lay on the grass. ‘I haven’t felt this free before.’

  ‘Good. Because it’s about to get better.’ He ran and jumped into the lake.

  She ran to the pond, ‘What did you do that for?’

  ‘You told me to make amends by jumping into a pond.’

  She laughed. ‘You took me seriously.’

  ‘I didn’t want to take any chances.’ he said and splashed some water at her. ‘Get in the water.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Are you afraid?’

  ‘Of what?’

  ‘Me.’

  ‘I’m coming in.’ She ran and jumped in. The water was so cold that it sent shock waves all over her body. She shivered and laughed as she swam to him.

  ‘I have my first wish.’

  ‘And what could it be?’

  ‘I want you to teach me how to fight.’

  He chuckled. ‘I’m not sure your father would approve.’

  ‘Shhh. You have no choice in the matter.’

  ‘Alright. But it would be in secret, maybe in our adventures. And you would tell me the stories of Machish.’

  ‘Why are you so interested in him?’ she said, getting closer to him.

  ‘I would just like to know. Do we have an agreement?’

  ‘Get out of the water.’

  She turned to the bank and saw the guards with swords in their hands.

  ‘This didn’t end like I planned.’ Ishkhan said.