1.Some Things Cannot Be Undone
He was feeling a lot of commotion, almost unbearable and was wondering what kind of route they were taking that was so disturbed. But the circumstances were such that he could not complain about it until he had reached the destination. The destination, kingdom of Mahqur, was to be protected at all costs by any outsider’s eyes because they believed that anyone from outside will come with evil thoughts towards their precious kingdom. He had already practiced it several times, a short, precise and clear offering of peace ought to do the logical king’s bidding to remove this misunderstanding.
A soldier peeks inside the carriage ,”we’re almost there messenger “,says the soldier and he must not have known the real identity of the messenger as he would have shown much more respect to him otherwise. The king did not just send a mere usual messenger to convey the message which could be the most important in this world ,in fact this man was the most trusting of the king’s court who was once known for his theft skills and had now become one of the wisest man to ever live in the kingdom of Orkhan. The carriage suddenly stops ,Hoshakh could make out the soldiers whispering among themselves on whose turn it was to take him further now.
“I’ll take this one , I have some work in the market nearby “,said one of the soldiers to others before he walked up to the carriage.
“Come on, this way messenger “,says the soldier grabbing him by his hand and pulling him out of his carriage , the blindfolds were also removed at this point and what Hoshakh was witnessing in front of his eyes he could not believe .There were great mountain ranges all around him and no sign of a palace except for a single point of light which could be seen behind one of the smaller mountains .
“This way “,calls the soldier to Hoshakh
After walking on the rocky and steep path for sometime , the soldier approaches for a conversation with the unknown messenger.
“So messenger, you must have a name ?”,asks the soldier
“Hurayat Markun or you might have heard of someone named “Hoshakh” and you can now say to them that you had the pleasure of meeting him”
The soldier turns to look at Hoshakh , he could not believe that it was him ,but after a while he approaches ,” I had heard they were sending someone important ,never imagined that this matter had gone to be this important, it is my great honor to be of service to an individual of your great stature, may I be forgiven for my earlier behaviour?”,says the soldier
“Do not worry about it , not so long ago people often addressed me with far worse ,what shall I call you ?”,said Hoshakh
“Amad and this way ,that one lead to the gardens “,says Amad
I’d love to see the famous gardens of Mahqur ,when all these disputes are settled down and the relations between the two kingdoms are restored again. Hoshakh looked hopefully towards Amad who did not look so sure about this.
“So , you must be already prepared for it ,yes?”,said soldier changing topic abruptly
“I am, but still quite nervous “,says Hoshakh
“Well, you shouldn’t be ,our king will understand if your argument is good “,says Amad
“I should hope so…”
They were almost there ,the rocky steep path had already taken shape into the well-crafted path which led to the grand palace of Mahqur.
And there it was , beautiful as it was told in the tales Hoshakh had heard of it
“We must go from the other door ,this one will take you the hall , but I have been told that the meeting is to be held in the private court room, come from here “,says Amad as he takes Hoshakh away from the large crowd around the hall gate toward a left alley .
The alley was narrow and clean and on both sides there were big doors surrounding the alley and although the crowd was now getting thinner but still there were people in the area to notice the outsider ,Hoshakh simply waved or salutating a namaste.
“We are almost there, I just have to figure out which door ?”says Amad
“What do you mean?”, asks Hoshakh
“Well ,the gate is secret ,hidden among the other common gates ,I think they did this thinking the best place to hide something is in plain sight among other usual things,but there should be a sign ,and here we go , I think this is it ,they have given me the key of this for this specific time only “,says Amad as he unlocks the door
“Here we go , before I leave I would like to say good luck , I do hope things work out for the better and hope there is no war.
“Thank you ,I promise to try my best”,says Hoshakh ,and with that said Amad’s work was done and it was up to the big people to decide whether there will be a war or not .
Hoshakh walks ahead on the dark path , he was scared for his life ,out in an unknown enemy land ,but he was not scared for his life because he cared about his mortal life , but feared the consequences his death would bring .The lights started waking up as he walked more and more and there he saw everyone ,including King Tajot with his most precious council of 7.All eyes were fixed on him with side chatter that could be heard vaguely. As he reached the table in middle of the room, everybody stood to greet him
“Welcome , the wise Hoshakh “,the kind spoke,” I trust our soldiers took care of your travels properly ,though I sincerely apologize for the secrecy of the journey , you must understand it is a necessary precaution , all the more now .
“Yes , there was no problem in the journey and I do understand the neccessity of the measures taken for security . I must insist now we get to the matter at hand ,which is the peace offering brought by me from the great King Austerius “
“Yes please , I do understand that your King is generous ,logical and kind man who has used his senses to refute this kind of monstrosity of a war “.
Hoshakh takes out a piece of royal parhcment and starts reading aloud : “In accordance to the peace offering,made by King Austerius , in order to avoid the upcoming battle of Cordane ,recited by Hurayat Markun here at the court of King Tajot .
I wish to offer the land of west cerok,upxton and a 1000 tarq to the great king of Mahqur and the 1000 tarq each to their neighboring allied kingdoms.I sincerely hope that the king understands the severity of this war and settles for this deal in order to bring forth peace in every kingdoms presiding .
Your sincerely
King of Orkhan
Austerius David
The king looks at his other council members with a face of satisfaction ,and speaks addressing Hoshakh ,”That seems like a fair agreement , your king is quite generous when it comes to avoiding wars.”
“Thank you King Tajot ,so should I conclude that this meeting was a complete success after all “
“Yes , and my soldiers will take care of your every need from here , if you wish to visit someplace in Mahqur , you are most welcome .”
I’ve heard quite a lot of positive things about the famous Mahqur gardens”
“Oh yes , our gardens are a sight to anyone’s eyes, I will notify someone to collect you from here to take you to the gardens.”, and with that the king and the council of 7 starts to leave from the court , leaving Hoshakh thinking he was worrying about the meeting for nothing ,it went even more comfortably than thought out.
“Well it seems fitting that I must be the one who takes you to the gardens “,says Amad ,who had just appeared in the court to recieve Hoshakh from one of the gates of the court. He had found Hoshakh sleeping on one of the council members seats .
“I apologize , I was quite tired from my travels and decided to make myself comfortable “ ,says Hoshakh
You must be the nicest official I have ever met ,talking to me like this , come with me please , I know a way which is closer to the gardens from here.” ,said Amad
They both make way for the gate on the extreme left and as they step out they are greeted by grounds of sands with roughly carved pathways going either left or right ,with Amad leading Hoshakh towards the left one.
“Does every door in the room leads to different places in the city “, Hoshakh asks curiously .
“Some lead to the same place but different gates for different entrances ,but the main point about it is that the gates cover any important place there in the city, the one which was on your north and locked led to the weaponry , the one through which the king and his council must have left from would lead to the main hall of the palaceNow you must watch your steps here ,the path gets quite steeper suddenly.”
“How long are the gardens from here ?”, says Hoshakh ,seeing ground of sands all around him with no sight of a garden.
“Oh ,not so far but they take time to reach all the same from here, so if you do not mind sharing the decision of the king and his council.” ,says Amad
“An unofficial agreement has been reached , when I will relay this message the king will send the parchment in order for the signature of your King Tajot “,says Hoshakh
“ I see ,that sounds like really good news ,I am sure my friends will be happy to hear they they do not have to prepare themselves for another war.”
It was good news ,but something about it seemed off ,like this was all too easy ,like there should have been more difficulties faced by him in this task ,surely avoiding a war could not have been this easy , and that was when he realized that he was not going to visit any gardens ,he has been a fool to let himself fall prey so easily ,but this realization seemed too late to come to him as he sees in front of him a pair of soldiers like Amad carrying their deadly blades and gets hit by someone on the head from behind which leaves him unconscious.
His hands and legs were tied and the hot sun was staring down at his head with its great extremity. He opens his eyes with difficulty due to the sun and sees Amad standing in front of him with a gun .
“Before I kill you , I would just like to say sorry for the cost of this war which is your head”,says Amad in a tone of finality .
“Just get on with it already Amad “,says one of the soldiers from behind
Amad takes a good look on Hoshakh who was no longer feeling the sun in his eyes, had accepted his end and was ready to die proudly , knowing at the same time that his death was about to start a war which could leave everyone in this world with unforgettable turmoil.
“Goodbye,The Great and Wise Hoshakh”, says Amad and ends the life of the king of Orkhan’s most trusting guide and his closest friend.