2.The Hiding Place
The peaceful town of Tripkot, surrounded with green hills all around it with good-natured people and a sense of fellowship towards each other contained a dark secret ,a secret known to only the elders and royals that were still left in the town. King Tajot considered himself wise by choosing such a place to conceal his secrets . Who could suspect such a peaceful town to contain something valuable to him.
It was the only house in a lonely street in the town ,perhaps the house had been built there so that nobody would try to visit it frequently ,and although the people of Tripkot were not fully aware of who presided there ,they knew they were not to interfere in the process which was hidden from them. But all these facts could not bother Sophia and her little world, she frequently visited the town in spite of her mother’s refusal ,her curiosity was too large to be pushed aside by the orders given by the King and supposedly ,her father. She hated her dad and for good reason too because it was his insecurities that were forcing them to live in this small town in hiding. Although his insecurities came from a reasonable place(this refers to the incident which happened to the King in his palace by one of his most trusted advisors who killed his newly born son leaving a distraught mother and an angry King behind),his actions could be seen by most people severe but were deemed necessary according to the king.
Flaura was on the hills along with the other women collecting fresh vegetables and was just about to return home when she heard two other women talking about the palace . The palace ,where her husband , the King lived far away from this small village where she was all alone except the company of her daughter .
“I heard that they killed someone very close to King Austerius, who had come to deliver the message of peace “,said one of the woman
“If there was not a war before , there is most certainly one now “,says the other woman
Flaura had never been interested in whisperings about the kingdom but the recent news had been suggesting a war in brewing which had her worried. She felt no sympathy for king anymore after the way he had treated her but Mahqur was also her home and she felt responsible for the people living in it.
“The king is very furious and immediately had the soldiers arrested who were responsible.
Flaura walks away and down the hill ,she had heard enough . She was thinking about the king ,and how it had happened again , a tragedy right under his nose by the people of his own kingdom ,he never did learn from his mistakes. She looked down the hill ,always a sight to behold the little houses surrounded by the greenery, she could remember that when at first she had come here ,she was fearful about the environment and now ,when she knew she had to leave it .she was not ready to go back again . This had certainly become a home for her and her daughter .She looked down the path she had come from and could see a familiar face climbing the steps .
“Flo, it is time to go ,the King has called for you and Sophia to return to the city “,said Arthaman as he they meet halfway on the steps
“I told you before brother, I am not going, the king can make his elaborate plans all he wants ,but all can see he is unfit to do anything”,said flaura
“ you should have some respect for your husband, even if not for the king”, said Arthaman
“He did not treat me like his wife when he left me here with my new born daughter just because of his self-doubts ,so why should I show any respect “,said Flaura, she felt the king was no longer the man she had once loved.
Do not be silly flo ,I know what the King did was an upright brutal act and he will have me first to answer to for his misdeed, but you did hear about the news of Hoshakh , it is not safe for us here any…
“Hoshakh ,it was him who they killed?”, a wave of shock had suddenly hit Flaura ,how could this happen ,her childhood friend had been murdered , the most witty and cunning person she had ever met .
I am sorry Flo “says Arthaman apologetically as she sees Flaura getting in deep upset thoughts .
“That is why we must leave , think of Sophia ,she needs protection at this time ,the enemy will not stop until they have found something to make our King vulnerable”
“And why do you feel the King will be able to protect my daughter if he could not protect Hoshakh “
“This time it is different ,I am sure he will leave no stone unturned in the protection of his own daughter”,said Arthaman
They started walking back to their little house just at the end of the village ,she was deep in thought about her childhood memories with Hoshakh ,They grew up in one of the smaller kingdoms that were part of the kingdom of Orkhan, she could remember the curious and witty kid who could fool anyone ,even elders . As any child without parents he did what he could do best to survive and feed him and his abandoned brother ,he stole from people but never from those who needed it more than him ,only those who were in excess of it . This dangerous job landed him in front of her father who was the king of that small city ,but instead of reprimanding him , he was impressed by his skills and saw use of an individual like him in his court. Hoshakh soon became the most trusted advisor of the king. That is when Flaura got to know Hoshakh and became a close friend to her and her brother. As she got to know Hoshakh more and more she could see there was some tension between him and his brother, but Hoshakh never shared anything about his parents or personal life with them or anyone ,he was like a closed book .Flaura could remember one time asking him about his parents ,he just brushed her off and told her he had something important to do .Flaura did not try so hard to know ,she believed if a person is not willing to share ,it is better not knowing. After that ,there was no turning back for Hoshakh as the news of his skills started reaching the central kingdom when he had just reached adulthood. Flo’s father arranged her marriage with the king of Mahqur who had personally selected her to be wed with him . The marriage would have strengthen the relations between the two kingdoms of Orkhan and Mahqur and was made final after Flo’s acceptance of the king as her future husband. But Hoshakh was not happy with the marriage as Flo could remember talking to him about it just before he left for the City of Orkhan. He believed that the marriage was not a good idea as it would bind her to family responsibilities when she was meant for much more greatness. At the time ,she could not see Hoshakh being in the right as she wanted a family of her own and its varying responsibilities and see it just as challenging and rewarding as Hoshakh’s greatness. Part of her now though wishes to go back and listen to Hoshakh with the way things turned out to be , maybe Hoshakh would still be alive .But the marriage was not a complete failure as it was still accountable for giving Flaura the only thing she loved more than anything in the world ,her daughter Sophia .
She had never come to this part of the village ,her mother had always made sure of that ,but she could not understand her worry as the jungle left no sense of terror ,just thick big trees surrounded her from everywhere and there was not even a path made which indicated no one ever stepped in the forest. But the greenery was getting lesser as she was moving what she believed to be the center of the forest ,she could now see a path before her clearing and it looked someone had entered here before although not recently .She kept moving inside with the thrill and she was there ,probably the center of the forest , there were no trees here or bushes ,it was like a big circle surrounded with greenery all around , but there were path all around her leading to someplace else including the one she came from . She could hear sounds near ,from one of the paths on her right, footsteps were getting louder and louder ,there were lots of people judging by the sound , Sophia felt scared now , the thrill and her curiosity were being overtaken by her fear and she decided to go back .The people on that path were almost at the center, she could see them coming and they had noticed her ,they were carrying swords and were dressed in black .She decided to run towards her path , but it was too late ,they had reached the center and had seen the path she was disappearing in .Now the plan was to lose them when the bushes start to thicken but they were gaining and it was getting very hard to run as the bushes were thickening. She could see the big trees in sight ,she was almost there ,but even is she did reach there they would get a hold of her ,but if she could reach the town before getting caught there was some hope for her ,even if just a little ,She looked back and saw a man running ahead of everyone else like a cheetah ,he was almost close to her ,it was only a matter of time ,she was not running anymore and neither were the people behind her ,as it had become too difficult now because of the greenery .She could see the exit ,it was right there a few steps ahead from her and a hand had appeared from the other side which was she reached for but all the same time ,the man had grabbed her leg which was stuck in the bushes behind. His hold was tight but Sophia tried to reach again with her most strength and she grabbed the hand on the other side .Fortunately, the tug of war did not last for very long as the hand had a more stronger grip than the man’s ,it pulled her towards the exit and she came out .Standing in front of her was her mother and uncle having a mixture of look of worry and fear .She immediately hugged her mother ,she knew she was gonna get scolded but she did not care anymore ,she was just happy to be safe and in arms of her mother.
“That was close, they almost got her “,says Arthaman
“I told you never to go in the forest ,Sophia, why don’t you ever listen to me ,are you hurt in any way ?”,says Flaura who was checking her daughter for any signs of injury.
Sophia kept crying ,terrified with the whole incident .”Rangers , you reckon ?”,asked Flo
“Must be them only ,who else is known for living in that forest,take Sophia back in the house ,the poor girl is distraught .Flo takes Sophia back while Arthaman is left standing there wondering whether he should do.
“Oh well, might as well do it ,the gate has been opened for a long time already”, says Arthaman and moves his hand forward and places it on the semi-liquid gate that separated them and the forest . He mouths out an enchantment in order to seal the door which had turned from deep blue to black now as the seal is completed.
“That should do it, now unless Flo would want to open it ,it will remain closed.”