The Dusk of Dawn - Beyond the Horizon

Chapter 4- The Kumira Palace

Driya stretched her bow and aimed for a tree at a distance away. She let go of her arrow and it accurately hit an apple in its stem. The apple fell and landed onto her opened palm with a small thud.

"Cool," Fluffy said as Driya handed him the apple. She rolled her eyes— was this really the Founder of the Great Four? So young? And not only young— he'd been gaping at so much as a cockatoo on their way to the village. She'd expected the Founder of the Great Four to be an old all-knowing professor that's seen everything that exists on the planet. But really, that would be boring.

"Hey, Queen!"

Driya turned around. It was their village's coconut collector man. One of the most annoying bendans.

"Did you bring strangers into the village?" He demanded. Driya tried really hard to not roll her eyes and nodded.

"You have to tell your mother about this!" He exclaimed, which was annoying now that this 'Fluffy' looked more and more suspicious by his every word.

But this was something she HATED. 'Does your mother know about this?' 'Has your mother given you her permission?' 'Your mother told you to do this!' 'Your mother says you have to stay put!'. Your mother this, your mother that. Pft. bendan, I'm more powerful than anyone here. She thought.

Just because she was her mother, didn't mean she had to obey every single command. Like, she's a person with a really high place in the kingdom and a lowly-born coconut collector should definitely bow at her and ask if he's needed instead of bossing her around like he's her father or something!

"NO," Driya growled. "And I am GOING TO so you can bi zui and go AWAY!"

The man mumbled something annoying and limped off. Driya, in fact, unlike how her mother always insisted on the opposite, was quite clever. Given the proof that she was the only one in the whole kingdom and probably the whole world who learned a language that aged back from as long ago as the Great Raid. She put those words in her daily conversation for practice, but that only ended up with a bunch of brain-dead toads telling her she was showing off.

"Are you alright?" Fluffy asked. Driya was surprised for a little, not a lot of people asked that. But thinking again, Fluffy might be teasing how easily-irritated she could be.

"No," Driya snapped, ignoring Fluffy's meaningful words. She brushed aside the long roots dangling from the trees above and revealed a busy village ahead.

Huts built from coconut and palm leaves for the roof and bamboo for the body covered the place. Smaller ones scattered across the outer edges of the village. Little tents and medium-sized ones settled around the center of the area, surrounding a really large one, which was the Kumira Palace. It was not as fancy and covered in gold and white marble as palaces in other places. It was just really huge.

A few wasps weaved a nest around the shadows covered by the roof, the golden bugs circled the roof all the time. Driya hated those as much as the continuous scorching, sunny weather.

The sun was really bright on that day, as if it tried to annoy her on purpose. So bright that it hurt to stand in an open area for too long. She adjusted her eyes to the chill, shadowy area of the Kumira Palace as she stepped inside. Queen Kumira sat pampered by servants in the middle of the hut, and of course, they were fanning her with large banana leaves— classic. Driya thought it was such a waste of material to build such a high roof and never use the space, not even for decoration. But then again, that's all her mother knew how to do. Sit, berate, and do nothing. Literally nothing.