The LEGEND OF AIR AND GROUND

Conditions

***

"What you could not accomplish, my son has" said the Queen in her rage as once again the King had shown up drunk to her chambers and shoved her in the floor.

"What did you say?" The King tried to charge at her, although he failed miserably with his wobbly feet and blurred vision.

"It hadn't even been a full hour, Raman"   The queen stated as she looked at the King's drunk and tired eyes, "Serendipity found herself threatened at his arrival, and it hadn't even been a full hour".

Raman softened his gaze at the queen. There was something special about the way she would take his name. Maybe it was the way how she rolled her tongues; however it was, it sounded more beautiful through her lips- more elegant, more gracious and more royal.

"This child is tainted" He raised his voice, slurring his speech and struggling to keep the eyes open, "Serendipity came here with her own ulterior motives, and tainted the child".

"She left the ground in peace for the first time in pages of history" The Queen stated firmly, "And for the first time, she left without her arrival being a threat to your life-"

"Serendipity is no threat to me; never was and never will be." King Raman interrupted the queen midsentence.

The Queen took a step back and shuddered at the Raman's pride. But unlike the past, her fears were calmed as she glanced at the crib with the newborn prince. Unlike the past, she saw hope. And she wasn't going to let her son resemble his father in any shape and form.

****

Maya picked up her father's spare axe. And she rushed to the jungle. Vigorously, she thrashed the axe into the tree trunk. The force with which she used the axe could have chopped the tree up in a few more slashes, had she not stopped midway to wail.

A few hours back, Serendipity- the Royal advisor of the air had come by her hut and made her an offer for which she would have to sell her self respect.

"Is my worth that low?" Maya wept as she gave up on her legs and fell down in the ground, "Is that why they thought I'd give up on my whole identity for mere wealth and title?".

Maya sobbed for a long time. So long that even the spirits of the jungle couldn't console her. At last, her eyes gave in. It said that it didn't have any more tears left for her to pour out. And that was when Maya finally stopped weeping.

'Serendipity could not have been that cruel' whispered the gush of air that brushed by her.

"Serendipity has indeed been that cruel" Maya spoke out aloud as she buried her rough hands in her face.

The General Commander emerged from the wood far behind. He was meant to stay there hidden, far away from Maya's sight. But Maya had wept so tragically that even the hardest rocks looked like they would melt over at any given time. The General Commander couldn't stop himself from moving towards Maya. His purposeful rumbles of footsteps were heard by Maya, and hence why she turned over to her defensive mode and hid her vulnerability in an instant in front of the stranger.

"How dare you spy on me?" Maya asked accusingly, she had no intent of keeping her polite demeanor anymore. 'Polite or not, the universe will still find ways to make you guilty of sins and punish you for it' She thought.