Medona

Chapter 25-Peace Offering

There was an open area in between two rooms in a corner of the palace. Perfect spot to silently roll the tears down my cheeks. I sat there and wept my eyes out. I was so annoyed and despaired. Whatever Hirashman did wasn't too bad for a 2000 BC substitute king. Although he was the only person I could talk to but still he was an only five days earlier met stranger. I shouldn't have been behaving like that. But an unreasonable sadness ached my heart. Deep inside somewhere in my heart, I had developed expectations from him. I admired him. I felt stuck in the palace. My brain wasn't processing effectively. I couldn't think about a way to sneak out. And more importantly I knew I had to come back to fulfil the mission. Hirashman was in the palace and the feeling of running into him gave me abdominal cramps. I kept sobbing and weeping until I got tired and my tear glands worned out. I felt a little light but I could feel my eyes swollen and cheeks sore.

Sun set and the moon showed up in the yet to be full dark sky. It was a full moon and there were no clouds to hide it. The breeze and the slowly shading sky embodied my gloom.

I kept staring blankly at the speckled moon when I jumped at someone clearing his throat behind me. I was so lost in thoughts that I didn't realize Hirashman was standing behind me. Seeing him used to bliss me but this time I was terrified. My orbs bulged out in fright and all my hairs erected. He had a guilt in his expressions mixed with a long Mourn. My scared gesture forced him to regret on what he did even more.

He sat next to me and moved his fist, in which he was hiding something, infront of me. He opened his hand revealing the small, blue stained flower. The petals were slightly wrinkled under the pressure of his hold. I couldn't process what he was doing and so does my expressions spoke the same. He pulled his hand closer to me and offered me the flower by giving his head a light nod.

My stare didn't change, "What's this?"
He sighed and looked back at his flower which desperately wanted to be accepted but wasn't yet, "a peace offering", his voice cracked. It was none of his prominating or humble persona. He sounded like an injured bird who has a very little hope to fly again. I knew this couldn't be because of that encounter.

"Isn't it too small?", I wasn't expecting my voice to get hoarse due to the sobs.
I kept staring at his down to earth posture and the repent in his eyes. He wasn't able to look up into my eyes and kept his eyes pitying on that tiny yet nature's magnificent creation in his hand which yanked slightly due to the breeze. He cupped his hand to secure it from falling and said, "that's the only size I could hide in my hand"
I had no words to reply.
"If you want, I will take you to meet your friend", he added but didn't want to.
"So that you can kill him?"
"No.... no ... I won't harm him..",wind hustled in the silence in between before he added further, "It's your life and.... umm ... your choices... who am I to object?", he said dejectly pulling his hand back to himself as he thought I wasn't accepting the peace.
"I thought you were jealoused of him", I began to burst out my anger on him a little.
"No.. yes... I was... I am actually"

He looked so messed, "What's wrong with you?"

He took a pause and took a deep breath, "I was only nine when Queen Mariah accused my mom for stealing the 'Royal Fallen Star'. She had a help from Sheikh as he reconfirmed my father 'The Fourteenth Hirman' that the allegations were real. My father kicked my mom out of the palace... But luckily he didn't kill her and let her live in a small cottage away from the city. Since then I used to meet her daily. I used to sneak out of the palace secretly to meet her until last year when my father died. Brother 'The Fifteenth Hirman', although being too young to take over the control, became the king. As you know already, Brother is out on natural adventures and trainings most of the time. So, being the Substitute King I got busier and I was unable to meet her daily anymore. But I tried to take out time and meet her in seven or eight days..... I went to meet her in the noon and tell her how finally her dream came true but... ", I was so into his story. My heart melted bit by bit as I could feel the sorrow enveloping him. He lowered his head even more, must've been hiding his glistening eyes.

"But?"

"I couldn't... ", he barely uttered the words and took an interupted sigh.
"Why?"
"She had died this morning", his voice shrieked at the heaviness of his throat. He held his breath to control the weeps but couldn't help the silent fresh tears to roll down his cheeks. My heart started to ache. I held his empty hand to offer him the tiniest of comfort.
He gulped and spoke again in shaking voice, "when I came back and saw you by the gate. I thought you were leaving me too. And the pain of losing everything at once took me out of my senses and I said those things to you"
*Leaving? Am I going to be with him forever?*
*Everything? What is he thinking?*
Alot of questions altogether created a turmoil accross my nerves. But all I wanted at the spot was to provide him the solace that I now knew he wouldn't be able to have from anyone else.
My humane screamed at me *hug him you bloody stone*.

I reluctantly stretched my other arm towards his head, travelled my palm to the back of his head and then pulled him towards my shoulder. He placed his forehead on my shoulder and started to sob. I caressed his head with my chin which was in contact with it and it itched at the brush against his hair. I felt the heat radiating from his head onto my neck and my throat got heavier at the urge to cry along. I rubbed my free hand on his back and gave a solacing squeeze to his hand I was holding in my other hand. The fabric over my shoulder was damped with his warm tears as he dugged his eyes into it. He cried like that for quite while, his hiccups broke my heart into thousand pieces.

When his sobs started to slow down, a sudden feeling of *Tarika just what the hell are you doing?* hitted my gut and I loosened the grip on his hand. He felt the change and lifted his head from my shoulder, quickly wiping off the tears. I let go of his hand and wasn't sure what to do or say.
"Are you still angry at me?", his voice had become hoarse too.
I looked into his red eyes, slowly opened his fist, took the flower from him which was even more wrinkled. I stretched its petals carefully bringing back the freshness, "its beautiful"

The faint smile that appeared on his mourning face lifted up my spirit. He took the flower from me and tucked it in my braid above my ear pulling one hair. I winced. He looked back at me and his smile widened, "now it's beautiful"

We had a brief moment of stare contest when he realized he had to go. He stood up and as he was about to go I called him, "Hirashman!"
He turned back and I dusted off his cloak. He was paused for a moment and then held my head from back. He pulled my head towards him and gave me a kiss on my forehead. The touch of his lips on my forehead subsided my headache a little.