Gods and Guardians

Chapter 36: Zainox

'Your Highness, Maxis, believe me, it is almost impossible to meet a woman with the two B's. Beauty and Brains. Together?' Lord Camron shook his head. 'Very rare. Very, very rare.'

Maxis smiled. 'I do believe that. Kiyanna is one of the rarest kinds.' He turned to her. 'One princess in a million.'

Dasirus managed a lopsided smile and continued chewing. He pulled a tray of turkey towards himself and was about to cut through when Haneya touched his hand. He softened immediately in reply to the gesture.

'My Lord, Dasirus, may I?' She offered.

Dasirus gladly did, not tampering his stare at her lovely, smiling face. She cut the meat in his stead and set it on a plate. Then she poured some source around it.

'Her Royal Highness,' said Camron, 'is a wonder wife as well as a beautiful queen.'

'I just wanted to say how blessed I was to have found one of the rarest of women for my queen,' Dasirus said, flattering Haneya a little.

'The blessing is totally mine, my Lord,' Haneya said. 'Only a great man can see a mine where others only see gold.'

Lord Camron clapped spontaneously. Maxis soon joined and Lord Nouvell followed. Maxis noticed Kiyanna was not clapping and nudged her, but she resisted.

'Nothing rules a great kingdom like the love between its king and queen,' Lord Camron remarked.

'Which means Kainon will be most lucky to have our princess and the prince, Maxis, someday. It would be a reign greater than that of his father,' Haneya said.

Kiyanna busied her lips with a cup of water, refusing to react to the queen's remarks.

'Thank you very much, Your Royal Highness,' Maxis replied. 'May you live to see even the birth of our grandchildren.'

Lord Camron raised a cup. 'May the Great Lord grant our deepest desires.'

All, including Dasirus and Haneya raised their cups and chorused. 'May the Great Lord.'

Kiyanna raised her cup, reluctantly, grudgingly.

Maxis decided to ignore her for now. Why does she hate Haneya so much? These days, it seemed her hatred had taken on greater weight. Even in his brief return to see his wife-to-be., he had noticed a certain fondness between the king and queen. Maybe Kiyanna was jealous. She couldn't stand Haneya before, and not now when she seems to be pushing Abigyl's memory into second place.

Lord Camron flushed his rice with hasty swigs of juice. Then he resumed talking. 'Well, finding luck is a matter of luck. Here I am sitting at supper with two couples strung together by the most brilliant of fates and destiny.'

'How many wives do you have again, Lord Camron?' Maxis asked. He knew, but he wanted to hear it from Camron's own mouth.

'Last I checked? Mmm...' he counted in the air. 'Thirty-eight.'

Maxis feigned surprise. 'It sounds like you multiplied your chances of meeting a double-B woman by thirty-eight.'

'Yes, I got a couple of Blabbers, bawlers and bickerers. I guess I got more than double-B's.'

They entire table couldn't help bursting into laughter.

'It must be really tough,' Maxis commented.

'Lord Camron is tough,' Lord Nouvell said, still laughing.

'We do have our moments. It's not always a madhouse. If birds don't want to fight, there is enough space in the sky for all of them to fly without even touching wings.'