A Longtime Ago

Amanda

It was a wet night with little snow falling accompanying a cool night breeze. Windbrook was buried in silence. The only noises heard were the unpleasant loud snores that emitted from some homes. Especially the poor homes since they had little to afford a brick-house that could bar their snores as in the homes of the rich.

King Rahd found it thorny to seek comfort on his royal divan and every tick of his clock augmented fear in him. All preparations were made for the arrival of the Queen and the alleged newborn. He had earlier sent the Queen to unknown land and it was time for her return.Some months back, he lured his council to believe that the Queen had taken seed and a trip away from Windbrook would be best for her.

Before that, Ellia, had gone missing and the king's men were all over the village in search of the young maiden. All sort of speculation went on but the maiden, coming from a home battling poverty; she quickly became part of Windbrook's unspoken past.

King Rahd was on his royal throne one morning, just some few days after the queen's departure, waiting for the return of the soldiers he had sent earlier. It was a chilly morning. Windbrook had been hit by torrential rain overnight and the drizzles continued till the morning. He ordered some soldiers to go checking on the forest regions so they could help hunters who got trapped in the forest by the night rain. The soldiers returned with news. They had found one unconscious female in a torn silk dress without footwear with cuts underneath her foot. It was obvious she had been chased into the hunters forest as people who were granted entry into forests in Windbrook were strictly recognized hunters. The King ordered maids and palace nurses to attend to her wounds and to prepare her for dinner. The soldiers were warned to keep the news only within the walls of the castle and nowhere else.

It was dinner time. King Rahd was seated already waiting for the stranger he had made his guest. He had been sitting close to an hour and he had started gnashing his teeth. The wine was finished and there was nothing more to calm his nerves after he was responded with "My King, she will be here soon" by the maids yet she wasn't. Furiously, he stood up then he turned speechless as he saw a lady dressed in cocktail silk. She was walking slowly towards the dinner table then she made a halt, toppled her midnight-black her onto her shoulders and left her fingers gesticulating in mid air. The King had his eyes glued to the curvilinear waist lady with glossy skin. He could only gaze at her enthralling blue eyes under the defense of her pencil-thin eyebrows falling on her beetle's leg eyelashes. Her heart-shaped lips popped out fully as she made an attempt to utter words. "My King", she said, but her set of dazzling white teeth blocked the King's ears.

He wondered how such a beauty found her way into his castle. "How did you get here", the King asked. Then she responded with a voice that sounded sugary to the king, "your servant Michele, my King, she mentioned that you commanded my presence at your table".

"Say no more", the King whispered as he drew a chair backwards and offered her seat. His questions perhaps had been answered by the beauty that he could not stop gazing and none was able to break the speechless mode as they dined. Their eyes yearned for each other. "To my chambers", he ordered as he left the table. The maiden followed up on his steps. His door was left opened hence she could skip the knocking. She shut it behind her and looked at the king as though afraid. He walk directly towards her, held her by the waist and started an endless kiss with her. She could not resist his lips neither could he. The kissing continued for a while then he lowered his lips through his ears descending slowly. She had her arms wrapped all over her head giving him no space to withdraw his lips from her body. Soon she feel on his bed and they both got intimate.

The morning seemed promising. Birds kept chirping, perhaps, rejoicing after noticing how colorful and bright the flowers had blossom with its lovely petals they found irresistible. The King was now awake. He rushed into his washroom assuming that the maiden might be taking a bath since he could not find her anywhere around his bed. He neither found her in the washroom too. He summoned Michele.
"Where is she?", he asked gruffly.
"She left the castle before the sun rose."
"And you watched her go"
"No my king, she claimed that you would have her executed should you set eyes on her this morning, but she is being tailed by a guard"
"What is her identity"
"Your highness, her name, she will mention to no one else except in your ears"
"Michele, you get to keep your head still on your neck after I have listened to befitting news from the guard you tasked. Out!"