| Previously Featured |
| Book One of the Moon Chronicles |
"To hear, one must be silent."
The Power of the tongue and intelligence of a human being is what makes them different from God's other creations. It is what makes them powerful, it i...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I stared at my brother, puzzled by this news. I could see why it would be troubling for him, but I couldn't help but wonder, was he sure of what he had seen?
Are you sure? I asked. He didn't look so confident.
"No. I am not. However, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that what I saw was the insignia." Asad replied scratching his head.
I didn't ask him anything further as I picked the broom and stepped away from him. I wanted to think; maybe it was not a matter that should trouble us. But then again – how many times did someone so important come to a drought stricken village like ours?
The insignia wasn't too hard to recognize either, if the light of the Moon fell on it from a certain angle, one could see the beautiful golden crescent moon – anywhere.
And it did happen to be a full moon night, which meant that it was certainly less dark and the insignia could have caught Asad's attention.
However, the question still remained – why would someone so important be in our village?
Also, did it have something to do with what the Moon had said?
I closed my eyes and my thoughts flew back to the when our mother used to tell us stories about the Royal Family. She told us that it was essential that the youth knew where they came from, that the past was equally as important as the present. The Royal Family have been ruling over us ever since I was born. It was in the same year that our current Monarch's father had killed his wife's brother to take the throne.
The taking over of the throne had resulted in people retaliating, riots had happened all around Alam, but Monarch Shams was a clever man. He had started his reign but cutting down annual taxes from villages. He had also forgiven all the debts certain villages owed to the Treasury.
He was a lucky man too because that time the God above had poured down rain in abundance, which resulted in crops to be grown and the villagers to be happy and healthy.
Soon the people realised that maybe living under the reign of the new Monarch wasn't too bad. He was far more liberal and merciful. He was also smart, as it was him who had started the Falaj system – a system of irrigation where groundwater runs through a channel dug in the earth.
It was Monarch Shams who had started the concept of the 'insignia of the Monarch' – whoever carried the insignia was someone who was very important, among the inner circle of the Monarch himself.
The insignia – a golden crescent moon – was adapted by our current Monarch too.
"Ayah!" Asad's voice jolted me from my thought and I realised that I was crouched with a broom in my right hand, staring stupidly at the wall.
"Where did you run off to?" Asad asked, shaking his head and laughing at me.
I huffed and looked away, doing my chore as I was supposed to do.
