Amgyptapan

Chapter 16: Tragedy/Growing Up

Ioyazi was dying. None of the healers knew how to remove the cause. She was at a point where any moment could be her last. Ten year old Akiva and six year old Hessa understood what was going on.

Ioyazi had spent too long as a human. Any human that mated with a pure demon of high status ended up receiving too much of their mate's blood and dying. What would happen is the blood of the pure demon suffocates the human's blood. Unless the human is taken through a ritual to become an artificial demon, they would die. Too much time had passed for the ritual to work on Ioyazi.

Akiva and Hessa were currently by their ill mother's bedside. Ioyazi's skin had turned cold and clammy from sickness. Her luscious lips had turned pale. The high-born woman was very much worse for the wear.

"Akiva, I want you to promise me something." Ioyazi said to her son.

"Yes, Mother?" Akiva asked, trying not to cry.

"I want you to promise that, no matter what happens, you and your sister will stick together. Will you promise me that?" His mother pleaded.

"I promise, Mother." Akiva agreed.

"Hessa, I want you to promise me something, too." Ioyazi turned to Hessa.

"Yes, Mama," Hessa replied, sniffling, "what is it?"

"I want you to promise that you will always follow your heart, wherever it may lead you, no matter what anyone says. Promise me that, baby?" Ioyazi said.

Hessa nodded. Ioyazi smiled for the last time. Her eyes slid shut and her body went limp. Ioyazi was gone, though her body remained, her spirit had moved on.

Molahs didn't have anything to say on how many turned up for his mate's funeral. Everyone that ever knew the princess, the second Lady of the West, had come to mourn her passing. Even his first mate, Muna, had come to express her grievances at Ioyazi's passing.

Akiva was doing all he could to stay calm and not burst into tears. He was a prince! Princes did not cry at anything! He released a shaky breath.

Hessa didn't care that a princess was supposed to have a stiff upper lip. She didn't care what anyone thought of her. All that mattered was keeping her promise to her mother in all things. Her heart told told her to mourn by crying her eyes out, so that was what she was going to do!

On the outside, Chandrakant looked as if he didn't care his stepmother was gone. However, the turmoil in his mind was hectic. Despite everything, the eldest Prince of the West grieved for the woman that had been more of a mother to him than the first Lady herself. He felt as if his heart would break into two pieces, if only that.

What surprised everyone in the palace was that Ioyazi's elderly parents were nowhere to be seen. It had really been no secret that the lord and lady that had brought the second Lady into the world hated the man she had chosen to be with. The elderly couple hadn't even acknowledged their grandchildren's births, despite their daughter's best attempts at reconciliation. However, for them to not even appear for their daughter's funeral meant that they had cut their own flesh and blood from their hearts just as they had cut her out of their lives.

Ioyazi's body on the unlit funeral pyre looked completely serene. Her hands were folded one over the other on her chest. Her eyes were closed; as if she was sleeping. Her skin was ivory in death where it had been bright in life.

Ioyazi wore a satin kimono that displayed her radiance. It was as elegant as it was beautiful. The fabrics that formed it showed the seven colors of the rainbow. The obi sash was gold colored with real gold embroidered into it in a truly ornate design.