The Empire Of Helms

Yasha Vateek 1

The morning sunshine seeped through the open window, and along with a cold breeze awoke little Yasha. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. He could hear some commotion in the distance. His governess, Sandra, was nowhere to be seen, which was unusual, as she would always wake him up and then get him ready for the morning.

Yasha got out of his bed and decided to do his morning routine by himself. Yasha was the smallest in the family, so he was always eager to do his own work and to prove himself to others. So when the opportunity presented itself, Yasha was beyond happy.

But he was a bit upset. He liked Sandra and her sweet voice when she woke him up. She would fill him with excitement for a new day; they'd go for walks, make stuff in the kitchen and play all his favorite games. She and the head chef, Bilal Devari, were his two best friends. He'd daily go to the kitchen, where Bilal would make tasty cookies and cakes. Sometimes he'd even let Yasha cook. Yasha remembered the time he'd almost burned the kitchen, but Bilal had covered for him and didn't let his mother know, or else Yasha would've been banned from the kitchen for life!

But a month ago his father had told him Bilal had gone for some important work. Yasha hadn't been in the kitchen since; it just wasn't fun without Bilal. He missed him a lot. But still he had Sandra with him. And she always kept him busy. It was always fun to spend time with Sandra. He giggled as he remembered a little joke she had told him yesterday.

"Can we go to the river Sandra?" Yasha had asked her eysterday. "I wanna see the fishies" He looked down below the window, where the river was gushing forth. Yasha loved the river. He loved the sound the water made as it sped towards faraway places. He loved the playfulness of the fishermen, as they joked and played with him. He loved to see them catch fishes. But most of all he loved the fishes.

They were all really pretty, of different colors and sizes. He used to hold them in his hands and pet them. Then the fishermen let him drop them back to the river. It was always a fun time when Yasha went there.

"Sorry yasha." Sandra replied, "Not today, maybe tomorrow."

Yasha frowned at her response.

"Your mother is feeling even more ill today. I thought maybe we could go see her. Cheer her up a bit, huh?"

Yasha frowned even more. He loved his mother and really did wanna see her. But he was afraid of her health. He'd heard his father and elder siblings talk to one another about it, and they always looked very worried about it.

Sandra saw he was upset, and after a moment she smiled to herself.

"Would you like to hear a joke?" She asked.

"Yes please!" Yasha beamed. He liked her jokes.

"Ok, I've got a good one." She said. "Why was the fish sent to jail?"

"Why?"

"Because it was caught in the riverbank!"She had replied.

"Riverbank" Yasha said to himself, and giggled again. He left his bedroom and went looking for Sandra. He walked through the corridor and called her name. But he couldn't find her anywhere. So he decided to go by himself and check out the commotion he heard when he woke.

He went outside and found that a large gathering. He heard shouting and clattering of metal. It was early morning, a little after dusk, so Yasha was surprised to see so many people outside this early. He saw that there were a lot of horses outside. Then he spotted his father in the distance. He ran towards him.

"Father! Father!" He called out.

His father, a well built man in his fifties, with dark hair and dark eyes to match, stood giving orders to other. Yasha admired his father above everyone else. All the people listened to his father when he talked; they all did what he said. They all had great respect for him. Yasha wanted to be just like his father.