The King of Saminu

Chapter 8

 I wanted to hate the landscape. I truly did. However, the vague memories I had of richer cities brought joy to my panicked mind, and I couldn't help but to be awestruck by the bustling city I was entering. We were going through what seemed to be a tunnel underneath a wall that was far taller than anything I had ever seen before. Two story buildings used to impress me, and the wall surrounding what appeared to be Horegi was a feat I was unable to comprehend. The tunnel opened up to a road, completely paved with stone. Even that impressed me. I hadn't seen a paved road since well before Gamm was born.

The surprises kept coming. The paved road was full of people, but not so full that it was crowded. Almost every town I lived in growing up had been either immensely overpopulated so that we wouldn't be noticed, or barren of other people. And the buildings! All of them were tall, beautiful pieces of artwork that would have left me speechless on their own, but together, they left me breathless. Each house or building was made from beautiful pieces of marble, ranging from yellows and oranges, and even the occasional pink. The stone work was flawless, completely smooth and without a blemish. Everything fit into the color scheme I wasn't familiar with, but it made that all the more beautiful.

The ride was cut short when we were suddenly going back downhill, underneath another tunnel. It grew dark almost immediately, and had I not been taking the time to admire the buildings, I would have been happy to be back in my element.
"Why are we going underground?" My voice must have been angrier than I had anticipated it to be, and Vaindari chuckled. My anger increased.
"Thought you Slifnians hated Spenn?" I had nothing to say in response, my cheeks heating up at a mix of anger and embarrassment. "New immigrants go into holding before the king interviews you," I stiffened, remembering everything that I should have been worrying about.

I knew nothing of this king. The last time I had gone to school was almost eleven years ago, and while I remembered almost all of my education, the new King of Spenn was never mentioned. His father was still king back then, King Attzi, the longest ruling king to date. To be fair, his father had been killed when he was young, leaving him many years to grow into the position of king. Which, coincidentally, left many years for Slifni to learn about him. Even still, if there was one thing Spenn was good at, it was keeping their information safe from the Slifnians who pried. All I knew about Attzi was that he had become king young, in the year 238, and that he died earlier this year. His death had been a celebration in all of Slifni, something I almost had guilt over. Ellsk and I had been the only ones to hesitate in the celebrations, wondering why we would celebrate the death of someone, even if he were our enemy. We had stayed inside, much to our parents' chagrin.

No one even knew the name of the new king. He had never been mentioned, never been taught about, never been seen. For all we knew, he could have been born the day that Attzi died- which was common belief in Slifni. We all thought that the new king had to be as young as Attzi was, which was a good explanation for how he had been kept secret for this long. Still, with Vaindari now talking about how he would personally interview us and how the king had been giving orders, I now found it unlikely. The mystery of it all left a pit in the bottom of my stomach and my throat tightened. With Xeoys, I knew what I had to do to survive. Here, I wasn't playing the same game. I didn't know the rules, didn't know how to act, how to hide, how to get by. The awe I felt at Horegi died away, and it took everything in my power not to cry.

We soon reached a large door with two guards already stationed beside it. They rolled their eyes as Vaindari dismounted and pulled me along with him.
"We gettin' more already, Dari? He just finished interviewing the last batch," The one on the right complained. I was shaking so badly that the chains on my wrists were audibly hitting each other.
"He's the one that wants to keep this going. I don't make the rules, I just enforce them. Now open the door, we got a large batch this time," The guards opened the massive door, a heavy creak of the metal echoing throughout the underground tunnel. Vaindari grabbed my rattling chains, and inside we went.