Amasa

Chapter two- Anticipation

The room was filled with tension .I felt as vulnerable as when prey would have spotted its predator crouching towards it on a sunny day. I definitely knew that something was going to go wrong .Father had not stopped pacing since we had arrived into the palace, he had walked the whole floor with his unpredictable twists and turns.

I was overwhelmed with fear of what he was going to say as well as concern, for his tall, large natural build was now withering away from something I could not comprehend. His very dark ebony skin did not contain the royal glow it once had.

His once domineering facial features, his long eyebrows that would taper on forever as the Tiramu river and his fleshy nose that seemed to have stolen the space of his beady eyes were now all overpowered by the wrinkles that did not care how handsome, powerful and affluent he was.

The sun had already gone to rest and father had still not said a word to anyone. I was still kneeling on the lion skin mat facing directly in front of my father's throne. I had been fixating on the combing patterns the servants had made on Father's plush floor as I did not dare to look up or even apologize for what I had done. That would probably enflame the rage within my Father's heart even further. I did not feel sorry for my deliberate actions, however, I did feel sorry for the dire consequences that were to follow.

My attention shifted from the sound of Father's pacing to the deep voice that penetrated the silence. It resonated in the throne room even moments after.

"I should have realized that natural intuition of any creature would take precedence over common sense, I was hoping that in your case, you would have been smarter than that."

What was he saying? Did he think that I should be smarter than to follow my feelings, my heart, and my curiosity? If anything he was asking for me to deny my humanity. After pondering over what to say till the evening light was cast upon us, that was what he came up with? That my nurturing should be stronger than my nature!This truly disgusted me. I was fed up. I took in a sharp breathe of air. I needed to calm down. Although anger was now a mild shiver in my body, I had to calm down if I wanted this conversation to be successful and not be cut short as any other command I had received in this palace.

"King Toga, if I could grant your permission to speak."

I did not dare speak to him with a loose tongue; I needed to get my opinion across. I did not dare not speak too boldly either, for he could easily be angered if he thought that I thought I had entitlement to say whatever I desired.

"Mmm...Granted..."

"Father, I know that I have gone against your will which is probably for my good, I am sorry. For the past seventeen winter seasons since birth I have been following your orders out of love and disregarding my own curiosity to the outer world because of this. Now...now I have this seed of uneasiness growing within me, a feeling of something not sitting well in my stomach and I can only fill this ...this pit hole once I found out for myself what it truly is."

"So you think you are the only one with questions that need to be answered?"

"No Father, that's not what I am saying..."

"So you think I don't have seedling of questions in this world? To why my wife died mysteriously while in good health? To why I am getting weaker by the day with no cause! To why my only child cannot listen to her own father and just cast eyes of pity on him...To not worry him when he has too much to worry about already!"

"Father..." I could feel the watering of my eyes, I was filled with cold.

"Get out! Just get out Amasa...."

His voice was weak, he hardly made the effort to cover up the trembling, he did not have the energy to. I hated seeing father like this, he had lost the strength and power I used to worship him for. I despised this weakness that was taking over the kingdom. Walking on my knees, I moved towards my Father's feet. I kissed them as I hugged him mid-calf.