Zamfeer
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It was fairly a cold day in the Westlands. When fall claims itself in the north, summer still thrives in the west. The sun set the ground on fire and the cold wind whiffed for the first time this year, and the great pyramid of Zamfeer was the best place to catch a cold.
The magister of valor arrived in the city with dozens of men, soldiers, and slaves. A long row of gifts was offered to the queen. Green Rubies…Crylish dimes…golden trophies. He offered everything of everywhere. It was more than she would ever need. But the magister was not as kind to offer all he had for nothing. The queen was already mad, she felt offended by the amount of gifts.
Valor was an ancient city; the magister knew nothing but the Brolithic tongue. But Naemera was of pure western blood, just like her mother and father. And it was more important to maintain her identity. She spoke the tongue with such fluency, it was rare to see someone in the upper cities speak it the way she did.
The magister offered his possessions in order to marry the queen. He was fat and his hair was greasy and oiled and smelled like shit. The queen never would consider such an offer, she was even more offended by the fact that the magister would think the queen was in any need of a man. Her eyes all the time would glimpse at the slaves. They were covered with itching fabrics that made their skin red, and their bare feet were black and filthy. She did not listen to a word the magister said, and he noticed. "My queen…" he wondered. Naemera looked back at him and his smile grew back. he let out a breath and continued speaking of why she should wed him.
Naemera's temper did not stand for the challenge. She cut him in a loud voice and he started back. "Let me make it clear. I will not be taking you to husband". She was clear and bold, the magister on the other hand was not impressed. He bent his head down with indignation and frowned. "I offered my gold and army, my queen" he barely finished as she answered: "I have no shortage in gold nor army. You shall leave by nighttime".
The Valorians were proud people, and they did not accept humiliation. The magister prepared his feet out and gave the queen a look a loath, then left along with his gold. When he came to the door's edge, Naemera stood and ordered him to free the slaves. He froze then turned around and began laughing in her face. "Why would I free those animals?" he said. He noticed lord Isaac standing on her side. "I might even take this one" he continued while laughing and pointing to him. Isaac was a man of the south, and his skin told of it. The slaves too were all of dark skin. Naemera shrunk her eyes and started walking down the stone steps. The magister suddenly ceased laughing and his face projected fear. Without a second thought, he began running out until the guards sealed the exit. Naemera was two times taller than him. her dark hair returned the sunlight and her green eyes received it. she had a strong build and was a master of sword.
"My queen!" he murmured. "I was only jesting" he nervously laughed. When she finally stood to his chubby cast he did not smile anymore, rather he started backing. Naemera reached his chin with her claws and grinned. "you're a fat man. Maybe I shall add you to my collection" she said. The magister, frightened, was too stressed to think and the only thing his mouth could leak was what collection. He said it with sweat dripping off his nose and his voice was shaking. Naemera smiled even more and her eyes were like a cat's. she bent down to his face and answered. "Stuffed beasts!" she yelled then slapped his face gently to the side and went back to her throne. Isaac looked satisfied watching the magister run out like a babe.
Naemera's court was small yet potent. Isaac was well trusted and he had been wiser and stronger than any other Pyreon in the eastern realms. He was one of four in the queen's court, yet she preferred him over anyone.
"One shall we do with the slaves?" he asked. "Not slaves" Naemera corrected his speech. "Let them stay the night at the chambers, each of them shall have a hundred silvers to settle in the city".
The day began to faint and blue scattered across the land. Naemera was on her way to the tombs as soon as night dawned. Of all rooms in the great pyramid, the tombs were her favorite. She often found peace talking with the dead. But the dead never answered. As she would walk over the graves of her great ancestors she could hear them, not genuinely. But the sound of echoing stride was enough and she was content. It was a quiet single sound, yet it was loud. And with each step she took, Naemera shivered as she felt the dead breath next to her neck.
Isaac seldom had to carry a lantern, all he had to do was to follow across the beaming lines of the dragonflies that had lit the road from the entrance of the pyramid gate to the royal accommodations. Unlike Naemera, he found peace in life. And particularly the greens and plants. Each tree saw the past and will see the future to tell. The gardens were one of the prettiest and rarest across the continent. The blue flowers of summer were found rarely and in a state of death. But the gardens of Escandron were been busted and had scarcely any space for more.
Dong…
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Dong…
161Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdoXPI3ISs
Dong…
it was the bell of the city center. Every night at the hour of nine, the bell would strike and roam around the walls of the city. A hoard of birds would fly above the pyramid, circling its golden top to continue their trip to the west. Isaac every time would watch them fly above his head until they had left.
As he obtained the birds closely, he could not stop but dissociate from his reality. His head got swirly and blurred. But as the birds left and he looked down again, a kid stood forth. He was short and his eyes leaned up to the lord. A kid was an odd thing to witness inside the walls of the pyramid, a common child of ragged clothes and greasy hair. Isaac was curious. "Coin?" he asked with a generous tone, "You need coins?". The kid did not answer and Isaac took a breath then bent to his height and held a silver coin up to his face. "I shall give you a gold coin if you answer, how'd you get here?". The kid stood as a moron and did not even look at the coin, he then came closer to lord Isaac and whispered. She's here. Then pointed behind him. Isaac's eyes turned invested and looked back to where he came from. The kid had nothing more to say and prepared to run. Isaac slipped the golden coin into the child's gown and sent a wink, the kid escaped at last.
When Isaac turned to look, the wind blew in his face. It was cold, colder than usually felt in the west. He took a deep breath of distrust, then went to the throne room.
The doors were brown and strong and carved of stone. The gap was noticeable, and the light of the blue moon; and scattered upon the shining floor that had been created meticulously by the finest setters. The tiles were giant and made you feel small as a dwarf. They had green and blue, but mostly brown. The place was dark, and not even the light could not make it show, it did not reach the throne, but it was enough to obtain the shadow that sat at its end.
"Have you crowned yourself too?" Isaac spoke as he stood at the first of the tiles. A leg moved; he could scarcely see it, then a sound of a blade cutting through the air joined the chat. "Not yet…" a voice spoke. It was aggressive and strong and had a rust, but it was delicate and womanly.
She sat on the throne with one leg in the air, laying on the stone where the queen would rest her arms. Her sword was wielded with no caution. It was as if she played with it. The pillars towered over her and hid her under their shadow.
"I trust your treks were easy, Princess" Isaac wished with a bow as he wrapped a hand around his stomach and marched forward, gradually. "Oh, please" the woman cried out loud. " The wild was never easy".
Her voice was strong and declaring, it had such confidence rarely seen in a woman. There was never a doubt, Sahara was Naemera's blood.
The night sky went darker as they spoke, and the stars began beaming more and more, the moon rose halfway and shined even stronger. Sahara sealed her sword to her sheath and jumped to her feet, skipping the steps beneath the throne. she lost balance but was brisk to claim it back and stand erect. "Does your sister know?" Isaac asked her as they were both walking to meet at the center of the hall. Sahara laughed and tilted her head a bit. "Why would I waste my time sending a letter to inform her of my arrival? She'll see me now" she claimed and then stopped to look around. "Where is she?". Isaac remained in his place and did not answer, he watched Sahara carefully and locked sight on her. When he opened his mouth to answer, Sahara already did. "Let me guess, she's down again" he did not answer, still. She gave him a naughty smile and began walking towards him unevenly, with her sword dragged on the floor; cracking it slightly. She passed his side as she gave him a nice pad on his shoulder and slid her hand around his neck, and left.
Sahara took the long path; she went all around the pyramid to the back gate. It was already open and dark; she could scarcely see where the stairs began to swirl down into even more darkness. She took one of the torches that had been attached to the wall and wrapped it with fabric she ripped from her cyan dress, it was tangled off her shoulders and protected with thin ropes. When she first entered the hallway, it was black and she could only see her feet, and no further. She held the torch a little to the front and began the trip down the steps, two hundred in all. They were swirly and slippery and cracked of age. The stone was layered with moss and webs and all kinds of dirt. The torch only allowed a few steps to be seen before and after the princess, because down the hall there was nothing but the dead of night.
The torch began to fade out and its fire was not as strong, Sahara had to rely on pure luck to not miss a step and fall down. The light was no use but to keep her face warm and bright, she did not show even a little bit of fear. She did not fear the dead, nor the night. Only herself.
When the torch lost all of its fire, Sahara already landed the last step. Her breath was heavy and a drop of sweat went down her forehead slowly to be wiped by the back of her hand. And what she saw was an astonishing view.
The place had been filled with pillars that had ten torches each, and the hall went on forever. Infront of her eyes far to the end, she could see a figure, and she had guessed it was her sister. As the torch finally went out, she threw it away to the side and collected her breath. An echo of stride sent a shiver down her spine as she began marching towards the queen.
Every step she took, a statue had stared at her. So many statues of kings and knights and heroes were carved and pot down in the tombs to memory. And Sahara would look at each and every one of them. Naemera's back got closer and closer as Sahara began to lose balance, she was dizzy and every few moments her sight went blurry. And without notice, she already stood behind her sister. As close as she meant. Naemera did not even respect her by turning to her face, rather she stood with her back to Sahara's face and continued whatever she was busy doing. When Sahara began to raise her gaze, a large statue began to attend, as it went into the light. It was immense and its face was only seen from far away; only if the fog had not disguised it under the shadow. Sahara seemed more distressed as she stood behind her sister, and she did not acknowledge her presence. Only stood with her face to the statue and closed her eyes on the fire around it.
"Do you ever get bored, sister…" Sahara asked with not much desire of an answer. The fire got stronger and bigger but Sahara only got smaller with each time she was ignored. Finally, Naemera took a deep breath, and it was so quiet and peaceful in the tombs; Sahara could hear the air clearly being sucked in with anger, and later blown out with disrespect. "Must you come here?" Naemera scolded and closed her hands in a fist as she pressed harder and harder until her claws cut in her palms and painted red cuts in her flesh. Sahara came forward to speak but hesitated. She took another breath to ease her spirit, then spoke. "You have not seen my face for months now, the least you could do is to turn for a moment…take a glimpse". Quickly, her breaths caught the queen's ears. They were heavy and rapid; she was mad. Naemera pinched her eyes and turned around in a blink. She wore a short and nearly transparent dress, and was covered with layers of cloaks and gold and all kinds of jewelry. Her eyelids were smeared with black shades against the sun, it was commonly used in the west as well in the southern realms of Nunkai. Naemera took only one step to her sister and stopped before she could even finish it. Her eyes glared upon her and she bit her lips. "You left without a word, now you come back without a word. And you want my respect?". Sahara had enough of being a victim. She stood up and took a step closer. Her face turned pale and she went silent. "What?" she asked with no voice, "Sister, everybody knew…you threw a feast for me the day before I left…". Sahara worried at that moment, and she tried taking her sister's hand. But as soon as she reached for it, the fire blew out and there was nothing but the darkness and the sound of dead fire. The princess tried to see, but she could not. As she began to start back. a face cast Infront of her with a match holding. She was not prepared and got scared. It was a face of a stranger woman. That woman disappeared the same way she appeared. Sahara could feel her heart banging against her chest and her throat shrieked and let no air in, as she was about to scream, the torches all burned with flames again.
"Naemera!" she called from her lungs, "Naemera!". As light grew back, the room was empty, and Naemera was not with her. And at that moment she knew. That woman was not her sister.
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