TROY, a kingdom ruled by the fiercest King of all the other kingdoms, Lord Zhai Zumar. Lord Zhai ruled his Kingdom with an iron fist and forgave no sin. Nobody dared to go against his rule except the ones that ran to King Stefan with petty information just to get some coins to eat. No King ever dared to step feet into Troy, not even Stefan. Yes Lord Zhai pledged his allegiance to King Stefan but that was because he had no choice, it was the only way to protect his throne but he was still the only one who dared to challenge King Stefan and got away with it.
That day, Lord Zhai stood tall before his subjects. He was a tall man who kept a mean face at all times. He looked like a man from old Egyptian. He had a wife and a son who was never seen. His subjects believe that he kept his family hidden because of how vicious he was and was scared of karma.
"People of Troy. The day of adjudication is here." Lord Zhai addressed his subjects.
A man stood on the stake, down the castle facing the citizens of Troy while Lord Zhai stood on his balcony where he could almost see the entire Troy at large.
"Troy is a place where no sin is forgiven. We must all get punished for going against even the smallest law, for all laws are made to be kept and not broken. Sipha here has sinned and must be punished." He continued.
Sipha's sin was stealing, he had stolen a handful of grains from a seller and was quickly reported to the king, and the punishment for stealing was death.
"Guards...!" Lord Zhai echoed and the guards immediately came into sight.
"Cut it off." He ordered and they immediately dragged the man.
"My lord please forgive me. I only took a handful for my sick daughter who has gone hungry for days now. Please my lord, temper justice with mercy and be lenient with your punishment." The man pleaded but Lord Zhai's face remained expressionless. No emotion was seen on his face. The guards dragged the man to a wooden panel where offenders were beheaded, but when the executer raised his axe, Lord Zhai stopped him as the man still begged for mercy.
"Would you rather I boiled you to death? Beheading is the most lenient punishment you can get here." Lord Zhai spoke with fake kindness in his voice.
"I can work for free in the palace for the rest of my life, please don't kill me. My daughter needs me. Her mother is gone." He pleaded.
"Do it." Lord Zhai said and before Sipha could understand who he was speaking to, his head was on the floor with just one cut.
The crowd gasped and so many who couldn't bear the sight covered their eyes with their hands.
Lord Zhai left without a word or even pity for Sipha's daughter on his face. He just walked away as if nothing happened.
Dolores, Queen Penelope's guard, and I made our journey to Troy. I rode beside him while Dolores rode in front. I was looking for a way to start up a conversation with him since he started acting like he did not even speak to me last night.
"So," I started "do you have a name or not?" I asked the guard riding with us.
"My name is Tyril, My lady." He responded.
I scoffed. He was now acting all formal with me but just last night he was arguing with me and calling me a thief.
"What happened to addressing me as a thief?" I said jokingly.
"Forgive me, Your Highness, I had no idea what your true identity was, I should never have said that." He apologized.
"I was only joking Tyril. Please address me as Naya. But Karen before people." I said.
"I can't Your highness, I do not address my Queen by her name." He said.
"Well, I'm not your Queen so you can make an exception."
"You're my master now."
"And as your master, I command you to address me by my name." I said to Tyril.
"Yes... Naya." He said.
His whole formality nonsense was really pissing me off and I felt quite uncomfortable with it so I made my horse quicken its pace and I met up with Dolores.
"Tired of his company already?" She asked me.
"He's really pissing me off. When we met last night he spoke to me like an ordinary guest but today? He's... He's just acting like I'm some sort of Queen." I bickered.
"But you are a Queen for real." Dolores said.
"Not yet. I'm just a lost Princess without a crown or a kingdom or a Prince."
Dolores stared at me attentively before she spoke. "Naya when you finally become the Queen of Devon, you'll have to choose a spouse and it can't be a servant." She said.
She didn't go straight to the point but I got her message. Her message which I felt wasn't necessary, I mean I just met Tyril yesterday and yes we connected but, I still think about Luciana.
We were riding in silence when I suddenly remembered what I've always wanted to ask her.
"Dolores?" I called.
"Yes?" She responded.
"You seemed quite close to Queen Penelope." I said.
"What's your point exactly?"
"I was just wondering... What kind of relationship do you have with her?"
"I told you before. Penelope was your mother's good friend and trusted ally and your mother was my sister. It's no puzzle." She said without taking her eyes off the road.
"What did you do to make her really mad at you? You both seemed to have a personal misunderstanding."
"Naya, I'll appreciate it if you stayed out of my personal life, especially if it doesn't affect our quest." Dolores said.
"Well, it does affect our quest because you have a bad reputation and it keeps making it almost impossible for us to ally with the other rulers."
"Keep your eyes on the road. I'm sure we have much more important things to talk about than a bad relationship with an old friend." Dolores said.
She avoided my question clearly but I let it be as it seemed to be her defense mechanism. Throughout the journey, we rode our horses in silence till we approached Troy.
WELCOME TO THE CITY OF TROY WHERE NO SIN IS FORGIVEN.
This was boldly written with blood at the gates of Troy were human skulls hung next to each other.
"Woah. Quite a way to welcome visitors. This is not good." I said as I swallowed hard.