Ayziel
"The queen is no more! Long live her spirit!" the announcer yelled, hitting his drum once.
"Long live her soul!" the crowd of city folks responded, cheering and crying as the guards paraded her dead body in a wooden casket covered with a thousand daisies--the queen's favourite flowers.
Ayziel watched from the only window in his dark room. The parade, the cheers, the over exagerration of emotions, were starting to wear him down. None of the people down there in the streets truly knew the queen and so they could not have truly loved or hated her.
The royal litter passed by slowly. On it were Ayziel's brothers and father. He wondered if they'd look up and see him and what they would do if they did. He wondered if the final rites of his sister, Malyse had been as grand as the queen's own. He never got to attend and he never heard of it either since he was locked away in his room for two months after Malyse became ill from a bite. A bite he gave her.
A week ago, King Roderick had stormed into his bedroom and told him a horrifying truth. Belizar was going to come to collect Ayziel and he would be under his care for a long time. Ayziel knew why King Roderick, his own father was placing him in the care of the grand healer, Belizar. His father hoped that Belizar could make him into something that wasn't a monster. He hoped Ayziel could be cured from the filthy disease of being a hybrid.
Belizar still had a long way to travel to come for the young prince and since the king was disgusted by his mere presence in the castle, he had given him to Sir Harath to be taken care of until Belizar arrived in the city.
Ayziel was grateful. He liked Sir Harath and he liked his daughter as well.
"Get away from there," Cordelia rushed, pulling the curtains shut and plunging the room in complete darkness. She dragged Ayziel away from the window and toward his bed. Then, she quickly lit six candles and placed them around the room.
"I know you want to see your mother's final rites. I'm certain you want to attend her final rites but your father has made himself clear. If he sets his eyes on you, he'll give you to another family to be cared for and I fear that they might be cruel to you. So please, I beg you, stay away from opened windows, stay out of sight," Cordelia begged, blinking back tears of frustration.
She was nineteen years and the kindest woman Ayziel had ever met. Sometimes, he wondered why she was still unmarried.
"I'm turning eleven tomorrow but I don't think my father or my brothers remember. They don't care," he shrugged. "I understand that they don't care but I wish they would. I really wish they would,"
Cordelia sighed, tying up her long brown hair in a ponytail. She cleaned her sweaty palms on her skirt before taking a seat beside Ayziel on the bed. She placed a hand on his back, patting him gently like mother's did to sooth crying babes.
"My father and I care about you. I did not want to ruin the surprise but I don't like seeing you so grim and sad," she spoke. "Father ordered a cake for you. It will be here by the morrow. I'm not going to tell you what type of cake it is though,"
"Really?" Ayziel smiled, searching Cordelia's brown eyes for any sign that she was lying but he found none. His green eyes lit up. He was finally going to celebrate his birthday and with people who genuinely cared.
Cordelia swept Ayziel into her arms, spinning him around.
"Yes, really" she giggled.
"Why aren't you married yet? You're really kind," Ayziel laughed, playing with her brown hair.
"It takes more than kindness. It takes beauty too and I don't have that," she responded, pinching his nose.
Ayziel scrunched his nose, confused.
He thought Cordelia was beautiful. She had waist long brown hair and just like her father, she always kept it in a ponytil. She had the smoothest bronze skin and big brown eyes that gave her an other worldly look. "I think you're pretty, Cordelia" Ayziel told her.
She looked down at him, holding on to him tighter as her eyes filled with tears.
"I think you're pretty too," she told him.
Ayziel laughed at her. Boys couldn't be pretty.
Two short rasps on the door broke them apart and Cordelia went to attend to the intruder. It was Belizar, he had come to collect his new ward, Ayziel.
"You will not see him," Ayziel heard Cordelia say. "You will not take him anywhere until the day after tomorrow,". Cordelia's voice was strong and commanding. Exactly like her father.
"I have other issues to attend to. Please, do not delay me," Belizar replied. He sounded frustrated.
Ayziel pushed his ear against the door so he could hear.
"Then I will hinder them. Surely there can not be anything more important than the prince and I have already told you. You can only have him the day after tomorrow,"
There was a long period of silence followed by the slamming of the front door.
"You can come out, Ayziel. I know you were listening," Cordelia huffed.
Ayziel pushed the door open slowly, a coy smile on his red face. He put his hand behind his back as he waited for Cordelia to speak.
"He's not taking you anywhere. Not until you eat that cursed cake," she snapped, folding her arms and plopping into a chair.
Ayziel smiled softly. He was going to get to celebrate his birthday after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ayziel's birthday came much slower than he had expected. Perhaps, it was the excitement that made it seem like time was not moving. Like it had frozen over.
Sir Harath however, did not come home. A king's guard came to the Trolowe house instead. He brought a letter from Sir Harath stating that the king had refused to let him leave the castle until mid afternoon.
Ayziel was heartbroken but Cordelia did not allow him to be sad. She left the house and returned with his cake. It had strawberries in it. They danced, Cordelia played the flute and they sung and cut the cake. They ate part of the cake and were still laughing when Belizar returned with a carriage, four king's guard and a letter from the king demanding that Cordelia give the boy up to Belizar or face tragic consequences.
Cordelia had no choice and Ayziel did not want anyone else to get hurt because of him.
He went with Belizar.
Sir Harath had finally made it out of the castle, he rushed home, hoping to meet Ayziel and bid him goodbye but he found Cordelia, his daughter, crying instead.
"They took him, father" Cordelia cried. "Belizar came with guards from the castle and a letter from the king himself and they took him,"
"How long ago?" Sir Harath asked, feeling crestfallen.
"Not long," Cordelia sniffled, shaking her head. "That boy will be king one day and I'll happily help him ruin the council and his father,"
"He will not be king, Nicolas is the oldest. Stop spewing nonsense," Sir Harath said, dropping his helmet on the dining table.
"You'll see," Cordelia replied. "You'll all see,"
Sir Harath had moments where he feared his daughter including her gift as a seer and this was one of them.
"I'll be back," he informed her, rushing outside and mounting his horse. He galloped at full speed in the direction he knew Belizar would be headed. Not long after, he saw Belizar's carriage.
He rode up to the side of the carriage and yelled. "Ayz!"
Immediately, Ayziel poked his head out of the window with a big smile. Sir Harath reached out his hand and Ayziel followed suit.
Their hands brushed together for a brief second before Belizar dragged the boy back into the carriage and shut the window. The carriage sped faster and Harath slowed down.
"Be strong, my boy" he whispered.
The king had forbade from leaving the castle so Ayziel would not celebrate his birthday. One thing was clear to Harath. King Roderick thought his son was a monster and maybe he was.
But the thing about monsters was that they possesed what everyone wanted but pretended not to want.
Power.