Chapter 13

Part 1

Leviticus 16:10

King Teo arrived for his visit. Three days into his stay, his party set on top of the palace overlooking the city.    

Teo was older than Kol by about 15 years. Louder, and bigger. He wasn’t to the point that he needed help to walk. When Kol looked at him, he pictured a sloth. But he knew that Teo was a formidable man.

“King Kol,” Teo asked, with a wine glass in one hand and a piece of fruit in the other. “Where is that enchanting female ambassador that you sent to me?”

There was murmurs throughout the party.

Kol just smiled, “she is on assignment.”

Teo roared with laughter, “I bet she is.”

Frego and the grand duke joined everyone on the roof. They laughed and talked for hours. Finally, something caught his eye. He was looking out over the desert. “Father, what is that?”

The entire party had joined him in his gaze. A rider wearing white on a white horse, raced from the wall toward the object. As it came into view, it looked like a horse drawn wagon that was on fire.

Kol knew it was Kessa racing to the wagon and his heart sank.

Kessa got her horse beside the other one. She jumped on him forcing him to a stop. Then dismounted, retrieving a blanket from her horse. Screaming alerted her to the fact there was a person in the back of the wagon. With great effort, she pulled him from the fire. As he lay in the sand, she beat at him with the blanket. His skin was burnt and cracked. It looked like rivers of lava were running across his skin. His screams were more than she could bare.

Suddenly she realized, she was on fire. A quick roll in the sand took care of that.

“Mordecai?” All of his hair was gone. If he had garments on, they were gone.

He rose a burnt shaking hand toward her. “Kessa? Is it you?”

She sobbed, “yes my brother.”

The party watched four more riders leave from the wall. They were all dressed in black; Bejhar.

“Mordecai, who did this to you?”

“Kes,” he whispered. “Tell Kol, I love” he paused. “him.”

“I will.”

His hand slid from hers leaving his skin behind. He panted, “we have a new enemy.”

“Mordecai, don’t go.” She pleaded but knew it was fruitless.

He began whispering the old prayer. She prayed with him. He gasped and was gone.

She turned the horse and the flaming wagon back in the direction which it came, cracked the horse on the rump, and it went running away.

Her attention was then turned to Mordecai. She wrapped him up. When her fellow Bejhar arrived, they placed the body on another blanket. She and three of her Bejhar walked him back to the palace. While the fourth Bejhar walked the horses.

Kol made eye contact with Rajaf. At the same time they spoke, “Mordecai.” They left the palace to meet the body. When they reached it, the Bejhar lowered the body. Kol and Rajaf fell to their knees weeping over their lost friend. Kol took the place of one Bejhar and continued carrying the body home.

They laid the body on a slab in the temple. Everyone left except Kessa and Kol.

Kol whispered, “Kes, I want to see him.”

“Really, my king, you don’t.”

“Unwrap him,” Kol roared.

She got in his face, “you unwrap him.” Her body was shaking. Kol could smell the lingering scent of smoke and ash. “I have seen enough!”

He moved away from her and stood over the body. “Tell me,” his voice was again a whisper.

She held back her anger and her tears. Her voice cracked when she spoke, “remember him the way he was. He did send you a message. He loved you.”

Chapter 12

Part 1

Another sleepless night. Kol lit a candle, it was Kessa that answered the call. He was thrilled to see her. “My king,” she bowed her head.

“Walk with me.”

They walked a long time before either spoke. “My advisors want me to go to Garrard. King Teo is in poor health and they think it would look pleasing if I visited him in his weakest hour.”  

“His weakest hour was when raiders killed his son. What did you do then, my king?”

Kol stopped dead in his tracks and turned toward her with a look of disbelief on his face. “You know the answer to that.”

“And?” He was speechless, “what is different about this?” She asked. “My king.”

“It doesn’t feel right. My gut is telling me this isn’t right. But I have twelve men telling me that I should go. You are the only person around me that I can truly trust.”

“That makes me sad for you.”

He was shocked, “why?”

“It is difficult to rule a kingdom if you don’t trust the people you have surrounded yourself with.”

“I know.” He took a deep breath.

“What does God say?”

“I’ve already told you, God doesn’t talk to me anymore.”

She got in his face, “and I told you, you’re not listening.”

He took a step backwards. Her scent was intoxicating, clouding his mind. The immediate need to be angry at her words was consumed by a different desire. “Help me fix it.”

“I’m not sure I’m the right person for that. Perhaps dad or the priest. But I will do what I can, my king.”

Kol, Kessa and Rajaf prayed about it together and separately. All the while his advisors were hounding him to go and go quickly.

Matthew 7:15

Kessa, 10 of the Bejhar, 15 soldiers along with the king set out on their journey to Garrard. She wasn’t foolish enough to think that the only danger Kol faced was from the trip. Frego was left behind. Abraham or even the grand duke could be killed. A sneak attack on the palace. Any number of events could take place.

After six days of travel, they were at the Forest of Shadows. No one said a word, but no one wanted to go in. She ordered the men to set up camp. That night as the fires of their camp burned, Kol got to missing her.

“Sergeant, where is Kessa?”

He growled, “is she not here?”

When they were in an active situation, the soldiers were instructed not to address him as a member of the royal family. Kessa (sometimes Max by her side) would sit and watch how they interacted with the king. It was easy for them to tell he was different because they knew. He had made it to sergeant before his dad passed. But he never used his military status.

“If she is, she’s playing hide and seek.” Kol spoke bitterly.

A young soldier came running from the back of the camp, “sergeant! Kessa’s horse is missing.”

The bitter man stood, almost started walking for the horse corral but stopped when Kol spoke. “If the raiders don’t kill her, I will.”

The men looked mystified at each other as Kol returned to his tent.

At day break, every eye was on the forest. A young raider appeared with his hands over his head. He walked slowly toward the camp. Kol and three soldiers approached him. They searched him. He was completely unarmed. They all just stared at each other. He spoke one word at a time. Finishing each word before he started the next, “I – am – Saka.” It took forever for him to speak. “I – am- to – stay – with – you – until,” he thought then spoke, “muktar – return.” Kol knew what ‘muktar’ meant but he didn’t take the time to define it for the others. This made him feel a little better about the situation Kessa had put herself in but not by much.

The three soldiers escorted him to camp. Saka sat around one of the fires closest to the woods. Kol brought him a plate of food. At first he wouldn’t accept it. Kol growled, “komp.” The young man took the plate with great hesitation. “If we wanted to kill you, we wouldn’t waste the food.”

The young man stood and started shouting at Kol in a language none of the soldiers understood. Even the Bejhar were dumbfounded by his tongue. The young man shook the plate causing food to bounce off to the ground. Kol pointed at the ground continuing the conversation in Saka’s language.

Chapter 10

Part 2

“Flower for your thought.” Kol didn’t respond. Kessa sat down in front of him.

“Daydreaming.” He finally answered. “Would you care if I asked you a personal question?”

“As always, my king, I reserve the right not to answer.” She grinned.

“You would deny your king?”

“You would make one of your subjects so uncomfortable that they would feel the need to deny you?”

Her eyes were twinkling like the stars in the night sky. “I think you are being mean to me.”

“I’m hurt, my king. You are the last person I would deny.” It was the way she said deny. She played with the word, even raised an eyebrow when she said it.

He smiled a sideways grin. “Are the Bejhar allow to be in relationships?”

“Of course.”

“Are you?”

She blushed, “no my king.”

“Why?”

“God hasn’t told me that I’m ready for a relationship. Or if he has, I don’t think I’m ready.”

“So you are dismissing God’s direction?”

“If he has told me that there is someone for me, I’m unaware of it.”

“I thought you and Max might be.” He shrugged.

“Max,” she blushed. “No, he’s more like a brother.”

“Thank you. That wasn’t too painful was it?”

She wiggled her nose, “I’ll never tell.”

“Kes, do you remember fighting the Zeede?”

“Not all of it. The last thing I remember was a shield hurling through the air toward your head. I pushed you out of the way.”

He held her face in his hands. “I know what you are going to say. But I need to say this anyway. You are going to tell me ‘all the glory belongs to God’ and I am not disagreeing. Thank you for being God’s instrument.” He lowered his hands to her shoulders, using his thumbs to caress her neck. He tried his best to look deep into her blue eyes. He couldn’t, instead he focused on his thumbs.

Kessa smiled a radiant smile. “God knows what he’s doing.” She was gone.

These tiny purple flowers weren’t done with him. He sat back down, hugging up his knees.

Why was he on his hands and knees in dirt? Mountain dirt. It was cool and damp. Pieces of leaves and small twigs stuck to his skin. His stomach cramped; had he been sick?

It was difficult for his eyes to focus. If an object wasn’t directly in front of him, it was blurry. After he saw it, he wished his vision had stayed blurry. There was a dirty hand with it’s fingers slightly curled sticking out of the ground. As he crawled toward it, panic filled his body. His knees slipped in the damp dirt. The strength of his hands gave way causing him to slide forward. Leaves fell in around him as he moved. With trembling hands, he uncovered Kessa’s face.