The alarm sounded throughout the castle early the next morning and the rushing sound of feet echoed down the hall. Emilia stirred softly beside Octavius.
She had slipped into his room during the night after he stormed off the dining room. She had quietly entered the room, slipped off her tunic, and slid under the covers with him with hopes of comforting however way she could but Octavius couldn’t even bring himself to touch her especially not with the hands he had used to cradle Ashterah’s neck as he drank from her. Of course the conniving bitch had enjoyed it and had seized the opportunity to explore his body until she decided he had had enough. Even when Emilia had wrapped her arms around him and his body responded he held himself still.
Emilia woke up to find Octavius’s bed empty. Like she had been doing in the past few days she snuck into his room to lay beside him. He wasn’t the same as he used to be and she couldn’t put a finger on when exactly he had changed but she knew the death of his father coupled with Festus’s accusation had hit him hard and in her bid to comfort him she always snuck into his room late at night to lay with him. Sometimes he would be awake but pretend not to be while other times he would be fast asleep but before long he would wake up like he was troubled and at times like this he would either stand by the window to look out or take a walk and she never knew where he went only that when he came back his feet would be cold so her guess was he took walks outside. As she touched the bed around her to confirm that he was indeed no
Octavius opened his eyes to the bright sunlight that streamed in a window he knew was supposed to be covered with the curtains. He squinted his eyes against the brightness and rolled over to get his bearings, as his eyes adjusted to the brightness he saw Emilia standing by the window looking out with her hand on her belly. She had her robe hanging loosely from her body and in her hands, she held a small steaming cup of tea, the sunlight brightened the golden strands of her hair making her a beautiful morning sight. This was what Octavius had had in mind when he thought about running away with her, nights of loving and happiness, mornings waking up next to her, and days running around with children of their own. As the last thought struck his mind he sobered and tore his gaze away from her, tears welling up in his eyes.
Garius walked up to the tower where he knew Octavius would be. It was noon and the sun was high, there was a hint of cloud far away on the horizon marking the nearness of the rainy season. Octavius was leaning against the high wall of the tower without his robe, his knee-length tunic blowing in the wind and the only accessory marking him as royalty was the gold band that circled his biceps. Garius walked closer until he was standing a few feet behind his prince. “What are you doing here, Garius?” Octavius asked. Garius marveled at his accuracy even w
The night was strangely cold, even through the thick fur coat, he could feel the cold seep through, biting at his skin and fingers. He would have preferred the afternoon when it was hot to make this journey to the temple but as he stood at the tower waiting for the priests and temple helpers to finish with what they were doing he realized they had no plans of leaving any time soon. So he had waited. And then his wife had gone to sleep, the villagers and retired to their homes, people closed their windows and doors, only then did he don on his coat and sneak out of the palace. He hated that he had to sneak out of a home that was his, he hated that he had been reduced to a stranger in his kingdom but then what choice did he have? What power did he have against a god
Octavius felt the air around him tighten, his gut pinched as if he was being pulled into a vortex. Nauseous, he fell to his knees, he felt Ashterah’s hand holding him up. He felt like his body was sucked into a vacuum of hot air, squeezing his lungs and making his breath even harder to catch than when he had felt the burn of Ashterah emblem burn on his chest. Suddenly the feeling passed and just as he felt he would empty the content of his stomach, fresh air filled his lungs, he gulped gratefully and pulled away from Ashterah to stand on his shaky legs. “I didn’t use my powers to shield you from the unpleasant feeling of teleporting. Sorry,” Ashterah said to him but she sounded anything but sorry. He nodded anyway and looked around
“I need to go back home, Ashterah, it’s almost dawn.” He was laying on his back on Ashterah’s bed with her head on his chest as she traced patterns all over his skin. Her hair was all over his face tickling his skin and she seemed content to stay as she was. He didn’t think gods could sleep but at some point, her eyes were closed and she appeared to have fallen asleep, little wonder when she had demanded that he make love to her two more times. She stretched languidly against him, rubbing her body on him. She knew he would still get aroused but she decided to have mercy on him. She conjured a rippling image on Camelorn and noted that it was i
An endless stream of servants came in and out of Emilia’s room. Ileana stood by her mistress supervising the beauty care the maids administered on her, she guided the young maidens on her best to style her mistress’s hair and chose the clothes she would wear according to what she knew was Emilia’s preferences. Emilia sat quietly in front of the mirror and let the maids perform their duties on her. Her heart was racing as she anticipated the ceremony where she would be crowned as queen of Camelorn. She was less concerned about her elevated status than she was about her husband’s. She was glad Octavius was taking his rightful place as king of Camelorn, she sighed to herself as she realized that if they had run away as
Only the priests were allowed to stand before the gods, the people sat below the last step except of course the royal family; Octavius, Emilia, and Angus, who sat at the left side of the temple with the nobles a few steps below them. The priests laid the offerings the people brought on the altar they had made in front of the gods. Helena taking the place of Robos laid her hands on the fruits, wine, and bread and blessed them after that the priests took the items to a fire pit beside the temple and burnt them, the wine they poured on the ground.
I have now come to the end of book one of my Cursed by the gods series. It has been a long journey I'm not gonna lie. I lost commitment along the way of writing this book, lost inspiration, even changed the plan I initially had for it. I am really glad that I got to finish it and if you stayed till the end I just want to say thank you for even choosing this book in the first place. I will start with the second book as soon as possible and do my best to make that one better. I hope I have been able to tell you a good story dear readers and once again I thank you for reading Cursed by the gods. Thank you.
Octavius stepped back at the sight of the change that came over the brother whom he thought he knew. "What do you mean Angus? Don't do anything stupid I beg you by the gods." Angus laughed as he reached into his robe. "I am not doing anything stupid. This is something that should have been done a long time ago. I am doing the gods a favor. I am doing Camelorn a favor by saving then from the one person who has caused many troubles on them." Octavius kept his eyes locked on Angus' and as soon as his hand came out from behind his robe he knew there was no use fighting. Angus thought of everything. In his hand was a dagger with a golden liquid covering it. It was the Mekai. The one liquid that was known to kill gods and make them wandering souls. "You really want to do this?" Angus approached him. From the corner of his eyes tears fell from Octavius eyes. He knew this was the end, knew this was all his life was coming to and in that last mom
Cleopoda ran hastily down the hall, her legs barely touched the ground as she ran. She feared that one of the people in the library knew she had been there and may come for her. Tears threatened to blind her as she went. Who would believe that Uncle Angus took so many years to plan his own brother's downfall? The same Uncle Angus who loved her when no one else did, the same one who brother food to her when she was younger, the same one who risked war with an enemy nation to see that she was brought back home. How can the man in the library be the same Uncle Angus? Some part of her was glad that Father would be stripped of his power as King of Camelorn, the other part of her heart broke for him. He loved his brother very much yet that brother planned for years on how best to take his kingdom away from him. She felt sad for him but her anger at his treatment of her over these years threatened to overcome her pity for him. Uncle Angus even knew of Amelia's infidel
Cleopoda ran down the length of the hall looking for Angus. It was amazing what one declaration from the mouth of a prince could do. Since Uncle Angus made that declaration of her royalty in the morning the servants had treated her with a little more dignity even though they were still wary of her.She wasn't used to having any servant look at her with anything besides disdain, as though she was a common thing stuck to the bottom of their sandals, and curiosity. Now some even bowed slightly. Even Demeris seemed to acknowledge her presence when she stopped in the kitchen for some food for Ajun.As she walked the length of the hall ignoring the soldiers who stood guard she looked from side to side hoping to catch a glimpse of her beloved uncle. She was just about to give up searching for him when she heard his voice coming from the library. She stopped in her tracks listened to be sure it was indeed Uncle Angus. Sure enough, it was he.The door of the
Octavius raised his hands to silence the people who only yelled more, pumping their fists in the air as they shouted. Octavius looked helplessly at the angry faces as they demanded that he open the gates so they can destroy the temple or do something about their predicament. They spoke simultaneously and loudly that he could not hear a single word.Taking a deep breath he raised his voice high above the din. "People of Camelorn what is it you want?"The replied all at once. Octavius' ears hurt at their shouts. He took another breath and shouted louder."I can not hear what you all are saying and as such can not respond to your complaints. If you may please chose someone to speak for everyone."It was an impossible task. They were an angry mob and everyone wanted to represent the crowd. After much time had been wasted with much pushing and fighting the people finally chose a certain merchant who held a little girl in his arms. He held her
Even before the day started Octavius already knew it would be a day he would dread. It started with Asterah visiting him, draining even ounce of his strength before the day even began. How the goddess could never be satisfied with sex he would never know. He was glad that he was able to please her this time. But as soon as she left him and he heard the knock on the door he knew his bad day was about to get worse.It was Angus who knocked. He wore a light tunic and over it was his royal robe of dark blue with the coat of arms of Camelorn sewn below its shoulder."Brother," Octavius greeted, doing his best to sound formal and regal. "You look well."Angus entered the room."You look terrible," he chuckled. Octavius laughed too but in his heart, he knew that he was indeed a miserable man. He picked himself from his bed and drew his robe around his shoulders with a show of confidence."Any news from Amire?" He asked Angus."Much news. They w
Cleopoda looked at a sleeping Ajun at the foot of her bed. The palace was quiet at this time of the morning, it was just before dawn but she was already awake. In fact, she couldn't sleep throughout the night because her mind was troubled. Since her return to the palace a week ago there had been changes. The servants were still the same as ever, eyeing her curiously and wondering why she should be allowed to live in the palace but there was a bit of respect for her too because Uncle Angus had commanded that she should be treated like royalty. She still had to cover her head and eyes when moving about the palace, especially when she had to go to the kitchen or the washrooms to hide the allure that drew people to her. But these things weren't troubling her, what was the fact that she had seen someone who didn't belong in the palace creeping around. Her surprise at seeing him there had held her rooted to the ground especially when she had seen from whose room he was coming from.
Days after they left the Summer Palace to Camelorn the tension was still high in the atmosphere. The talk and fear of war increased drastically and words of it were whispered from soldier to soldier and servant to servant. Cleopoda remained in her room because Angus told her to. She knew he feared that if she ever ran into her father, Octavius in the halls he would send her back to the temple or someplace where he may never find her again. Father never visited her and neither did his new wife, Amelia and it hurt her but by now she was used to his lack of concern for her. She wanted nothing more than to see Mama Remin and Strukus, maybe even pay a visit to Zenas at the temple if he was still there but she was to remain within the walls of the room Angus had the servants prepare for her. She shared her room with Ajun who did nothing more than to eat and sleep and read the books Angus sent to her through the servants, they were folklore with sketched pictures. The boy barely had storie
"What have you done Angus! I sent you to Amire to congratulate our new comrade and you went to stare up trouble! The king of Amire has sent messengers promising war." He turned hateful eyes to her and glared at her with so much venom that made her want to sink to the ground and die. "And what is this cursed child doing here in my palace?!" Shocked Angus moved to shield Cleopoda from his brother's hateful glare. He had not expected Octavius to be here. He had planned to hide out here and plan the next way to let his brother know he brought back his daughter. "What are you doing here, Octavius? I thought you were at the palace in Camelorn" "Angus answer my question, I did not come here to trade petty words with you. What is this cursed child doing here?" There was no way he could distract his brother decided to be blunt. "Your child!" "Not my child! I did not birth evil. How dare you bring her here? Do you not know she possesses ev