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Chapter 77
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2024-10-29 19:42:56After several hours passed with Cleopoda standing by the window in the hall looking out at the field that stretched from the temple beyond the horizon the door to the room was thrown open and a tall man with a red beard, deep eyes with a hint of distrust and scarred hands strode out. Behind him, the man and the maiden who had come to prepare Zenas followed closely. The red-bearded man snared at them and tossed a black leather purse that jingled at them.
"That's all you get for my dissatisfaction. Clean that fool up and get him ready for when I return from my travels."
"Yes sir."
The red-bearded man grunted and passed by Cleopoda without even a sideways glance at her. As soon as he was out of sight the man with the maiden greedily slid the purse of coins into the pocket of his coat before turning to glower at the maiden.
"You heard him, Junae, clean that worthless fool up before tomorrow we have more people coming in."
The maiden hastily nodded
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Cleopoda stayed by Zenas' side throughout the night. He slept well at first until his tossing and turning had woken her up and when she fully came awake she found his side of the bed drenched in sweat. Even though he was shivery and claimed to be cold sweat still poured from his hot body so she took some water and a piece of cloth to mop his body with and bring down his temperature. He had viciously fought her, lamenting against the coldness of the water. He was bigger than she was so when he protested she had waited for him to finish trashing around the bed before returning to finish her work. His wounds were already healed, much to her surprise. Some were still healing slowly but by morning they were no more but his body was still hot. Early the next morning the door of the room was thrown open and the young man who had come the previous day came in with a scowl on his face. He immediately walked to the foot of the bed. "Why is he still asleep?" He growled. Cleopod
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For two days Cleopoda sat by Zenas' head. Although his injuries were healed he slept deeply as a result of the herbs Birian had given to her to administer to him. The one Junae called Keiran came in almost every hour to check on Zenas' progress and every time he did he muttered about the losses he made with each passing hour. Cleopoda was angry at his lack of care but even as she thought about it she realized she too was guilty of something. Keiran, the priests, and whoever else used Zenas for their own pleasure in her own way she wished he would die so he would be freed of his miserable life but with that thought came the knowledge that if he died she would be returned to her own cell where she would be dragged day after day to for ritual purifications that caused her to bleed. Every time these thoughts crossed her mind guilt washed her. She looked from the book Birian had sneaked into the room for her to Zenas' face. He was relaxed, his bruises were gone. Birian was also becoming
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Even before she made it through the door with the tray of food that Birian had given to her Cleopoda could tell that there were people in the room. She dropped the tray carefully and listened from the door. Upon peeping through the opened door she saw Keiran standing with Federic, the senior priest, some other priests with cloaks covering their faces, and two men dressed in rich robes. Zenas stood before them the half-naked and rich men accessed him like they would a piece of fish that was being battered in the marketplace. One of them who was tall and thin with a white cloth wrapped around his head walked around Zenas and ran his hand over the muscles of his back. "He will do as long as he doesn't hurt my daughter. I'll pay heavily for him to teach my daughter ways she must please her husband." He turned to Keiran. "You're sure he can't follow me home? I'll pay you more." Keiran shook his head even though his eyes shone with greed. He looked at F
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The next day Zenas took some fruits and food from the temple's pantry under the permission of Federic, arranged them in a basket, and covered them with a kitchen cloth. Cleopoda was by the window in their room with another book Birian had given to her. She looked up from the book and rose a brow in question. "We were unable to go to the fields yesterday and if I have to work for the rest of the week then we should enjoy this day together." "And the basket?" "A picnic. Come on, little Highness, you can leave the book for now and enjoy this beautiful day the gods have blessed us with." Cleopoda smiled. His enthusiasm was contaminable and she was quickly drawn by it. She set her book aside and unfolded her legs. "Okay. I will not spoil your mood." He fished for a brown cloak from his trunk and handed it to her. She wrapped it around her shoulders and pulled the hood over her head, he took a cloak of his own and did the same then took her
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As soon as they got back to the temple Zenas wrapped up a few of Cleopoda's clothes and handed them over to Birian who led her away to the priests' quarters which was on the left-wing of the temple. They passed a narrow passage with cold stone walls, there were no windows in the hall overlooking the fields so the passage was dark but Birian led her through until they came to another passage. There were several identical doors along the length of the passage and Birian stopped at the 4th. He pushed it open and stepped inside. The room was cramped and small, there was a lone trunk by a small window overlooking a portion of the quadrangle where purifications took place, at one corner of the room was a table and a chair that was too small for Birian but there were several books spread out on the table many of them were in texts Cleopoda recognized from the many books she read in the palace. A small oil lamp with a little bit of oil was on the table. The room was neat and the air was cle
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For the next two days, Cleopoda did the best she could to forget the injustice being done to Zenas. She couldn't come out of Birian's room because she could not trust herself to not go and check on him. The last thing she wanted was to anger him or cause him trouble so she stayed indoors with Birian and taught him. Once had even suggested that she take a basket of food and head over to the field to stay for a while but she refused. She knew he suggested because her anxiety was very plain. She worried for Zenas, worried that he would send up beaten and battered like the other time. She could barely sleep at night, she tossed and turned and kept Birian up because her mind was in a state of unrest. Birian was an intelligent student, eager to learn and hungry for more knowledge of all that she knew so whenever she taught she did her best to lose herself in the moment but when he was needed in the outer temple area all she could do was pace the floors and wring her hands and look through
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From her perch on the stack of hay arranged at one corner of the field, Cleopoda watched the sunset. The sinking sun cast red and gold light out to the field, it was beautiful and it made her miss home. Because father forbade her from going out of the palace she would sit by the window and look out to the village when the sunset. It always struck her as beautiful but now it was even more beautiful since she didn't have to listen for the sound of Garius' feet, besides she was happy now she had a friend to share the sunset with. Zenas was on his back sleeping lightly after having too much wine to drink. He was happier than she ever was because she trusted Zenas, he trusted her and she knew he would protect her. He already proved that protection when the Saade of Amire considered adding her to his harem. She shuddered to think of what her father would do if the Saade had made that offer to him, he probably would have given her off just to get rid of her. She sighed. If only she
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After a while, Cleopoda pulled back from Zenas. His head was bent as he cleaned the tears from his face. Her chest felt tight as she thought of him as a child or even at her age plucking his eyes because of the pain they brought him. They were beautiful eyes indeed but the mystery behind them was the problem. She remembered years ago when she had first gone to see him perform, even then she could remember the excitement of everyone to see him. The maids had hurried about with their activities so they could watch him and even Strukus had hurried to see him too. Her heart ached as sadness descended. What other terrors had he experienced? Zenas ran his hands over his face to wipe it clean of any more tears. He couldn't believe he just told Cleopoda about his past even though he had only told her a small fraction. No one else, not even Birian knew about his past. On one hand, he was happy to have bared himself to her because she needed to see that he shared her pain, there wasn'
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Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Author's note
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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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"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
