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Chapter 85
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2024-10-29 19:42:56After 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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To Cleopoda's surprise, Keiran was well pleased with Zenas treatment of the Saade's daughter that he gave him the rest of the week off. She was even more surprised that he turned down many offers from other customers most of whom were merchants, a few nobles Cleopoda recognized that she had to hide from, and even some wives of nobles and merchants and ordinary farmers. Her heart broke at how easily these people could have Zenas if they simply paid the right amount of money. More to her surprise what the fact that Keiran had given Zenas some allowance to spend as he wished and according to Zenas giving of allowance wasn't something Keiran did she made her wonder what glowing reports the Saade's daughter had given on behalf of Zenas and even worst, she wanted to know what had happened in the room between them. At this point she was no longer bashful about the things that happened between a man and a woman, she was curious now. In the late hours of the afternoon after a long da
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 87
"You are Strukus?" Zenas asked incredulously. The boy didn't have time to answer before an old bent man opened the back door. He squinted his eyes to look from Strukus to Zenas. "What is happening here?" He demanded. "This man wants to buy the replica of the royal sword." The man's bushy brows furrowed. He moved closer with great effort towards them. "Forgive, milord my eyes don't work as good as they used to." Neither did his body apparently for he moved too slow. When he got to where they were he peered close at Zenas' hooded face. "Are you a soldier or a nob?" He asked in a shaky voice. "The son of a noble," Zenas lied. To say nob was to betray the lie. His lie though seemed to convince the man for he bowed immediately. "Well, that would explain why you cover your face so. I am Gustoff as you must know and this here is Strukus my most trusted apprentice," he glanced affectionately at the boy with fatherly love.
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 88
Strukus' excitement and restlessness had made going back to work difficult since the hooded noble had come to the shop to present his news about Cleopoda. It was only with great effort that he was able to hide his excitement from Gustoff's prying eyes. The old man had been good to him since the six years when he was suddenly thrown by Garius into the armory. At first he Gustoff had not liked him and had called him 'one of the lads who was to become a burden for him but as time passed and Strukus became an ardent learner in the art of weaponry Gustoff's cynism towards him had slowly disappeared. In the first few years, he worked as an apprentice for the old man he had cried at the thought of not being able to see Cleopoda and his mother again but ten luck had shined on him when one day Gustoff gave him the assignment of delivering a new sword to Garius. The bastard had barely recognized him and that gave Strukus courage to reacquaint himself with the hidden passages of the palace esp
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 89
Still shaking with excitement Cleopoda and Strukus followed Zenas hand in hand to a small shack that neither Cleopoda in her days of coming to the field nor Strukus as he ran up to meet her, noticed. It was shabby and dark and when Zenas brought it an oil lamp to illuminate the place Cleopoda realized it served as a storeroom for the temple helpers for bundles of clothes and straw hats and patched cloaks were strewn around the place. Zenas went to a corner of the room and moved clothes aside so they could both sit then he dropped the lamp and turned to them. "I'll be in the fields so you two can talk in private. Be quiet and don't take too long here, if anyone asks I'll say you're relieving yourself." Cleopoda clapped his hands in hers and smiled up at him in gratitude. "Thank you so much, Zenas." Her voice shook. He nodded at her with a small smile. "Thank you very much, sir," Strukus said too. "Call me Zenas. Cleopoda's friend is my friend.
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It wasn't until the next morning after a long night's rest that Zenas revealed the sword to Cleopoda. She reached out to touch the sword, its gilded handle, and the encrusted jewels then frowned. "It's the royal sword- an impressive replica of it," she said. "Garius had one that was less impressive but this one." She stroked the blade. "Reminds me of father's and Uncle Angus'." Zenas thrust the sword carefully at her. She took it from him and held it from the handle, testing its weight. It was quite heavy but she was used to lifting heavy swords to fight with so she barely strained under the weight of the sword. "You carry it well," Zenas commented. She swung it in the air around her and her shoulders, handling it with such expertise that uncommon to someone of her age. "I spent years learning under Garius, father's second -in -command, he was less than friendly in his sword lessons and the only way I could keep myself safe was to bear the wei
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The weapon shoe was busy with activities. Smoke poured out from the outlet above the roof darkening parts of the street. Passersby held scarves or the neck of their clothes to their noses to block out the pungent smell of burning metal. Small boys worked fervently in the shop, some attended to customers while others did the less than pleasing work of selecting reusable metals, and the pile to select from was huge. There were too many boys working in the shop. There were other armories but they had fewer workers than Gustoff's because everybody wanted to be given the honor of casting royal weapons. At the back of the front shop were Strukus, Gustoff and some of the older boys doing the more tedious work that resulted in the huge cloud of black smoke that poured from the building. They sweated and grunted as they went about stoking the fire with the bellows, collecting molten metal and shaping them into desired weapons. There was less talking here since they were all too conce
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He didn't know what possessed him to tell his mother that but the joy that suddenly leaped into her eyes and face made him glad that he had blurted it out to her. Remin turned back to Strukus in a daze, she couldn't believe her ears. At first, her heart stopped for a full moment then it started beating heavily in her chest so much that she could barely breathe. She took two steps back and searched her son's face for any sign of deceit but saw none. Why would he want to lie to her about something so delicate? Why would he deceive her in fact when he too missed his friend dearly? The tears in her eyes were reflected in his as he nodded without a word. With a small cry, she ran back and threw her arms around his neck. Strukus held on to his mother and carefully guided her to a more secluded part of the shop to avoid attention. She was crying heavily, choking between sobs as she tried to talk through her tears. When she was finally able to pull back she wiped her e
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Within the next few weeks, a very happy Zenas was ready to arrange Cleopoda's freedom from the temple and Camelorn forever. He planned with Birian and occasionally with Strukus whenever he saw him. He had not expected the plannings and escape to be easy but it was even harder than he thought when he began to study the temple priests' routine. There were 15 priests in all at residence in the temple besides head priest Federic, 10 were assigned to taking care of the sacrifices people brought to the temple, and out of those ten four worked in addition to the remaining five in taking care of the sick who were brought for purifications. The routine was such that every morning as early as the first day of light cracked the dawn, even before the stars disappeared completely, the 10 priests in charge of sacrifices together with a few temple hands, cleaned the temple to prepare for the day. The sacrifice area was directly after the entrance of the temple and it was large and open enough that
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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.
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 123
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
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 119
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
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 118
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.
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 117
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
Cursed by the Gods: Cleopoda CBTG Book 1 Chapter 116
"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
