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Chapter 22
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2022-02-14 17:44:24A week after Phoenix’s 10th birthday the princess Jumi turned 7 and a feast was thrown to celebrate the anniversary of her birth with Phoenix in attendance as her personal maid. It was a wonderful, evening with the setting sun casting a golden glow on the kingdom. The palace was a buzz of activities with the servants, cooks and guards moving about to ensure that all was ready before the arrival of the guests who were mainly chiefs and nobles.
Phoenix walked through the ever-bustling street of King’s road. The King’s road was so-called because it was a direct passage to the king’s castle. She was on a mission to collect Jumi’s robe, a special present from Queen Merea, from the royal weaver. Her cloak was around her shoulders as she hurried on, she was supposed to have collected the cloth since the early hours of the morning but the head servant had tasked her with the duty of cleaning the kitchen storage room and peeling the ingredients required to prepare the meal for the fe
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As soon as the door to the huge hall was open the musicians at the corner of the room began to play their instruments. The room was brightly lit with lamps and sconces. Servants were milling around carrying plates and goblets to and from the large table that was set on the king’s dais. Around the king’s table were the head of noble households. Noblemen and women of 10 in number sat with the king while the lower part of the hall was set up with tables and velvet-covered chairs for their families. The crowd of people in the hall rose in honor of the queen and princess as they passed by the guests and made for the king’s table. As they passed friends of the queen reached out to congratulate Jumi on her birthday, many of them handed the gifts they brought for her to Phoenix until she was hidden under loads of gifts. “Here comes the princess of Eyrotia,” king Barigo announced as he rose from his seat and held out his hand to his daughter to support her ascent on the king’
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It was late morning and the sun was already hot against the back of her neck as she scrubbed the kitchen floor. The servants had just finished serving breakfast and they were waiting for the arrival of the royal family in the hall. The head servant had called Phoenix from Jumi’s room where she had been laying the princess’s dress for breakfast. Phoenix had tried to explain that she was barely done with preparing Jumi for breakfast when the queen entered and in a very uncharacteristic manner told her not to worry about taking care of Jumi since she, the queen, wanted to dress Jumi herself. Phoenix had bowed and left the room with the head servant in the kitchen where a bucket and rags awaited her. Without any question, she dropped to her knees and began to scrub away the scraps of food and soot from the floor. Another servant stood by the washbowl cleaning the tools which had been used for the preparation of the meal while another polished the utensils that would be used by the king,
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Her mind was blank but she knew she was being lifted and taken away from the room where the king, queen and princess were. She knew she was being carried but she didn’t know who held her, the voices around her were just a blur of words. All she could ask herself as they moved was; Why would Queen Merea do this? What was her aim? What did she hope to gain? She must have known that the king would demand that she should be punished if the box of jewelry was found in her room. Was that what she wanted? For her father to prove that he hated her more than anything and was willing to believe anything against her? She hung limp in the hands of the guards, her head bouncer with each step they took, her eyes were dry and her mind was immune to the pain on her wrist as a result of the guards’ stronghold. They entered the dungeon which was below even the servants’ quarters, it was the lowest part of the king’s castle and there was barely any light penetrating through the high wi
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“Take this.” Phoenix stretched out her hand to collect the bowl. She was laying on her stomach on a thin pallet because her back was hurting. The seer had rubbed some oil into the welts on her back and was now making some concoction for her to drink to ease the pain. She put the bowl to her lips at gagged at the smell of the liquid. It was greenish and had a very sharp and pungent smell. She started to push it away from her face when the rough hands of the seer held it in place against her mouth. “Drink it, child, if you want the pain to subside quickly you have to drink it.” His voice was hoarse as a result of the thick smoke that always covered the interior of his home. “My powers can heal the wounds faster.” “But you do not have your full powers yet.” It was true. Though she had a little bit of control over her powers she could not utilize them fully. The seer had identified a seal on her neck as a child that kept her from having any contro
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“Get me my sandals.” A nine-year-old Jumi sat at her dressing table adjusting the small jewels on the earrings pinned to her ears. In the corner of the room, Merea sat down with embroidery in her lap. She kept an eye on Phoenix’s movement. She was a constant presence whether Phoenix was working for Jumi. The heart of the wicked knows no rest and that was true for Merea, she felt Phoenix was going to try to harm Jumi which was why she kept a close watch on her every time the both of them were together. “Phoenix, get the princess her sandals.” Phoenix left the clothes she had been gathering for washing and went to the trunk where Jumi’s clothes were. She pulled the sandals out of the trunk and went to give them to Jumi. Before she could drop them a tiny hand smacked her head. She looked up in shock but before she could blink Jumi spat on her face, a few drops of her spittle ran into Phoenix’s eyes. She squeezed her eyes tight as thoughts of hitting Jumi in the
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There was a great buzz in the kingdom of Eyrotia. Every 2 years they celebrated one of their many festivals. This year they were celebrating the festival of Fists, a festival where many of the strongest men in the kingdom came together to compete in a show of strength. The winner of the competition at the end of the 2 days festival was added to the king’s army and the members of his household were given honorary titles in their towns, titles which were lower than that of the nobles but those titles were respected. The celebration of the festival of Fists was divided into two; the first day was for merry and welcoming of the guests both gods and foreign, the second day was when the real event happened. Every two years young men all over the kingdom would gather at the King’s Seat, a large arena built by one of Eyrotia’s past kings. The legend surrounding the King’s Seat was that it was carved from rock by the hands of the king in honor of the gods. There were multiple seats of stone
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The walls Oya walked past were black and slimy, the walls rippled as though they were alive. Slime ran from the top of the walls to their bottom in big slimy gooey drops. The walls reeked of death and misery and aptly so for this was the abode of Neifler, the ruler of the underworld where ungodly and cursed souls came to rest. As she moved down the long passage that led to the center of his abode she prepared herself for the discomfort that awaited her behind the heavy black doors that were built into the walls with human bones. Oya forced herself to stay calm as she approached this door. She was the most powerful goddess, after all, the only one who could face Demeus in a battle with the possibility of winning. The doors to the gloomy interior of Neifler’s abode threw themselves open before she got to them and from within came the voices of the condemned souls, there were cries of anguish coming from the cursed souls and wicked laughter poured forth from the underlings who
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Somehow Phoenix found a way to wiggle through the crowd and found a tight space that enabled her to see the center of the arena clearly. It also provided a clear view of the seat where the royals and nobles were to sit. The cowl of her cloak was over her head to avoid being recognized by the king or queen. From the second gate a tall, broad man walked into the center of the arena, the thousands of people gathered at the arena stood and hailed him, the roar of the people was deafening. In his hand was a cone-shaped metal which he held to his lips. “The festival of Fists is about to begin.” The cone-shaped object amplified his voice so that despite the large arena his voice could be heard by all. “Strong men of Eyrotia have subjected themselves to many days of training to show their strength and to gain entrance into the royal army and we the people of Eyrotia are here to witness this.” He let the hand holding the cone drop slightly as he waited for the people to finis
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Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Author note
So I didn't want to make this book long. I hate writing long books! So I have decided to stop Phoenix' story here. Book 3 will be coming out soon but it might take a while because I am literally exhausted. I know there are a lot of lose ends in both Phoenix and Cleopoda's books but those lose ends will be tied in the third book since that's the final book in the series. I really feel like hiring a ghostwriter at this point because my arms and creative juices are screaming for help. Hehe. But I'll write the third book soon. Till then...adios
Cursed by the Gods: Rise of Phoenix Chapter 71
The crowd of people watched withdrawn breathes as Goyre mounted the podium. Basten was on his knees on the podium facing the crowd. At the edge of the execution field, his mother cried and wailed, pleading with the goddess. “My son is innocent!” She cried. “He was bewitched by the cursed princess.” Rudo held her back, his eyes blazing with hate for Merea. How did he let himself become manipulated in her web of lies and deceit in her eagerness to assume the most powerful seat of Eyrotia? How he was sacrificing his son because she declared him an obstacle to her plans. He remembered her words. “Sacrifices need to be made.” He was paying the biggest price for being on her side. Goyre fashioned a sword from her metal gown and held it over Basten’s head. She looked at the crowd gathered. “This is a lesson to everyone who stands against queen Merea. And to anyone who chooses to betray me.” She raised the sword, it caught the sun on its shiny surface. As she
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Goyre stared in horror at the realization of her terrible mistake. If she had doubts about Phoenix’s godhood before, they were gone as soon as she realized that Phoenix’s blood was the one ingredient needed to create the superhumans Uruel was obsessed with. By ingesting her blood the wolves now shared 1/8th of her powers. The fact that they had transformed into her likeness also meant that they shared her image too. Furious with herself for her mistake Goyre locked the courtyard door and headed for Eyrotia. If she could not hurt Phoenix now that her anger was still fresh then she would hurt her some other way. Merea was getting ready for the public execution of Phoenix and Basten when Goyre appeared to her. “My lady.” Goyre scoffed at her pretentious submissiveness. “The time has come for you to give the blood sacrifice I demanded in fulfillment of our agreement. Life for my help with your ambitions.” Even though the agreement had been a farce on Goyr
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“What do you mean my son is arrested for treason?!” Rudo demanded. Merea walked away from him. She had ordered the guards to throw Basten and Phoenix in the dungeon and sent some other soldiers out to look for Teo, Dan and Styx. Rudo hastened his footsteps to match hers. “It pains me to say this but your son was found with Barigo’s precious daughter,” she spat with malice. “And it seems that she has bewitched your son like she did the king. They were planning to disband from the army, it may also please you to know that it is rumored that Phoenix and her band of friends seek to overthrow the king and install her as queen even before his demise.” “Does the king know about this?” Merea stopped walking, turned to him and smiled. “He does, and he has given me the freedom to do as I like with them. The king is on my side, are you Rudo?” He looked down at the ring she twisted between her thumb and index finger. He understood her question, in fact, h
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She was served food and wine but she could barely eat a bite, not when her hands and feet were bound. And she couldn’t have stomached any food if she tried. Not when she kept thinking about Uruel’s betrayal. Was this his plan all along? To lure the soldiers of Eyrotia out so that he could easily conquer the nation? Was the marriage announcement just a farce? Were the men of Eyrotia dead already? Basten? Teo and Dan? Styx? “You have not eaten your majesty, you must be hungry after my men hauled you from Uromi.” “Where am I?” The spokesman for the men, the one who had first spoken to her where she was taken to the room, replied her. “Your mistrust of us is very disheartening, your highness, considering the fact that we are your soon-to-be subjects. You are in safe hands, we have orders to keep you safe and well-fed, if anything happens to you we will be killed.” “Something will happen to me if someone doesn’t explain what is going on here,” she said thr
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She fought against the stronghold on her hands. Something was sliding along her legs, soon she felt something stronger hold her legs and hands together. How had she or any of the other soldiers lost guard? They were supposed to have at least sensed the invaders! One moment she was looking at the bodies of the soldiers tied upside down and the next moment a strong hand was clamped so tight around her mouth that her screams were stifled. She saw with horror the ruthlessness of the invaders, how easy it was for them to slit the throats of the men nearest her. When they dragged her away she couldn’t see Basten or Teo and Dan but the men of Eyrotia were already aware of the attack at this moment and were fighting back. None of them even knew that she had been dragged off. After all, she wasn’t of any importance to the army or any of the men there. Would Basten know she was missing? Was he dead? Dread seized her heart at the horrifying thought. Suddenly the men’s transport
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The cry of anguish rang throughout the entire kingdom. It was barely dawn when the disaster struck. The outer villages were burnt down to the ground. Men, women, children and animals, were all killed. More than that, the soldiers who had been stationed in Uromi to occupy the land for the king were killed. A messenger came running in the early hours of the morning, bloody and tattered on a tired horse. He told a sickening tale of slaughtered men. According to his accounts, the men were sleeping when a group of men dressed in clothes as dark as the night showed up and quietly slit the throats of the soldiers of Eyrotia. He had seen this on his way back from the woods where he went to relieve himself. The attacks on the outer villages were described in the same way; men dressed in black snuck in and killed everyone before burning the villages completely. “Who could have done this?” was the question on the lips of everyone. “It could be the men of Uromi seeking to take r
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Phoenix stared up at the elegantly carved ceiling. There was a cold cloth pressed to her head. The servant taking care of her worked silently as she pressed the wet cloth against her forehead, returned it to the bowl of ice-cold water to wet it again but to Phoenix it felt as though every move she made was amplified by some strange powers in a hundred folds. The image of Uruel standing in the room donned in his armor after the brilliant light he had caused dimmed was imprinted in her memory. She remembered how her breath completely stopped from the shocks of one night. What was Uruel doing here and why had the king said he had intentions of marrying her? Surely there must be some sort of mistake, she thought. She started to rise but the maid held her down gently. “You must stay down, princess.” The word Princess was beginning to grit her nerves! She didn’t want to stay down, she wanted to stand up and find answers to the sudden events. “What time is i
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Two days later it was announced that the king was throwing a huge feast to celebrate the capture of Uromi. In their honor a two-week celebration was announced, the celebration of the festival of Fists which was supposed to be at the near end of the year was moved up to honor their bravery. There was much to be done, a lot of preparations to be made but first, there was something important going on in the royal house. The third day after the soldiers returned Barigo invited the nobles for a small celebratory dinner and a special announcement. Phoenix dressed in the white gown trimmed with red thread at the hem Goyre had gifted her with along with the one of hold thread hemming the edge and the white slippers which she wore Patry had given her when she left the pantheon. The bright color of the dress set off the color of her eyes and hair. She was securing her veil over her hair which she packed high on her head when the door to her room opened. She turned arou
