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Chapter 9
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Her happiness was short-lived. As soon as the race was over she leaned back in her seat to laugh over the sour defeat of the dragons but caught the sight of a familiar figure from the side of her eyes. It was the figure of Adna, the goddess of excess and as was natural to her, she held a jar of mead in one hand while the other dangled over the shoulder of a very beautiful male Aloni. Adna was a beautiful dark head goddess, willowy and tall but her elegance was destroyed by her love for the mead. She was laughing and staggering drunkenly. She caught sight of Helena and went over to meet her. The Aloni stood behind her as a show of submission as he bowed his head in Helena’s direction.
“Your highness,” she spoke in a slur as she dipped to a drunken bow. “I never thought I would see you here Queen Helena.” She flicked something off the Aloni’s shoulder. “I am just coming from Robos’ temple where he…,”
The Aloni must have pinched her as a warning because she jumped slightly and frowned at him. Then her eyes widened as she realized why he pinched her, her mouth formed a small circle and she slapped her palm on it.
“That was not what I meant…” she laughed.
Helena’s heart sank. Of course, it was what she meant but she pasted a smile on her face and pretended not to know what Adna was talking about. “What do you mean, Adna?”
“N-nothing your highness, I should go now.” She slung her arms around the Aloni’s waist. “Take me away from here.”
As they retreated Helena could hear the Aloni reprimand Adna while Adna defended herself and blamed the mead for her loose tongue. Tears threatened to pour from her eyes but Helena sniffed them back. She was a strong goddess, queen of gods she would not shed a tear in front of her subjects. Why should she shed tears for Robos’ actions? If he wanted to waste his time on his many whores it wasn’t in her place or anyone else’s to feel sorry for his actions.
Holding her head high she lifted the hem of her gown and descended the steps that would lead her out of the arena. The joy she came to seek here had gone cold.
Once back in her chamber she forced herself to sleep.
It took a week of lying to herself for Helena to finally admit that she was bothered by Robos’ happiness with his mistresses and also to admit that Eyrotia was a place she would rather be than home in Kpamos. It was time to pay another visit to that land.
In one week, after mulling over Robos’ actions and his latest mistress, that stupid bitch goddess Adna, she concluded that she deserved her own happiness. Not just any happiness, she wanted the one she felt at Eyrotia, in the fishermen's village.
On a verge of desperation, she teleported herself back to Eyrotia, to the seaside with the salt and salty air. But the shore was empty. It wasn’t as she had expected. There were no fishermen with gleaming sweaty skin nor the chatter of said fishermen. Her disappointment was so profound that she swore she could feel her belly drop. It was just as well. Maybe this was a sign that she should stay away from Eyrotia and Ramus before trouble came knocking.
She walked the length of the shore enjoying the feel of the hot sand beneath her feet and the cool breeze that blew from the surface of the sea. Foaming water ran over the sand in small waves. She pushed her toes into the gritty mud and wondered what her life would be like if she hadn’t married Robos. From afar she could hear the sounds of sea birds flying low over the water to hunt for fish. The peace she felt here was so good, so new and foreign to her that she got lost in her thoughts and did not hear the sound of feet approaching until a shadow fell on her.
Helena jumped back and turned around sharply and her breath died in her throat.
Standing right there as though her thoughts conjured him was Demeus and if it was possible, he looked taller and his eyes glowed like never before. Helena forced herself to swallow to keep from sighing like a silly girl at the sight of him.
“Ramus!” she said exclaimed, her voice a little too sharp in her ears.
“ Helena, what a surprise!”
Demeus could have laughed at his fake surprise but the look on Helena’s face showed that she believed it was indeed a surprise. At first, he wasn’t sure she was the one standing at the shore with her toes buried in the sand, he had thought it was a fragment of his imagination because for days since he met her, the willful, stubborn redheaded woman who made his blood hot, he swore he could see her everywhere he went. She was like a plague he couldn’t get rid of and one that he didn’t even want to be rid of. For days, against his common sense, he came to the sea over again to see if, perchance, she would magically appear and speak to him again. He didn’t he missed though bright eyes that held the color of the sea in them. Even now as he looked at them he felt a stirring and he feared his feelings would show.
“What are you doing here?” Helena asked.
He searched his brain for a good excuse. “I… I wanted to uh… have a moment to myself.” He could just kick himself for not thinking of something smarter. She was a smart woman and if she put two and two together she would guess he had come here looking for her. “What are you doing here?” he asked in a bid to draw attention away from himself.
Helena felt a strange discomfort. How was she to explain she came all the way from Mount Kpamos to see a complete stranger.
“Uh… I…” she started. “I never quite left Jamark yet and I thought I should come back to see this beautiful ocean.” And the sinfully handsome man in front of me, but he didn’t need to know that. “Anyways,” she clapped her hands in from of her chest. “I should go now.”
“Are you leaving because of me?”
“No,” she replied quickly. Too quickly. “No not because of you.”
“Then walk with me.” He didn’t know why he offered, the best thing would be to let her go but for some reason, maybe madness, he wanted her to stay. He wanted to spend as much time with her and it seemed like the only natural thing to do. So he held his hand out to her. “Come with me.”
It sounded like a temptation to sin. After holding his breath for what felt like an eternity, Helena dropped her soft hands in his and the contact of her skin on his made him want to howl with joy.
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“Where are we walking to?” Demeus smiled at the sound of her voice. Some of her fierce spirits had returned since they started walking away from the ocean. He looked behind him and found her frowning at the horizon with impatience furrowing her brows. “You’ll see,” he called back at her. “I don’t want to see, Ramus, tell me where we are going or I swear by the gods I’ll turn around now and go back home.” His lips twitched. Was it bad that he liked her better when she was angry she talkative? Helena waited for a response and when none came doubled her steps and half-ran until she was walking side by side with him. “Well? You’re not trying to abduct me are you?” Demeus chuckled. Woe to the man who tried to abduct this woman, he would find himself either wanting to tie her mouth shut or kiss those lips. And he knew how much he wanted to do the latter which was why he tried avoiding her gaze. “I have a horse,” he said in re
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They rode for hours before coming upon the main city of Eyrotia. And as expected it was crowded. At the center of the city was a high wall surrounding the king’s castle, the bricks were strong and the irons were used in barring the windows of the towers were painted black. Flags bearing the Eyrotian arms of the rising Phoenix blew in the wind. Soldiers stood with spears, swords and arrows on the towers overlooking the city. Helena drank in the sights of all of these. Around them, people moved about their business speaking loudly or whispering to one another. They were dressed in fur clothes while some were dressed in rich expensive-looking silks, cotton and amongst these were those who wore shabby raffia clothing. Soldiers on horses passed theirs, Demeus nodded to them as they passed. These were his people, the ones who worshipped him, they offered sacrifices to him for blessings and protection. It never ceased to amaze how easily he could walk among mere mortals and non of
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Helena watched in a daze as Demeus spoke to the woman in hushed tones. Her palms grew wet and clammy and she could swear that sweat was pouring from her forehead causing her hair to plaster itself against her skin. The innkeeper glanced in her direction once and nodded then turned back to Demeus. She watched as the innkeeper pocketed the coins Demeus had dropped on the table and took a key from the board behind her. She handed the key to Demeus and tilted her head in the direction of the stairs leading to the rooms. “The rooms are up there,” she said in Eyrotian language. Helena feared that her heartbeat would be heard because it was so loud she could practically hear the beat of blood in her ears. How was she to quietly tell him that she could not share a room with him, not just because she was married and had a child but because she couldn’t trust herself not to act on the strange attraction she felt towards this man. But he was a fisherman and fishermen were not w
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“The dress is not tight, my lady, you’re wearing it the wrong way.” Helena raised an eyebrow at the maid the innkeeper had sent to help her dress. The maid came forward and unbuckled the hooks holding the dress up, she helped Helena locate where to put her hands then buckled it up for her. It was a dark red tunic that stopped at her sandaled feet, over the thick material was a veil of see-through silk that had blew gently in the wind. “You will need this.” The maid pulled a veil from the bundle of clothes Likia had sent to her. She pinned Helena’s hair up and attached the veil to it before wrapping round. “Have you done this before?” Helena asked. The maid giggled. “Yes, my lady, I have taken care of many merchants' daughters. They always love my services.” She brought the mirror from the dressing room and handed it to Helena. Helena gawked at the image she saw. The only time she had ever looked this good was during her wedding feast with Robos. The m
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For the millionth time, Demeus squeezed his hands by his side. If the jeweler’s son’s hand touches Helena’s skin anymore under the guise of fastening a jewel piece on her neck or wrist he may be forced to throttle him. And the smile on Helena’s lips gritted his nerve. Why wasn’t she smiling at him like that? She only ever seemed to argue with him and when she wasn’t arguing she was silent and her silence was even worse than her arguments. But with this jeweler’s son, she seemed to be at ease and they were conversing smoothly. “Try this one on,” the jeweler said to her while holding up a nice piece of bracelet with ruby stones encrusted in the silver chain. The ruby stones were the same color as her hair. “This will look beautiful on you,” he said. Demeus had to agree with him. He could already envision the look of the bracelet on Helena’s pale skin. “Bring your hand, my lady, let me help you.” “Let me do it.” It was Demeus who spoke to the surprise of everyone since
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Early the next morning Helena got a visitor. When the inn maid came in she announced that someone was outside the room waiting to see her. For just a second Helena’s heart almost stopped beating for fear that her presence was missed at Mount Kpamos and Robos had sent seekers to come and find her but as soon as the fear came it was quickly dispersed as she remembered that Robos did not care where she was or how she lived her life unless he wanted to get between her legs so she asked the maid to let the visitor in since it could either be Robos or Banjo. But it turned out to be Likia, Banjo’s wife. The tall dark woman was wearing a lightweight white tunic with and a bright smile. She looked even more beautiful than she did when Helena met her at the fishermen’s village. “Helena,” she opened her arms wide and hugged Helena like a long-time friend. Helena leaned into the hug. She liked Likia. The woman was genuine and was indeed a good friend. “I see you got the dresses
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After wandering all morning they came upon the temples. The square where the temples were located was quite busy as people moved up and down their businesses. Some were entering different temples to present their offerings and offer their prayers, some priests were moving around to attend to the people seeking to make offerings to the gods and some other simply sold things outside different temples. There were temple prostitutes who lingered around calling out to passersby. Helena gazed at the tall, beautiful buildings in awe. There were many temples and she was deeply awed by the beauty of the temples but not surprised because mortals were known to spend their precious possessions pleasing the gods and if pleasing the gods required them to give up their gold and silver they would happily do it because they wanted favors from the said gods. Back at Camelorn, there were temples for her, Robos, Termla, her daughter Ashterah and many other gods of Camelorn. During festivals, the gods w
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For the fourth time, Demeus thought he would scream at the top of his lungs if Helena cooed over the beauty of the temples one more time. She acted as though she had been trapped for a long time in a dungeon and this was her first chance at seeing the light and the things it contained. However, he did not know that he wasn’t so far from the truth. Helena’s life at Mount Kpamos could be described as a prison of some sort since she could not do whatever she wanted back at home without being reminded of the wife of who she was. For the first time in a long time, Helena felt genuinely happy and free. The world held a bigger, brighter light that held her transfix and every time she looked back at Demeus and he smiled at her she wanted to grab him and kiss him and thank him for doing this for her. He was so patient, so kind and his ear was open to her every talk. Often times she caught herself reaching down to hold his hand then she caught herself and linked her arm through his. It pained
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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
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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
