The prince grumbled on the floor as he swam in his black blood. The guards were stunned, didn’t know what to do. He pulled the sword out from his chest, and the sword drifts from his wobbly hand, and jounced on the floor, puffing up his black blood, in the air.
One guard hurried outside and hastily summoned the King. The prince yelled, his eyes wore the color of fire as the King whiz inside with the guard.
“Who did this?” He hurried to his son and the blood immersed his wrapper. “Please don’t die.” He takes a look at the guards. “Who did this to my son.”
“His wife,” One guard answered, shivering.
“Where is she?”
“She flees.”
The prince touches the King’s face as the King lifted him. “Father, father . . . I’m sorry . . . ” His mouth closed and his eyes stared at the sheltered roof.
“Oh, dear.” Tears dropped from his eyes as the prince passed away. “Why me? Son wakes up please.” He lamented, dropping tears.
Owen hurried in. “What caused the noise?” The king closed the prince’s eyes. “Who killed the prince.” He directed his face to the guards fiercely.
“The girl.”
“Who?” He roared.
The guards shivered once again and one said, “His wife.”
“Has she died too?”
The guards exchanged glances. The Owen’s face they saw smiling, and kissing tons of girls yesterday night, has changed now. And in his eyes, they saw his face sparking as it sparked when he threw arrows to the lions.
“Don’t you hear me?” he roared once more. “Has she died too?”
One guard fell on his knees.”We deserve to die. She jumped out of the window when we entered.”
He took steps to the prince and picked a sword up from the black blood. He directs his face to them. “How dare you let her go.” Blood was dripping down from the sword as the guards took steps backward and he hurried and whackkkk heads from their body, one by one. Blood flows. Bodies shake on the floor and then stopped.
“We must get her burned alive,” The king thundered, arose and his eyes held Bowen’s eyes. They paused, listening. And Graham stepped in.
Graham was stunned, gazing at the blood, at the heads, at the sword, and then, at the eyes. He looked at them, and he saw the dead prince on the floor. “This.” He looked at Bowen and pointed to the prince’s body. “Your work?”
“Nay,” Bowen said, staying still.
“Whose?”
“Her wife.”
Graham looked at the King for confirmation of Bowen’s answers.
“Bowen says the truth.” The king walked to the door, and stayed still, and turned his face to them and then, directing his face to his son. “Meet me outside.”
Graham looked at Owen. “How does she escaped?”
Owen looked at the window.
“Through the window?”
“Yes,” Owen said.
“Let’s follow the king on time,” Graham said.
And they darted out, and when they saw the king before the officers. Heads bent in sorrow. They all loved the prince as a mother loved her one daughter.
The King wiped away his tears. His eyes reddened. Unusual eyes. Unusual tears. And unusual gathering like this. He signed. “Woo to the girl that killed the prince. This isn’t the best time to cry. I can see anger in the face of my son before he passed away. He doesn’t want us to cry. All he wants is vengeance. The girl dared to run away. That’s the reason why I called everyone here to scatter into the forest and bring her to be slaughtered.”
He paused, looking at the onlookers. All face here doesn’t resemble his son’s face and he imagined his face and the words of the prince came back to him. He closed his eyes in agony to prevent tears, listening. “Father . . . Father . . . I’m sorry.” He opened his eyes and then cleared his throat and continues. “As a king of this land, I will step into the forest too. If you see anyone different clan, killed them. If you see any wild or gentle animals, killed them.
He paused, listening. The soldier’s eyes reddened, flaming. “We would kill everyone in the nearby village. Don’t spare anyone. I will send messengers to tell the son of Santiago to help us as his father helped us.”
Tears fell from his eyes “I will send a bird to tell their King that the fights haven’t ended. They had sent a girl to kill our favorite prince, and their lives would replace it. Go sharpen your swords, cutlass, and arrows. We would create hell a day after tomorrow. I declare every day from today as the day of death. And no one of you should drink or eat anything till we succeed. We must feed only our swords. Hail to the prince.” He raised his sword.
“Hail to the prince,” All the soldiers roared and the land quivered. The dried leaves blew, falling like snow and the trees moaned that she lost her hungry children.
Graham chuckled. “What a joke. Thousands of soldiers want to catch one person. A girl.”
Owen looked at him. “What is funny?”
“Everything. Isn’t it?”
“Yes. It was.” He yanked the sword into Graham’s stomach. “So now. Tell me what is funny.”
Graham screamed and fell dead. Everyone looked at them. And then, Owen walked to the King and said, “He disobeyed. He laughed. He called this a joke. Doesn’t he deserves death?”
“He deserves death,” the soldier boomed and frown like a devil.
The king darted to his room, sharpening his swords, and the soldiers do likewise except Owen, who can’t wait to fight. His words were already there, neat and sharpened.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Here in the forest, Reuben, Jackson, and Susan walked around the forest. They followed Sophia’s footprints to the pit and sat to think of the next thing to do.
“This is the pit,” Reuben had said then.
“We are about to get there,” Susan said, “I need water.” And Jackson gave her a bottle of water.
“Can you guess the total number of armies of indigenous people?” Reuben asked her.
“That time, my father killed more than ten thousand with a fire.” She drank and gave Jackson the empty bottle.
“How did he do that?” Jackson asked.
“By kindling the forest,” she said, “they love a fight, they don’t care to die. We must be careful.”
Reuben signed. “I missed my friend. But I believe in two of you. We can make it work.”
“Father,” Jackson said, “don’t trust me yet until you see me slaughtering heads.”
Reuben tapped his shoulder. “Be careful.”
Titanic flew to them.
Jackson smiled at Titanic. “Come here babe, I miss you.”
Titanic looked away as if Jackson didn’t say anything.
“Dad,” Jackson said, “why doesn’t it come to me?”
“Titanic is angry,” Reuben said.
“Angry?”
“Yeah, my son.”
“Can you just ask it why?”
Reuben moved to Titanic. “Dear, what happened?”
Titanic used its peak to write notes on the floor.
And Susan read, “Sophia burned indigenous people’s flower but escaped, to avoid to be rape. I saw their King sharpening his swords. Owen’s sword, thirsty, hungry, of your people’s blood. The king has sent a messenger to Santiago’s son to help him as his father helped them. Reuben, you can’t win if you went there with these two heroes. Or else they will breathe their last air. Sophia would soon be here. You, your two heroes, and Sophia should go back home and joined the King’s soldiers. I saw the Father of Sophia’s, sister, and polices at Jackson’s house. Searching for Santiago’s son. Tell Anabelle not to fear because Anabelle was Henry which Sophia searched for. They won’t arrest him anymore for the police know the truth that Santiago’s son shoots Sophia’s sister. If your amigo hasn’t died, I would have allowed you two to face the indigenous people, but his spirit was here. He holds a sword. He wants you to go back home too. He won’t leave you alone until you win. Farewell.”
And Titanic flew away.
“Dad,” Jackson said, “what does it mean by indigenous people’s flower?”
Reuben sighed. “Their prince.”
“What should we do now?”
“We must follow Titanic’s instructions. It had been with father and had seen numerous wars. It doesn’t sound wise if we disobey.”
Susan shouted. “Sophia. Run.”
Sophia fell, standing up, and then fell.
“We should help her,” Jackson said and hurried to her.
She was breathing hard as Jackson hurried to her side. Her clothes were saturated with black blood. The prince’s blood. She looked at Jackson’s face and whispered, “Have you seen Henry?”
“Yes,” Jackson said, “he told me to give you this water for drinking.”
“A truth?”
“A truth.”
“Where did you see him?”
“He was Anabelle.”
She drank the water, and whispered once more, “I want to sleep.” She then fainted.
“Help. Help. Help,” Jackson screamed, pouring water on her head.
And Susan and Reuben rushed to them, Reuben checked whether she breathes or not. “She is breathing. She needs a rest. Let’s carry her home.”
Reuben carried her to his back as a mother does to her child and they hurried home.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A bird’s flying. Flying above the water. And water, glistening under it. The bird’s name was Arizona. It has a devil face. It was coming back from the King of Bowen village to the indigenous King who sent it a message of war and death.
And here, here, Titanic stood upon the bamboo tree, waiting for Arizona. The wind whirled up and the trees bent to let them passed as Arizona stopped on its track on an oak tree, facing Titanic.
This was the great day that Titanic waited for. It remembered how Arizona poked eyes out of Reuben’s father on the battlefield as he rides a white horse. Reuben’s father screamed and fell and then the indigenous people slaughtered his head off.
Titanic remembered it followed Reuben when he flees for his life to the forest and would work hard to feed it with half of his food that doesn’t satisfy him, and he would say, “Titanic, don’t worry, everything will be alright, I will revenge. And don’t felt bad because you can’t save my dad. It’s not too late to be what you want to be. Just be patient. A sinful man can still be a righteous man. And the vaster Universe will count him as a blameless man.”
Now, the Titanic’s eyes reddened. Sparkling. And Arizona could feel the flaming. The anger. But doesn’t care. It hisses like a snake. Roared like a lion. But Titanic stood still, gazing at it. And eyes speak in silence.
At a sudden moment, they attacked themselves. Arizona bites Titanic’s hair and uprooted it.
Titanic got numerous chances to bites Arizona’s hair. But it chooses to target something different. It flew back to the tree, gazing at Arizona. And eyes speaks as Arizona darted to it and Titanic poked out its black eyes, leaving empty sockets
Arizona screamed and fell. Became blind. And its head was hitting against the trees.
And here, here, Titanic watched it dead.