CHRISTIAN FANTASY SHORT STORY: RESCUED BY LOVE

This was a short story entry for a challenge initiated by an acquaintance of mine. #LoveExperience

©Praise Chidinma Abraham 

RESCUED BY LOVE

Once upon a time, before the earth evolved into the despondent specie we now know it to be, there was a beautiful, virgin kingdom located in the far east, the orient land that the sun kissed first before any other part of Earth. 

It had the lushest of green fauna, the most crystal of waters, the brightest of stars at night, and the most sonorous harmony of both animal and human sounds. 

The name of that kingdom was "Camorhit-ile", pronounced /Kæmu:itl/. 

The north, east and west regions of the land were under the blissful rulership of the Great Queen Sarayu. She was the monarchess that governed the entire estate. 

Full of grace and beauty, there was no flaw whatsoever found in her. She was fierce and bold, one that would rather fight side by side with her army to protect the land rather than sit back in the palace and eat the juicy Wahery berries that grew in the royal vineyard.

However, the dark side—the south region—had been conquered by the Dekolws, evil scavengers that took over that spot in a moment of the kingdom's weakness. They were an hybrid of giants and dwarfs at the same time, if they could be described as that. Very bloodthirsty destroyers from the southern desertlands, beyond the boundary defined by the four rivers and the rugged mountains. 

The battle that prevented them from ravaging the entire land was where the Queen Sarayu lost her lovely husband and king of the land, Great Monarch Elyon I. Without having an heir or heiress, he died, leaving her heartbroken but not in too much despair. She swore to protect the land with her very last breath, hence she had no time for romance. 

It wasn't that she didn't have any suitors. Many eligible kings from all over had tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to win her hand in love. The guilt of so carelessly losing her husband, who she had loved so immensely, in the war, restrained her.

At the same time, the uncertainty and fear of what would be of the land once she died tormented her constantly. She was in desperate need of a child.

Still, unruffled by her predicament, she ruled, and all the land loved her. 

On a very beautiful spring morning, the Queen had the strong urge to go for a walk through her land borders. After leaving orders in the palace to her trustees, she set off with her muscular guards and bevy of lady-servants to the east part of her land in her chariots. 

Her subjects bowed and curtsied as the royal horses pranced forward. Her smiles and waves warmed their hearts.

When she felt she had gotten to a serene outskirt space suitable for a peaceful stroll, she alighted from her horse and started walking in a wide expanse of maize field. 

As she was breathing in the clean air, mind cleared of all the impending governing issues she had to attend to, she got startled by a muffled, but distinct sound of a cry. 

Her warrior instincts took over and she crouched low. Her guards must have heard it too, because they drew near, eyes round, ears perked and hands on their weapons, awaiting a direct instruction from their queen.

She motioned for them to follow and they did, in the direction of the sound that was growing louder with each step forward, prowling like hunting cats. 

The cry was thin and so shrill that it caused her hair to stand on end. 

On getting close enough, shoving aside the tall stacks of maize crop, Queen Sarayu was the first to see a pink, pale bundle of flesh drenched in blood screaming its lungs out. 

It was a baby! A freshly born baby that, by her calculations, was only hours old, obviously dumped here by a heartless woman who didn't even bother to cut off the umbilical cord. 

Blood, amiotic fluid, placenta, all the stuff that came with a baby was there. If the hungry wolves in this open place didn't eat up this child, definitely the mother was exposing the child to death by starvation or a venereal infection. 

One look at the child and compassion squeezed her heart. The queen knew she hadn't come here by chance. The Lord had directed her here to save this baby. 

Agitated, the queen picked up the screaming infant, barked orders to her escorts and rode like all hell was let loose behind her straight to the palace. 

She hastily summoned the best physicians and healers in the land; they all said the child would not survive, that she, for she was a female, was already overexposed. 

Not willing to take no for an answer, she insisted upon treatment, and even went on to nurse the child herself when she wouldn't take any of the milk formula the physician tried to feed her with. 

Her breast which had never milked before responded as fast as the hungry child had suckled on it. Queen Sarayu bonded in love immediately. 

The baby, after weeks of battle to keep her alive, did live. And Queen Sarayu didn't hesitate to claim the child as hers.

The whole land rang with the news. Queen Sarayu had a child.

As the years went by, the child, who Queen Sarayu named Kezia, grew into a fair damsel. 

She had smooth, olive skin, thanks to the several hours of natural beauty pampering in the royal spa. 

She also had waist-long, tangle-free, silky, brown hair. 

She was the apple of the eye and pride of the entire land. 

Queen Sarayu didn't withhold anything she desired from her. She had the best education in the royal school: History, martial arts, governing, cognitive reasoning, arithmetic. She learnt the diverse languages of the five major tribes in the land of Camorhit-ile. 

She ate the choicest of food, including the rare and extremely delicious Wahery berries. She wore the finest silk purple robes and was decked with many ornaments of gold, silver and diamond such that the glimmer of the jewels could almost strike an enraptured gazer blind. The royal crest bracelet that the queen has gifted to her as her eighteenth birthday present, was the crowning jewel of it all. 

In short, Kezia lived life to the fullest. 

Until the corruption set in. 

Kezia, being in her adolescent years when hormones raged, began to explore, seeking for adventure and spice outside her routine life.  

That was when she met an handsome young man one day by the lake outside the palace. 

He had large brown eyes, full dark hair that reflected even in his teddy and eyebrows and a sparkling smile. 

His name was Ashkelon but he told her to call him Ash. 

However, as she secretly ventured out to meet him regularly under the darkness dotted by the spying stars, he began to show her things. Things that excited her and made her flesh tingle all over. Things that made her feel damn good. Things that made her to crave more. 

Like his caring words. Like the meeting of their lips. Like the fireflies she felt dancing everywhere in her when he looked at her.  

He made her feel as if all her life she had been trapped in this cocoon of rules. She suddenly began to swim with abandon this head-turning euphoria. This was freedom. This must be what they say love feels like. And she relished it. 

He told her that she could have all the fun she wanted in a place where there were no rules. He painted such a tempting picture for her that she couldn't resist. Her mouth watered at the prospect, and she caved in. She didn't hesitate to day yes to him when he asked her to elope with him. 

On a quiet night, when the whole palace was asleep, Kezia snuck out of her room, past her guards and maids, through the window with a few of her stuff in a single bag. She met with Ash at their regular spot, the moonlit lake, and together they ran. 

The amazing thing was that he brought a sturdy white horse with him and it made their escapade faster and easier. 

Stuck by the fact that he brought a horse, she asked him how he got it, slightly afraid that he had stolen it. With a proud smile, Ash informed her for the first time that he was a prince. 

Still finding it hard to believe, she laughed and asked why she had never seen him in any of the royal functions. 

He said they were never invited because he was from the south region. The Dekolws!

She was shocked at first. She had been gallivanting and smooching with the sworn enemy of the land? But soon, his sweet tongue coaxed her, whispering that she was in safe hands, that he was in love with her. 

She relaxed and followed. No turning back. Besides, the handsome, strong guy steering this horse was definitely not an hybrid of giants and dwarfs. Maybe they got it all wrong. Maybe the myth surrounding the Dekolws had all been a lie and they were the ones who had it all wrong. Or maybe Ash was simply pulling her legs really hard.

When they got to their destination, her doubts were cleared. He was indeed Prince Ashkelon of the south Dekolws. The bowing subjects told her that much.

She was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable and scared. What would happen when mother eventually found out that she was gone. Her mother would die of worry. Kezia shoved the guilt aside and focused on how she was here with the love of her life.

Ash alighted the horse and helped her do the same. He said it was time to meet his family. He had two younger siblings—boys who were constantly squabbling. The queen, a comely but huge woman, looked at her with empathy. The king, a scrawly looking man with a crown on his head was a version of what she had imagined the southern Dekolws would be like—the hybrid of giants and dwarfs. 

His squinty eyes that looked like serpents unnerved her and she couldn't reconcile this man's physique to her darling's perfect features. Ash definitely took after his mother's beauty. 

To her shock, the king looked her over with an evil laughter, confirmed that she was the princess of Camorht-ile indeed though the royal quest bracelet which he painfully snatched from her wrist, and congratulated his son for the job well done. 

Shaken, she turned only to find Ash nodding in satisfaction with a smirk and a glazed look covering his eyes when she searched them for an explanation about this whole drama. The guards suddenly grabbed her and hurled her into their dungeons, laughing over how stupid she was to have been so easily fooled. 

Cold and hungry and ashamed, she wailed into the darkness. 

Meanwhile, morning dawned and the golden Princess Kezia was nowhere to be found. Queen Sarayu was badly shaken, and though she personally questioned all the guards and maids, it was clear they had no idea of how or where to the princess had disappeared. 

Search parties were sent out while the queen paced her royal court and tried to figure out what had happened. 

Noon came. Her desperation escalated to hopelessness. Maybe Kezia was dead. She couldn't bear to think of that. Still the thought haunted her.

A hooded messenger came bearing the signet of the South king of the Dekolws. Normally, such scoundrels were not allowed access into the palace, but based on the situation on ground and the outrageous claims the messenger made, he was granted audience with the queen under intense supervision. 

In the delivered letter she read before her council, the southern king claimed to have her daughter in his custody. She didn't believe it until she saw the royal crest bracelet she had gifted her daughter with on her eighteenth birthday enclosed as an attachment. 

Her heart shattered. 

His demand was for her to relinquish the entire kingdom to him else he would butcher the pretty princess up and send her body parts as a gift. 

The council, enraged, demanded that they make war and clear out those scoundrels once and for all. 

Queen Sarayu however knew that not only will thousands die because of this, but the wicked man wouldn't hesitate to carry out his threat. 

Silencing the council, she announced that she would give herself in exchange for her daughter. She couldn't bear to lose the one thing that mattered most to her. Her mind was made up so she didn't listen when her advisers and board of trustees tried to convince her otherwise. 

The next day, in the twilight, she went over to the south region of the land and allowed the Dekolws to chain her and take her captive. Upon her insistence, and to further inflict emotional trauma on both mother and daughter, they threw her into the same dungeon where her weeping daughter was. 

The queen was so relieved to see her daughter that she embraced her tight and wept into her hair. But Kezia only bawled and told her to go away, saying that she was the cause of the whole mess. She confessed her foolishness which she had first thought was love.  

Though outrightly distraught that her daughter was so easily deceived and hadn't confided in her about her feelings, the queen soon forgave her from her heart. She told her to wipe her tears as they had a kingdom to rescue. 

When Ash came to the dungeon to claim Kezia forcefully as his bride, she yielded, knowing what she was to do. Queen Sarayu, though silently weeping at what might result if things didn't go smoothly, gave her her blessing that the mission would be successful. If not, then God save the kingdom.

The price was one night in his chambers. Kezia deadened her mind and soul and went through with. She focused her mind on her suffering mother and her overthrown kingdom and allowed him to caress her body. She felt revulsion and uncleanness creep all over her, but she endured, having an end goal in mind.

Thanks to her trainings, she knew how to handle arrows and swords and knifes in case of war. She deceived him into thinking she still cared for him and even gave him a bit of seduction as she silently slipped off the knife in his tunic and hid it behind her. While he was lost in his lust and was about to do the deed of violating this pure virgin princess, she sprung, roared, and with three quick stabs to his stomach, chest and neck, she killed him. With her hands and the knife still stained with blood, she crept over with the stealth she'd learnt from her martial training. It was too easy. The soldiers were out cold from drinking too much and the fat king was snoring like a pig. She stabbed him in his sleep.  

That same night, after escaping back to her palace, secretly meeting the council and mobilizing the soldiers of Camorhit-ile, she led her mother's faithful warriors to reclaim their kingdom. They won, thanks to the element of surprise the murder of the south king and his son had given the opponent army. 

Queen Sarayu, frail from days of solitude and malnutrition, was freed from the dungeon. Kezia clung to her and wept her eyes out. 

Kezia lived on with her mother and ruled the now-complete kingdom of Camorhit-ile with great wisdom. 

Only after many years did she even know that she was an adopted child. Only after many years did she realize that no greater love has any one than the love that her mother had for her, seeing she risked her life and gave up her kingdom to rescue her from her foolishness.

The end. 

Author's note

I am so happy that you read this story to the end, dear friend. 

This is a sort of allegory that points out the love of Jesus to us. 

'Sarayu' is an Asian word that means the Wind, a direct reference to the Holy Spirit. (Got it from the christian fiction book, The Shack).

Kezia, like many of us, was abandoned and left to die, but she was raised as royalty by benevolent Queen Sarayu. Sadly, she messed up and it took love and mercy to rescue her again. 

I don't know if you've played wayward with God. His arms are ever open, ever ready to rescue you from destruction. He loves you. s

Stop listening to the lies of the deceiver who is only luring you. Come to Him today.

I will love to know how this story has blessed or touched you. 

Before you leave, be nice enough to hit the comment section down below. 

And if you feel this story is worth sharing, then go ahead. 

And may Elyon always be with you. 

~PeculiarPraise.