A black raven spreads its dark wings as it flies in the air, a letter in between its beak. It had only one job, and that was to deliver the letter assigned to it.
After flying for hours, the raven slowly circled down, then perched on the ledges of a window. Using its beak, the raven tapped on the window.
Minutes later, Tamina climbed down from her bed, then made her way to the window in her chamber. She opened the window and was stunned to see a raven with a scroll snapped between its beak.
The raven drops the letter, then takes to the sky, flapping its wings as it embarks on a journey back to Nehoviah.
Tamina picked up the letter from where it was on the window ledges; she peered through the window for a while before shutting the window close and turning around, her fingers breaking the seal holding the letter.
She rolled the scroll open, then began to read the words written on it. Slowly her eyes darkened; her breath became unsteady as tears began to cloud her vision.
Her hand trembled, and the scroll faltered and landed on the floor.
"No…no, how is this…" She breaks down, her heart aching. She wanted to curse the gods; they have done nothing but spit on her fortune.
A loud scream tears from her throat, her neckline straining as she screams, tears trickling down her face. She collapsed on the floor, the black dress she was wearing spreading around her.
She was still mourning the death of her child, and now a letter had just come from Nehoviah about the news of her parents' death; they were slaughtered like commoners, along with her crippled brother Legon.
Celin badged into the room; she had heard Tamina scream, and as her personal handmaid, she was worried. She wasn't surprised to see Tamina crying; that has been her food for the last three days.
She preferred to remain in solitude, holding the brass-carved vase containing the ashes of her baby, crying and mourning in despair.
"My lady…" Celin calls out, crouching beside Tamina.
"Weep not, you shall bear another child." Celin said, before her eyes landed on the scroll, which was now soaked with Tamina's tears, the words written with ink almost blurry but still readable.
Celin picked up the scroll; she allowed her eyes to trace the words written on the scroll. In a split second her breath became hitched.
"Good lord."
A small gasp escaped Celin's lips. She now understood why Tamina was weeping profusely.
Suddenly Tamina lost it; she rised up to her feet and began to tear her chamber apart. Breaking things, scattering the beddings, she laid curses on the gods.
The jug filled with wine was pushed to the floor, making an eerie noise as the red wine spilled. Her dressing table became a complete mess.
Finally, she takes a silver cup on a table and aims it at the mirror, and it shatters, falling into pieces, her reflection on the mirror breaking.
As if in a trance, she slowly picks a shard of the broken mirror, then turns to gaze at Celin with a deranged glare.
At first Celin didn't read any meaning into her gaze, but when Tamina started lurching at her in a threatening manner, she screamed in fright, taking to her heels.
Tamina went after Celin, chasing her around the chamber like a beast after its prey. She was able to take hold of Celin's wrist just as she was about to escape through the door.
"My lady…please."
Celin begged, her voice quivering. The broken pieces of mirror were slowly brought to her face… Tamina has lost it, turning against her own maid.
"Help! Help!
Celin screamed, struggling under Tamina's grip; the broken shard was an inch away from her beautiful face.
Tamina inserted the broken pieces of mirror into Celin's right cheek, and her flesh gave way, splitting as the sharp edges of the broken pieces of mirror pierced it and Celin screamed.
Suddenly the door to the room flung open and Selena stepped in.
"Seize her!
She said to the two guards behind her, and they sprang to action. They rushed to where Tamina stood inflicting pain on Celin; they grabbed her abrasively, snatching the piece of mirror from her grip at the same time.
Celin was quaking like a drenched cat. She raised her hand and brought it to her face; her fingers became smeared with blood.
"Take her to the guest room and chain her there." Selena ordered the guards mercilessly.
The guards were surprised by her harsh words… Did Selena forget Tamina was also a queen?
"My lady...but..." One of the guards wanted to say something but was rudely interrupted.
"I swear if you question my authority, I will have you beheaded with a snap of my fingers." Selena said with finality.
Tamina broke into crazy laughter as she was dragged out of her chamber. She was dragged along the hallways of the castle, and the servants who saw her condition shook their heads in pity…some in fright.
Soon words got to Ragaleon about Tamina's condition. He said nothing…which wasn't surprising.
He was rather calm about the whole situation; if his wife was acting like a wild beast, taking satisfaction in inflicting pain on her servants, then she should indeed be chained.
However, Ragaleon wasn't pleased by the situation at hand, and he got to understand Tamina's plight when the letter from Nehoviah was handed over to him.
....
Racheal was seated in front of her dressing mirror; a maid stood behind her, brushing her hair dutifully.
"Queen Tamina has been locked up in the guest room located at the forbidden part of the castle."
Rosa said, still focused on what she was doing.
Racheal sighed.
"I thought it was only rumors; what a pity." She says, giving Rosa a sign to stop brushing her hair, and rises to her feet.
Racheal made her way across the chamber; she grabbed a golden cup from on top of a wooden drawer, then sat at the edge of her bed.
"Pour me some wine."
She said, stretching out the cup, and Rosa took it from her. She hurried to a carved wooden table with a chair set at the corner of the chamber, where the jar of wine was.
She began to pour the wine slowly, filling the cup to the brim. Rosa made her way back to where Racheal was seated and then handed the cup of wine over to her.
Racheal brought the cup of wine to her lips slowly, but at that moment Rosa gripped her wrist.
"Have you lost your mind?!
Racheal snapped. The cup had almost fallen from her hands.
"I am sorry, my lady… If I am correct, you haven't seen your menstrual cycle for two months." Rosa stuttered, not sure of her sudden prediction.
Racheal blinked her eyes, a bit startled. She began to ponder on Rosa's words and didn't know when the cup of wine was taken from her grip and kept aside.
"You…you are right."
Racheal confirmed, swiftly rising to her feet, and she made her way to where the mirror in her chamber was.
She was wearing a red robe, almost transparent. She unfastened the rope of the red robe and held the edge of both sides of the robe wide open, exposing her nudity in front of the mirror.
Her breast… They indeed looked a bit swollen, barely noticeable.
Racheal's lips slowly widened in a sly smile.
"When all hope seemed to have been lost, fortune smiled on me." Racheal said and then rubbed her stomach, which was still flat.
"If this is what I think it is…the gods be praised.
Micah was seated on an armchair in her chamber; an open book lay before her on a wooden table, the rays of the oil lamp radiating on it.
Although the book was open, Micah's mind had long zoned out. She was in deep thoughts, going through memory lane; more than anything, she was pained, and she felt betrayed.
It was nightfall in Decreash, and Micah had been restless, unable to sleep. She opened a book to read, but still it did not help.
Her mind flashed back to the day she had gone to visit Jazell. She was the one that brought the idea of taking Vashi down, and what did Jazell tell her…
"We will both benefit from this."
Those were her very words, but the contrary was the case.
Micah felt like a fool to have believed her; although she was desperate to get rid of Vashi, she had no choice but to involve the queen of tactics.
Now here she sat, all alone in regret.
Jazell had claimed all the favor for herself; not even once did she let the king know that she had also played a crucial role.
Micah's eyes flickered to the candle light on the dressing table across the chamber; she closed the book in front of her, her thoughts running deeper.
She had been in the castle for almost six months, with nothing to show for it. She was living in misery, like an unnoticed shadow.
She felt too inferior to approach other queens.
Ragaleon doesn't even take notice of her; he doesn't talk to her and hasn't stepped foot in her chamber for months.
Life would have been better off in her thatched house back in the village. How did it all come to this?
Micah sighed, shutting her eyes; she reclined on the body of the chair, her back resting on it. The breeze coming from the window caressed her face and made the candlelight dance, their flames twitching.
Her thoughts drifted to the conversation she had with Amilek some weeks ago, under the fig tree. She reflected through his words and finally understood the meaning of what he had said.
Micah opened her eyes, the reflection of the candlelight glistening in her hazel-brown eyeballs.
"Amilek was right… I did make a deal with the devil."