The king sat mightily in his throne.

something was different.

physically the air seemed clearer, it seemed to hold a new found purity. There was no longer a burn of anticipation in his throat. Fear of what's to come if he didn't do right for his people.

The king is absently glazing at the double iron doors. The sound of his advice's voice rings in his ears, he's too lost in thought to hear him.

There's a knock at the door and the king is drawn out of his daze by it.

A throne room guard opens the door upon the king's permission, stepping inside with assertive steps.

"Your majesty, General Lady Kenya is here, she has requested to see you." The guard came into his line of vision with the news.

The lion besides the king yawned, temporarily taking everyone's attention away from their visitor. His yawn, however leaves to nothing else than him repositioning his head to best comfort himself in his sleep.

He stares at the beast endearingly. The lion was gifted to him from the witch doctor on his initial coronation day at the age of 20 years old. Barely days after he'd given his father an honorable death in bed.

The beast took a liking to him, as was expected of him. They hunted together on the nights when they couldn't sleep after the war. Days when they tossed and turned where they laid, memories of the war being recited to them in their heads like poetry.

The beast, a king in his own right fought ferocious besides him in his prime. Now as his youth flounders, he has become stifled with fat from inactivity.

Doing very little but eating and fucking, as his nature stated.

"Let her in." He says taking his eyes away from the lion. The guard bows before going to open the double doors.

The king's calm expression knitted into a concerned one. As the sickly curly haired woman and her male servant escort came in.

"Your highness, please forgive me for interrupting your peace-" The old woman drops to the floor.

The woman was skinnier than he'd ever seen her. Her cheek bones prominent under fatless cheeks and dark circles trapped her beautiful grey eyes.

"Lady Kenya, you must not strain yourself." The king said kindly to the old woman.

"Your majesty, Please allow me to bow in her stead." The servant man said but the king raised a hand telling him not to bother with greetings.

"My daughter, Akialine has gone missing, I have been falling in and out of deep sleeps and I woke up yesterday morning and asked to see her and my servants said that she had gone missing." The woman says breathlessly.

"I was told my son Clast took her out of the house but I haven't heard from her or him ever since. Your majesty please call upon my son and permit him to help look for her. She's a very delicate child, innocent down to her very core, oh and gullible too. Oh dear who knows what kind of trouble Akialine could've gotten her self into?" The woman said tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

The maids besides the king's throne, had widen eyes, Eyebrows up and curved and slightly opened mouths. Expressions full of mute surprise.

April must've neglected to tell her mother about the location of her sister.

The king got up from his throne, he walks to where the old woman was and she flashes him a warm smile. His robe flows along with his every stride.

"Your majesty looks very happy this morning, our apple trees are sure to grow tasteful apples this winter." The woman says wearing a pretty smile and the king smiles as well.

The woman with a youthful smile on her face looks just like the girl he had locked away near the back of the palace hall.

"General Lady Kenya, I have your daughter." The king said and the woman's smile dropped.

She immediately falls to the ground in a bow.

"Punish me instead, Whatever she did.. she didn't know any better. Please punish me for not being a good enough mother to teach her not to do such things." The woman said in a loud and clear voice before mumbling pitifully.

" I beg you please, punish me instead."

"Your daughter is not being punished, I can assure you of that. Lady Kenya, the gods have chosen her to be the mother of the sun king." The king explains gripping the old woman by her clothed biceps and gently lifting her up from her bow.

"I don't understand" she says as the king stands her up.

"Your daughter is now a royal concubine, I do apologize I was to send a hawk, I supposed the thought escaped me." The king explains softly linking his hands together to his back. The woman stumbles backwards, in a manner that eluded to a loss of mobility due to shock.

"Not Akialine." The woman said and her servant comes to help hold her up as she's unsteady on her own.

"YOUR HIGHNESS PLEASE RECONSIDER." The woman falls on her knees to beg, her servant who supported her up with his whole body follows along.

"PLEASE RECONSIDER." He said and the king sighed.

"Why was I wrong to think that a woman with your level headedness, loyalty and integrity would feel honored to be the grandmother of our savior?" The king asked looking at the weakly woman on the floor.

"Your majesty.. it's simply because Akialine isn't properly trained for marriage- she'll be of no good to you as a lover." The mother stumbles through her words, attempting to make a reasonable excuse.

"I made no inclination of wanting to take her as a wife, I can't imagine there's anything you want to teach her on being a bed mate." The king said curtly.

This only worried the woman more as she seemed to get progressively more upset.

"your majesty, the law of the sun says you must not take a woman before first asking for her hand from her father." The woman says, quickly and the king turns around heading back to his throne.

"you're correct, and I have." The king said matter of factly.

The woman sits on the floor, she is fanned by her servant with a big hand fan. The older woman's mouth opens and shuts completely flabbergasted.

"Juliet, go bring Akialine and Clast here. I'm sure they'll both benefit from seeing their mother." The king said to a tall, tan and muscular woman by his right side. she bows quickly before leaving.

The woman's fallen head lifts up at the mention of her children.

A couple minutes later, Juliet enters the throne room with Akialine stumbling behind her and Clast following farther behind.

Akia slumps over as she walks, her hair is unbraided and undressed. a messy circle of uncontrolled tightly curly strands on top of her head. she had adamantly refused to wear a corset today with the light green dress put on her . She fought with the maid who was supposed to dress her hair. pushed away hands that wanted to comb her eyebrows or touch her skin.

They were presistant though, pleading with her to let them do their work. she didn't submit because of sympathy this time. bubbling inside with anger from her own weakness, she grabbed and sent hands away from her body and face.

The double doors to the throne is pushed open to let Akia in. Tears immediately strung to Akia's face upon seeing her mothers on her knees in her already weakened state but she dismissed the need to let herself cry.

"Mother?, Mother how did you get here?" Akia asked falling to her knees in front of her mother. completely ignoring the king.

"Akialine, My darling." Mother gasped as akia got into her line of sight. Akia kneeled down to her level letting the woman wrap her soft arms around her.

"mother." Akia said gently resting her head on her mother's shoulders.

she is quiet as she felt her mother's arm tighten around an area near her waist. A small area near the end of her spine. she then hears the quiet mumble of her mother whispering something against her ear.

This prayer is something her mother has been doing more often since she fell ill. The woman used to pray with her when she was younger but stopped as she began maturing. only doing it now whenever she was bed ridden.

Akia often wondered who she was praying to, whether she was asking for protection against disease from the earth or to the sun or one of the smaller native gods. The prayer stopped quickly and her mother pulled her away to look at her. she put her hand on Akia's small chin moving it in various angles to examine her.

"Are you well?, have you been eating?" her mother asked, concern obvious in her weak eyes.

Akia knew better than to worry her mother so she smiled and nodded.

"I've been great, the palace is so beautiful. You'd think a different kind of sun shone here." Akia smile widen as she continued with her lie. she removed her arms from around her mother back, Her hands had begun to shake at her blatant lie.

"You're happy?" The woman asked softly and Akia's smile almost broke.

"Mother, I'm in the palace. I'm with the king. what's there not to be happy about."

Tears escape from her eyes staring at her mother's unmoved grey eyes.

the woman wraps arms around the girl once more rubbing her back lovingly.

"just you wait my darling, mother will get you out of here." The woman whispered into akia's area before wiping away her daughter's tears.

"Mother there's nothing to save her from, this is her home now." Clast said, just now entering the throne room. The woman frowned upon hearing her son's voice, moving Akia out of the way to shoot a deathly glare at him.

"How dare you take my child away without first conversing with me."

"It was on the king's order. I had no other choice but to obey."

"Your majesty, please allow me to take her home. Akia is the only one who knows how to help soothe my sickly body." The mother said and the king answer was immediate.

"No, she will stay here." The king said much to akia's dismay.

Akia comforts her mother, her brother stands in front of them both. Shielding their weakness from the world.

"listen to the king okay?, listen to whoever's in charge of you. don't come out of the house with your hair untamed or without the proper attire. don't be stubborn, or rude and respect your elders. you will promise to be a good girl won't you ? please don't skip any meals even if you're really upset okay?" Akia's mother voice whispered to Akia who silently cried.

"please don't leave me here, please... please take me with you." Akia cried quietly to her mother with a tightening chest at the idea of her mother leaving her there.

"Will you be staying for lunch?" The king asked and Akia's mother looks up to him.

"No thank you, your majesty." The woman said with a bowed head.

"I must insist, Akialine might feel more comfortable with the palace food if she saw you eat it." The king said eyes drifting to Akia who only clenched onto her mother tighter at his quick dark gaze.

Akia's mother stands up with Her, the king dismissed them both after asking the maids to escort them both to the lunch table in the garden.

Akia is holding on to her mother's arm for dear life as the maid leads them outside and onto the beautiful clean shaven field at the sides of the giant castle building. She leads them up a small hill until the smell of lively flowers and pollen surround them.

There were beautiful flowery trees planted around the front of the garden as well as plenty of rose bushes and huge white ceramics plots upon plots of all kinds of flowers in the front.

The maid led them to the concrete floor, deeper and deeper through the plot to a lunching area with hard wood tables and large umbrellas over them.

A chair was pulled out for Akia's mother before it was pulled out for her.

"Thank you." Akia said quietly, the maid nods politely.

"You're food is on the way." The maid said.

"The king isn't going to join us is he?" Akia asked suddenly. Akia's mother finger flicked her hand and she caresses the inflicted area.

"No, the king doesn't eat lunch at this hour." The maid said before awaiting dismissal, once she's dismissed by Akia's mother. Lady Kenya turns to Akia.

"Please do not upset the king." Lady Kenya said to Akia.

"Matters will only worsen if you dared. Quiet yourself and find peace of mind in knowing I will stop at nothing to get you out of the predicament you've fallen into." Lady Kenya said taking her daughter's hand into her own.

Akia found herself at peace with her mother's presence. She wondered what she was so ashamed of. After all, this seemed to be everyone's fault but her own.

The carriage stops at the Kenya mansion, Lady Kenya didn't bother waiting for her servant to open the door and help her climb down. She stumbles down on her own two feet and feels lightheaded afterwards.

She charges into the house and cries out the name of her daughter. "APRIL"

After three separate cries the daughter runs down the stairs. Her jade green dress moves along flowingly.

"Mother, what's the matter?" April said.

"You must go and bring home your father. The king has taken my Akia." The woman said.

"But mother.. father approved of it."

"I want to hear it from that bastard's mouth myself if such a thing is true." The woman said and April nods.

"John please prepare my horse and luggage for travel." April said to a servant.

"Yes mistress."