Regal

The wind whistled as a little boy ran down the path which was made of dirt and stones, laughing as his friend chased him through the familiar path in the quaint village that was part of Vóreios.

“Careful Actaeus! Dinner is in fifteen minutes; you must be present.” His mother hollered from his house.

“YES MOTHER” Actaeus replied coming to a sudden halt.

“Should I carry you home princess Rovenna?” he asked teasingly, the little girl who was chasing him through the village took deep breaths as she came to halt behind him.

“Give me back my ribbons Actaeus, you know my mother gets mad when I lose them, besides, I am no princess.” Rovenna scowled as she attempted to snatch the Ribbon from his stretched hand which was proving difficult since Actaeus was taller.

Actaeus then bowed to the girl, grinning like a Cheshire cat as he returned her scarlet ribbon to her. She smiled at him with her honey- brown eyes as she shyly took it back.

“I must go home, the dusk is falling, I’ll see you soon Actaeus.” said the little girl, faking a chastise and then running away towards her home.

“Actaeus, dinner is served, come on inside.” his mother hollered as he watched the girl skip away.

“Coming ma” he said as he ran to his house.

“Well, haven’t you made quite a mess of your clothes young man? Dirt all over your face! Come on, I will help you take a bath, there is some warm water in the tub.” his mother said, looking at her young boy lovingly as she wiped his face with the sleeve of her dress.

“Ma! I am thirteen-year-old now! I am old enough to take care of myself.” Actaeus groaned, backing away from his mother’s hands. He wasn’t wrong, boys his age worked in farms, mines, sold clothes and vegetables, but Actaeus’ father had promised Diana a good life and that is why, Actaeus didn’t work, he was on the other hand educated.

“Alright, alright, go take a bath, there is warm soup on the table, hurry up.” She ushered him off.

“Mother, when will father be home?” Actaeus asked as he got into the small room which had a small metal tub filled with warm water. He quickly took his clothes off and put them on a stand as he got into the tub.

“I am not sure Actaeus, but I am hoping it would be soon.” she replied gently from the other side as she grabbed the dirty clothes and tried to scrub away the dirt.

“Is father’s work hard?” Actaeus asked as he poured some of the water on himself and cleaned himself with the small bar of soap.

“You need not worry Actaeus, The Gods have been kind to us, Vóreios is surrounded by unclimbable mountains and dark dense forests, impossible to cross. Besides, there are many soldiers loyal to the crown, all of them strong, like your father. You ought to be proud, he leads them.” Actaeus’ mother said as Actaeus got out of the tub and wiped himself with an old weary cloth and got into a fresh set of clothes that Diana had laid out on the table.

“That’s better, all clean.” she smiled as the young boy walked out of the small room, “Come on now, dinner and then you run to your bed alright?” she said softly as she squeezed the soaking clothes in her hand to take out the excess water.

“Will you tell me the story of gods tonight? I am old enough.” Actaeus asked as his mother put the cloths on the rope for them to dry.

Diana sighed and smiled, “Yes Actaeus, now rush along, the soup would get cold. besides, it’s night, the forest is awake, you wouldn’t want to get the spirits angry, would you?” she teased.

Actaeus ran to the table and sat in front of his soup as his mother smiled at him adoringly And followed the little boy, sitting by his side as he slurped away the broth. “Ma? Do we have to move to the city? I like it here.” Actaeus asked with his mouth full of veggies.

Diana smiled at her little boy, “You’ll like it there too Actaeus, your father would be close to us and we’ll see him more often. We’d have a bigger house, a better life, you could learn the arts, or you could learn archery, maybe you’d learn swordsmanship. You wouldn’t have to wear old clothes, I wouldn’t have to walk miles to get food.” his mother sighed, looking at the sad face Actaeus was making.

“I know you have friends here, and we would visit them often. Your father’s recent title of second in command to the crown, is as fancy as it sounds, but it comes with a lot of responsibility and is the result of your father’s extreme loyalty to the crown. We would have land, a tittle and enough money. You’ll get better education and you could find work at the palace when you grow up. You could get a nice bride, with or without dowry.” Diana said. “We would be happy Actaeus.” she whispered hopefully.

Actaeus looked at his mother and smiled, he knew that it was all for his family’s welfare.

“Alright mother, tell me about the Gods now?” Actaeus asked, now excited as he laid on the bed, his mother had not read him bedtime stories since he was five and would say that the story of the gods was for old children, which he was now.

“A long ago there was chaos, from chaos emerged the entities, Deities with powers. For a long time, the deities lived in harmony amongst themselves and gave birth to the Gods we know now. There was peace in world. Each God had his share of powers and things they could control.”

“The legend says God’s starting believing that one power was superior to the other. While the Gods disagreed among themselves on whose powers were better than other and assigned positions on basis of the superior power; Serene, the deity of moon, gave birth to two goddesses, both with seemingly the same powers, Rhea and Thea. This was new, never before had two Gods had the same powers, if two goddesses possessed the same powers, which would be the superior?”

“Naturally all the gods decided to test the powers of the sisters, Rhea was a little older than Thea and seemed to do better than her. The sisters then never had a good relationship, Rhea seemed to flourish and at first Thea was supportive of her. That was before Rhea fell in love and married Elementos, the son of nature, A god of all elements and Thea’s first and only love.”

“Thea grew jealous and questioned the unfair nature of being less superior to her sister despite of having almost the same powers. In her jealousy and hatred, she gathered all the other gods that were given an inferior position and formed an alliance and declared war.”

“The war lasted for decades, there was bloodshed, the world as we know it was on fire, The clan of Elementos and Rhea eventually won the war and insured proper order by banishing the gods that conspired against their superiors and gave them roles on earth.”

“What happened to Thea?” Actaeus asked.

Before Actaeus’ mother could answer there was a loud shrilled screech from outside of the house and then there was a sudden chaos. There were loud thuds, as if things were been broken and sudden glass shattering followed by high pitched wails of children and non-sensible screaming.

“What’s wrong?” Actaeus asked as his mother got up to looked out window and immediately ducked, looking worried. Her face was ashen, as if she had seen a ghost.

She then looked at Actaeus, worry decorating her otherwise beautiful and kind features. She motioned him to be quite and quietly crawled to him “Actaeus, listen to me and listen very carefully, okay? I need you to be very quiet and hide in the basement, and no matter what you hear and how bad it gets, do not come out. Promise me.” she whispered, hugging him close to her.

“Is everything alright mother?” he asked groggily.

“I am not sure. Promise me!” She insisted.

“I promise ma” Actaeus said looking worried.

There was heavy knocking on the door.

“Go hide. Now.” she ordered. Actaeus hurried to the basement where his father kept all the weapons in and sledged himself behind a barrel.

“Diana, you need to leave town and go someplace safe. Take your son and go, there is no time.” A voice that Actaeus recognized as Rovenna’s father echoed to the basement.

“What is wrong George? What is happening.” Actaeus’ mother questioned frantically.

“I am sorry Diana. I really am.” Rovenna’s father replied.

There was a moment of silence. “What have you done?” was the horrified whisper from his mother.

“Listen Diana, I do not have much time, the king is dead, your husband is a captive, you must escape, you aren’t safe here anymore. Take your boy, I have a carriage waiting in the forest that will take Rovenna to safety, it would leave for the city along with the other carriages of people who pledge their allegiance, no one will stop it, no one will check it, it has my seal. You’d be safe there, they would never search for you in the main lands, you could lay low and then leave for Nótos, ”

“What. have. you. done” His mother asked angrily.

“I have no time to explain it, I was in a lot of debt Diana, I had no other choice-”

“So, you betrayed your crown? you betrayed your best friend? My husband? You BASTARD.” his mother screamed.

“Diana, listen to me, whatever has happened, you cannot change it, but you can save yourself and your child, I’ve made arrangements for you-”

“Do you even hear yourself? You have betrayed me and my family and now you want to help me? Why? So that you could have a clean conscious? I would rather die than betray my crown.”

“Plathos is your new crown, Diana! I am saying this for your own good, they will do horrible things to the wife of the second in command. Leave, If not for yourself, your child.”

There was a moment of silence. Suddenly Diana started laughing, almost maniacally, making Actaeus shift uncomfortably.

“How will you ever live with yourself after this? You put your own child’s life in danger, HOW COULD YOU GEORGE. I hope you Rot in hell.” Diana roared.

“I understand your anger Diana but think rationally, I hope you know that within seconds of me leaving here, this village will get swamped with soldiers from Plathos, they are ruthless, they rape and they loot. By the time they are done, you would wish for death, death would seem like mercy.” Rovenna’s father warned.

“Then I would die. Right here.” She whispered darkly.

Actaeus listened to his mother, horrified.

“Diana, your child-”

“Leave, George.” Actaeus’ mother whispered.

“Dian-”

“I SAID LEAVE. GO AWAY, I DON”T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE.” Diana yelled.

“Fine then Die! Watch if I care!” George yelled.

There was a door slamming as Actaeus stayed still.

“Actaeus, you can come out now.” yelled his mother after a while.

“Come, we have to go” She whispered with tears in her eyes. She picked up a lantern and a few other things and shoved them in a sac along with some of Actaeus’ clothes.

Actaeus left with his mother from the back door, they ran through the forest before they came across a carriage, Diana picked Actaeus up and latched him to his seat with knots and kept his bag next to him. She pulled him into a hug. “Actaeus, I want you to remember, no matter what happens, I will always love you. That I care for you, deeply and that I would always be there, right beside you.” she said crying,

“Ma?” Actaeus asked, his eyes swelled with tears.

“You have to go on Actaeus, without me, they will keep trying to search for me, not you, you can have a full life...”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

“You have to Actaeus, you have to be safe, promise me you’d be safe, that you will survive this, just promise me Actaeus that you will not come back, no matter what. Swear it to me.”

“No, Ma! I can’t be without you, I cannot, I won’t leave you, I love you.” Actaeus sobbed.

“No Actaeus, listen to me, this carriage will take you to the city, find Anya, you will find her in the tavern, it’s called Kenna, the void, she is a witch and she works there, tell her you are Diana’s son, she will know you, I trust her, she will take care of you.” Actaeus’ mother whispered, as she kissed her son several times as he clung to her. “Here.” her mother said, removing all the jewellery she was wearing and gave it to him, along with a bag filled with coins “Sell the jewellery, should be enough.” she said and the removed her necklace.

“And keep this, so that you would always have me. It would protect you.” She said as she placed it around his neck and clipped it in place. “Show it to Anya, she will know.”

Actaeus clung to her, not letting her go.

“I have to go back before they come searching, I love you Actaeus.” she said as she pulled back, smiling kindly at him, with sorrowful eyes that brimmed with tears.

“MOTHER NO, NO DON”T LEAVE ME.” Actaeus scream sobbed as his mother pulled away, he struggled with his knots.

Diana couldn’t even look back as she walked through the dark night, knowing her faith, the voice of her son crying fading as she walked back to her house.