Chapter 20

Ashterah dropped him back in his chambers at least this time she dropped him carefully on his feet, a pleasant change from way she had dropped him the first time she had taken him to her temple on Mount Kpamos. His went quickly to the washroom to look for the dead body and found it empty save from the towels he had used to cover it and even they no longer had blood on them, in place of the blood was Ashterah’s emblem. He sighed and hung the towels back and couldn’t help but wonder again what he did to warrant the unwanted attraction of an obsessed goddess.

There were sudden voices in the hall and he quickly closed the washroom door, entered the main chamber and donned his purple robe over his cloak just as soon as a quiet knock sounded on the door.

“Yes?” he said with as much dignity as he could muster for a man who had just been told he would never have a child of his own till he became the whore of an insane goddess.

The door opened slowly and a maid in a tunic of cheap wool came in and stood by the door with her hands clasped in front of her.

“Your Highness, my lady asks that you come down for dinner.”

Octavius nodded regally even though he felt anything but regal. He felt like a filthy rag and exactly like the animal Ashterah had succeeded in making him become because as a daemon his only need would be blood and more blood until he crawled like a fool on his knees to beg for Ashterah’s blood. He should have resisted when she had bitten his neck to make him temporarily powerful for the battle against the Amires but he even he knew that that was folly because the war goddess would have still found a way to punish him.

“My lord?”

“You may leave,” Octavius replied impatiently. The maid nodded and quickly left the room. As soon as she did Octavius stripped off the robe and his cloak and put on a clean tunic replacing the robe over it.

The halls were already dark but a few scones had been lit to cast dark shadows against the stone wall, the guards stood in those shadows like they had been trained to do ready to strike at an enemy or pounce at the sight of any suspicious movements. Octavius walked the length of the hall and turned unto the passage that led to the dining room downstairs where he knew the royal family waited with a few nobles, his father would not be there instead he would be in his chambers taking his dinner and inhaling the steam from the herb brews the priest would bring to him.

True to his prediction Festus, army commander was there with a two of the soldiers seated at the left side of the table waiting for him to join them, Emilia was on the right seat after his which was the seat at the head of the table and Angus sat at on the second seat after her his red cloak was gone and in its place was a tunic made from gold threads with leather straps holding it together on his shoulder, his let his hair fall freely.

The large room with the gold scones on the wall, the plush Uvian velvet rugs, the purple curtains hanging from the tall windows and the beautifully carved gold lampstands as lit up brightly to illuminate the entire room enough to show the furniture in the room and the intricate designs on the stone wall. The king’s table was set on a dais, it consisted of a long black wood table covered with the finest red cloth, 10 chairs equally made of dark wood were placed evenly opposite each other, the lamps were of silver gotten from a war of long ago against an enemy nation and the dinner set were also from a raid of long ago. Below the dais were tables set for nobles for special occasions and all were made with the same black wood and also had expensive lamps and table set.

Octavius walked towards his seat with his head held high and as he stood behind the exquisitely carved chair everyone at the table stood, bowed and waited for him to seat down before taking their seats again.

Emilia smiled weakly at Octavius even as she searched his face with worry. Her hand searched his and she squeezed his hand reassuringly. It took all that he had not to snatch his hand free that was the same hand he had used to cradle Ashterah’s neck to his lips as he drank from her. She had enjoyed it immensely and had seized the opportunity to explore his body until she decided he had had enough of her blood. He felt impure and guilty even as he returned her smile.

“You will be fine,” she whispered obviously mistaking his discomfort for worry about this father’s health.

“I know,” he managed to answer back. Looking up he sighted a maid standing by the door of the dining room. “Bring in the meal.”

She bowed and went to do his bidding. Few seconds later a train of servants both male and female came in carrying steaming dishes and placed them on the table before going to stand in the shadows ready to come forward if their presence was needed. Just like the guards they were trained to be seen not heard and even when they could be seen they were to be unobstructive.

The meals ranged from tender pork to spices figs, fresh olives, stewed apples, fresh corn bread, chola which was pieces of any bird in hot and spicy soup and jars of wine. Octavius served himself first taking very little as his appetite failed him. Emilia took her meal after him and the others on the table followed suit heaping their plates with the delicious meal and pouring wine into their goblets.

“Are you well?” Emilia asked Octavius under her breath. He hated her for asking and hated himself even more, she loved him so much but what did she get from her love her loyalty? He couldn’t give her children until he made himself a whore for a deceitful goddess. He nodded in response to her question.

“You should let him be, my lady,” Festus said to her. He looked up from his food at Octavius “After all when his father dies he will sit on the throne in his place. We all know that the king is beyond help now and the best thing is to do is prepare Prince Octavius for the moment when he will have to face his responsibilities as king”

“I don’t see what that has to do with anything, Festus. You speak as if you want the king dead already,” Angus chimed in.

“I don’t,” Festus replied with an arrogance in his voice “But I can’t say the same for everyone, maybe some do wish his majesty dies soon.”

Octavius didn’t miss the suspicion in Festus’s tone. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Your father, His Majesty, is dying and from all indications he is not dying a natural death. Everyone in the kings court remembers how King Philip wanted Prince Octavius to marry the princess of Amire, if that had happened it is inevitable that the king of Amire would have wanted Octavius to rule his own kingdom since he has no son of his own rather than merge the kingdoms together then we would have had Angus as our king. For a week I noticed Prince Octavius was absent from his kingdom, the question is where was he?”

Octavius dropped his fork having lost all appetite completely as he listened to Festus’s veiled accusations. It was no secret that there was no love lost between the two since Octavius had chosen Garius instead of him as his mentor thereby making him Angus’s mentor as well, the only time they had come in good terms to work together was on the battle field against the Amires and even then they had done so because the life of every man depended on their leadership.

“Festus, you will remember your place…!”

“I remember my place Your Majesty! And my place is where my loyalty lies and it lies with my king who is laying on his death bed! I watched you fight in battle, I watched you murder men like you would animals, you who couldn’t lift a sword to save your own life became the hero of war. I wonder if you slowly sold your father’s life for victory.”

Octavius stood abruptly almost knocking off his chair in his rage. He looked in the direction of the servants and one by one they shuffled out, he gripped the edge of the table to contain his anger as he saw Emilia flinch at his rage. The two soldiers who had been eating sat still in their chairs, their eyes darting between their prince and their commander.

“Your accusations insult me, Festus. I would never put my father in his current condition even if it were to save my life. Angus here knows that at one time I would have gladly given him the throne because I wanted to be with Emilia when my father would not let me, what I did to save the kingdom” he swallowed hard at the bile in his throat at the thought of Ashterah and her offer “I did for everyone! I have no hand in my father’s present condition.”

“That is left to be seen,” Festus replied with a chuckle. “But I am curious about how easy it was to change your father’s mind, everyone knows King Philip would never easily change his mind once he has taken a decision…”

“Enough!” Octavius roared. Emilia shivered at the intensity of his rage and even Angus was shocked at the sudden rage his brother had never before shown. Yes, Octavius was known as the most serious of the brothers but never before had he burst out without self-control.

Shaking Octavius pointed at Festus “Out! Angus from today you have become the new army commander”

As Festus stood laughing he said “Of course, now you have the power.”

“You can't do that brother,” Angus spoke for the first time.

Octavius looked at him in surprise, he was looking at Festus with a veiled expression. “Surely you don’t believe him brother?”

Angus shook his head “I don’t.”

But Octavius could see the doubt in his brother’s eyes.