The Birthday Banquet

*"Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences." by Robert Louis* Stevenson

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"Lendon?", Thalia called out in relief as Lendon slowly walked out of the maze with tattered clothes and visible wounds all over her. The interesting thing was she came out of an opening close to the entrance that Thalia was sure was not there a few moments ago!

King Indicy looked equally shocked as this was the first time anyone other than him had come out of his maze. He knew that no one could do so with the traps and the magic spells specially put on the maze.

"Who was this girl?" He had a curious look on his face as he stared at the girl in fascination.

For a fraction of a second, no one moved. Then, Thalia was dragged by Alan.

"Wait! Please!" Lendon shouted rather weakly but desperately.

Alan looked at Indicy and the King turned to look at the brave girl.

He stated flatly, "You saved her life by this, but she still has to pay for the crime herself",

"Take her to the dungeon" King Indicy added.

Thalia cried out, "Your majesty, I didn't see anything!"

"I promise that I would not say anything at all, pllleeeeeeaaaaaasssssseeeee!",

All fell on deaf ears as she was dragged away by the guards while she screamed.

Indicy turned to look at the girl who was badly injured and barely standing on her feet. With a wave of his hand, one of the attendants supported Lendon and started moving with her in the direction of the maid quarters but she fainted on the spot.

Indicy's next words had everyone pause with surprise evident on their faces…again, but they still adhered to the command,

"Take her to my palace!" he said in an authoritative voice.

*** *** ***

Tarragon exited the Princess' Palace when the sun was up high, she heard a commotion outside the palace and saw all the maids lined up. Not knowing what was going on, she joined them. After a while, she realised that the guards were from the marriage committee, and they were looking for a 'hidden beauty' disguised as a maid. She calmly stood in line as she was checked.

After they had checked everyone present, they inquired about who was missing. As Lendon never stood out in anything and they were, of course looking for a 'beauty', her name did not come up. Everyone present did realise that Thalia was not present and gave out her name for obvious reasons.

One mishap in Thalia's report was that she did not indicate which palace the person worked at and had done a good job of covering herself to avoid suspicion from friends so when she was described to the guards, they did not notice that it was the same person that had made the report.

The guards spent some time searching for the missing 'beauty' and were eventually informed that a girl fitting their description was taken into King Indicy's dungeons. They all retreated after this information.

Tarragon returned to her room and saw none of her friends which was odd as she had not seen either of them the whole day. Just then, she heard two people talking outside their room. She got up from the bed to eavesdrop when she heard Thalia's name.

All blood drained from her face when she heard them; they were gossiping about the incident in the royal garden in the morning. She slumped on the floor and thought to herself,

"Thalia again!"

Tarragon knew that there was no way to gain any information about the incident as it originated from the main Palace and the state banquet was due the next day. She cleaned the tears that had seeped out of her eyes and wished to the oracle that, they would be okay and then returned to her duties.

The news that a maid had been sent to the inner chambers of King Indicy quickly spread throughout the palace including that of the Queen and Princess Mugda. It was widespread knowledge that Indicy was occasionally sent maidens by different people in power in the hopes that any of them will bear a child, but this was the first time he had requested such; even though it was being taken out of context as the maiden in question was unconscious. The most surprising part was that the maiden had no status whatsoever and Indicy had never paid attention to anyone other than himself.

*** *** ***

The day of the banquet dawned the next day. Queen May stood while her maids adorned her body with the purest of gold to show her status. She hardly showed herself in public except for occasions like this so she always made it a point to make a grand entrance on such occasions.

The gossip was delivered to her at this time. She said to the bearer of the news,

"Find out more about this maid" her command was given curtly.

The maid responded, "Your royal highness, the girl is an orphan and came to the palace a few years ago",

"She's not even much to look at if you ask me" she sneered.

Queen May turned and looked at the maid, "I do not remember asking of your opinion" she stated coldly.

"Forgive me for overstepping my bounds", the maid quickly said and bowed deeply.

Queen May motioned for the maid to continue her report, but the maid only had a blank stare on her face and said, "That is all about her my Queen".

Sigh... Queen May dismissed the maid and wondered what was going on with her son, the King.

*** *** ***

A similar report was delivered to Princess Mugda but she was more surprised because Lendon worked in her palace and she remembered the girl even though she had lots of servants.

She laughed gracefully and said between the laughter,

"You mean that ugly girl" hahaha hahaha, the sound of her laughter echoed in her palace and that had most servants pause in their work briefly as it was a rare sound coming from their Princess.

"Brother Indicy sure knows how to pick them out!" She continued with tears coming out of the corner of her eyes.

"But he's good though, that girl sure is hardworking" she added and wiped the tears from her eyes with a kerchief handed to her by Aile, her chief attendant.

Lendon even though did not stand out in her appearance had made quite a name for herself with the Princess because of her medicinal knowledge and hardworking nature. She always knew of any strange herbs that could help anyone out of any predicament and the princess even though obnoxious, acknowledged that.

Mugda was now done dressing for the banquet. Her green and gold dress emphasized her womanly features. Her slim waist was visible, and the bottom of the dress cascaded down in a bell-shape stopping just below her knees in the front but flowing down to her heels at the back. The top of the attire had delicate layers intertwined with small glittering peals which highlighted her slight low neckline. Her legs were not visible but adorned with gold stockings that were held above her thighs with garters. The dress was beautiful but unconventional, nonetheless, Princess Mugda was anything but conventional.

When Mugda got up to leave, she was followed by only Aile and two guards who only had on silk stockings and breeches with small petticoats like half-clad footmen as the larger part of their chests were visible.

"Milady, I think that the guards should put on full regalia for the banquet as this is not appropriate", Aile said to her.

Mugda paused in her steps and said, "even though I'm not allowed to love, I can at least feast my eyes, right?" She smiled and motioned for them to follow her.

Aile kept her sentiments to herself and followed Princess Mugda out in the banquet direction but noted the queen's disapproving eyes when she saw them.

*** *** ***

Indicy stayed in the same room with Lendon all night just staring at her while he stood. He did not understand his actions though and kept asking himself but found no answers. The girl did not wake up even when the sun rose the next day. He did not let anyone touch the girl as he felt that she would have preferred that.

"You need to leave for the banquet or else you will be late", a voice said from the doorway of the room.

He turned to the person, sighed, and left the room without uttering a word because he knew that he had commitments that could not be put off. The other person had a slight smile when he looked at Indicy but also said nothing.

**** **** ****

The banquet was being held in a large room dedicated to this. The room was lined with long tables and chairs on both sides. There was a golden chair stationed at the end of the room on top of a flight of stairs so that it looked down on everyone in the room. This was unique as it had the signature ant symbol curved also in gold at the back and it looked like the ant was trying to crawl from the back of the chair to the front. There were two other similar golden chairs stationed at the edge of the long tables close to the stairs and these two were usually occupied by Queen May and Princess Mugda.

The room had high ceilings which had golden chandeliers with candles on them up high. All utensils, including plates, goblets, forks, and knives, were pure gold.

The attendees included the royal family, Elders, and prominent people in the Kingdom. The event was strictly by invitation and the splendour that was shown by the guests displayed their wealth and status for all to see.

It was a truly dazzling event, but the excitement like all previous years was never only confined to the palace. King Indicy's birthday celebration was usually a Kingdom-wide celebration. Because of this, stands to give out food to the commoners were set up in most public places and there was always abundant food for all who cared to pass by to eat.

In one of such public setups, Narin Moe and her daughter Blossom, walked around from stand to stand taking as much as they could back to their home. This was especially surprising as the gold they got from the 'sale' of Lendon to the palace should have been enough to take care of them for the rest of their lives if they decided that they were not going to register Blossom with the marriage committee.

Unfortunately, Narin had squandered the gold by living a spendthrift life after they got it. One would say that it was a blessing that they did not have another Lendon to make a transaction with. Also, Narin would have died rather than sent off her beloved daughter for anything apart from a good marriage which now looked bleak.

Back in the palace, Indicy walked into the banquet hall in all his glamour and looked very majestic. He climbed the stairs and sat down as he observed everyone. Queen May looked very proudly at her son and sighed in her heart for her one unfulfilled wish… an heir to the throne!

Indicy had a wide smile on his face that was almost disturbing, especially to his attendants who had witnessed the prior day's incident. Even when the attendant had screamed in what they all believed was his last, King Indicy had remained indifferent. He sat still on his golden chair as a goblet of wine was placed before him. A taster had to take a sip of everything before he gobbled down the wine in one swing.

He looked quite ravishing while doing this and some of the noble ladies could not take their eyes off him. They knew that there was no way they would be paired with him but still couldn't help but steal glances.

Indicy seemed very happy and kept drinking goblets after goblets of wine so much that Queen May began to look worried, but he still looked sober.

Not long after, all the music and merrymaking came to an abrupt stop as the wine taster fell flat on his face with blood oozing out of every opening possible on his body.

Gasps could be heard all around and Indicy paused with the last glass almost touching his lips.

Indicy stood up slowly and as if on cue, many guards walked in and sealed up the hall. He surveyed his surroundings and walked out of the hall without a word. He was quickly followed by Alan as they left but kept the hall heavily guarded as the celebration had come to a standstill.

No one dared to say a word as everyone suddenly felt panic descend on them. Only Queen May had a complex look on her face because she had noticed the slight tremor and Indicy's clenched fist that usually signalled that he was in pain. How could she not know this when she had birthed and raised him herself. Thinking of this, she got mad suddenly as she realised that someone had tried to kill her son!

After Indicy left the hall, he quickened his pace and walked to his palace. Strangely, the first place he went to as if drawn by an invisible string was in the room that Lendon slept in.

When he entered, he noticed that Lendon was awake and about to get out of bed. Alan tried to stop him and get him to seek medical attention but as if under a sort of enchantment, at least that is what Alan believed, Indicy stopped at the doorway as he was attacked by a fit of coughing. A small trickle of blood slipped down the corner of his mouth and he held the doorpost to secure himself.

Lendon looked up and was stricken by seeing the King barely holding himself up with a panicked guard behind him. Out of instinct, she rushed off the bed but just before she got to him, she stopped suddenly.

With wide eyes and a stammer, she pointed her finger at Indicy and said,

"Who are you?"

"You are not King Indicy!"

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