Chapter 13 : Princess

Someone walked into the hut with a woman about 35 years old. The woman walked with a limp. Her back was slouched, and she had a big bump on her back. Her condition makes anyone feel sad. But what made Prince Kripala flinch a little was when he saw her eyes. The woman's eyes were red, and she gave Prince Kripala a cold stare without blinking.

"Who is she?" exclaimed the prince of Kripala, surprised to see her.

"She is Nila Soraya, the king's daughter, and the prince's aunt. And she is the king's daughter, the daughter of a village chief in this place. And Nila Soraya was blind in both eyes. She also stopped and broke her leg because of what King Wijaya had done to her."

Those words made Prince Kripala accidentally push the chair where he was sitting until he fell. With feelings of compassion and fear, the prince approached Nila Soraya.

"What happened to you?"

Nila Soraya didn't answer; she just smiled, showing her toothless mouth, and she opened her mouth wide. When he saw her like that, prince Kripala looked into her mouth with a slightly bent body.

The prince jumped back a little because he was so surprised. Besides having no teeth, Nila Soraya also has no tongue!

"What happened to her?" Prince Kripala asked, his voice trembling with rage because it was the first time he had witnessed such cruelty.

"Torment, prince! Nila Soraya was tortured by her husband, who was the choice of the late king."

"Tongue, teeth, and her body?"

"Yes, prince!" This time it was an unknown man who answered Prince Kripala's question. "Her tongue, and teeth, were pulled out one by one; her body must be subjected to various torments every day!"

"Fortunately, Hanggareksa rescued her when she was about to beg; she also sold as a street prostitute."

"But who was responsible?"

"Ganapati did it, prince."

"Ganapati?" asked Prince Kripala, trembling with anger.

"Of course, Prince. Ganapati was Prajnapati's cousin, and he was supposed to succeed Prajnapati as a King when she died. And, until now, Ganapati has been at ease in the palace, with no one able to disturb him. He is a minor king who wields more power than the king himself.

"Fortunately, he is so old and has paralyzed legs; otherwise, he would have done other bad things."

"However, she is a princess!" "How could her husband be so cruel to her?"

"Nila Soraya is a princess, a princess born commoners. And that is indeed her fate, an unchangeable fate."

"Did the late King know about this problem?"

"Of course, prince, but what can a weak king who needs allies do to strengthen his rule? The late king averted his gaze. Furthermore, the torturers were not his siblings, who were born to Prajapatni. They were commoners' children. And the lowly human, princes."

"Aside from Nila Soraya, does the prince know that many princesses have committed suicide consequence of the king's cruelty?"

Inevitably, Prince Kripala shook his head. He had only recently discovered the darkness behind Maespati's throne. All this time, he thought that his father was a cruel king because he never visited him and Jingga Utara after the birth of Swarpakala. But the reality is much more severe and terrible.

"King Wijaya had a thousand concubines while he was king. If the concubine has daughters, they will be raised like goats, and when they grow up, they will become tributes to the kings of the archipelago's big islands!

"Tribute?" asked Prince Kripala in a choked voice.

Several people nodded their heads.

"Not only that, prince, did the prince ever name the princess Rara Ayu?"

"Rara Ayu, who is she?"

"It seems our prince never found out what was behind the sacred throne."

"I want to hear your explanation, Prayogo! Don't beat around the bush."

"Okay, prince, Rara Ayu is the youngest daughter of the late king. "And she is now in the palace prison, forgotten and mad."

"Impossible!'

"If you don't believe me, please check it yourself." Rara Ayu is crazy for marrying Wekudara, an old man. Wekudara is a warrior known as a demon from the east, and he, like the prince, is one of the gatekeepers of Gahana. However, he did not keep the same side as the prince. He guards the Far West Side."

"The coldest side?"

"Yes. Wekudara is located in Alit Dwipa, Mahanti's highest and coldest location. "That place is even the only place that has icebergs. Only the most powerful people can guard that place."

"Not only that, prince," another man, unknown to prince Kripala, interjected. "Because it's called Lampor, or Devil's Crater, many soldiers don't want to be assigned there, and if they are, humans like us who were once normal will change."

"Change like what?"

"Become a monster. They will act like animals. Their temperament and character have all changed, and they no longer resemble humans. Their bodies are shortened, their faces dilated, with big round eyes that flush like blood, and they have thin hair. Some of them, went blind, and their skin thickened like an iron shield."

Prince Kripala frowned again, astonished at what he had just learned about the palace and its secrets it had. He seemed to be in the safest place, so he didn't realize all the bad things that happened around him.

"Then what happened to Rara Ayu?

"How could a grandfather allow his daughter to marry such a monster?"

Prayogo and everyone there laughed so loudly that their voices echoed throughout the wooden hut. They laughed for a long time as if they were mocking Prince Kripala as a stupid young man who didn't understand anything, but that's what it was.