SAPIENCE

CHAPTER 17

Opening my eyes I looked to see Queen Shiphrah resting in a white arm chair. Her hair pulled back into a low and loose ponytail. Her eyes carried bags as her lips mumbled and quivered.

"You are a hearing God, I thank you Lord for hearing and answering my prayers." A tear stripped the side of her cheeks as she silently wept bitterly. She got up and stood in front of the bay window and I realised I was in my room.

Queen Shiphrah remained unbeknownst to my awakening. However, I was surprised to see Gabriel who came into the room. His hair was messily brushed backwards.

Behind him stood a woman I never thought I would see again. "This year just seems to be full of surprises." My voice was hoarse and thick, but it captured the attention of Queen Shiphrah, Gabriel and Ruth: the woman of Gabriel's nightmares and dreams.

Queen Shiphrah raced towards me and fell on her knees. "Oh the Lord is so kind and merciful," She hugged me and cupped my cheeks. "Are you okay?" I nodded and embraced her affection.

"What happened and why is Gabriel back?" I was confused.

"It has been a while brother but I assure you that things are far from getting back to normal." His childish tendencies seemed to have left him.

It wasn't long before I realised mother and father were in the room. Their gaze held firm on the two choice ladies of their sons. Katalina faced the room with a sombre and distant gaze.

"I'm very happy you're okay and well alive my son." My mother had tears streaming down her face.

"Because of your majesty, Queen Shiphrah here, proclaimed a fast throughout all of Grakos, in search of a favourable answer from her God." It was my father who spoke as though he had been convicted of something he usually would not have believed in.

"Did you fast?" I curiously questioned him and he blushed.

"Yes I did. We were all so very concerned." He breezed in a quiet manner.

Katalina sat down in the armchair that I first saw Queen Shiphrah in. "apparently there is another me,"

"And she's allied with Caleb." Queen Shiphrah carried a gaze that troubled my spirit. I wondered if she wistfully thought of returning back to Caleb.

Her gaze held my own as she tried to figure out what was going through my head. "Her name is Deborah, and she was one person who led Caleb astray from the Lord. Little did I know that she had any relation towards you all. But she was, however, my best friend in my youth."

"The way you speak is as though you have lived on this earth for an eternity. What is your age?" It was my father who admired the way my Queen Shiphrah spoke so eloquently and with such wisdom.

She smiled in a gentle manner but never uttered a number. "What use is it knowing my age? Is not my character one to be sought after?"

"You know mine," I whispered so only she could hear. Remembering that I had told her my age when she asked in the carriage, I tried to guess her age. But she squeezed my hand before she went back to the window.

"The things of the Spirit go beyond that of the flesh. The matter at hand here is to understand where Malissa, my cousin Paul and my nieces could be." She smoothly shut down everyone's curious gazes.

"Your Paul's Cousin?" It was Katalina who was intrigued as my father and mother fell on the couches defeated. "This is all just a mess." My father racked his hands through his hair.

"Paul is like a brother to my Cousin, a man named Prophet John-David, thus I call him my cousin." Shiphrah clarified.

Katalina cast her gaze to the floor and everyone remained grim.