The Savior's Throne

Chapter One

I run my hand along the bumpy surface of the palace walls as I make my way to the prayer room. Today we pray for our God- The Northern God, in public. Tomorrow is the day to pray for the other three Gods, in private. My eyes take in the ruby wallpaper, speckled with gold. This palace is truly lovely, but very lonely. My guards travel behind me, all silent and stoic. When my feet carry me to the prayer room, I pause. The guards are accustomed to my odd behaviors and patiently wait for me to continue on.

Prayer day always makes me nervous. It's the only day of the week that I'm surrounded by so many people. Usually, I am encouraged to stay in my room, alone, with guards standing outside my door. "This is for your protection," Sahil, the ruler of the Northern Society, tells me every time I ask why I have to stay in my room. I mean, it's not like I'm the princess, even she gets to go out and travel beyond the palace walls.

These people call me their savior, but treat me as though I'm a prisoner. Sahil always tells me I am here to be protected because one day I will save the world. He always phrases it that way, when he could say it a different way. The way I choose to see it: I am here so they can kill me, before I kill them and end the world. They keep me locked up and guarded so I cannot escape. I've always wondered why they didn't just kill me when I was younger, when they first found out I was ungifted. The prophecy clearly states that 'one ungifted child will be born and once that child turns eighteen they will end the world and evil will reign. I often ask Sahil, "If my turning eighteen causes the apocalypse, why keep me alive?"

Sahil always responds with, "Killing a child is wrong. Just because you must die, does not mean you cannot live."

"But I'm not only a threat to the world, I'm also a threat to the peace that took so long to create." When word got out that the child from the prophecy was born, the other three Societies wanted to find me and kill me-they still do. Tensions between the four Societies: North, East, South, and West, have only gotten worse as I age. "Which is why we keep you in the palace at all times. The peace will remain as long as you stay in our care."

A cough from behind me brings me back to the present. I drop my hand from the wall and move my feet forward. The doorman opens the door for me and I enter the prayer room. The high ceilings arch above me, the details of history etched perfectly into every available space. The golden color matches my eyes and I lower them to the people in front of me. single person-there must be hundreds-faces the Northern Fountain. In the middle of the fountain is a statue modelled after our God, the God of Water. .

I make my way through the path, carved by people, to get a front row seat. As I pass, people lift up their heads to quickly get a glance at me. I keep my gaze straight ahead, they may call me Salvare to my face, but I'm sure they whisper cruel words behind my back. I walk to my spot, which sits to the far right of the fountain, and kneel.

With my head bowed, I whisper a few kind words, "Thank you, Northern God, for the water you provide and the love you supply to us all. Please accept my faith and my prayers, for here I would not be without you." I keep my head bowed until the bell tolls, announcing that it is time to leave.

From the corner of my eye, I see Sahil and the princess stand up and face the crowd. A minute passes and the generals do the same. I wait until they leave before standing and facing the crowd, myself. My guards form a circle around me and take me back to my room. I pass the same gold speckled, ruby wallpapered, walls, only to enter the same room I've lived in for almost eighteen years.

I walk into my room and my guards stay behind, locking the door shut behind me. I walk to my bed and open a book, but my mind wanders before I can read the first letter of the title. My eighteenth birthday is four weeks. In two weeks, I will be executed-not for a crime I've committed, but for one that I might commit. I feel like a good person; I am a good person. So how will I come to harness an evil so strong and powerful that I will use to kill all of humanity? I don't want to harm anyone, but my destiny apparently doesn't care about what I want. I was born to live as the savior and destined to die before becoming the destroyer.