FLIGHT

Chapter 05

The sun was on its way out when Gwafa walked into his massive bedroom at the palace. His wife was seated at a wooden table with their daughter. The woman was watching with interest and a smile as a European lady taught the girl writing, but that was all ruined when the king walked in.

"Papa!" cried Safiyya, jumping out of her chair and dropping to her knees.

"Enukal," said the European lady, kneeling also.

Gwafa waved his hand and Safiyya shot to her feet, running to him. She leapt off the ground once she was close enough and her father caught her under the armpits, lifting her high into the air.

"Aaaah!!!" the little girl screamed with joy, spreading her arms like she could fly.

Tadla and the European lady smiled at the sight. The latter had risen from her knees now.

"How is my future queen doing?" the king asked as he put down the princess.

"Mame is the one who will be a queen soon," the girl stated. "I might marry a noble, or a commoner, but maybe not a king."

"Oh you will marry a king, if I have to beat one into accepting," her father promised.

"Tell your father what you were doing, Safiyya," said her mother.

"Lady Luxis was teaching me how to write Greek and Roman alphabets."

"That is how many alphabets you know now?" her father asked, frowning. "I can barely keep count."

"Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Persian, Arabic and," the girl counted the languages on her fingers.

"You are forgetting one," her father stated.

"The most important one," her mother added.

"Wait, I'll remember," the girl argued, shutting her eyes tight as she tried to recall.

Tadla looked at her husband and his smile vanished. She knew something was wrong. She raised her eyebrows in question, but he shook his head and pointed at their child.

"Kalarian!!" the girl suddenly cried.

"Yes!!" her Greek teacher cried.

"You forgot your own language, you foreigner," her father said, pinching her stomach through her tunic.

"Ow!" she cried.

"Okay, Lady Luxis, please take Safiyya outside and let her play, or eat. My husband and I need to speak."

The girl turned to her mother. "Is it about if Aunt Lunja will be killed?" she asked.

"Shush, Safiyya!' her mother snapped with a frown.

Lady Luxis stepped forward and took Safiyya's hand, but the girl pulled it free and ran out of the room.

"She is stubborn," said her father.

"She is your daughter," his wife stated.

The Greek lady left and the king was alone with his wife. She remained in her chair and he remained standing.

"So the meeting was not good," said the woman.

"The chiefs are indecisive and Aksil fears there could be rebellion if I forced their hands."

"Rebellion is not something we can win, Gwafa."

"I know." The king walked to the large bed he and his wife shared. On the wall above the bed was the skin of a zebra with a lion head in the center.