Destiny of the Sands

by Rai Aren

  No reply. The army was now in full formation, weapons at the ready.

  “Citizens! I implore you,” Traeus shouted. “Do not follow this madman. He is only using you! Everything he tells you is lies!”

  A dark figure rode up to the front of the army. The figure removed his scarf, revealing the disfiguring scars on his face.

  Traeus and his Commander could not hide their shock at seeing, in the torchlight, what had become of Zhek Draxen.

  Zhek saw the looks on their faces. He hated the way people reacted to seeing him for the first time since his disfigurement. It made his anger boil even hotter. It was Traeus’ doing. His invention had turned Zhek into something out of a nightmare. He would make him pay for that. For everything.

  “The people no longer follow you. You are not worthy of them, false king!” Zhek yelled back, seething with rage. “We will have change this day!” He pointed his sword up at him “Step down now and we will spare the innocent.”

  “I will do no such thing!” Traeus responded. “You are evil, Zhek. I will not leave my people to the likes of you!”

  “I expected as much,” Zhek said, sneering at him. “So be it.” He wrapped his scarf back around his face, and motioned for his soldiers to move into an attack position. Zhek’s archers lit and then prepared to release their own fiery arrows.

  “Your Majesty,” Commander Maraeven said nervously. “We cannot wait any longer.”

  “Fire!” Traeus shouted. The Royal soldiers fired their arrows.

  “Now!” Zhek yelled. His archers unleashed a volley of arrows at the Palace. The exchange of fiery arrows lit up the evening sky. While his archers provided cover, Zhek motioned for his soldiers to charge the Royal Palace. They carried large metal hooks, ropes and ladders to scale the structure.

  The King and Commander Maraeven directed the Royal soldiers to meet the oncoming assailants. The sounds of weapons clashing and people screaming filled the air. Commander Maraeven saw that Zhek was not involved in the fighting, but had moved behind his archers, directing the fighting. A thought came to him.

  “Your Majesty,” Commander Maraeven said, “Zhek is directing his men from behind the ranks.” He pointed in his direction. “Shall I deal with him?”

  Traeus nodded his agreement. He knew what Commander Maraeven had in mind.

  Commander Maraeven ordered a few soldiers to follow him. They slipped to a side exit, unseen from the fighting. They quickly dashed around the main battleground, using buildings and trees as cover. With lightning speed, they charged towards Zhek’s position. Commander Maraeven and his soldiers fought Zhek and the few men surrounding him. The rest of Zhek’s soldiers were fully engaged in the battle.

  Commander Maraeven swung his sword at Zhek’s head. Zhek ducked and parried with his sword. The two men fought furiously. Commander Maraeven was determined to avenge the deaths of the villagers. He ducked and swung his sword at Zhek’s legs, cutting him deeply with a savage blow. While he cried out in pain, Commander Maraeven thrust his sword into his chest. He gasped and fell to the ground, clutching the sword.

  The Commander turned back towards the Palace, motioning his King.

  King Traeus, seeing what happened, left the fighting with a few soldiers and ran over in the same direction as his Commander. He ran towards Zhek’s body. He wanted to see the face of his enemy, now finally fallen.

  The King arrived.

  Commander Maraeven stood over the lifeless body. He pulled his sword out of the body.

  “Unmask him,” the King ordered.

  Commander Maraeven did so.

  They audibly gasped.

  The King’s faced turned pale as he saw the face of the missing servant, Rekar.

  Chapter 54

  Showdown

  WHILE the King and his Commander discovered Zhek’s deception, Zhek himself was wasting no time in locating his son. He hoped Rekar was an effective decoy. Zhek did not expect to see him again. He had ensured Rekar was given the exact same disguise as he would be wearing. Rekar had served his usefulness.

  “Rembes, Jonar and you three, come with me,” Zhek said. “We are going to find my son. The rest of you, find some weapons and fight the Royal soldiers from inside the Palace. If you see any other members of the Royal Family, kill them.”

  The men nodded and set off.

  The group, led by Zhek, once again headed for the private sleeping chambers.

  They reached them, but this time, Setar was not in the children’s rooms. No one was. They were empty. He had expected as much. Zhek and his men searched the Palace room by room. Outside they could hear the battle raging on. Zhek smiled to himself, he was exhilarated. Finally things would change for him.

  With most of the Royal soldiers defending the Palace outside, Zhek and his men were able to search the Palace nearly unhindered. They moved stealthily and swiftly and searched room by room.

  They came to a corner, and Zhek held up his hand for the group to stop. He listened for a moment, hearing voices not far off. He ventured a glance, and saw two guards outside a door on the left, part way down the hall. He motioned to his men that they had two obstacles in their way. The men nodded. Swiftly, they attacked. Outnumbered, the guards were mercilessly dispatched.

  Zhek pressed an ear to the door. He smiled. He knew he had found the right room. It was the King’s private office. His curved dagger gripped tightly in his right hand, Zhek threw open the door. There was Setar and the guard assigned to him, trying to escape out a window. They had heard the brief fight outside.

  Setar looked back. The young boy shrieked as he spotted the intruders.

  The Royal guard who was trying to get the young boy out of the window, turned, unsheathed his sword, and lunged at Zhek. But Zhek was too quick for the man. Just as the guard swung his sword at Zhek, Zhek quickly dropped to his knees, plunging the blade into the man’s belly. Savagely, Zhek pulled the blade out again. The curved dagger did an enormous amount of damage. The man fell. The huge, gaping wound poured blood. Soon there was a large pool underneath the body.

  Setar was frozen in place, clinging to the edge of the window. He screamed in fear and terror.

  Zhek’s men stood guard outside the room.

  “Setar, do not be afraid, I will not harm you,” Zhek said, quickly tucking the bloodied dagger in his belt at his side. He removed the black cloth, which had covered his face. “It is I, your father. Come down from there before you get hurt. It is a long way down.”

  “Stay away from me!” Setar cried. He looked over the windowsill. It was a very long way down to the ground. He knew he could not make the leap. He jumped back down, and ran behind the King’s desk, cringing.

  Zhek paused, and pulled the rest of the covering off his head, his hair still pulled back into a ponytail.

  For the first time, Setar saw his entire face and the extent of the disfiguring scars. It terrified him. “Do not come near me!” the boy cried, shaking. Zhek appeared as a hideous monster to him. “My parents told me you are evil, that you are trying to hurt my family.”

  Zhek took a deep breath. He needed to approach this very carefully, so as not to further startle his son, but he had very little time. He had to get him out of here. “Setar, I know this must seem frightening to you. The King and Queen have not told you the truth. They did not want you to know about me. I am your true father. I love you with my entire heart and soul.”

  “My parents love me! They would never lie to me!” Setar shot back. His seeming defiance masked a fathomless fear.

  Zhek smiled. He knew he could win now. “I know you want very much to believe that, Setar, but they have lied. They have lied to you your whole life, to keep you from me.”

  Setar’s eyes were filling with tears. “No!” he cried. He did not want to hear what this frightening and monstrous man was saying.

&
nbsp; “I can prove it to you,” Zhek said calmly. “If you do not believe me, how about believing your own eyes?”

  Setar just blinked, saying nothing. He did not understand.

  “I want to show you something, something I tried to show you the last time we met,” Zhek said softly, as he unbuttoned his shirt. “You see Setar, you and I share something very special. It is something that every man in my family has.” The shirt was open, and Zhek pulled it aside. “See this birthmark?” he said as he pointed to the large star-shaped birthmark over his heart. “I know you also have it.” He took a couple of slow steps closer to Setar. “Your mother told me you were born with it. That is how I knew you were my son.”

  Setar’s heart pounded in his chest, his eyes fixed on the mark. He recognized it immediately. It was the same as his own. His head spun in a wave of confusion. He felt his face grow hot then his hands go clammy. He was visibly trembling.

  “Setar, I do not say this to frighten you, I only want you to know the truth. I am not evil. I am not trying to hurt you. I love you. You are my son. You are everything to me.”

  “You…you cannot be, they would have told me,” he stammered, not taking his eyes off the birthmark. He touched his own chest, where the mark was.

  Zhek nodded. “That is right, Setar. It is in the same place as mine. They did not tell you because they wanted to keep you from me.” Zhek took another step closer. “Since you were born, I have wanted only one thing – for you to be with me, as my son.”

  Setar shrunk back.

  “Look at me, Setar,” Zhek said, kneeling down to the young boy’s height. “Look at my eyes, they are the same as yours. The men in the King’s family all have emerald-colored eyes. You do not, you have mine.”

  Setar looked into Zhek’s eyes. He saw the same slate-grey eyes, the same shape. He shook his head. “No! No, you are trying to trick me!”

  “Think Setar, there can be no other explanation,” Zhek said, trying to remain patient. “I am not lying to you. You are finally hearing the truth. A truth that you can see for yourself.”

  Setar did not know what to say, he could not accept this awful truth. He cringed.

  Zhek realized his appearance was probably quite scary to his young son. “These scars on my face, my hand, Traeus, the man who has lied to you all of these years, he did this to me. He wanted you for himself, so he tried to kill me.”

  “No…” the boy said, horrified at the thought.

  Zhek nodded sadly. “You know why else they hid your true identity from you?” Zhek asked.

  Setar shook his head.

  “Because Mindara killed your real mother. They do not want anyone to know that, especially not you.”

  Setar gasped.

  Just then, Zhek heard a commotion coming from far down the hall.

  “Setar, we must go!” he said, as he held his hand out towards him.

  “No, I cannot go with you!” he cried.

  “Do you want them to kill your real father as well? Please, you must trust me. I will protect you. I will never lie to you, I promise.”

  Setar hesitated, he did not reply.

  Zhek took that as an opportunity. He raced around the desk, scooped up the young boy, and ran to the door.

  Setar cried out in protest.

  Ignoring him, Zhek peered around. He nodded to his men to follow. The voices were coming closer. They would soon see the bodies of the guards in the hallway.

  Zhek, carrying the crying Setar in his arms, ran down the hall along with his men, away from the voices. He remembered the layout from the information Rekar and Shera had provided to him. He found a doorway leading to a set of stairs. Down they raced. He knew this passageway would lead him towards a side door.

  Setar was too shocked and frightened to protest or struggle any longer as his world unraveled before his very eyes.

  Just as Zhek was nearing another door, it opened in front of him.

  “Put him down!” Commander Maraeven ordered, drawing his sword.

  The King emerged from behind the Commander. “Setar! Are you all right?”

  “Do not address my son, liar!” Zhek shouted, his rough voice sounding powerful and authoritative. He felt different now that he had his son. Stronger.

  Traeus was livid, he moved forward, but the Commander held him back. Just then, several more Royal soldiers emerged.

  Zhek’s men had their swords at the ready. Crouching, they were ready to fight.

  “You are far outnumbered this time, Zhek,” the Commander warned, brandishing his sword. “You will not leave with him. Now put him down before he gets hurt.”

  Setar wriggled out of Zhek’s grip.

  Zhek held his shoulder firmly. “Stay with me, son.”

  Setar stood there, unsure of what to do. He looked at Traeus. “He said he is my father. Is that true?”

  “Setar, he is evil. He is only…” Traeus started to say.

  “Tell me the truth!” Setar screamed, growing more anxious and fearful by the moment.

  Traeus looked down, he could not believe it had come to this…that somehow Zhek had gotten to Setar.

  The Commander and his men had their swords drawn on Zhek.

  “Setar, your mother, Zazmaria, was unfaithful to her husband, Prince Alaj. She betrayed this family to its enemies. She and Zhek…”

  “Were in love,” Zhek said, quickly finishing the sentence. “I loved your mother, Setar, I would have made her Queen. This man,” Zhek said, pointing to Traeus, “who has lied to you your whole life, has tried to take every member of my family from me. You are all I have left, my son. I could not let him take you as well.”

  “His rightful place is here in this family, Zhek!” Traeus shouted.

  “His rightful place is by his father’s side!” Zhek shouted back, his voice raspy and harsh.

  “I have been a father to him!”

  “A decent father would not lie to his son. I have told him the truth and shown you for what you are – a liar who manipulates people to get what he wants.”

  “Then it is true,” Setar said, watching Traeus’ face, and seeing his hesitation. His young heart was breaking. “He is my real father.”

  Traeus did not want to answer. “Setar, he is a very bad man. You know I love you.”

  “But you have lied to me! All of you!” Setar shouted, stomping his feet and pounding his small fists in the air.

  “It is over, Traeus, let us go,” Zhek said, reaching around his side for his dagger. “He knows the truth now. Your lies can no longer wreak their poisonous effects on him.”

  “You will not leave here, Zhek,” Traeus warned. “Step away from him.”

  “No! Stop!” Setar shouted. “Do not hurt him!” he cried, stepping in front of Zhek.

  Zhek grinned at Traeus. He took his hand away from the dagger for the moment. “Seems things have changed, now that the truth is known. You would not harm or kill his father right in front of him, would you?”