Meeting Nihena

by Ervin Agayan

  “What? Are you crazy?” Parelia exclaimed indignantly.

  Now, you understand the princess’s reaction.

  “So, you are not?” asked Arsy, once again. Previously, he was convinced that Arpy was an Agayan, for she was Erania’s friend.

  “Of course, I’m not! What a silly question! How can I be an Agayan?” Parelia was sincerely boiling over.

  Let me present more details about the Agayans. As I told you earlier, they pursued a single goal: to get Agastan down, referring to that dream as the “Great Goal.” Every Agayan was ready to give his life to achieve it!

  Erathos grew up on the ideas of the Agayans. The story of his life could fit in a couple of hefty books. The concept of the “Great Goal” had been hammered into his head since childhood. He became an ardent Agayan, whose every fiber in his body was eager to put the movement plan into action. However, unlike other Agayans, he had one more dream, namely becoming a Tiedos.

  Who is a Tideos? A Tiedos is a leader of the Agayan movement. Only the most dignified Agayans can earn the title of a Tiedos – someone who was supposed to stand at the head of the Agayan movement and lead it to achieve the “Great Goal.”

  No matter how incredible it may seem, Erathos was close to becoming a Tiedos. The elections were expected shortly. According to several venerable Agayans, Erathos was supposed to receive the most votes.

  “You’d better confess now if you are an Agayan. I am even ready to become an Agayan for you,” Arsy blurted out but immediately added with a certain deal of anger in his voice, “Though, to be honest, I am extremely happy that you aren’t an Agayan, because I hate them.”

  Arsy and Erathos had been friends since childhood, and Arsy saw how he was becoming an Agayan and performing their various assignments. He appeared to be unable to convince his friend to change his mind. The ideas of the Agayan movement became the meaning of life for Erathos. Arsy had no other choice but to despise them all for cluttering his friend’s brain.

  “Thank goodness you’ve got at least one positive feature,” exclaimed the princess.

  “I am not so bad, in fact,” Arsy said almost offended. “I also have merits.”

  “Such as?”

  “Such as…” Arsy fell into reflections, and recalling none, he exclaimed, “I have thousands of merits. For example, I am too modest to boast of my own merits.”

  He didn’t notice that Parelia couldn’t hold back her smile, though she didn’t say anything.

  “Stay here,” she heard unexpectedly and felt that he was leaving. “I’ll be right back.”

  The evening was smoothly changing into night, and it was becoming quite cool near the water. Parelia shivered after yet another blow of the evening breeze. She thought it would be wise to have taken a plaid. At that moment, she heard steps and turned around. Arsy walked towards her with a warm shawl in his hands. He put it around her shoulders and declared proudly, “As you can see, I am caring.”

  “Oh my God, what a marvelous feature!” Parelia exclaimed with obvious irony in her voice. “If you propose to me right now, I’ll agree to marry you without a moment’s hesitation! You simply took my breath away!”

  The princess was keen on cracking jokes on the topic of marriage. When one of the guys had certain success, like good results in a game, Parelia started joking about it. Poor guys looked at her puzzled, trying to understand whether she was speaking seriously or just kidding. Imagine their disappointment when they eventually found out Parelia was joking and they weren’t destined to be the king! Many people thought Parelia was speaking seriously, and they immediately proposed to her. The princess would burst out laughing and end up comforting the poor guys.

  “Seriously?” Arsy wasn’t as foolish as others; he realized perfectly well that Arpy, aka Parelia, was joking.

  “Absolutely!” She smiled. “But you must propose to me standing on your knees in this river.”

  “On my knees?” exclaimed Arsy. “The chances of Agastan getting down on the earth are greater than me kneeling in front of anyone.”

  “So, you are not going to kneel down on one knee, even when you propose to your future wife?” Parelia asked with surprise.

  “Of course, I’m not! I am Arsy, and I never kneel in front of anyone!” Arsy’s voice contained some serious overtones.

  “So, you won’t kneel, even in front of the princess?” Parelia asked with a certain deal of disappointment in her voice.

  “Even in front of her!”

  “I don’t believe you!”

  “No problem,” smirked Arsy. “We can attend some high-society dinner, so you see it for yourself.”

  “You want to show how bad your manners are, don’t you?” exclaimed Parelia, turning around and meeting his eyes. “Though, why am I surprised? You’ve already demonstrated your disrespect to the princess.”

  Catching sight of Arsy’s interrogative expression, the girl immediately changed the topic.

  “Stop touching my hair!”

  “Sit straight. I’m braiding your hair.”

  “Oh, so you have that talent too…”

  “No, I’m learning on you.”

  It was then and there that their privacy was intruded upon by a sharp and indignant scream.

  “What are you doing, Arsy?”

  Erania had noticed Arsy a couple of minutes ago, when he was walking to the bank of the river with a shawl in his hands. She grew suspicious, and understandably, she decided to follow him. Seeing Arsy and Parelia together, Erania was horrified at first, then furious, and finally, she managed to regain her ice-cold composure before walking up to them.

  Arsy and Erathos believed Erania was an Agayan. Despite her support and collaboration with the Agayans, Erania didn’t consider herself to be one of them. She had a common goal with the movement, namely getting Agastan down to where it used to be.

  Most of the people surrounding Parelia were Agayans, including her closest friend, Elmunia. Just like cancer, the Agayans had wrapped the princess all around, gradually “poisoning” her life, while poor Parelia had absolutely no idea about it. If there was a daring person who tried to open her eyes, he would unfailingly vanish from Agastan. This was no joke; you can’t even imagine the seriousness of the situation. Thousands of eyes followed Parelia day and night, so that no one, God forbid, dared to tell her the truth.

  Her stay on the island was an exceptional occasion, when Parelia was out of the Agayans’ sight. She hadn’t seen Erania for a long time and was missing her. Once, she secretly fled from the castle at night, without warning anyone. In a few hours, she was at Erania’s place. You are probably wondering why the Agayans had surrounded Parelia. The answer is simple; so Agayan could become king. I’ve already told you about Tiedos, but I didn't say the most important thing: Tiedos should marry the princess.

  In the present situation, Parelia has no chance of salvation. The Agayans simply won’t allow another aspirant of her heart to get close to the princess. As soon as a new admirer appeared on the horizon, the Agayans started casting aspersions on him, whispering all kinds of old wives’ tales in the princess’s ear, so she voluntarily pushed good candidates away from her. However, as soon as a Tiedos appears on the horizon, all Agayans unanimously start chanting his praises and convincing her in every possible way to accept his proposal. Once a Tiedos becomes the king, he will realize their primary dream: the “Great Goal.” Here’s the artful plan they developed. And the entire story has just one victim: Parelia, who should be married for benefit, and only a miracle can save her…

  Presently, there’s a fierce struggle among the Agayans for the title of a Tiedos. As I mentioned, Erathos is the main candidate. The entire movement split into two camps: the first one supports Erathos, while the second one is trying to kick him out of the game. Elmunia joins the second group. Some people say she is head over heels in love with Erathos; thus, she doesn’t want him to become a Tiedos and marry Parelia. Erania is on friendly terms with Elmunia and helps her in every way she c
an. Together, they set insidious traps for Erathos, one of which was recently revealed by Arsy, and that was how they learnt about Erania’s “games.” Since then, Arsy and Erania have detested each other. He was even determined to subject her to torture to get the truth out of her, but Erathos didn’t let him do it.

  “Don’t you see it?” said Arsy, braiding her hair.

  “Take your hand off Arpy’s hair, right now!” Erania exclaimed angrily. The mere thought that a criminal like Arsy was touching the princess drove her into a frenzy.

  “Come on, Erania. Let him braid it. I’m eager to see the result.” Parelia tried to calm her friend down.

  “Why don’t you obey me?” Erania kept screaming desperately. “I’ve told you a hundred times to keep away from Arsy.”

  “We are busy. Leave us alone, Erania,” snapped Arsy. “One shouldn’t be so obtrusive.”

  “Hands off, I’m telling you!” Erania wouldn’t let up.

  She tried to pull the hair from Arsy’s hands, but the latter was holding it tightly.

  “Hey, you’ll pull out all my hair!” exclaimed Parelia, who got a headache because of the pulling.

  “Tell it to Erania; it’s she who’s pulling your hair, not me.”

  “I am going to tell everything to Erik right now,” threatened Erania.

  By the way, I forgot to mention that “Erik” is the name Erathos usually uses when introducing himself.

  “Go ahead!” Arsy passed it off. “Erik is my friend, but he can’t tell me who I should be friends with. I chose your friend, and I don’t care if you like it or not.”

  Arsy had actually put on a brave face and was lying, for even though he and Erathos were friends, anything that the latter said was law for him.

  “Arpy has a boyfriend.” Erania decided to come up with the last argument.

  “I don’t care a dime about that fact, and you shouldn’t either. Leave us alone,” Arsy said with a commanding tone.

  “No way! Hands off her hair!” The girl wouldn’t let up.

  “According to Arsy’s logic, my hair does not belong to me,” Parelia said with a composed smile.

  “How come?” She showed surprised.

  “He says that, from now on, I belong to him; my hair is also in his possession, so he can do anything he likes with it.”

  “I’m sorry, Arpy,” Erania said, unexpectedly taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry for putting you in such trouble. I shouldn’t have let you walk with us. I just didn’t know Erik would take this beast with him. Please, forgive me.”

  “Calm down, Erania.” Parelia smiled. “I am too tough for this beast.” She looked at her friend and winked. “But don’t worry. He will fall into my hands shortly.”

  “Right, we will burn him alive.” Erania caught up with a furious sparkle in her eyes.

  “Oh, it’s so scary!” Arsy snapped ironically.

  “Hold on a couple minutes, Arpy. I’ll call Erik.” Erania stepped back, obviously determined to keep her promise. “He’ll bring him down a peg.”

  “Okay, wait. No need to bother Erik with such trifles.” Arsy carefully let go of Parelia’s hair and went off to the other end of the log. “I won’t touch her hair again.”

  “I will talk to Erik about it, anyway.” Erania took her friend by the hand and tried to pull her up to follow her. “Stand up, Arpy. Let’s go.”

  “Thank you very much for your attention, Erania, but I’m not a little girl.” Parelia snatched her hand sharply, not even rising from the log. “You may go. I’ll join you later.”

  “But…”

  “No buts!” Parelia raised her voice, but immediately added in a much quieter and calmer voice, “Good bye!”

  “You’re crazy! You have no idea who this scumbag really is.” Erania angrily pointed her finger at Arsy. “It’s insane to stay alone with him!”

  Arsy and his band had caught Elmunia’s people and subjected them to torture to find out the truth. When Erania saw them, tortured and bloodstained, she realized how cruel Arsy actually was. That was the reason she shivered every time she saw this beast close to the princess.

  “He has presented himself to me, and I see quite clearly why you are so deeply concerned.” Parelia’s expression became milder. “But he’s not a wolf; thus, he can’t eat me. As for bearing with his presence for a few days, it’s not a problem. You’d better go, and I will join you later.” She looked at Arsy with a crafty smile and added, “If Arsy allows me to, of course.”

  Erania’s raging expression could have killed Arsy if it was possible.

  “It’s up to Arpy,” Arsy said with a smug smile.

  “I hate you!” Erania whispered angrily then turned sharply and left, treading the ground with her blistering steps.

  “My congratulations,” said Parelia, when she and Arsy were alone.

  Noticing the bewilderment on his face, she clarified, “You are perhaps the only person in Agastan whom Erania treats so badly.”

  “And that is reciprocal!” Arsy snapped, watching the girl invidiously. “I just can’t understand what Erik has been tempted by.”

  “Woah! You don’t have the slightest idea about the number of Erania’s admirers!”

  “The she-devil has admirers?” Arsy exclaimed, flabbergasted. “I won’t believe it, even if I see it with my own eyes.”

  Arsy had yet to discover how popular Erania was in Agastan.

  “Why do you call her a ‘she-devil’?” inquired Parelia.

  “Because she is actually a she-devil.” Arsy angrily threw a stone into the river, making a loud “blorp.” “It’s just that you don’t know who your friend actually is. If you knew it, you wouldn’t be surprised by such a comparison.”

  “And who is she?”

  Arsy almost told her the truth, but he changed his mind at the last second.

  “You’ll understand when the time comes.”

  Parelia started touching her hair. She turned around and looked at Arsy. “Why did you move so far away? Come on, finish what you started. I look like a scarecrow with this half-done braid.”

  Arsy thought for a while, looked in the direction Erania left, and finally went back to his place as hairdresser.

  “What was your natural hair color?” Parelia heard his unexpected question, after which Arsy pronounced thoughtfully, poking her hair here and there, “You have dyed it in such an interesting style! There are so many shades here!”

  “I dye my hair so often that I hardly remember what color it used to be.” Parelia giggled but frowned shortly after. “But last time, Erania did not dye my hair very well. I look like a scarecrow, right?”

  “I didn’t say anything of the kind,” Arsy hurried to assure her. “On the contrary, I like it a lot. It’s quite out-of-the-box.”

  “You’ve got strange taste.”

  “What about dying it blue, like Erania’s?”

  “I’m not as crack-brained as she is.” Parelia snorted almost fastidiously.

  They spent a while in silence, enjoying the evening music from the balm crickets and frogs. Parelia felt Arsy’s gentle and careful touches in her hair, and for some reason, she liked them. She was sure the braid was going to be terrible; however, she took pleasure in the process of braiding.

  “Look how beautiful the sunset is today.” Her quiet voice interrupted the silence.

  The sun was slowly, but surely, moving towards the horizon, enveloping the puffy, fluffy clouds, and dying them the most incredible shades of red, yellow, and orange. The sun’s rays were reflected in the river, creating a dazzling twinkling of light on the smooth water’s surface and making dozens of splashes of sunlight on the ground, on the bushes, and on the faces of the two young people, who were admiring this magnificent scenery. The air was filled with the balmy scent of autumn flowers, the quiet gurgling of the river, and the singing of birds coming from afar.

  “Nothing special,” Arsy snapped indifferently. However, he was disingenuous, for he also liked sunsets but chose not to co
nfess his romanticism.

  “How can you speak like that?” exclaimed the princess and added with admiration, “It’s truly stunning!”

  “I can see you like admiring sunsets.”

  “That is a mild term. I’m crazy about them! I have even gone to faraway areas of Agastan a couple of times only to admire the beautiful sunsets.”

  They were silent for a while, after which Parelia smiled unexpectedly and said, “There are a couple of funny stories I associate with sunsets.”

  “Really?” Arsy smiled back. “Will you tell me?”

  “Once, I set off to a mountain top to admire another beautiful sunset. We were climbing a steep slope, but my loyal horse coped with it well, and soon, I witnessed one of the most unforgettable sunsets I have ever seen. The sky was sparkling with all shades of red and yellow, and the sun was breathtakingly beautiful!”

  Parelia turned her head around with precaution and looked at Arsy to make sure he was listening to her. She proceeded. “But when it was time to go down, my horse dug in its feet, refusing to go back through the same road we had climbed up. I tried pulling it, then persuading, but nothing worked! There was no choice but to go down another way, but it appeared to be harder than I could assume. As a result, I lost my way. The sun had set a long time ago, whereas I was wandering among mountain roads, trying to find the way to the city.”

  “And you were not scared, were you?” inquired Arsy.