BOOK II: The Reign of King Amorian, His Queen Leah and Their Son the Heir

Leah sat working at the desk in her business office while her son studied in the window seat.  She had prospered in the eight years since her trip to the festival in Esagilia.  Her people were nomadic tinkers, fortune tellers, and thieves if truth be told but Leah broke with the tradition for the sake of her son and she now owned and operated a popular resort spa in one of the most scenic areas of the Exiled.  Her clientele were the wealthiest of the wealthy who were constantly seeking new diversions and Leah had countered the opulence they were accustomed to for more natural, and simple lifestyle, exercise, and a light cuisine of fish, plants, and herbs that she raised and prepared herself with her staff.

The setting for her spa was a small unique valley of gigantic red rock formations, natural springs, scenic trails, and green glades for picnics and swimming. The area was unexploited and legend spoke of an ancient people who lived here in harmony with nature in the valley and it was said the valley could bring peace to the inner soul. Some of the mystic of the valley surrounded Leah but the truth was that she was a very practical, hard headed, business woman. 

“Mama, can we go home now?”

“Yes, son, we’ll go home for our midday meal but I have to come back and welcome our new batch of clients later tonight.”

Leah and little Amorian walked to their personal quarters in the spa’s complex of upper rooms and terraces.  Leah’s son along with many young boys were named after the King of Esagilia by the ladies who had conceived during the 200 Year Festival in Esagilia, when the Officiate Fell and the subsequent Coronation of King Amorian resulted. Amorian was healthy and strong because his mother made sure he ate and exercised properly.  He had a private tutor and already spoke the pathos of the expatriates and the more formal language of the city-states and his mother had been teaching him her native tongue since he was a baby. He would be able to function well on many levels of society.       

Leah and her son sat on a high terrace in their quarters eating a succulent, light repast of fish from local streams stuffed with herbed mushrooms and fresh fruit from her garden.  They looked out over a vast expanse of rock formations in every shape and shade of ochre possible. Mother and son hiked the valley together since he was a baby in a sling and now that he was growing taller they hiked side by side to some of the more hidden and beautiful ecological niches in the park that Leah didn’t share with the guests.  As was the custom with her people Leah had stashed gold coins and dried food in various places in the valley in case ‘troubles came’ as her people always said.

Leah had no way of knowing it but ‘troubles had come’.  She went that night to meet and greet her guests in the traditional dance and music she choreographed for the occasion.  The guests were gathered in a natural amphitheater in the rocks and when drums and the three stringed instruments broke the stillness of the starry, warm night she slipped barefoot from among the rocks in a flowing white gown and danced from rock to rock reaching for the stars. 

The audience was particularly quiet this evening but they were often taken with the setting and the music.  She began to sing in her jewel like tones leaving the contralto notes reverberating in the listeners’ minds along with the light, simple, movements of her dance.  The mood set by her musical introduction Leah launched into a short history of the valley and legends explaining the simple regime the guests would be following to harmonize their natures with the nature of the valley and instill inner peace.  She explained the importance of the food and exercise to the experience as lights played over the beautiful rock formations and then suddenly the night was quiet again dominated by the formations and the stars as she slipped from the amphitheater. 

She had no way of knowing that she danced and sang to only one guest that evening until the royal guard gently seized and searched her then took her to  meet the guest who could afford to book the whole valley for himself because his wealth and power was so vast.  She was gently escorted to the guest area and presented to King Amorian.  Shock took her tongue and he seemed equally paralyzed by the sudden, close up look at her. 

The guard whispered for her to bow slightly but she was frozen in place and time.  The King rose and dismissed the guard to a distance where they wouldn’t be able to hear the proceedings and patted the seat beside his own.

“Leah, my beautiful Leah, please sit with me?”

It was him she thought to herself as she searched for her lost poise and then she walked gracefully to the stone bench he indicated. 

“I am as startled as you, dearest Leah, I had no idea that you were my Leah,” he said.

Her mind denied his claim and she was suddenly concerned about her son.  Did he know about her son, their son?

“Come,” he smiled at her, “Has the cat got your tongue?” he asked.

She finally said, “It has been many years,” she paused and then added, “King Amorian.”

“And I was a very young boy and not a king,” he said graciously, “Call me Amorian as you did then.”

“Amorian,” she tried out on her tongue and made it sound musical.

“Didn’t you know that I looked for you everywhere?” he asked.

She finally sat next to him, “I didn’t even know that you were the Amorian that I met.  I thought when you didn’t come back that you died in the wilderness.  Apparently, you just had better things to do,” she said with some bitterness.   

“No, my love, it was a time of much chaos and I had a duty to perform,” he said.

“As did I, King Amorian.  You made your choice and I had my life to order.”

The King rose and paced, “I am sorry, Leah, but I love you still and we must get passed this.”

“It was out of my hands, King Amorian, you made the choice. I was not consulted and now I have my own life.”

She rose, “You have paid and we will begin your regime tomorrow,” she said and walked to the spa building. 

The King sat in the dark remembering a warm, green, glade and a decision he had made for sanity’s sake. A well trained mind didn’t believe in magic, he thought.  Had he thrown love out as magic he wondered.  The choice had haunted him all of these years and he had come here for inner peace and instead he had touched the root of his turmoil and dissatisfaction.

“Shall we guard her?” his head guard asked for the second time.

“Sorry, soldier, just make sure she doesn’t leave but don’t restrict her movements,” the King instructed. 

Leah hurried to her apartments thinking about what she could possibly do about this trouble.  Her first concern was the safety of her son. She must implement the plans she made for his safety and for this she could only trust her own people, her parent’s people and their people.  They would protect Amorian at all costs, he was clan, and he was theirs.  She called her Aunt Nisci and Uncle Yurok from their cottage and told them they must leave for the main body of the clan and take young Amorian with them.  There are people threatening to steal him.  Since this was a threat they well understood they accepted her explanation readily and set out that night with Amorian as their nephew going to his betrothal.  The wagon they took was actually their old wagon and was useful for their departure as poor itinerants.       

The next day she supervised the King’s activities personally and after a breakfast of cooked grain, fruit, and yogurt they set out for a medium length hike and were back at the resort in time for a late lunch of fish and vegetables and Leah sent one of the masseuses to him and worked in her garden before dinner. 

He found her in the garden, “Leah, are you avoiding me?” he asked.

“King Amorian, I spent the whole morning with you and I will be with you for dinner.”

“I see, well thank you Leah, I will see you for dinner.”

That night on a private terrace with a view of the valley they ate their dinner, she in the white flowing gown she wore in the evening with guests and he in the simple garment of the old Esagilia.  They were served the simple but elegant repast by a small staff and Leah made sure they weren’t alone.  After the supper she called in the stringed instruments that seemed to play the sound of echoes among the rocks.  The king and Leah strolled the terrace to take in the many views with stars dripping from the sky.

“It is beautiful here, Leah, you have done well with your life.”

“Thank you, King Amorian, I have worked hard for what I have.”

“I had hoped you were with child when I left the glade,” he admitted.

“You hoped I carried your child yet you left me there?  A woman you claim to love who was carrying your child?”

His fist struck the terrace wall under his hands, “Leah, you are not being fair,” he objected, “I love you yet.”

She turned to him, eyes bright in the night, “King Amorian, you don’t understand the traditions of ‘the choice’.  Tradition teaches that when you reject one of the choices for another you free the other person from their love but carry the full burden yourself.”

“That is but a legend,” he spat out, “It is nonsense,” he said.

She looked him in the eye, “Is it King Amorian?” and then she turned and left the terrace. 

He sat heavily and took in what she said.  Was he indeed doomed by his own choice, while it had freed her? If she no longer loved him what could he do?  Where was the inner peace the legends spoke about?  Was he to suffer unrequited love for all of his life? 

When he reached his room the king sent for his historians to study the legends of the valley and report back to him.  Perhaps, there was a way around this problem.    

“King Amorian?” one young historian asked, “You can seize the woman and take her back with you,” he suggested not seeing the King’s real dilemma. 

The King nodded a negative response and waved the youngster off while the older historians gathered around the young man and explained the true nature of the problem.  

King Amorian became more besotted with Leah as she hiked with him each day and dined with him each evening. Some afternoons she taught him to meditate and gave him proper eating guidelines for his health.  He was already a man of simple tastes who kept in shape so he learned the lore of the valley and began to love the rock formations, glades, trails, and the bright stars at night.

One night there was a sudden storm and huge blades of lightening illuminated the sky and a warm rain fell as they dined. They both decided to stay out to watch the grandeur and Leah had an umbrella placed over the table to keep them dry.  Her eyes shone like a thousand candles in the excitement of the storm and he wanted to take her into his arms and carry her to his bed as the thunder rolled over them shaking the foundations and bolts of lightning revealed the ghostly rock formations moving in the night like gods.

When she excused herself after dinner he stood on the terrace and then saw her in her white garments running off toward the rocks heedless of the warm rain falling around her.  He dismissed his guards and followed her out among the huge ochre formations.  He caught a glimpse of her occasionally leaping and frolicking among the rock formations like a goddess celebrating with the gods.     

He followed her and began to feel delirium as he had during the forty days and forty night experience when he had first met Leah.  He called out to her and she remained poised on one foot and looked back.

“Go back, King Amorian, I cannot leave this place.”

“Yes, Leah, you will be my Queen,” he answered her, “You will have everything you ever wanted,” he promised.

She told him, “Removed from this place I will wither and die like an autumn leaf in the fall.”

“No,” he said getting closer, “You will not die.”

“King Amorian, I tell you the truth, if you take me from this place you will surely watch me die within the month.”

King Amorian stood in the storm, wet and feeling a fool until he exploded in rage.  He grabbed her shoulder and the next day they all set out for Esagilia.  The King’s future Queen bound to the saddle of a fiery mare shying next to the king’s stallion her bridle in the King’s hands.   “This King will have what this King wants,” Amorian roared in anger.     

But Leah, true to legend and her own words began to fail as they drew further away from the ochre gods and the King began to fear her words were true.  Stubbornly he kept them moving closer to Esagilia and his court doctors.  As she lay on her death bed in Esagilia he began to relent and beg her forgiveness but she spit in his face and said, “King, again today, by your own choice, you lost your wife and our son forever.”  She didn’t regained consciousness and the suddenly old King Amorian never knew his own son - or how to love.   

Fare well and flourish, my friends.

October 2013 Karen MacEanruig