The angel of

redemption

Written By: Paterne EDZANG MBOT

Princess Patou was walking slowly towards the bench of the road. A cold breeze
swept her and she stayed still. The clouds were grey and the wind was wincing on
top of the trees with an extreme violence.
The atmosphere was charged with a sudden rush into desperation, a fierce struggle
between nature’s beauty and the ugliness of an empty space. Life itself was at the
centre of an intense spark of fire, which turned out to be no less than a renewal for
uncertainty and ambiguity.

She found herself weeping and crying deeply, but not because of the unstable wind
or not because of the battle for life between nature’s elements. She held back a tear
for a moment, which finally ran down her left cheek. It was a pain she could not
handle or even not contain. She put her left palm on her face and looked ahead, in
the gloomy sunset of her countryside.

Why was life so uncertain, unsure and insecure? Thoughts were bouncing in her
head like punching balls but she did not know the reason for this. The shining sun
was losing its brilliance away in the horizon and although, it seemed to slack its
purple strength with time, it was still a bloody picture. She saw at a glance that the
star was closing its path down into the earth in a dawdling motion. This made her
remember of the only moments of joy and happiness she shared with her lost father.

A terrifying sound echoed from the dark fields, frightening her to the bones. However,
she knew that she could not turn back at all. It was too late to decide whether to
pursue her mission or to give it up as she had a commitment to succeed triumphantly
or to die atrociously. Destiny would have to decide for her and she would have to
place her fate upon God’s will. In the dark, her battle against odd enemies will be
without any mercy, for they were responsible of her father’s death.

When she left this morning, it was still dark all around her estate. An expression of
grief appeared on her face when she saw her brother’s sword lying on a couch. A
loss of the two most important people in her life was a very difficult thing to handle.
Her brother Kevin died along with his troops in a heavy encounter against the
Gazebos in the region of Carafe. The garrison fought an ambush against the
merciless Gazebos who were terrorising the inhabitants of Sata. Kevin led proudly
his troops to the fight with courage and bravery up until a stroke on the back by the
redoubtable Jean of Sata, killed him.

This was her ordeal; most of her life had been thrown upside down by these tragic
events. She looked away in the direction of the Grayney hilltops. The landscape had
changed from the green and yellow patches of grass and flowers to the darkish of
spectacle. The air grew thicker and the sky was almost pitch black. She restrained
herself from sobbing at the thought of her brother, the only person in this world who
really understood her and cared for her more than anyone else. Fate had decided to
tear them apart forever and now she would have to go her own way.

It was a strange feeling, being alone for the first time, without anybody by your side
telling you what to and what not to do. She brought into her mind most of the happy
moments she shared with her elder brother. She never fought of how handsome he
was up until now. She remembered quite well, how girls used to turn their heads
around and blush by looking at him passing in front of them. Still trying to collect her
thought while walking on a slippery road with a torch in her hand, she heard a sound
emanating from the bushes behind her. It was dark by now and the moonlight was
hidden under the clouds. She did not paid much attention to it, but she knew that
being alone on this road at night was not wise. An old story about a terrible ogre who
used to terrorise the lowland plains of Darbooth came into her mind. ‘ I have got to
be courageous’ she said.

Everything began the day her father came back from his expedition from the city of
Ablong, near Darbooth. King Alcrid, the Magnificent, who ruled this region, invited his
brother King Polser of Volgan along with other dignitaries, to run a secret set of
discussion on the future of the province. Worrying reports from the northern outward
posts of his kingdom suggested that an imminent invasion organised by the Derilos
tribes was under way. Something had to be done to stop or at least prevent them
from causing chaos, destruction and mayhem on the whole region.

King Alcrid, who presided the ceremony, sat on a golden throne, with his brother King
Polser on his right hand side and his eldest son, Prince Janif, on his left. The
dignitaries around the table included King Trolian of Colkon, the redoubtable Jean of
Sata, ruler of the Gazebo territory, Prince Hyrean, of the lowland plains of Darbooth,
Prince Astrid of Carafe and a representative from the people of the Grayney hilltops.
The only people missing were King Yowrin of the dark forest around the Gazebo
territory and a representative from the Culhgos tribes, who lived at the edge of the
forest and the unknown world.
Prince Kevin sat on the second row of dignitaries and listened attentively to every
conversation.
- “People in this meeting may be our most outspoken allies or our most ferocious
and dangerous enemies”, his father told him the morning before arriving at
Ablong.
- “Always stay on your guard, and stand close by me at anytime”.
- “Yes, father, I’ll be very careful”, he replied.

The meeting began with an update on the situation at the front line made by the
king’s adviser for war, Jancelot of Mandiri.
- “ Our spies detected a few weeks ago, an outgoing military activity at the
northern frontier with the Derilos. They observed a building up of troops,
machinery and weapons being deployed at the border in preparation for a
massive attack. Our main concern is to get ready for war and avoid a blood shed
for our population. At the moment, their forces are concentrated around Zentaca
Island and they are still advancing towards our coast.” He put a map of the
region on the table and showed precisely the position of the Derilos forces and
those of Ablong.
- “What are they potential and why do they want to fight against us? Asked Prince
Astrid of Carafe, who was excited at the thought of getting into battle
- “ We do not know the reasons for such a behaviour. All we have gathered up to
now is that their new leader, Lord Zentaca want a new path to the sacred river
Volgan and we stand right in front of him.”
A long silence followed thereafter. Everybody understood the dangers that were
almost visible by getting into war against an untrustworthy tribe. King Polser was the
most concerned, as his kingdom was the centre of attention of it all or the main
reason behind the supposed massive deployment. A streak of light slowly
illuminated the faces of the nobles and lords present in the hall. The tension was
visible in all the faces. It was quite true that war represented a serious threat into the
well being of the whole region as far as people of those lands were concerned. War
meant the extermination of huge population of inhabitants. As always, civilians were
the first targets during battles as the advancing troops will be crushing everything in
front of them. King Polser stood up and spoke eloquently and vehemently for the
defence of his beloved country.
- “ This is a serious situation that has to be dealt with determination, strength and
abnegation. But before going into battle, before engaging the hostilities the path
of peace must be taken first as it is the only appropriate way to solve the
problem. As such, I suggest that we send our most eminent emissaries to hold
peace talks with lord Zentaca, so that we could have a better perspective of the
 situation. It will be foolish of us to start a war that will have devastating
consequences not only for us but also for the entire region. We must be
convinced of the intentions of the Derilos before any action is taken. That all I
had to say. “
- “Thank you brother for your perspiscacity and your shrewdness in understanding
this outgoing situation.” Said King Alcrid.
Jean of Sata then said: “My lords, may I remind you that the last time we fought the
Derilos, it took our ancestors a lot of courage and bravura to hold them back to their
positions”. He was just a little bit older than Prince Janif and Prince Kevin but it did
not have their patience or calmness. His father, Lord Gazebo had been an arrogant
and cruel king who put people to death just by clicking his fingers. His own people
hated him most of his reign but nobody had the temperament to stand out against
him. Jean inherited most of his father’s weaknesses, and foolishness.
- “ I propose that we crush them like bugs and wipe these ruffians out of the
surface of the earth. We then will have control of the vast region of the Derilos
territory which, may I remind you is full of potential for our nations. All we need to do
is prepare a strong and very disciplined army, which will incorporate all the most
valiant soldiers in service in our kingdoms. This will be easy meat for us as our
coalition will be greater than the Derilos army tenfold”.
There was a pause in his speech, which let people wonder whether it would be
talking again or not. Then, King Polser broke this heavy silence before everybody
else did but now his tone had changed. The whole room was like transfixed by his
presence on the golden throne.
- “ I, king Polser of Ablong, son of Quotor the great and of Princess Diany,
solemnly declare that we seek an emissary to represent us against Lord
Zentaca. As I do not trust him more than you do, we must send armed guards to
accompany our emissary to his delicate mission in the vicinity of the border.
Beside, a decision could not be taken without the agreement of all kingdoms and
families under our jurisdiction ”.

It was already dark when she arrived in front of a small wooden house, with a
shallow roof in the outskirts of the city of Ablong. Not much was visible at this time of
the night but she struggled not to stumble on the floor or of not being knocked off.
The moonlight was high up in the sky, spreading its wings over the city. For her, it
seemed quite strange to stand out in the street and to not really know where to go.
She had a quest that had taken all her spirit and most of all her candour. She looked
around and saw nothing but emptiness, not only in reality but also in her mind. This
sense of desolation, loneliness and self-detachment made her look worried for a
moment but she shrugged it off.
Tiredness and exhaustion were gaining what was left of her strength and she could
not even feel her legs anymore. She knocked on a door at the end of the road and
waited patiently some time. Inside, a snoring sound was perceptible. Then, she
banged at the door again, and somebody woke up from within the house. The door
slowly opened to let a grey haired woman strongly built peer out, looking for any
mischievous troublemaker.
- “I am sorry to be of any inconvenience but some reasons I got lost in the night
and could find my way home. I shall be grateful if could lend me one of your
rooms to sleep in tonight. I have got enough money to pay, do not worry.
The old lady looked at her intently to see if she lying or not and then opened widely
the door up.
- “My lady, my house is not fitted to receive people of your rank. I have seen of
lost strangers in my life, banging at my door but none of them look near as
beautiful as you. Come on in.”
Going into this house was like a new discovery into an unknown world. The ceiling
was illuminated by a small set of candle lit lights.

Since her infancy, Patou had never left her home at all. Her father had protected his
children with affection and tenderness but also with a stronghold on both her and
Kevin. Sometimes, it happened that their father took them both to the market of
Darbooth to help him choose new ornaments and upholstery for his castle. This
market was one of the most important of the region. It started some centuries ago as
a small village of carpenters who gathered up to form a brotherhood of merchants.
They did not have much to do but follow him inside the stalls and make an opinion
on this or that. Most of it was boring but they had at least to be outside of their
house and see other people than their servants.
Then one while they were doing their usual tour of the market, they came across a
small stall that was selling freshly captured slaves from Carafe.