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 center 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 fearsome 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 whore ally 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 hewas 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 pay 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 any time”.

- “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 bloodshed 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 wellbeing 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 holdpeace 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
Ihad to say. “

- “Thank you brother for your perspicacity 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 dois 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 dwelling of carpenters who gathered up to form a fellowship 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.