The Fated Marriage #5

Book 2

Book 2: Episode 5 – Fated Meetings

Note from the Author: Hey all! Sorry for the pause in posts, life happens.  I’ll be sending out updates for any further hiatuses. (Hiatusi? Hitatus’? I’ll take Grammarly’s word for it.)

Poseidon’s wrath would plague the fleets from Argos and Athens, sunk during their journey west, towards the distant Syracuse.  Its shores flanked by rocky foothills, not too dissimilar to the landscape of Argos, The fleet set themselves ashore near the city, just beyond the sight of its defenders.  Kal, Aegeus, Kalos, made their way, alone,  towards the city.   Kal’s daring plan was to sit down with the False King and his nobility, proclaim him a fake, and then kill the False King. 

Kalos interjects Kal’s explanation, “What of your Este? The woman who was made for you?”

“I will go to the palace and free her,  tricking the king.” 

Aegeus questioned, “I know you did great things aboard the Argo, but what exactly do you plan to do in order to trick the king?”

Kal took a moment, but remained indignant, “I can only do what I know I can do, I only ask that you do what you know you can do.”  Kalos and Aegeus nod and the group enters Syracuse. 

Entering the palace, flanked by a legion of guards, the paranoid king screams as soon as Kal enters the doors.  

“Who goes there? Who dares enter my palace uninvited? An Intruder? Assassins?”

“A humble hero my lord” Kal bows, “I have traveled far on a quest, I seek the shield of Athena, which was said to be lost here in Sicily.” 

The false king relaxed, but still vigilant for something, he looked to the side and a bird had flown nearby and the king jerked at its fluttering of wings. 

“What you seek may be here, but I don’t think the Warrior Goddess would want me to hand it to just any man who walked into my palace and asked for it.” 

Kal awaits the rest, but the king has seemingly forgotten.  The movement of servants again spooked the King, who ordered some guards to seize them.

“Anyway, maybe you need to prove yourself as a hero, many men have sought the shield.  You will seek out the Cyclops who live in the wild-lands beyond this city’s walls and bring me an eye. Then I will grant you the shield.”

Kal, perplexed by such a demand, accepts it regardless. “I will return in three days time my lord.”

As Kal begins out, the mistress of the False King, Este, walks out to see the King.  She locks eyes with Kal, and he to hers.  Time seemingly vanished, but Kal knew he had to leave.  

“My lord, is this your beautiful daughter?” 

The King looked over to Este, and hesitated, but said “No sir, this is my maiden, Este.  Certainly, a sight for sore eyes isn’t she Kal?”

Kal felt the arrow of Eros, the allure of her eyes and the beauty of her figure, perfectly sculpted to exactly what he had seen in his dreams.  Her hair has been tied back, she wears a gown of pure white, but her face looking at the King was one of pain and sadness.  She could not help herself from catching a glimpse of Kal, a strange man she undoubtedly has seen in her dreams.  Kal could not find the words, she gave him a feeling that he never felt before, not the fear of the dreams or the loneliness of Lemnos, but a feeling that what he seeks, is standing before a murderer. 

“She is my lord, her father must be happy to see you take such care of a woman,” Kal says, choking a bit on the words.

“She does not know of her father, nor do I, but her mother kept her within the royal family.“

“Indeed” Kal set off to slay a Cyclops, but once he left the palace he hid near the grounds, awaiting nightfall to see Este, the goal of this entire journey as it was told. 

Este and the False king lay in bed, as the gentle glow of the moon filled the room, one half darkened, where the False King slept, as even the moon knew of his sins.  The king attempted to have his way with Este, but exhaustion took him, and he drifted into sleep.  Este, still awake, went to the window, to see if the mysterious man she had seen in her dreams was still around.  She wandered the tall halls of the palace, a few servants were awake, bowing and moving to finish their tasks before bed.  She went into the back hall, barely lit and filled with grain and wine, she moved a few barrels and went out a door which had been in place for a long time, an old door for royals to escape in sieges.  The night air was brisk, the winter was waning and turning to spring, but the nights remained cold.  She walked along the palace walls, before she and Kal ran into each other.  Eros’ spell had set in, the two were unsure of what to say to each other.  

“Have you dream’t of a mysterious woman you had never met and was told by a deceased parent that you were made for her, and her for you?”  She asked a nervous wreck.

“I see here in Sicily they skip the pleasantries of introducing ourselves.”

Este chuckled softly, attempting to remain quiet. “I wish I had the privileged of pleasant conversation in my downtime, but I am forever watched by a paranoid man.”

Kal and Este locked eyes, the world around them melted away and for a brief moment in time, neither of the world’s plights, or strife, or menace had any bearing on the couple.  two people, who have found the missing piece; seperated by the Gods before their birth.

“For the first time it feels as if time has frozen in place, just for us to relish in this moment granted to us by the Fates.” Kal says, firmly, his mind awash with all of what they could be, all they could want, and the life that he rejected for a mistress and cheap wine.

“That’s a beautiful thought my lord, do all of your conversations bear such wisdom onto those around you fortunate enough to be able to hear it?”

Kal replied with a smile that could warm the hearts of the most cold-blooded of characters, “Perhaps I simply have the inspiration to say exactly how my heart feels, without the fear of propriety or the constrictions of discussion in the halls of kings.”

“Be free of those worries noble hero, and let me know who has come to my aid.”

Este takes his hands and the pair breathe slowly together. “You must answer my first question lord hero, I want to believe you.”

“I have, my mother called out to me from Hades and told me this Woman was made for me, and I for her.”  Kal said.  Este was unsure if this was the man she had been told about since she could remember.  It was unlike women around her to have the man they desired.   Her father had told her in dreams that he would venture far and wide to find her, braving even the wrath of the Gods. 

She began, “If you are who you say you are, what brought you here?”

Kal paused, but continued, “I was told by the Oracle that I must free you and Syracuse from the clutches of a False King.  That man is him, he killed my father and I have brought an army to free the city….and you”. 

Este could not believe it, it was him.  A Hero who fought with a wooden shield and set off on a perilous quest to free her.  

“Let us run away from here, we need not get involved with the city and its problems, we can get away!  Your quest is complete!”

Kal considered it but is oath-bound. “I must free this city, or you’ll never truly be free of this False King.”

Este was sad but agreed.  The two embraced each other at that moment.  The first of many before the inevitable war began.