Red's CD Project Story 2: Part 11 – The Kings of Satar

Note: As I have said, I've had some other storylines running through my head to mostly keep me interested, but also add some depth to this tale. I guess I got to thinking, "Do I care if Salama destroys this world?" What worried me then was if I have to ask this of myself, then surely my reader would also. I guess in part this is to create a vision of normalcy, of not wanting things lost. Also, I think it breaks up some of the Oan/Nestor tale. I do worry that my scope has grown too large to finish by the end of the tracks. But we'll see what happens.


Disc 1
Track 11: Cunfusion – The Zutons

“Why can’t this feelin’ leave me… just fade away?”

Ewam Perde shifted in his throne moving his chin from his right palm to his left leaning forward with his elbows on the marble armrests. Union Hall was empty save for his brother, his wife and their daughter at the other end near the two huge wooden doors. Ewam watched them. There was Eden, dressed in a silk blue shirt and brown pants that gave way to long leather boots. His hair was a bright red, his skin pale, his face wide and clean-shaven. He was every bit the copy of Ewam, except that Ewam rarely was so well groomed. Kendra, Eden’s wife, was slim and tall. Her hair was golden, her gown was flowing and speckled with flowers of every color. Even from the distance, she was breathtaking. Ewam had to look away. Her beauty was the bane of the aging bachelor.

Eden was bent over examining his daughter, Evandra, a girl named after the brothers’ mother. She resembled both Eden and Ewam, her hair a dark red, her features thick, strong, but not fat. She had a laugh that cheered the most somber room and a heart as big as Old Moon’s face. Ewam loved his niece dearly, but he seldom allowed himself to gawk anymore at her then he did her mother. There was pain there where there should not be. Wistful thoughts tended to follow and delivering the sharp thrust that nothing in the past could be changed.

From across the hall, the words of the family doting over the apparently ill girl came to him in fading echoes. It was unusual for Union Hall, the royal palace of Satar, to be so quiet. Usually servants and dignitaries and every manner of person would fill the room to have audience with the Kings. Eden and Ewam were the Kings of Satar, the kingdom that housed the heirs of the old kingdoms of Isa and Besa.

Never before had Satur had two kings. The duality of the throne worried the citizens. They took it as a sign. The kingdom had been under the rule of one king since the chaos that followed Tarek Grandar’s defeat of Salama and the pouring forth of the waters of the Belnor. The great river had flooded most of Besa. The inhabitants had fled to Isa bending the tenuous truce between the two kingdoms till it broke. A war made up of nearly a dozen different factions broke out and lasted nearly 50 years till the Perde family restored peace and formed a new kingdom named Satar.

Since then, one king had ruled Satar and peace had allowed the kingdom to grow and prosper beyond any other in the world. Then Ewam and Eden were born. Twins and mixed to the point that no one knew for sure who had come first. Their father, Eltor, declared before his death that both should rule and that was the decree that the two brothers followed. The partnership had eased the burden of rule some, but disagreements led to the occasional rift between the two brothers.

Through it all, they remained closer than friends. The two spoke their own language that they formed when they were infants. They understood each other’s minds. They were patient, yet assertive with one another. It was a bond that Ewam treasured above all else. So he avoided contact with Kendra and tried not think too much about Evandra. It was a daunting task to say the least, but the pressures and worries of the kingdom usually provided enough distraction.

Now, there was this business of Eleanor, the twin’s younger sister. Where had the fool girl gone? For her to leave in the middle of the night without a word of warning or a note saying goodbye was not her style. She was flighty, but not so much so. She would have made some grand gesture to draw attention to herself. She had always envied the power her brothers wielded, and anyway to divert some of that authority or attention to herself was her style. But she hadn’t done that. She had left, taking nothing, not even a change clothes. There also was no sign that anyone had taken her. The twins had plenty of enemies, but none bold enough to make such a move. Where was the fool girl?

And there were others? Eleanor was not the only one missing. Everyone from high ladies to cook’s assistants were disappearing by the day. Farmers from outside the city were stopping by the palace at all hours with news that their wives and daughters were gone. Ewam was baffled by all of it. Of course, women had always sort of baffled him. His gaze went back to Kendra for only a moment. She was feeling her daughter’s forehead. Something is wrong, fever perhaps. Hopefully nothing serious, he could not stand to see the girl go through a terrible illness. Disease was always a risk for the young ones. Perhaps he should go over and see for himself. He let the thought go seeing his brother straighten up after giving the girl a hug. Eden was sending them away. His brother embraced his wife once, gave her a kiss and turned toward Ewam. From behind, Ewam saw Kendra take one quick look at him up on the throne before whisking her daughter away.

Eden composed himself in an instant. Ewam never doubted that it was Eden that had been born first and that he was the brother meant to sit upon the throne of Satar. The signs were in his long, confidant strides. The way he held his shoulders back and kept his face forward. The man exuded strength without trying. For Ewam, everything was difficult from keeping his beard short to standing up straight. He was a man designed to slouch in a tavern not tower from a throne. He genuinely wished his father had chose Eden as king so that he could have left Satar on his whim and returned only if need be.

Eden sat, slowly, properly, into the throne to Ewam’s right. The man kept both feet upon the marble floor and his back straight. Ewam did not know how he the man kept so cool under such pressure. They were twins, but they each had their secrets. Eden’s self control was his.

“Is Evandra ill?” Ewam asked.

Eden stiffly turned his head, a frown momentarily breaking his ruling façade. Ewam worried that his brother kept too many of emotions hidden behind his eyes.

“For three nights she has complained of nightmares,” Eden stopped not sure if he should continue.

“She’s getting a little too old for that,” Ewam regretted the words as they came out.

“I don’t think any of us grow out of bad dreams, brother.” The frown was now more of a scowl.

Eden stared out across Union Hall, taking in the high-arched ceiling, the dozens of smooth stone columns, the gold trim between the marble tiles. All the majesty that made Union Hall one of the most awing places in the world.

“I don’t know if they are so much nightmares,” Eden started in again. “She says there is a voice when she closes her eyes, even when she’s not asleep.”

“A voice?”

“Yes, a voice. It keeps her awake and crying at all times. I think it’s making her ill, I fear too ill.”

“Brother, is it some sort of madness?”

Eden did not answer, but stood from his throne and walked down the steps in front. Ewam studied his brother; Eden’s behavior was too much like his own. Where was his control?

“Any word on our sister?” Eden asked turning back toward Ewam.

“None. It’s like she’s vanished.”

“I see.” Eden looked away studying the room.

“There are reports of others gone missing also. All women.” Ewam did not want to admit to himself how many. The number was growing to be impossible.

Eden sighed, putting his hands to his hips. He wore a brown belt that he looped his thumbs through.

“Brother, perhaps we should send for the physician to see to Evandra.” Ewam could tell that the girl was weighing on his mind.

“I do not think it will help,” Eden said almost in a whisper.

“You believe it is madness?” Ewam was shocked.

“Nay, brother. I don’t believe it is.”

Ewam was concerned. This was not at all like his brother. The man was the stable one, the one always in control.

“How can you be so sure?”

Eden was pale; Ewam had not noticed it before. The man looked ill, almost on the precipice of fainting.

“Because Kendra hears it too.”

Ewam stood then, unable to contain his emotions. What in the name of the heavens was going on?

“What do you mean?”

“Kendra hears a voice also, every time she closes her eyes. She says she feels compelled to leave, to run. We haven’t told Evandra, but we can’t keep it secret much longer.”

Ewam turned away from his brother now, pulling at the long red curls of his beard. What evil is this?

“Eden. What is the voice saying?” Ewam spun to meet his brother’s terrified gaze.

Eden spoke the word then not in the common language of Satar, but in the twin-language they shared. It was something they reserved for when discretion was needed. They were alone in the hall, but Eden did not want any others to understand.

“Come.” Eden spoke, his voice dry and scared. The two brothers stood in silence for some time.