JUST ONE LAST TASTE PART 7



JUST ONE LAST TASTE PART 7



While Maya watched the little girl run out the door, the room started to turn into a blur and spin. When everything cleared she found herself in a large room that was covered with almost all things pink. It looked as if a bottle pepto bismo spilled and wasted all over the room. Maya looked in the corner of the room and saw the little girl sitting on her bed, holding the black knight in her hand playing with it. While Maya continued to watch the little girl she, saw the figure of the king slowly walking towards the little girl on the bed.

"Maya my princess.", said the King.

"Yes father.", said the little girl looking up at him.

"I know you were suppose to leave and visit Armand and General Terminar tomorrow, but there has been some change in plans."

"A change in plans father?... I promised Armand that I would return his knight to him."

"I know you did my child, but something has happened and you will not be able to do it now, but I promise one day you will be able to return the black knight to Armand."

The little girl dropped her face from the king and toyed with the knight in her fingers. She then looked up at her father and when she looked upon him, she had tears streaming down her cheeks.

The king looking very concerned sat down on the edge of the bed and told the little girl to come sit on his lap. The little girl left her side of the bed and crawled over to where the King was sitting and sat on his lap with her arms around his neck. The king hugged the little girl tightly and laid a kiss on her head and with a small sigh said to the little girl.

"Maya, life is very unpredictable, sometimes we make plans to do things and then they get interrupted suddenly and we can't do anything, but to adjust our lives accordingly.

"Yes, father." Whimpered the little girl.

"What I am trying to say my love, is that the reason why you cannot go visit Armand and the General is because a war has broken out with one of our settlements and it is my duty as the king to protect all those who are under my realm. Therefore, the General and his army, with the aid of the Shadows will be leaving today."

Maya lifted her head off the King's shoulders and looked at him and said.

"What are the Shadows? I have heard you talk of them before father, but I do not know what they are."

The king smiled down at the little girl and gently started stroking her hair with his hand.

"Child, by the way you talk to me, sometimes I forget that your only ten years old. You're mom would be upset with me for telling you this, but you do need to know.  The shadows are a group of men and women who will stop at nothing to protect you and the realm we live in. They are part of something special and one day when you're grown up enough to rule, I will tell you about them and all they have done to protect us"

"Why don't we see the shadows?", asked the little girl.

Laughing the king said," Well, then they wouldn't be true to their name would they?"

Laughing herself the little girl then asked.

"What is going to happen to Armand now that his father is away?"

"Armand has been sent to live with a distant relative until the General returns"

"Will I ever get to see him again Father?"

"I am sure you will my child.", said the King as he continued holding the little girl in his lap.

            As Maya looked upon the pair the room again started to change, this time splashes of colors started bursting everywhere around her and after they had burst they then dissolved into the air.

This time when Maya looked around the room, she saw that she was still in the little girl's room, but things had changed. The bed that was sitting in the corner of the room was no longer a child's bed, but a queen size bed and the room didn't look like it had been attacked by a pink monster. On the contrary, the room was decorated with dark wooden furniture and splashes of teal blue and chocolate brown covered the room. Across the room Maya saw a young girl staring at herself in the mirror. She had on a beautiful purple dress that was simply made. There were white flowers around the boarder of it. The length of her dress came just above her knee and the way it shimmered brought great contrast to her chocolate skin. Maya watched the young girl in the mirror fuss with her curly hair that hung loosely around her shoulders. On top of her head she wore a mini crown that was encrusted with diamonds and it shimmered bright in the light as the young girl continued to fuss with her hair. A few moments later, a small petite woman came in to the room.

"Your majesty, must you fuss with your hair so? You look beautiful and I am sure everyone there will think so too!", said the petite woman

"I know Alice!", said the young girl. "I am not worried about what everyone else thinks. I am just you know… nervous…"

"Nervous my lady?"

"Yeah Alice... I haven't seen Armand in over eight years and I wonder what he looks like now. I wonder if he will recognize me?"

"My Lady I am sure that even though it has been eight years and you're now a full grown woman of eighteen, I do believe that Armand well remember you."

"Thanks Alice, you always know how to cheer me up."

"You're welcome my lady. Anything for my future Queen."

As Maya continued to watch the pair in the mirror, an overwhelming feeling of joy spread through here.

I totally forgot that Alice has been with me all my life. No wonder she was nervous when she saw me in that dark room. I am going to have to apologize to her next time I see her.

The room started to change again and this time Maya was standing in the middle of a big throne room. There were party decorations all around the room and streamers of purple and gold were entwined with each other as they decorated the ceiling and walls. In the room there were a multitude of people. Men were shaking hands and discussing business  and about the world's trade. While women were politely greeting each other and admiring each other's dresses. There was a great band of musicians playing in the corner of the room, eloquently dressed, with hats that had feathers sticking out of them and black frocks with black pants. She continued looking about the room and suddenly saw a cascade of stairs that were covered in plush red velvet and lined with gold on the seams. Above the stairs on the platform sat three gold thrones, all three sat side by side each other, while the one in the middle was slightly ahead of the other two and was much larger. The one on the right was slightly smaller than the middle chair, but bigger than the one on the left.  The throne on the left was smaller, but equal to the other two in beauty.

In the middle chair sat the King, he was dressed in his purple cloak that was outlined with white fur and he wore black pants with a black shirt. He also was holding his golden scepter in his right and his head was adorned with his golden crown.  To the right of him sat the Queen, she was very pretty with long black hair that hung just above her shoulders. She had a kind face and a warm smile. She wore a black dress that went just below her knees and also had on a red cloak that was outlined in white fur and wore a golden crown on top of her head.
As soon as Maya looked upon the Queen,  tears started to leave her eyes. She realized how much she missed her mom and she wish that she could just go up there and put her arms around her.

To the left of the king sat the young girl and Maya watched the young as she seemed to be scanning the room anxiously.

"Be still my child said the King."You shall look upon your young friend soon enough"

"Yes, father," said the young girl sullenly,

Maya noticed that the crowd started to split in two, letting these two male figures walk through them to the thrones. Not wanting to miss who these people were, Maya ran through the crowd, up the steps and stood beside the young girl; just so that she could get a better look at the these two people that he crowd parted ways for.  As she watched them approach, she noticed that one of the men looked much older than the other, he had long grey hair and he wore a red shirt with black pants that had cuffs at the end of them. His face looked like it was sunken in and he eyes were beaded and small and his skin had a reddish tent to it, like he had been in the tanning bed to long. On top of his head he wore a crown that looked like it had been made of bones or something similar to bones. The other male beside him was younger and handsome. He had long golden hair with piercing blue eyes. He too wore a red shirt with black pants that were cuffed at the bottom of them. Confidence radiated from this man and you could see a hint of glimmer from his eyes.

They made their way to the top of the steps and kneeled down before the King and his family.

"Rise", said the King. "King Raymore, it is indeed a honor to have you here for my daughter's birthday"

Lord Raymore lifted himself up and said to the King," The honor is all ours mine your Kingship and may I present to you and your family my son, Prince Shagaar  the future ruler of the realm of Venior.

"It is our honor to greet you on this joyous occasion King Raymore. Please feel free to enjoy yourself. We have food, wine and great music. The festivities will take place soon."

"Thank you, your Kingship my son and I will be delighted! Also, my Lord we have heard many rumors of your daughters beauty, no doubt they come from her Queen. In token of that, we have bought Princess Maya a gift."

Prince Shagaar put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small box. He then went and stood in front of the young girl and kneeled before her, holding the box, he stretched out his arm with the small box in the palm of his hand. The young girl looked down at the Prince Shagaar and took the box. Shargaar lifted his head and gave her a wink with a sly smile and then dropped his head again.  The box was covered with red like foil and there was a pink ribbon on top. The young girl carefully untied the ribbon and unwrapped the foil. She then opened the box and saw a small red ruby bracelet that had diamonds nestled in between each stone.

Prince Shagaar then lifted himself up from his knees and took the bracelet from the box and gently fastened the bracelet around the young girl's arm. Prince Shagaar then took the young girl's hand and kissed it. Flabbergasted by the sudden gesture, the young girl just stood there and stared at Prince Shaggar for a few seconds.
Then she said in a shaky voice, " You do me honor Princess Shagaar with this beautiful gift."

"The honor is all mine Princess Maya. If you would permit me I would ask you a favor?"

"Such as?"

"I would be most honored if you would allow me to have the first dance with you tonight?
Maya still stunned by the gifted, looked at Prince Shagaar and said, "Yes… I mean it would be a pleasure to dance with you this evening."

Prince Shagaar bowed to Maya and went back to stand beside his father. King Raymore turned to the young girl and said, "Princes Maya, my heart swells with pride and I look forward to seeing you and Prince Shagaar dance later on this evening."

King Raymore then bowed to the royal family and turned around walked away. Prince Shaagar mimicked his father's movements and followed after him.

While Maya watched King Raymore and Prince Shagaar descend down the steps back to the throne room floor, she couldn't help but notice an older General Terminar come up after them. He was still very physically fit for a man of his age and you could see gray patches starting to form in his beard. Beside him was a younger man who was the same height as he, but he was skinnier, with long arms and legs. He had a strong chin with brown and eyes and short black hair that was cut in a low fade. As they approached the thrones, Maya noticed the excitement in the younger males' eyes as they were locked on the young girl. Maya looked between the two and realized that the young man beside General Terminar was Armand.  No sooner did they reach the throne's landing when the King got off his throne and walked up to General Termniar shook his hand and gave him a big hug.

"Aye, General Termniar! How good it is to see you! , "exclaimed the King."And this must be young Armand!"

Armand stood before the king and bowed to him. "It is a pleasure to see you again your Majesty", said Armand.

"The pleasure is all mine.", said the King "Let me introduce to you her royal highness and of course I know you remember Princess Maya."

Armand bowed before the Queen and she smiled and nodded at him, he then turned to face the young girl. When he looked upon her, Maya could see something striking in  Armand's eyes.  He walked boldly to the young girl's throne and kneeled before her.

"Princess Maya, It's been long, since I've last seen you, but please allow me to give you this token of our friendship for your birthday.", said Armand in a rich masculine voice.

Maya and the young girl watched as Armand pulled out of his pocket a small white box that had a purple ribbon tied around it. Armand got off his knees and handed the young girl the box and as he did so, he also grabbed her hand, bowed down and kissed it, then looked back up at the girl smiled and walked away.  Shaking nervously, the young girl opened the box and found a small silver necklace and on the necklace was silver rose pendent.

"Beautiful." Whispered the young girl.

She slowly stood up from her throne and walked over to Armand. As Maya watched her walk over him, she noticed how Armand's eyes would travel up and down her body. She could also see a slight shiver move through the young girl as she got closer to Armand. When they were face to face, the girl smiled at Armand and said,

"Armand my friend, I have longed to see you and keep my promise to you."
She then put her hand in a pocket on her dress and pulled out the miniature black knight. "I have kept this for you, these many years and now I am able to return it to its rightful owner."

Laughing Armand took the miniature knight in his hand and said, "Thank you for keeping this for me. It means a lot to me that you have kept my mother's gift, but I would ask that you would keep it a little while longer and allow me to return to you, to retrieve it another day."

Smiling the girl said, "I would be honored to continue holding on to your precious gift on one condition."

"And that is…", said Armand huskily

"That is if you will so kindly put this necklace around my next and dance with me at least once tonight."

"That my princess.", said Armand "I can most gladly do"

The young girl handed Armand back the box and he took out the necklace. The young girl then turned her back to him and waited for Armand to put the necklace around her neck.  Suddenly, she felt warm fingers trail down her shoulders to her neck and her collar bone. The cool sensation of the necklace mixed with the warmth of Armand's fingers, were almost intoxicating for the young girl.

When Armand had finished fastening the necklace upon the young girl's neck, Maya watched him as he whispered into the young girl's ear," How beautiful you are my Princess and thank you for wearing this." then he dropped his hands from her shoulders and walked away.

The girl turned around and faced him and said, "Thank you Armand and General Terminar for this lovely gift."

General Terminar said, "All thanks should go to Armand your highness. He had that specially made just for you."

The young girl turned back to Armand and said, "Armand, above all gifts, this is one I will cherish the most."

"Thank you, your highness, I am well pleased", said Armand.

Armand then left and went to stand beside his father once again.

Maya noticed that the King and General Terminar gave each other a sly nod and smile and then the King went and stood on the edge of the platform and said,

"Thank you all for coming out to celebrate Princess Maya's eighteenth birthday! I trust you will enjoy the food, music and games that we have to offer. Now, without any delay let the celebration dance begin!"