My King - Part I
Autor: J.P. Sérgio | Publicado: 2011-09-11T19:33:00-07:00

I was there sitting in a old worn wooden chair in the back of my aunt's barn, drowned in boredom, snapping my fingers over and over just to see the fire come out of it with the friction. What were my chores for the day? Feed the pigs? Brush the horses' tails? Pick cotton from the fields? Or just wait for destiny to reveal itself to me in the form of a tall and charming noble knight riding a huge black horse? No, wait, that was my everyday chore. My fingers were already sore when I heard heavy steps in the hay and hid my hands under my dirty white apron, putting my feet down from the stool I was using to rest them in. Segismund, the foreman, came to me with his disgusting limp looking angry and incredibly tired. My aunt made everyone work like slaves all day and for what? To get robbed every time she went on the fairs, just because she refused to take Segismund or a guard with her. Or me for that matter. I could be useful and she knew it, she just couldn't admit to herself that someone in her family was able to make fire out of their hands. "Hey match girl", Segismund yelled at me even if he was right beside me. "What are you doing sitting there? Get back to the house right now"."You do realize I'm right in front of you, don't you, Segismund?" I replied losing my temper. "And that I do have a name, you know? A real name, a middle name and a last name. You have three names to pick and yet you keep calling me like this" I complained and the grumbled something I couldn't hear while I was standing up. "People will end up knowing about me and then you and aunty Bea will have a lot of trouble to manage" "You talk too much, match girl" he said in his husky voice, patting my shoulders so I would walk faster. I glared at him and walked straight to the big house, which wasn't really that big but Aunt Bea like to call it like this. She called it The Mansion, to speak the truth and there wasn't any trace of Mansion in that rusty project of a house, with a very tiny front porch, a round door, two floors and one chimney just to impress the travelers when seen from far away. I climbed the three steps of the porch and the foreman left me there, thanks Aslam. I entered the dark house, the boards of the floor squeaking under my feet and the walls swallowing me with their dirt. I walked towards the kitchen and my aunt was there standing in front of the sink, with her reddish hair all tangled up and her dress more stained than usual. She's been killing chicken I should know from the smell she exhaled. "There you are, you sneaky gall" she said throwing her hands in the air when she saw me. "You have got to stop going missing like that" she continued and for the first time in my life I actually thought she was worried about me. "You have left me with all the work to do here, you lazy kid" she added crashing my hopes. Kid. I was 18 already. She often mumbled I should get marry right away and to a very rich and noble man to get her out of that "laborious and extremely exhaustive life of hers". Oh she wishes. If only she knew the first thing I would do when I get married was to run away from her and maybe live in another village... "I'm really sorry, aunty Bea" I lied explicitly and she stared at me waiting for a good excuse for not having already braided the pony tails of all her 20 horses. "I was just getting ready to work" I said and she sighed like she didn't really care much about my whereabouts. "It doesn't matter, you postpone your chores for tomorrow for I have some business to do in the village and I need you to take care of the farm" she told me, untying her apron e throwing it in the sink. "Go get the carriage ready for me and Segismund and then you get your fat lazy horse and go guard the limits of the property" she said, her accent real heavy on the "property". My aunt going to the village was one heck of a happening since she only did that from time to time and the last time I went to there I was 15, so it was about time I get out of those gates and see the world. "Don't even think about it" she said firmly when she saw the grin that was starting to grow on my face. "You're no going there any time soon or at least until you let me cut that awful hair of yours and make you pretty for the bachelors in town". I rolled my eyes and gave in, turning in my heels and getting out of the house heading back to the barn to get her carriage ready. After I watched the carriage disappear on the road I walked back into the house and got upstairs to my tiny room, laying in my bed and closing my eyes. What was I expecting to get the heck out of that stupid god forsaken place? Living with a woman to whom I shared no blood strings or anything, not even gratitude, that pretended she didn't know I was different, who made me feel ugly and worthless everyday; talking to the horses not to feel so lonely when I knew I had a great future waiting for me: that was no way to live at all. I snapped my fingers and watched as the flame grew bigger and blue in my hands and that shook my hand in the air, watching as it faded away. I sighed. What was I supposed to do? I got up, untied my apron, threw in the dirty clothes basket at the corner of my room and went downstairs, making my way out of the house and going to pick up my friend, Malakhai, the only memory I had from my parents: a very tall and muscled white horse. A talking one. "Hello my dearest friend" I said, rubbing the horse's nose and kissing the tip of it. He snorted happily at me and I smiled, brushing his hair with my fingers."Your hands are hot, Miss Lazio" he said to me as I got up to his back and made myself comfortable in the saddle. "Were you practicing your magic skills, madam?" he asked me and I gave him a little push, riding him out of the stable. "No, I was just bored to death, you curious" I replied and I could swear he laughed at the way I said it. "So, we are doomed to guard this land to rest of our lives" I kidded and again the partial laughter came out of his fully dented mouth. "The rest of our lives is a long time, Miss Lazio, and you of all people should know that" he said, trotting until he got near the fence that market the limits of the land. "Yes, I know, you're a magical creature, I'm a magical creature, we're Narnians and blah blah blah" I mocked, actually tired of thinking about what I said. "Aren't we supposed to be happy and free?" I asked him as I rode him through the fence very slowly, looking around, making sure nothing strange would come out of nowhere. "I guess we are, my master. I am happy, can't deny it. You are the best master one could have" he said tenderly and I rubbed his ears. He loved that. "But I must admit I don't feel free and I don't think you do too" he added and I sighed, closing my eyes for a second."I just wish I could ride you away from this place and see all Narnia, go to the village and to other villages, maybe meet someone noble or at least someone who works in the castle. I would be happy to have someone to tell us different stories" I confessed and Malakhai stopped his trotting against my will. "Then I shall take you somewhere else from this limits and show you something new" he said, turning left and starting to trot real fast. I grabbed the rein and let him take me wherever he was willing to. We stopped in the middle of the cotton fields the view was unbelievably gorgeous to the eye. I could see..."Is that Cair Paravel?" I asked, then feeling a little stupid for asking such a easy question to a talking horse. "It is indeed, master" he replied to me and turned his head to see my expression. I was completely dazzled and astonished. A flush of memories came to my eyes and I almost fell off the horse, holding in the rein and getting back of my track, hugging Malakhai thick neck. "Isn't it Cair Paravel where you were born, master?" he asked me softly as I let go of his neck and stood erect. I couldn't stop blinking and exhaling pretty roughly. "Yes it was, my friend. Yes it was" I whispered smiling involuntarily. "May I take you were I was born, madam?" he asked."Yes, please". And to left we went, running against the wind that blew my hair and the hem of my really long white dress. Malakhai jumped over the fence and got into the woods, which started to scare me as the silence became unbearable. He run faster and stopped like he had seen a ghost, making me fall down with my right foot stuck in the stirrup. "Oh Miss Lazio" he said mortified with his mistake. "I am terribly sorry, master, I really am" he continued while I shook my foot to get it loose. As I did I got up and Malakhai started licking my face nonstop and I laughed, trying to push him away. "I am really, really sorry, madam. I didn't mean to do you harm; I just got carried away with running. I haven't done it in a while". "It's okay, my darling, I'm not harmed" I said and he snorted relieved. He patted my back with his nose, cleaning the dirt off of my dress and then pushed me a little so I could take a look around. We were very near to a waterfall, inside the woods, and the noise of the water crashing into the river was just amazing and scaring at the same time. I walked a little more, getting closer to the fall e Malakhai followed me, very carefully not to step on any loose rock. My jaw dropped as I turned my head around to see everything of that beautiful place. The huge stones, the flowers sprouting within them and the water. The clearest water I've ever seen. There was a different glow in that river and I felt like I was the only one that could see it. Malakhai got closer and leaned his head to drink some water from the pond, looking very pleased to do it. I got on my knees at put my hands together as a shell, picking up some water and drinking it myself, feeling very reinvigorated after that. "Is that the place, Malakhai? Were you really born in here?" I asked, getting up and running my hand through his back gently."Yes, Miss Lazio" he said, looking around like there were thousands of memories flying about. "Your mother, Misses Lazio, were in a high level of her pregnancy, so was my mother. Your family was traveling to the village and my parents were with them. My mother gave birth to me in this very ground" he said, patting his front paw in the dirt. I grinned at him and he sat on the ground and I did the same thing. I took my boots of and than my dress, and got into the river, submerging and starting to swim around. I've felt so good in such a long time that I couldn't even remember the last time I smiled more than once in half an hour. I was laughing, splatting up water and having real fun with my wet hair and my wet gown. I must have done that for twenty minutes or more, then I got out of the river and stood up until I was sure my clothes weren't totally socked. Malakhai was walking around and eating daisies when I twisted the hem of my gown and then my hair, and put on my boots again, wrapping my arms around me when a breeze caught me unprepared for the chill. "You know my aunt wants me to get married" I told the horse, running my hands through my belly and then my hips, trying to detach the socked fabric from my skin. "Do you want to get married?" he asked me while chewing. "The only man I know well is Segismund and let's just say he not the type of man that encourages a girl to believe in love or any kind of affection" I said and the snorted when I laughed, then starting to feel a little bad. "No man would want to marry me, anyways" I said. "And why would you say that?" he asked me from behind my back."I'm fire, Malakhai" I said, snapping my fingers and lightening up a little pile of bushes and then extinguishing the flames."I'm sure many man would see that as a positive feature" he said and I laughed. "And you have a great laugh, you're talented, kind, caring and lovely. And I must say, you're a great rider" he added and I smiled, focused on the fall. I didn't notice Malakhai getting all silent and them gasping a little. "We should think of a plan to get you out of that farm someday, Miss Lazio. You have a beautiful world to acknowledge" he said and I breathed that fresh air slowly. "Have you ever seen the King, madam?" he asked me and I raised an eyebrow, then feeling lost and ashamed I didn't even know the color of the King's eyes."Unfortunately no, my friend" I answered the question very sincerely, sighing. "Why do you ask?""Do you think the King would judge you by your abilities?" he asked and I hear his steps on the dry leafs."Why would the King ever even look at me, Malakhai?" I asked, rolling my eyes. "Because you are the most beautiful lady these eyes have ever seen" I hear a very deep voice behind me and turned right away, letting my eyes almost pop out when I saw who it was. "And believe me, I've seen tons of women, from this world and another" he added, the 5'11'' tall man standing in front of me. I cover my breasts and my lower half with my hands, blushing completely and still astonished with my sight. The man was incredibly handsome, with dark brown hair down to his shoulders, a very good looking beard and a smile that could make any girl melt. He had this very noble like clothes wore and pearls, diamonds around his V neck shirt, and a big sword scabbard on his belt. And... a crown.