CHAPTER 3
SPRING CEREMONY, CIRCA 10,000 B.C.

THE region was lush, tropical grassland, filled with a myriad of living things, each extraordinary and vital in its own way. The large river that flowed there gave life to this fertile land. Presently, this land is known as Egypt and the river it is blessed with is called the Nile, but in this time, those names were not yet known. The desert sands that now blow in Egypt conceal, in their untold depths, many things. In this ancient time however, the river was twice the width it is today, and all along its shores, people had settled not far from the main city, established on the plains to the west of the river. Wild animals abounded, crops were plenty, and the people were well cared for by their Royal Family.

“Traeus, are you ready for the ceremony?” asked his wife, the beautiful Queen Axiana. “I do not think it would look good for the King to be late,” she teased him.

Traeus, twenty-seven, and Axiana, twenty-three, were the young King and Queen of these people and have been married for three years. This was a special day, the annual Spring Ceremony to celebrate the harvest season. It was a time of community and to give thanks for the blessings the land has brought them.

“I am, my love, but Alaj has chosen not to attend,” Traeus replied, deeply disappointed that his brother, Prince Alaj and his wife, Princess Zazmaria, would not be participating.

Axiana looked down, “I know, I spoke with Zazmaria.” She looked back to her husband, “What did Alaj say his reasons are this time?”

“He said that since I, the elder brother and King, will be there, his presence is not required. Our father would have been utterly anguished to see this. People are beginning to whisper about his and Zazmaria’s increasingly frequent absences from official functions. I worry that I cannot even keep my own family together. What if the people lose confidence in me? I have only been King for two short years.”

She walked over to her husband and caressed his face, “My husband, the people love you and they trust in their King. Your father would have been very proud of you and all that you have done since his passing. The people know with whom these problems lie and it is not with you.”

Traeus embraced her, “I could not imagine a life without you, my wife.”

Axiana smiled. “Then do not, for I am here for you,” she said as she kissed him. “Traeus, I tried to talk to Zazmaria about this, but she is hostile towards me. I do not understand her, I have always tried to reach out to her, to make her feel a part of this family.”

“It is not your fault, I know your efforts have been sincere,” her husband said and kissed the top of her head. “But, ever since Father’s death two years ago, I have noticed that the two of them have become increasingly closed and withdrawn from the rest of the family. I can only think his death must have hit them hard, but I cannot help but worry that there is something more to their words and actions. When our mother died, I did not notice such an immediate difference in Alaj. Maybe still having our father eased his pain at the time. I know it did mine.”

“I think losing both your mother and father within such a short timeframe may have taken an even bigger toll on Alaj than we realized.”

Traeus thought for a moment. “Perhaps...” He took a deep breath. He seemed so worn. “Our family has achieved so much in the twenty-eight years our people have been in this land. To see it fall apart, to begin to disintegrate...”

Axiana knew this issue would not be solved easily. “Come my love, the people are waiting for us and our troubles will still be here when we get back. Let us turn our attentions to more happy thoughts. It is a beautiful day,” she said as she took her husband’s hand.

Traeus knew that this was a very important event for his people, but his heart was still heavy with worry and doubt. His greatest fear had always been that he would fail as King, fail his people and not be able to live up to his father’s example.

Prince Amoni met Traeus and Axiana as they headed down the long courtyard, through the extensive Palace grounds to where the ceremony would take place at the large outdoor temple adjacent to the main priests’ temple. The prince, who was just about to turn fourteen years old, was the youngest of the three brothers in the Royal Family. “Where is Alaj?” Amoni asked. “Is he joining us at the ceremony?”

“He and Zazmaria chose not to come, Amoni,” Axiana replied, put-ting her arm around the young man’s shoulder. She noticed how his face fell when he heard the news.

“Come, we do not want to be late,” Traeus said as he took the hands of both his wife and brother. He worried about how all this affected Amoni, but today they had duties to perform and they must focus on that.

Together, the three of them walked to the front gates of the Palace grounds where the Royal guard, dressed in ceremonial uniforms, would accompany them to the ceremony.

The people were already gathered at the outdoor temple, waiting with anticipation for the Royals to arrive. They were a proud, hard-working people, who had faced much hardship and upheaval in their lives. They call themselves the Kierani.

The guards bowed as the Royals approached.

King Traeus, Queen Axiana and Prince Amoni were dressed in their finest garments. Traeus, a tall, well-built man, wore a long tunic over loose linen pants. His tunic was made of emerald green silk and exquisitely embroidered. His shiny jet-black hair, a shared trait among the Kierani, was adorned with a beautifully crafted circlet of gold. It was intricately carved with their family name, Selaren, and interwoven with symbols: the ankh, representing the life force, which the Kierani people worshipped, along with images of the sun.

Axiana wore a beautifully fitted, burnished gold, full-length silk dress, which was striking with her long black hair that had been swept up for the ceremony. Loose curls hung delicately at the side of her face, and she too wore a circlet of gold atop her head. She was widely re-garded as the most beautiful woman in Kierani society. She was small-boned with delicate features and had warm eyes of a deep brown, flecked with gold. She wore long dangling gold earrings encrusted with topaz. Her skin tone was slightly lighter than that of her husband, but all Kieranis had a stunning natural golden sheen to their skin.

Prince Amoni was dressed in a tunic and matching pants of deep red. Around each of the Royals’ necks were heavy gold necklaces, long and also embossed with symbols of the sun and the ankh. Precious gems were inlaid: rubies, sapphires, emeralds, but the main feature of these Royal adornments was the image of a lion, seated with a long thick mane.

The lion was revered and worshipped in Kierani culture. To them, it symbolized strength, grace, and protection. There were stories amongst their folklore of a magical lion, named Amsara who had once saved a legendary King. Forever after, a male lion had been kept by the priest-hood as a symbol of this protector, and cared for its entire life. It was invariably named after the first, Amsara.

The ceremony was to begin at high noon. All along the wide walk-way and the surrounding grounds and gardens were throngs of people, cheering as the splendidly clad Royals passed by, smiling and waving to their people.

Lining the walkway of the temple were the members of the priest-hood, each of whom bowed as the Royals passed. The priests wore long, flowing white robes, and their long, black hair was tied back in the traditional braids worn by members of the priesthood. Around their necks they wore the ceremonial ankh, each priest’s name was engraved on the back. Topaz glittered in the center of the ankhs, sparkling with golden depths in the bright sun.

The priests held high positions in Kierani society. They were the spiritual leaders of the people and among their ranks were educators, architects, scientists, healers and community leaders, and trusted advisors to the King. The priesthood was as ancient as the Royal Family itself.

At the end of the walkway stood Assan, the widely respected Head Priest, along with two high-ranking members of the priesthood, Odai and Senarra. Odai was the primary keeper of the lion Amsara. The Head Priest himself was mentoring Odai to one day succeed him as head of their order. The role of Head Priest had many important responsibilities and was a noble and greatly respected position, one that was held for life.

Seated in the crowd was one of the priests who possessed a wonder-ful, natural artistic ability. He was sketching images from the ceremony on papyrus. He was planning on painting it in later as a memento of this special day and later presenting it to the Royal Family as an official gift from the priesthood.

The ceremony would take place on a small platform, which had been erected beside the fountain. Behind the platform, tapestries were draped with the Royal Family crest, a standing lion, with a sun image over its head encased within a large golden ankh.

Soft breezes blew on this warm, sunny day. As King Traeus, Queen Axiana and Prince Amoni took their places on the platform, the crowd erupted in loud cheers. Leading members of the military, in dress uni-forms, also joined the Royal Family.

At this moment, Traeus felt the absence of his brother and the Princess keenly, but he tried not to let his disappointment show. The King stepped forward, “My people, it is a great honor to be standing before you today, for the annual celebration to mark the start of our harvest season.”

Musicians who were seated on either side of the platform began to play stringed instruments with melodious bells. Additional musicians were weaving through the crowd, playing a cheerful song. People began to sway along to the music. Children laughed, playfully following the musicians around.

King Traeus motioned, and the music became very soft, then stopped. “Today, we come together to share our prayers and wishes for a plentiful harvest. It is tradition to mark the season with food and song surrounded by our friends, families and neighbors.” He stretched out his hands and dancers appeared, dancing in time to the music, which had started up again.

Scantily dressed young men and women carried baskets of flower petals, which were tossed into the air. They danced throughout the crowd, much to the delight of the onlookers. Queen Axiana and Prince Amoni clapped along-side King Traeus.

Head Priest Assan now stepped forward for his turn to address the crowd. “We now present Amsara, the living embodiment of the legendary Royal guardian.”

Odai had disappeared behind the platform for a moment then re-appeared in front of the stage with the lion Amsara, who had been waiting behind the draped tapestries with another keeper to make his appearance.

The crowd erupted with cheers of delight seeing their beloved lion. It was only during official ceremonies that most people saw him. Otherwise he was kept in his lair with his three lionesses in the habitat be-hind the main temple.

As the crowd clapped and cheered, Odai ran down the long walkway with the lion running beside him. The priests stood up and bowed to Odai and the lion as they ran past.

Assan continued, “It is our honor as members of the priesthood to take part in this blessed event. May the coming year bring health, both spiritual and physical, to each and every one of you. We ask this in honor of the living force which flows through us all. We give thanks for our blessings and for those who govern us, House Selaren, your Royal Family!” Assan bowed.

The King, Queen and young Prince stepped forth to accept the exuberant applause from their people.

King Traeus lifted his hand, “And we give thanks to you, our people, for your hard work and worthy efforts, and for your loyalty to us…”

“Not everyone is loyal to you, King!” an angry man yelled.

“We want action!” another man shouted. “When are you going to get us out of here? We have been trapped too long already.”

A small mob formed, pushing their way through the crowd to the King and Queen. The crowd panicked. The Royal guards quickly sur-rounded the group of protesters, trying to restrain them, but their shouts could still be heard.

“It is his family’s fault we are living in misery!”

“King Traeus has done nothing for us. You are but a pale shadow of a greater king!”

“It is time for House Draxen!”

The Royal guards subdued the mob and escorted them out of the area.

Traeus called for calm. “Please accept the baskets which have been provided for each family present today,” he said, clearly flustered. He was trying not to let on that the protest bothered him, but it only preyed on his growing sense of self-doubt.

At the far end of the courtyard several ox-driven wagons had pulled up and the coverings were taken off. Each household would receive a basket of bread and fruit, which had been prepared from the Royal bakery and orchards. The people were grateful and eagerly accepted the gifts from their beloved Royal Family.

Traeus tried to smile as the dancers and musicians resumed their performances and the priests and priestesses began to mingle through the crowd. Many families chose to stay and make a picnic on the lawns with their baskets, enjoying the music and dancing. However, in spite of so many happy countenances, he could not shake his uneasiness. The protest had been a bold one, and the mention of the Draxen name had been particularly brazen…and alarming.