Mahnu slowly travelled from north west of Conrella, to the East town of Nowell, feeling uneasy.

The reason was…That Nowell was were ‘The Siege’ had taken place…

The still remaining free humans had led the Gods there, away from the capital, and the God's had walked right into the trap laid out for them. Mahnu, after using her power for the chest, was unable to move, so she had been still in Havlish were 'The Chest of the God's' had been created.

The east was where the betrayal had taken place and she felt like she didn't even have a right to be there.

The God’s may have done bad things to the humans, but they were still created at the same time as her, they were still somehow her own family. They were after all, like her, immortals…And she had eradicated them from any type of life, any type of future. Had she really had to right in the first place to determine such a fate!?

If only…

 

As she walked to Nowell, she heard the news that a princess was born to the King and Queen and how proud the father of the Queen was.

She wasn’t too sure of what to make out of that man. He had been the only human to chase after her, and so directly at that! Now he has had another child…

As for the King, he was happy to have a Princess, he just didn’t like how it was done. The Queen and himself rarely are intimate and they had only been together a few times to conceive a second child, yet, it had not happened. But…Since they had not been intimate for a few months, the King had suddenly woken to the Queen being by his side…

The fact that she had drugged him, repulsed him to not return to her bed again, but it had indeed been how the Princess was conceived…

The people rejoiced to the fortune of the news, yet they didn’t know that the King had told the Queen that there were no longer going to be intimate in that way again…At least not while he did not trust her.

Even if they hadn’t been intimate for a whole year, she should never had done that and the King told the guards, that guarded his chambers, that the Queen is not to enter without his permission from then on…

 

The Queen was from the south town of Harval and her father was the governor Valtac. He was smart and Mahnu had known that he was the previous King's favourite governor. Mahnu also knew that he was shady, and he doesn't really care much for the people of the town that he governs.

Twenty years ago, he had made a big commotion about lowering the tax in the town of Harval but under it all, he had bought any remaining land of Harval at a low price, so that he could sell it for a hefty sum. It was not only for money but to continue to be the governor, as some people had started to have doubts, which changed when the tax did. The people didn't obviously know that the governor had just schemed them.

This was just one of his antics to continue to be a governor and be close to the King.

Having taught his daughter what it takes to stay favoured, the Queen has been fortunate to learn this and continue to stay the only woman of the King thus far.

Without giving away that Queen was behind anything, women stayed away from the palace and she also made sure that she looked beautiful all the time, so that the King would only see her.

She had been brought up to be Queen, and Valtac had always wanted to be the father in law to the King, in which it had come true. He had asked the late King early on, for his daughter to marry the Crowned Prince, who is now King of Kralaide and due to being favoured so much, it was not a problem to have the two children engaged.

Mahnu didn't understand why people wanted so much. The Queen wanted to be the only woman, to always be beautiful and be known as unforgettable and graceful person…Her father wanted to be more then a governor and use his ‘father in law’ status to even make his own type of decisions…In at least two circumstances he had used this power to act as ‘King’, yet he is only a governor.

That man is too busy and can’t see with his eyes! Your father in law is too much!

Just thinking about that man irritated Mahnu and she scoffed at wasting her time on this!

Why should she care if his father in law is using the King’s power to look good? It has nothing to do with her!

 

Politics seemed to be something Mahnu could never understand. To her, it just didn't matter because as the years passed by, nothing really changed...If politics was something that really did aid to the suffering of the people, then it would have been something she had tried to learn a long time ago.

But politics seemed to be another word for power. Another way to separate the rich from poor, royal and commoner and power to powerless.

Nonetheless, Valtac totally believed in it and valiantly continued to use that word to think he is able to do anything.

Mahnu knew her opinions were different to humans, which is another reason to not voice them and stay away. Half of what she thought would properly get her into trouble, in which she would rather avoid. Again, she was glad she didn't bother to speak or be with anyone…Not that she had never tried before…Thinking this way was because even if she does voice out certain problems, the problems either return when another person comes along, or she gets into trouble along with her words…It was yet, just another reason to give up speaking!

 

As she got closer to the east, Mahnu also heard about the rivalries between the governors Zachery and Sedric. She could almost anticipate that another small skirmish was about to happen between them.

The innocent village of Nowell was in between them, so that was how east became her next destination. Mahnu did admit there was something strange going on because Zachary, known of his brute strength and military soldiers, seemed to only want to defend with a small number of soldiers. Zachery was either not into winning or had that much of an ego that he was going to win, that Mahnu wondered if she should intervene.

No, she thought straight away.

They act like immature children and Mahnu was positive that getting involved may send her back into depression again.

Moving her mind instead to the suffering in Nowell, she tried to put that matter behind her.

 

***

 

It took two months for her to reach her destination from Havlish to Nowell, as she didn't ride horses. She had all the time in the world, so she didn't see the point in getting to any place sooner than walking required.

Mahnu wondered if it was her own way of rebelling against immortality and smiled. If I were to rebel, who would punish me? Was there anyone with enough guts to punish a God?

Mahnu let out a small laugh, something she rarely did, and looked out to see Nowell on the horizon. The mangroves close by was a popular area for many kinds of insects and she sighed as she continued to shorten the distance.

 

The east doesn't have a leader and the population has always been small, even now it is only three hundred people. It was also known as a haunted area and kept what was needed away, like traders and builders. The people and the land of Nowell was most certainly those who suffered the most in the land of Kralaide.

Mahnu has been there often to see no growth from the last time she was there. There was still the rice farm with a dirt area that grew two different vegetables and two different fruit, that she had helped with in her last visit. The people here were still eating once a day and getting not the cleanest of water from a far distance. Mahnu knew that the humans here were quite lethargic because of the amount of food they ate, but she wished they would do something about it!

It was a wonder to her how they seemed quite happy to live like this...Did they not know that humans can have three meals a day and snacks!? Didn't they think there were better lands that their children could play in?

It was also obvious that their lives spans were shorter compared to the other humans in Kralaide. Sickness was Nowell's enemy, as they also had insects and water that needed more attention before drinking.

Their lifestyle...Mahnu stopped questioning them yet again.

She wondered if they depended too greatly on the King's monthly transported goods.

Mahnu repeatedly wanted to know why they were all still here. She had once, a long time ago when she had spoken, asked the people to move away from the area and in response they asked her where they should go. That had made her feel worse because it was only to make herself feel better about their situation as she had felt it was her responsibility. Yet, here, they were depending on others to survive...

It was another reason why she didn't want to come here.

It doesn't matter anymore, she reminded herself. Why would she care if they wanted to stay here in this desolate place?

 

***

 

As the years went by, Mahnu was glad that no skirmish had taken place. She helped during the nights, so she was rarely ever seen and now the small village had more food for them to eat.

It was the year 1628, King Richard now 35, and an unauthorized skirmish between Zachary and Sedric had finally happened. The King went undercover to find the culprits, which was 51 from Zachary and 157 from Sedric, all caught, except 22 that had died.

It was on a whim, after the skirmish, that the King decided to visit Nowell, as he had never been there before. He wants everywhere in Kralaide to flourish but finds that the east may not after he gets there, as they are in a very poor state. Only two farms, three types of vegetables and three fruit trees and everyone was dirty.

Were all the goods making it here? He thought as he made a mental note to question it, when he returned to Conrella.

As he walks further, he sees Mahnu fighting off someone who had got away. He was wearing the same clothes as the other culprits that they had caught from the south east. Rushing to help, he witnesses her putting him down on the hard ground floor, pressing his head down with only one hand. Her eyes were blazing in anger.

"Wow" Escaped from his lips, enthralled by her.

 

The culprit finally said sorry, begging for sympathy and saying that he is alone and doesn't want to die. She let him go and he went to attack her from behind with a hidden knife. The King intervened, saying that he's been looking for him and the knights close by immediately took the culprit away.

She hadn't changed, he thought as he turned back to her.

He watched her kneel over a mother and child on the ground close by and saw her shake her head. The mother cried louder.

A child had died, now he understood why her eyes had been blazing with rage. She was strong willed and fought for even a child. He looked around and believed that they all looked like they hadn't had a bath in weeks, the maiden especially. He was sure she could look a lot prettier, and then he wanted to know what she would look like being freshly soaked and cleaned.

King Richard collected his thoughts, upset that she could intrude on them as she did, especially when there was something so important at hand! He had to think about a child dying and the skirmish!

 

Mahnu was upset with herself. If she wasn't so concerned about staying away from humans so much, she would have been able to save that child in time.

I should have known, she scolded herself hopelessly, that child's death is my fault!

 

***