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Chapter 2: The Fire Princess

The large doors leading into the Council Chamber were flung open in a dramatic display of power and authority, causing the room to fall into a silent hush. A mere moment later the slender figure of a young woman strode confidently into the centre of the room, immediately gaining the complete and undivided attention of everyone seated.

Keahi had to roll his eyes toward the ceiling. It never ceased to annoy him each and every time Flamenca made her grand and showy entrance. It was almost like it was impossible for her to simply enter a room.

With a solid air of confidence, the thick heels of her black boots clicked against the marble flooring as she made her way leisurely to her ‘throne’ at the head of the large wooden table where the other members of council were waiting. She was wearing her usual clothing consisting of white stockings that came to her thighs and a black and red tunic that was tied around her waist with a white sash, the open side-dress reached her knees, exposing a fair amount of flesh of her legs and sides.

Her flaming reddish orange hair reached past her knees and was held in thick onyx black ribbon, criss-crossing several times before coming to a bow at the end. Flicking a flame coloured bang from her golden eyes, Flamenca finally lowered herself into her seat and crossed her legs sexily before her as she leaned her elbow casually on the arm of her throne. She then rested her chin in her palm and proceeded to look incredibly bored, even before the meeting had even begun.

“Let’s get this over and done with,” Flamenca all but demanded as she closed her eyes and looked positively irritated. “Unlike some people I could mention quite easily, I have very important and constructive things to do. The island won’t run itself, you know?”

Keahi bit his lips together. She was having an oh-so subtle swipe at him. She actually believed that he spent all day doing nothing but sit around and twiddle his thumbs. And nothing anyone said was going to convince her otherwise.

Breathing sharply through his nose, Keahi prayed that this meeting will proceed quickly.

Thankfully, the meeting proceeded smoothly after that and Keahi listened silently as the elders around him began to prattle off the recent harvest estimates, the incline of births and the unfortunate deaths that had happened over the last week. But soon, Keahi found it hard to concentrate due to the incessant tapping of a certain Princess’s finger against the arm of her chair.

Tap, tap, tap. It was like it was now echoing around the room.

Keahi sighed softly and shook his head at the Princess’s appalling behaviour.

Flamenca had only been the princess of this island for a few months and yet she was acting like she was the greatest ruler this land had ever had or will ever have again.

And what made her behaviour even more frustrating was the fact that her parents, Fire King Jusiah and Fire Queen Nuri were two of the kindest people he had met. They had both passed away under mysterious circumstances and Flamenca was made the new ruler almost immediately, by her command.

How these two beautiful people could have a daughter that had grown up to be so selfish, so underhanded, so pretentious he could not, nor would he ever understand.

It was a true shame how far this kingdom had fallen in such a short amount of time.

Of course, he could never utter those words aloud, especially not with his cousin or any of her advisors within hearing range. Peace Keeper or not, he would be punished by being sent to the dungeons for a set amount of time.

He has already spent time there for supposedly defying her commands and he didn’t particularly want to do that again. He was supposed to spend an entire week down there, but thankfully Elder Fudo pulled a few strings for him and he only spent a couple of nights in the underground cells.

Keahi was quickly pulled back to the matter at hand when he heard something about a request being made on the behalf of the farming community at the base of Obsidian Volcano, asking that they be granted the opportunity to build and fix the roads leading from the harvesting fields to the silos further down the volcano’s side as it would make things that little bit easier for them.

Flamenca gave an uncouth snort and waved her hand dismissively. “Rejected,” she said. “They’ve been doing it for years so they can keep doing it. Nothing is easy in life and they are no exception.”

“You cannot be serious,” Keahi found himself saying a little louder than he had intended to, which immediately earned him a positively glowering and questioning look from the Fire Princess.

“Are you questioning my decisions again, Cousin?”

Keahi hid a wince at the venom that was practically oozing off each syllable. “But this is not what the people of this island want.”

“They want what they get,” Flamenca retorted harshly as she uncrossed her legs and rose to her feet. She then began to stalk her away over to him, pausing to linger just behind him as she folded her arms under her bust and stare down at him with contempt. “You cannot expect me to bend to the whim of the people. I have an Island to run, it’s simply impractical. You are such a simple-minded fool. Why do you bother to attend such meetings? You’re going to die one day, anyway.”

This time, Keahi did visibly wince. With the way things are, that day will come sooner rather than later. Probably what she was hoping for, he was sure.

“And after you die, I will continue to rule,” Flamenca continued, flipping her hair with a flick of her wrist, actually smacking Keahi on the side of the face with her luscious locks. “And, as legend has it, the Fire God will descend upon the island and take me as his wife.”

She then walked back to her seat, her head held high and her shoulders back. “You see, Keahi, you are simply in the way of my destiny.”

“...” Keahi said nothing as, really; there was no way he could deny any of that. It was all true. He was to one day die while she practically lived the fairytale life.

So, for the rest of the meeting, Keahi sat quietly.

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