Absolute Chaos

Rakim returned a short time later with Theda in tow. Raijen left the others inside Kaydir’s little hut while he and Theda went outside under the starlight to have a little chat.

“But why Theda?....Why would you tell my father.? Why would you betray me?. You understand how Araphel is, you know of his sadistic ways.” Intensely gripping the older woman’s shoulders, shaking her, drilling his eyes deep into her soul.

“I am so sorry Raijen....I....I was with two of Araphel’s guards when I saw the falling stars, I didn’t have a choice but to tell him.” Lying about the guards, hanging her head low in shame.

“Please...Raijen...you must understand, I fear him so, you know what he would do to me if he found out I kept something so important from him.”

Theda was begging him, pleading with him to understand, yet Raijen didn’t care for her excuses, tightening his grip on her small shoulders, threatening to shatter her fragile bones.

“Do you understand what your rash actions have caused?.....Well Theda?.” His voice rose a few extra notches, continuing.

“He has not only raped two of the slave girls..He has RAPED MAIA AS WELL!.” Shaking her, he did not care for the tears that streaked her sweaty skin.

The older woman’s eyes widened as Raijen yelled these words, instantly seeing the despair and deep pain flood into her soul.

“Theda?.” Raijen abruptly let her go, he knew her well, she had raised him, he knew she was hiding something.

“What are you hiding from me?, what aren’t you telling me.?” Narrowing his eyes, he glared at Theda in disgust.

“Raijen.... please,...I will tell you...but you cannot tell Maia, you must promise me this first Raijen.” Theda pleaded with him, he could tell she held a grave secret.

The air felt too thick, it seemed to close in around them, embodying the crisp stratosphere with sin. He listened intently to Theda’s tragic story, shocked by her revelations.

“Firstly I must tell you of my origins.... I am...I’m your fathers younger sister. I am your Aunt. He forbade me to tell you, yet ordered me to raise you.”

“Araphel was only twelve when our parents died, I was all of about eight or nine. Your father was then crowned as Otamia’s King and I was taken under his wing, he raised me in place of our parents.”

“As you know, Otamia’s laws are absolute. The female line is supposed to reign as Queen, however when I became of age to rule, Araphel portrayed me as a sickly child and he led the people to believe I could not take on the role.” Clearing her throat, her dark eyes dropping, Theda continued.

“At the age of thirteen I gave birth to a daughter I named Zahra. Araphel became enraged when he found out I was pregnant. He ordered the baby be taken to Temu’s temple as soon as it was born, a great sacrifice was promised to our God Temu, he told all of Otamia a new baby would die.”

“Myself and a few of the elders led your father to believe Zahra was stillborn, however she was born very much alive.”

“As cruel fate had it, a baby was born in a nearby village that very same night, but the poor babe was born without breath, the cord strangling her tiny neck as she tried to breathe life.”

“Zahra was raised by the couple whom gave birth to the dead child, secretly swapped with the poor lifeless baby. This was only ever known to them, myself and a few trusted others.”

“At the age of 15, Zahra had her own child. She had fallen for a boy from Otamia and quickly became pregnant as a result.”

“It was a tough birth for Zahra the night her babe came to meet the world. She had bled profusely after the child was born, there was nothing any of us could do to save my poor daughter.”

“Zahra’s baby was a little girl, my granddaughter. I do not know if you remember, you were outside the hut waiting for me when she was born that night, that baby been Maia.”

Theda looked up, searching Raijen’s eyes with understanding, he knew she had more to say. Theda lowered her voice before she continued. What she had already disclosed was in itself life shattering news, but what came next was a phenomenal revelation.

“Raijen....I....I don’t know how to tell you this, yet it needs to be spoken.....Araphel is Zahra’s father, he is Maia’s grandfather.....and I suspect your father knows. Araphel had raped me many times after our parents died, as a result I eventually became pregnant with his child.”

All the colour drained from his dark complexion, Raijen was left utterly speechless, his heartbeat thudded into his ears, trying desperately to pump his thick hot blood through his bulging veins. His stomach fell into a pit of dark madness, he could not contain the sour acid that now flew out onto the sand.

Raijen emptied the searing pool of disgust and pure hate from inside him, hot tears burst forward, scalding his checks in revulsion

Theda and Araphel were siblings, making Theda his aunt, that was not so shocking, nevertheless what Araphel had done to her was on an entirely different level. Maia was Araphel and Theda’s granddaughter. .

Raijen could not think in this moment of what relation this left Maia to him, all he knew was she was his kin. The need to kill his father almost overwhelmed him. He was the most depraved human being on this planet!, there was no questioning his repulsive immorality.

Moving to Theda’s side, he squat next to her in the sand, sliding his arm around her small shoulders and squeezed her thin frame towards him.

“I am so sorry Theda...I wish you had told me all this sooner. I can only imagine the pain my father, your own brother, has caused you.”

Raijen held her close to his side, both their tears silently falling as they stared up at the heavens.