THE MAID THE KING WANTED CHAPTER 3

EPISODE 3

Written by: © Gambo Elvis

I didn’t know what he meant by that statement at first. I was confused and trembling. Suddenly, he stretched his hand into the air and a strange pot appeared in his grip. From it, he sprinkled a dusty substance all over me while muttering some dark incantations under his breath. Before I could even scream, my body became stiff. In a blink, I was transformed into a clay statue while still kneeling on the ground.

Though my body had turned into clay, I could still see and hear everything with my spirit. He succeeded in changing my flesh, but he couldn’t touch my soul. My soul was free, wandering around the palace, watching everything and hearing everyone as if I was still alive.

That same night, the queen’s body was secretly taken away and buried deep inside the ancestral forest, a forbidden place meant only for kings. No commoner was allowed to step foot there.

The following morning, the prince searched everywhere for me. He went from room to room, asking servants and guards, but no one could tell him where I had gone. In truth, I was everywhere at once because I was now only a soul, while my body remained a lifeless statue of clay.

Later, the magician whispered to the king, “If you want her never to return, break the clay statue. Once it is broken, her soul will wander forever.”

Days passed. Everyone waited for the queen to return, but she never did. As for me, the prince eventually went to our little hut where my poor mother lived. When he arrived, my mother was shocked to see him. She asked him endless questions, crying and demanding to know what they had done to her daughter. I was right there watching them both, but neither of them could see me.

No one knew the secret to bringing me back. I knew the truth, but how could I tell anyone when they couldn’t hear me? I could hear their cries, their fears, their worries, but I was trapped in silence.

Later on, the king ordered that my clay statue be moved and kept inside the traditional museum among other ancient artifacts. The prince continued visiting the secret places where we used to meet, hoping to find me. But he never once saw my soul sitting there.

I cried every day. I sobbed endlessly, but only the spirits could hear me.

One day, the king decided to auction some of the artifacts in the museum. Rich merchants and collectors came from far and wide to admire and buy the artworks. While they were touring the museum, many of them noticed my statue and began scrambling to buy it.

The magician had transformed my body, but he failed to remove my necklace. When the prince saw the statue, something pierced his heart deeply. He stood still and said,

“I don’t know who made this artwork, but the artist surely knows where she is. This statue looks exactly like her, and the necklace is the same necklace I gave to her. Beautiful, smooth, and pure. He must have sculpted her from her real image.”

Then, gently, he took my necklace and placed it properly around the statue’s neck.

“Surely,” he continued, “the artist knows the whereabouts of the maiden closest to my heart.”

The mistake the magician made was leaving the necklace on my neck. He later warned the king,

“One of the laws of this mystical craft is never to remove or displace anything on the clay statue. If that happens, her spirit will come back for it, and it could be fatal—except to those who had no hand in her fate.”

That was why no one dared steal the precious royal necklace from my neck.

The prince bought my statue from the royal museum and took it home. He warned everyone sternly,

“If this statue ever falls, cracks, or even has a single scratch, I will exile every one of you from this kingdom.”

He also announced to all servants and messengers that anyone who could find the artist who sculpted the statue would receive a great reward.

Still restless, he decided to confront his father, the king. He believed his father would lead him to the truth. With a heavy heart, he went to the palace.

“His Majesty, my father, my king, I come in peace, but I also come in pain,” the prince said.

“Why are you hurt, my prince?” the king asked.

“Mysterious things are happening in this palace. First, my mother disappeared. Grandmother said she never came to see her as promised. Does this mean I will never see my mother again?”

“This must be the work of our enemies,” the king replied. “Their signs are everywhere. They want war.”

“War again?” the prince asked worriedly. “I thought we settled things peacefully.”

“Not with such cruelty,” the king insisted.

The prince became more troubled.

“Does this mean I will never see Shiyla, my favorite maid, again? Could the same fate that took my mother have taken her too?”

“Possibly, my son. I will trace it to its roots,” the king said.

“Why is life so unfair?” the prince cried. “It took my mother and my happiness.”

Then, anxiously, he added,

“Father, please tell me, who was the artist that made her sculpture? I need to know how he created it and where he got her necklace from.”

Do u think the king will speak the truth.

TBC…