A Book of Short Stories by Lushanya Matthews-Forth

Author:Lushanya Matthews-Forth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: 2022-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

Mazikeem

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess called Mazikeem Businka, but everyone called her Maze for short. She had lived a very cushioned life, what with being the only daughter of the King, and she was his most prized possession.

From the age of about fourteen, Maze had taken it upon herself to explore the kingdom without her father’s knowledge. Climbing down from her bedroom window by the cover of darkness and returning just as the sun began to rise above the trees. She loved these secret adventures, where she would visit the surrounding village, and watch the common people putting their children to bed, or climb the highest tree, looking over the kingdom and watching the sunrise.

Unbeknownst to Maze, she was not as alone as she thought on these secret adventures. She always had a shadow, one who never let her know he was there. He was fascinated by her. He couldn’t comprehend why she would want to climb down from her castle. Life in the castle seemed so perfect, but she only ever seemed happy on these secret outings, and he just didn’t understand. He was pondering this one evening, sitting on a tree branch, when something hit the back of his head.

“Ow!” he yelled, spinning around trying to see what it was.

“Serves you right,” said a voice from the trees.

“Who’s there?” asked the boy, standing up and rubbing the back of his neck.

“I am Princess Mazikeem Businka, heir to the Businka throne, and you…” she said, throwing another rock at him, “…are trespassing.”

He stared at her for a few moments, wondering what to do. He grew even more perplexed when Maze started laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“You!” Maze replied. “I know you’ve been tailing me, known for a few weeks now, don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Oh,” the boy stuttered. He looked down at his feet sheepishly. “I thought you didn’t know.”

“Well I do, so come on then, what’s your name?”

“My name is Nyke…Nyke, I’m Nyke.”

“Hi Nyke, nice to finally meet you. So, where shall we go first?”

After that surprise encounter, they became the best of friends. Every evening Maze would climb down from the castle, and every evening Nyke would be waiting for her. It was like Maze had an imaginary friend, only she knew that Nyke was definitely real. They explored the village, and the surrounding woodland, until they knew every inch off by heart. By then, as they got older, they started to explore further afield. Visiting new villages, and the surrounding countryside, but always making sure they made it back in time before the sun rose too high above the trees.

Everything seemed so wonderful to Maze. To have these secret adventures with Nyke, adventures that none in the castle knew about. That is until the night of her eighteenth birthday. It had been a glorious morning, opening her presents, and having her birthday breakfast banquet, then preparing for the afternoon ball, which she had insisted upon, as she did not want to miss her secret adventure with Nyke, as he always gave her the best presents.

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