Salīa peeked at the broken and beaten bricks that built little tower-like homes.
Oggl appeared to be ancient ruins, easily missed or barely glanced at while passing by. It's what the Ogglans preferred.
They were a small nation, mostly of young children and mild-tempered women. The men here preferred baking bread and brick building to braving battles and boasting banners.
Theirs was the head of a fully feathered owl with three open eyes.
The people were quite like owls, in which they seemed to be solitary, had quite an ear for whispers and sharp eyes from where they stood.
It's said that they only really come out at night and treat that as the time to heat the ovens, breathe into fires, and feast.
It might surprise any traveler that they still stand strong.
Even as a lower land, Oggl has been standing almost as long as Salazā.
It's a small land, and you could walk around without truly getting lost, yet it was still proud, and the very few who tried to conquer it had never succeeded. They also had many allies, the closest being Salazā.
Lovers of giving, Salazāhns often offered them gifts in passing. Some of the healers and zazi would also care for them for more years than Salīa had known life.
Ogglans were known to be sparse to the eye, yet they always tended to you if you proved good company.
They will sell you food, horses, mules, and little luxuries to keep you trading, yet there were few inns as they didn't want too many staying there at a time.
They passed between the jutted and jagged mountains, which swirled up into the clouds, and dove under the rocky roads. It soon sprouted up again like two open doors leading you through a passage.
One side of the mountain bulled through the forest, and although she couldn't see it, she had known that it was bricked up against the trees. And if you travelled with it, you'd be met by unconquerable mountains that very few dare try to pass.
They tread through the twisting and twirling valleys, cloaking themselves in the shadows, until they finally reached it. Yet this was just the outer part of Oggl, that many were used to. And so, they walked further until they touched the heart of the land.
Each corner of the inner land was rounded by stone outcroppings carved into small semi-circular bastions that almost posed as decorations in the eyes of visitors.
Even the turret that centered at the castle was often referred to as the land's signpost for the little owl sculpture hanging above it.
Though even more pleasing were the vibrant people moving through. For the land was also grown between trees so thick and tall that it stood like giants before the land and shaded them.
There were smaller trees here and there and plentiful plants besides all the meticulously built wooden homes with latticework doors and thatched roofs that almost appeared fluffy from afar.
There were all small markets all around, and some people relaxing near mortise and tenon tables and chattering the day away while fanning themselves.
Plenty of children were running about, some to play with ala-bala balls or climb trees, while others were helping their parents in moving bags of grain or shaking out chaff from winnowing baskets.
Elders sat in the more shaded spots and drank out of gourds while playing esche or flipping through books. There were some gentle tunes played from afar, and others feasting on fruits here and there.
At the grumble of her stomach, Bazil instantly sat them down and purchased some fruits.
She dove straight into the watermelon without stopping, and did the same for the bananas and then the oranges.
Bazil ate too, but couldn't help but take pauses here and there, just to wipe her mouth.
"Eat, Bazil," she smiled. "Don't worry too much about me."
He smiled too.
"We'll head to the palace after this, Līa."
"Hmm."
It was quite a pleasant time for them until she lent an ear to some of those around. She wasn't sure why, but she was stunned.
By now, all in the land of Oggl had heard of Salazā being attacked, and they expressed sorrow for it. They also heard that Queen Saoa wasn't in the land, and they speculated whether she was out on a leisurely trip or if she had abandoned the land.
But unbelievably, even with the magnitude of carnage and destruction that filled the mouths of many, the gossip that circulated the loudest was that of Princess Salīa indulging the 'Worthy Twins of Shaka.'
Yet the rumor was ahead of the truth, as it quickly turned from her just pecking both to having copulated with all the council members at their meeting.
Both Salīa and Bazil were sickened by this.
Bazil constantly gritted his teeth to stop from roaring at them for such slander.
Yet Salīa didn't care much for the rumors themselves, but just that more tongues were flapping about who she let touch her body than who took the life out of many bodies.
To some extent, Bazil understood why there were many shared rumors of her, because Salīa was indeed mysterious to most.
She'd listen to the woes of others openly, but not be quick to share her own. Yet her heart was passionate and springing from her sleeve, so she was neither idle about injustice or quiet about wrongs, and she certainly had a passion for storytelling and song.
Yet she was also a recluse by nature and took no hesitation to go into seclusion.
Her room was always her sanctuary, and it was common for her to stay there and only come out to eat and bathe. And she'd also hide so many treats and perishables in her room so as not to leave too frequently.
When she did step out, there seemed to be no obvious structure to where she went when she left. But that was her way, at least in recent years.
Bazil understood enough of her and had even had the privilege of knowing her since a child, from her tears to her laughter. But even he had still not been granted any key into the fortress of her heart.
It appeared some mysterious oblation had to be given just to unlock the gates.
He'd always been willing to offer his own body, blood, and soul if needed, but that only seemed to tighten the seal, revealing glimmering chains, translucent yet unyielding, layered one over the other.
To some, it may have appeared invisible and unassuming, yet that was a mere façade, as it was tough and unwavering in its duty to keep trespassers out.
Though sometimes he wondered if she raised such a fortress not to protect herself from those getting in, but to protect those who might be better by staying out.
"Bazil?" Salīa said softly.
He noticed her blushing, unaware that it was caused by his staring at her in a daze. She, too, had been thinking about him more often.
But neither were willing to expose themselves.
"What about that Queen Saoa?"
Salīa and Bazil's ears perked up, and their eyes darkened at the speakers as if daring them to say something wrong.
"I think she's a humble queen from what I've seen when I visited Salazā. Pretty too. But her humility is maybe what's too excessive. Rumor has it she's passed letters with some supposedly revolutionary gang."
"Oh, don't say the black masks."
Bazil and Salīa exchanged wide-eyed glances.
The black masks?
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