The Kingdom

BEAUTY AND THE FEAST

 

Golden curls flow down her pearly white spine. She wears no crown but is surely the queen of Sanszibar. Her complexion requires no oils, lotions, balms. It is smooth, warm to the fingers of all who reach out to touch her, hoping that magically they will absorb some of Alexandra's magnificence. In fifteen years not one has come close.  Boys, men and even some women, stop walking, talking when Alexandra comes out of her large tent each morning at ten. Her white shoulders, firm breasts, with rosebud tips, look edible. Those around her slaver.

 

King Faroh and his selected court follow her. All subjects must step back, clear a path for them so they can take their daily healthy walk to the edge of the Nila River and return. Alexandra accompanies him to his marble palace where he rules his small kingdom with a sympathetic heart. There are no wars, no murders, no prisons.

 

The king is not a physically handsome man. His head barely comes up to Alexandra's shoulders. Too much sunshine has tanned his skin to taut, brown leather. It is said his slightly bowed legs were caused by riding horses daily from the age of five to fifteen. The family's long, narrow nose is a sliding board between slightly Asian eyes that stand him apart from his subjects. Although Alexandra sees him as a giant among men, she has steadfastly refused to become his wife. His 'Beloved' suits them both fine.

 

Plans are afoot to celebrate her twentieth birthday with the finest feast ever prepared for the entire kingdom. King Faroh has declared it to be a holiday. Wine will flow. Peacocks will strut and be prodded to fly overhead. Lovely feathers of all colors will fall on the dancers . Roasted pig will sizzle on the spit. Beef au jus, fish so fresh they have a bit of wiggle left in their tails will be filleted, baked. Fruit of the vine, cherries red as Alexandra's pouting lips, apples chilled, green and golden melons filled with walnuts, raspberries, blueberries tantalize the guests.

 

It is said that sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men go astray
and so they do—but not this time. Everything was more than perfect. While King Faroh was prepared to be turned down again, he asked his beloved to marry him. Her smile was electric. With her hand on her slightly swollen belly, she kissed his fingers and softly said, 'Yes, I will.'

 

When the feast was over and all  of the subjects had large baskets of the wondrous left-overs and walked to their homes, Alexandra did not go into her tent. She was guided by the king into his marble palace.

 

They and their two children still live there.