Slowly, the young prince woke to the low desert sun. The distant ringing of bells chimed in the background of a manasury of sun struck clouds, tinting them with a golden hue. Allight shon a beautiful burning orange. Getting up the young prince walked through the marble archway leading to the balcony. There he stood and watched over the marble white city. Some of the torchlights were still emanating from the windows of the various buildings around the city. Looking to the left of the sky the young prince could see the full moon high into the sky. 

“So, the day has come.” The young prince thought to himself, “Soon I shall gain sight beyond sight, the true sight, Allights sight.” 

Suddenly the young prince found himself being forcefully pulled to the ground. Unable to stop himself, he quickly stuffed his right hand into his pocket pulling out his small dagger. Unsheathing it he pointed it at the person behind him pulling him down, but it was no use the person grabbed his hand and pushed it to the side, he was already on the ground and the person that was behind him was now on top of him. Holding a blade to the young prince's neck. Holding his breath, the prince struggled to get free. 

“You were lost in thought again weren't you.” A female voice spoke. Realising who it was the young prince stopped struggling and relaxed.

“Do you really have to test me at this time, it’s right in the morning.” The young price groaned. 

“Why did you stop struggling, do you yield?”

“What difference does it make if I yield or not, i'm on the ground, i can’t really do much can I.”

“That’s true, my, you really are pathetic aren't you. What if I were an assassin and I was sent here to kill you? You would be dead wouldn’t you…”

“Get off me Shaaray!”

Slowly, Sarray shifted her body off the young prince, allowing the prince to get up.

Sheathing his dagger, the young prince held it to the side of him, not pocketing it as to give himself assurance just in case his sister were to try and jump him again.

Examining her the young prince stared her down. 

“What with that look, you like what I'm wearing?” she sarcastically remarked.

The young princess wore a white silk cloth over each side of her breasts, just large enough to cover her under boob, leaving her firm, toned stomach and arm open. Shaaray had a small gold necklace embroidered with beautiful gemstones. Connected to the necklace Shaaray’s stomach was lined with lace strings with beads decorating them. On her legs she wore a long open skirt of silk robes. The young princesses' hair had a golden crown with blue sapphire and lapis lazuli gemstones. Her skin was a deep rich obsidian black that seemed to glisten in the low desert sun. Her eyes, a deep harsh black, like the void between the stars.

“It's your usual type of attire.” A certain nervousness was in his voice.

Seeming to sense her brother's nervousness, Shaaray suddenly changed her demeanour. Seeking to capitalise on it.

Looking at Allight, Shaaray suddenly realised something as if she just remembered it, before quickly looking at the young prince. Looking at Shaaray, she gave him a queer smile, that sent shivers up his spine.

“What are you smiling about?”

“On nothing, I just remembered that this is the day isn’t it. The day which my baby brother finally becomes a man, or is supposed to anyway.” she spoke to him in a kind of baby tone or the way an owner would talk to their pet.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you only become a man if you survive the ritual before staring at Allight's gaze."

"What ritual?" This had the young prince on edge as he never knew that there was a ritual for the haki ya kuona (right of sight). 

"Why, don't you know, the great Alang tu vewat have a ritual that tests the worth of those who wish to use Allight's sight and participate in the haki ya kuona. Those who are found worthy are given the sight just like that." She snapped her fingers as a demonstration. "But others, who are found to be not worthy, are struck down by Alligh and burst into flames!" This made the young prince sweat with fear at the thought of not being worthy. "But don't worry I'm sure the Alang tu vewat wouldn't allow such a weakling like you to go through the ritual." She gave him a sly smile.

"Uh! Now I know you're lying."

Shaaray spun around on one foot as if she was giving a little dance to herself.

Being fed up with her antics, the young prince proceeded to separate himself from his sister.

“Where are you going, don't you want to spend your last moments on this world with me?” She proceeded to play with her blade trying to balance it on one finger.

“You're anything but lovely.”

She gave him another smile, before heading back to the archway

“Just in case you were wondering, mother sent me to tell you that we are leaving soon for the capital of the Alang tu vewat, the city of sight, and if you're not ready she'll make you walk all the way there. Her words, not mine.” She gave him another smirk.

“Stop lying Shaaray, honestly why are you like this? I wish you would just leave me alone like dad…” He stopped himself from continuing.

Shaaray gave him a sinister look that made the young prince's skin crawl.

“I really don't know why father is so adamant on you. He always says that you'll get better, you'll get stronger, you’ll actually be worth something, but we all know it, you're practically a walking corpse, it’s only a matter of time before you disappear.”

She left after that.

Turning around the young prince looked over the city, the sun now above the horizon, a single tear streaked down his cheek. He quickly brushed it aside. “I’ll prove you wrong, just watch Shaaray, I'll prove you all wrong.”

After the young prince's declaration, he went back inside to have a sand bath. After that he changed into a white one strapped robe. The robe covered the right side of his torso leaving the left side open to allow air to pass through. The back of his robe had a small cap going down to the bottom of the calf. The cape had the golden insignia of house Kucha Joka embedded into the silk like material. A red streak lined the right side of the cape. At the top of the cape there was a hood to cover the young prince from Allights gaze. The young prince had baggy three quarter length trousers with deep thigh pockets, similar to the ones he had last night. Where he placed the dagger back into his right thigh pocket. On the prince's feet he wore golden plated heeled sandals, as to give him a bit more height as he would walk about. Satisfied with his dressing, the young prince set out of his room. Opening his room door, the young prince headed down the stone and marble hallway, to the great hall. On the walls of the hallway are paintings of all the great Emperors and Empresses that lived and ruled the Ayu Empire, and the last painting was his father’s painting. At the centre of the great hall there was a long rectangular white marble table with brown leather armchairs. The marble table was held up by two slanted slabs of white marble. The marble of both the slabs and the table had an intricate pattern of a black marble like cracks lining the white marble. On the table there was an assortment of spices, herbal soups, exotic fruits, berries and bread laid out on furnished clay plates, beautifully ornate with the insignia of house Kucha Joka. Entering the great hall, the young prince saw Shaaray sitting at the far end of the table being fed blackberries by her servant. Pulling back a chair the young prince sat on the opposite end of the table to Shaaray. The young prince then pulled a plate of bread to his side and reached out for a plate of blackberries. Suddenly from nowhere a hand reached out and swiped the plate of berries from the table before the young prince could pick it up.

“I think I'll be having this thank you.” A mischievous and cheery voice spoke.

“Makena I was going to have that!” The young prince exclaimed with shock. 

“Well, you were too slow, you got to be a lot faster than that.” A jolly warm smile formed on Makena’s face and the young prince could help but smile with him despite his visible annoyance. 

“Here, have your blackberries.” 

The young prince quickly snatched the plate from Makena’s hands to make sure he didn’t try and swipe it away at the last second. Holding onto the plate the young prince felt something crawling up his hand. Looking at his hand he saw a millipede wiggling up his hand. 

“Ah.” The young prince dropped his plate and frantically flailed his arm around trying to get the millipede off his hand. Both Makena and Shaaray burst out laughing hysterically due to the young prince's reaction. After finally getting the millipede of his hand, the young prince turned his attention back to Makena. “Makena! You know I don't like insects, and look what you made me do, you made me drop the plate and now it's broken and everything’s on the floor!”

“Sorry I couldn’t resist; your reactions are priceless.”

“Whatever just help me pick the things up.”

“Fine.”

From the end of the hall a set of footsteps emanate from behind Shaaray. The steps were heavy, slow and gave a commanding presence, a presence that demanded attention and reverence. Looking up, the young prince found the origin of the footsteps. His second sister Princess Omarai Kifo Rethmarie the 5th. She slowly walked over to her two brothers.

“What happened here?” she spoke in a controlled stoic tone as she pointed to the broken plate on the floor.

“I played a prank on……” Makena was cut off by her glaring stare.

“I didn’t ask you; I was asking him.” she pointed to the young prince.

“It’s just like Mekena said, Lady Omarai, he played a prank on me and made me drop my plate and it broke.” The young prince said in a timid manner.

“What kind of prank would make you drop a plate?”

“Omarai come on, it was an accident, leave him alone.”

“I wasn’t talking to you Makena. I’ll ask again, what did he do?”

“He placed a millipede on my hand, and I jumped Lady Omarai.”

“And because of that you dropped your plate?”

“I don’t like insects, they scare me.”

“Pick up your mess you fool.”

“But I didn't cause th….”

SLAP. Omarai suddenly slapped her hand across the young prince’s left cheek, the sound echoed across the great hall.

“Did you just talk back to me?”

“No Lady Omarai.”  The young prince quickly responded as he rubbed his left cheek.

“Shaaray, Makena. Mother wants to meet us in the throne room. You, once you're done clearing up this mess, meet us in the throne room.”

“Yes Lady Omarai.” As instructed the young prince got to picking up the broken clay shards and placing them on the table, carefully as not to cut himself. Soon after he picked up the berries and placed them on the table. After that he picked up both the broken plate and berries and went to put them both in a rubbish vase made out of granite. After being done with that he headed down the hallway to the throne room where everyone else was waiting for him. At the end of the hallway there was a large door of reinforced stone. On the stone door there is the golden insignia of house Kucha Joka flying towards the sun. on the sides of the door, there were quartz stone pillars with the dragon's tail wrapping around it, within the quartz stone were fire torches, giving the pillars a burning glow like dragon fire. 

On the ends of the hallway were two guards on both sides, all dressed in ceremonial attire for the annual reclamation of sight.  The armour was mostly plated quilarite omeren iron alloy from the Mwanginee crystal mines to the east of Ayu. This particular material is called an iron but in actuality was a crystal with metal like properties. Because of its crystal-like structure it made the metal near indestructible, but ridget, meaning that only the best forgers from the Gorja wen mohammaru at the very edge of the Bahari wa chumvi could mould it into the armour the young prince saw before him. The armour’s colours were a shimmering gold with crimson red dye cloth. The ceremonial armour wasn’t too different from their usual armour, in fact the only difference from the usual armour is the diamond shaped shield and the gold blades of the guard’s swords. One of the guards quickly gave the young prince a glance before knocking on the throne room door. The door slowly slid open, opening the way to the throne room. As the young prince passed the door two guards followed behind him as it was tradition for each member of the royal family to be accompanied by guardsmen as they approached the throne. A sudden flush of light hit the prince's face as he and his accompanying guards walked into the enormous throne room, where his mother and his other brother and sisters were waiting for him.  The throne room or Chumba cha enzi cha wafalme (Room of the high seat of kings) was furnished with Seliohortonolite tiles on the floor. Seliohortonolite was a stone that when heated to extreme temperatures the stone would turn into a glass like material that was semi translucent and very reflective and glossy like a finely furnished mirror. Seliohortonolite was extremely hard to acquire and was only found in the western part of the desert right on the border of the Sultanate of Kijar. The walls of the Chumba cha enzi cha wafalme were decorated with an assortment of pillars hundreds of feet high reaching all the way to the top of the open roof prism that was the Chumba cha enzi cha wafalme. The pillars had intricate designs of swirls, oval shaped tops, straight lines and other shapes that made the room seem to bend the perception of a person's surroundings almost as if entering the Chumba cha enzi cha wafalme puts a person into some kind of lucid dream, the walls also designed and sculpted in the same way which didn’t help to change the idea. The young prince never really understood the throne room; it always confused him why the room was constructed with this type of art. He always wondered what it meant or if it had any meaning at all, he always pondered while entering this room if the original creators were under the influence of Blue Sand or Sundrop. 

After returning from his mind tangent about drugs, the young prince did consider that the design of the walls and pillars did give the throne room a sort of alien beauty. The young prince then focused on the three giant crimson red banners with gold embellishments of the insignia of house Kucha Joka, then he finally turned his attention to the throne and more particularly how was sitting on the throne, his mother, emperess Makeda.