If you’re not familiar with the story so far, start here, at the beginning of the series. In Chapter 7, Kitaanu is escorted to a mysterious location. Read on to find out what happens next.

A large, pink gateway, dotted with paintings of blue, yellow flowers and green leaves, towered over little Kitaanu. Did such a thing even exist in Annukulpuram? Was the Maharaja aware of it? A realization then struck him. The moskits around him must be powerful and dangerous. They had access to such a secretive place, after all. Was he in deep trouble?

A walk through a long, never-ending twisting alley, and he entered a large, white hall.

White?

The colour of cleanliness was hardly seen in the kingdom. It was so sparkly that it hurt his eyes. He wanted to shut them tight and run away, but he dared not. Was this a prison? The hall comprised two floors. The rooms had stained, multi-coloured glass doors which were popular with the old humans. All of it felt so beautiful to him, but he could not admit it openly. What if they had the power to sniff out his thoughts? He would be doomed.

Forty steps later, he was standing in one of the rooms he had just admired. Only a sooty, greasy brown sofa stood right in the middle. “Don’t you dare sit on that. Someone is coming to meet you,” a guard said and left the room. Having nothing to do, he sat on the floor, folding his antennae under the chin.

He heard a chuckle.

“Just when your life is changing for the better, you feel feeble?”

He looked up uninterestedly, thinking it must be the guards pestering him again, but the sight that met his eyes would be unforgettable.

Kitaanu snapped to his feet. Tilting his antennae a little to the right, he noticed the speaker’s bright yellow wings. He had never seen a more beautiful pair of wings in Annukulpuram. The room smelt of decomposed peels now. It was only half as nice as that happy liquid, but his panicky self set that thought aside.

Maharaj Yatoosh was amused at the reaction he got from Kitaanu. Lovingly patting Kitaanu’s compound eye, he tried to make him feel at ease. Of course, Kitaanu was rooted to the spot, but the touch felt warm. What he heard next made him feel cold, though.

“You will be the next king of Annukulpuram.”

What lies in store for the bewildered, little moskid? Find out in Chapter 9 of The Legend of Kitaanu!