It was time to venture into another village. The sky was a lighter shade of blue with swirls of clouds embellishing them. Lucius offered his hand to steady me as I got on top of Argo’s back. The villagers were gathered to see us off. Some were saddened and most were terrified. 

"I will ask one of the Scums to watch over your village. However, it would be better if you relocate to a more secluded area where no catastrophe will easily stumble in," Lucius advised them.

The village chief stepped forward to reply. "Thank ya, Yur Highness, and will do.”

"Onii!" 

My eyes spotted the detka extending his arm to my direction. The mother lifted him for me to carry. Lucius nodded, encouraging to take Farah to which I did with hesitancy. Farah seemed to think that he was meant to come along with us. He grabbed on Argo's mane to which the creature paid no mind to. 

"Say bye-bye to onii, Farah.” 

His smile dropped because of his mother’s words. His eyes were sheathed with tears. Chubby hands grabbed onto my blouse, refusing to let go.  

"Onii no bye-bye..." He whimpered.

"Farah, onii has to go.”

"Onii no leave!" He wailed. His mother gave an apologetic glance and bowed her head. I turned to Lucius, but he simply shrugged his shoulders with a fond grin. 

What did they expect me to do? I had no attained skills when it came to children. I never thought that he could have this emotional attachment for that one night of interaction. I hesitantly stroked Farah's back with my gloved hand, lifting his bum so that he could rest his chin on my shoulder.

Was I doing this right?

"Lucius...can we bring him with us?" That was the only possible solution I could think of. I shall return the child once he has learnt the art of monotony. 

"Eh?" Farah's mother and Lucius blurted. 

My ears were rung from all the crying. 

"Farah, I’ll come back. I think." 

Would I really? I was taken here against my will. I should be returning soon but taking me back wasn't in Lucius' list of activities. He was going to bring me farther away from the kingdom and I wasn't doing anything about it.

Was it because resistance was futile? I had no chance against his strength. I could only wait for rescue.

I returned Farah back to his mother. I reached inside my shirt and fished for my belt to unclasp it. Next, I slipped off my left glove, staring at my hand in thought.

Yesterday should have been the first and last time I used my powers. For the sake of stopping the constant grievance of the child, I shall use it again for his benefit and mine. 

I will give something to Farah as compensation for his tears. I did not deserve his tears. I was the last person that should have another being mourn for him because I was incapable of returning the favour.  

As Farah grows, he will eventually forget about me.  As soon as I am retrieved from Lucius, I will eventually be forced to forget about him, this village, and everything that ever happened when I was kidnapped. I will be wedded to Segreth and we will take over the throne as soon as the king and queen die. That was what the Cauldron of Spirits decided upon. My fate was sealed. 

I thought something clean and pure just like Farah's innocence. A white flower sprouted in the middle of my palm. The petals were plenteous and gave a sweet scent.  I handed the rose to Farah's mother who was having a difficult time calming her son. She brushed the petals to his nose. Her son’s cries seized; his wet and puffy eyes closed from the scent. 

"Adieu! (Farewell!)" 

The dwarves waved back at Lucius. I didn't dare gaze at them or even spared Farah one last look. Argo galloped, flapping his wings and settling us back in the sky. 

“Will they be alright?” 

“Is that worry I sense, chii?”

I scoffed. “What folly.”

The rapitore (kidnapper) was a lot more behaved this time. He seemed to be in deep thought after waking up. 

"Lucian, the belt that you're wearing has the rotten souls of catastrophes sealed in it. Who gave that to you?" 

"Iltut gave it to me. They wanted to seal my power, so I had to always wear it without fail.”

Lucius hummed in response. "I see. It makes sense. Your power is far greater than otou. If you can control and master it, you will turn out to be a threat to the Higher-Order."

Why would I be a threat to them? I was trained under them. 

"You weren’t trained for battle from how easy I was able to take you. They expect you to merely sit still like a doll while Segreth makes all the decisions. That's just playing dirty, isn't it?" 

“You should not be making accusations of playing dirty when you’re on the run after kidnapping someone from the royal family.”

He snorted. "Who’s on the run? I’m from the royal family too, you know? But let me tell you one thing little brother, the law that you're so proud of is nothing but a hoax. It is a lie that scarred many lives. The cysgod never rebelled against the king. Those bastards only used his name as a ballyhoo for their law."

With each word that Lucius tossed, my mind gradually chipped away from reality. He was only speaking of these things to win me over. None of them were true. 

The law taught us to never let emotions win over logic. The law taught us to put the kingdom above anything else. In order to prevent rebellion, people needed to be disciplined and have control over themselves to not tumble like the Scarlet King.

"Stop lying. Do not lie to me any further.”

My barricade started to rebuild itself. I kept a straight face and went stiff. I will not let him defile me Florencia like this.

"The one thing that I can never do is to lie to you," Lucius avowed. "Do not place me to their level. I am different from them. I will never hurt you."

He embraced me from behind. There was soreness in my throat that I swallowed down along with the thought of giving in. Where was my strength and resilience for the past eighteen blue moons? Where did my principles go? Where did my faith run off to?

"Are you frightened?" 

‘How would you like to no longer feel any fright?’

This memory...

"Is that what you would call this?" 

Was my faith simply just fear?

I remembered it clearly. There was a streak of light coming from the fissure underneath the door of the room I was kept inside during my training days. That light gave me hope that despite the darkness that shrouded me, I knew that there was something out there waiting for me.

If I only endured further, I could have opened that door and be set free. But I got used to that darkness. When my master lost his life, I was able to wrap my hand around the knob and clutch it tightly.

No one was guarding anymore yet I stood there unmoving, pondering, and dreading. I became one with the darkness and if I leave, will the light consume me?

Until now I was still at that side of the door, afraid of departing because of the murk I was fed with. There was no hope for me.

"I don't know Lucian...But won’t you listen to your heart now for once?"

I glanced at my chest. I always thought I lost it, but it was always there. It always screamed throughout those years until finally, it lost its voice. 

"But I don't know how to use it.”

"Life will teach you, I will guide you.”

          Could I really rekindle the voice of my heart? 

The door that I was so afraid of opening was pushed from the other side. No matter how hard I tried to prevent it from being opened, the person who forced his way in managed to drag me out...in a literal sense.

"What were you saying last night, onii?" I changed the subject.

He was supposed to tell me something important but was cut short when a dwarf splashed newly boiled soup on me. He released a deep breath to get back to business.

"Oh, I was trying to tell you that— did you just call me onii? You did, didn't you?" he exclaimed joyfully.

Did I? It came out naturally. I didn’t even notice it. This was all Farah’s fault for calling someone onii without any blood relations. 

I was engulfed tightly in his arms. He howled like a fool. "Yes! You finally called me that! I'm so happy chii!"

“You must have misheard me.” I was going to say cheating oik.  

"You're never going to regret calling me onii. I'll be there with you on your every first! Your admirers shall all need to pass through me. I will help you name my nephews and nieces and your grandchildren! " 

His enthusiasm caused a shiver to run down my spine. Was everything he was saying normal?

"That is...I don't know what to say..." I mumbled.

Lucius rubbed his face against my back. The thought of marrying someone other than Segreth was odd for me. I doubt I will form a relationship with anyone based on attraction. That was impossible.

"I am well aware of my over-protectiveness, but I just can't wait. Concerning the matter of being a dominatur or a submissus, you will discover your position once your body tells you about your readiness for fare l'amore (lovemaking)."

"Should we really be talking about this? I refuse to establish any kind of intimate relationship. I do not want to have kids. I will reject any wooing."

Lucius snickered at my declaration. "You won't be able to reject an Alpha man who would want to dominate you."

"Who says I'll be a submissus? Do not assume anything, idiot," I deadpanned.

Lucius was about to say something back, but loud growls resonated from behind us, stipulating danger. He groaned.

"Mantikhoras...We're in a lot of trouble."

"You like to get yourself in trouble. I don't know how this is different. What is that?”

A dash of red and a whirl of air caused Argo to neigh and move aside. A creature with the face of a man and the body of an animal made a sudden appearance. 

It was pure red like cinnabar. Three rows of sharp teeth lined its mouth; it seemed strong enough to rip off even the strongest bark of trees.

Its blue eyes glowed; a tail that was shaped like an arrow's head at the end swished. It was muscular; its orange mane was bright and alive as if it was blazing like fire. Bony spikes started from its head down to its tail. Its claws dripped with blood. It soared the heavens like it was their hell to rule with their red bat-like wings. 

"It doesn't look scary," I commented.

"Lucian, are you blind?" 

Argo neighed loudly. Lucius held on to the reign tightly. 

"They hunt in packs. We must escape.”

I crossed my arms. “Do what you have to do to keep me alive.”

“Yes, Your Highness!” he playfully responded.

Stupid man.

Argo plummeted down. The beast chased us.  I shut my eyes from the intensity of the winds, my insides tickled from the sudden deceleration.

"Don't look back, Lucian!" 

More of those creatures appeared. One was on our left and two were on our right. There was another one soaring in front of us.

"We're surrounded," I said loudly for him to hear.

"I know that!" 

Argo went under the mantikhoras charging ahead of us. The one that we were supposed to clash against collided with the one from our rear.

"Good boy Argo!"

The pegarcorn landed on the soil, running inside a dark and withered forest. The village that I believe that we were supposed to visit was nearby. 

"We can't go to the village right away. We have to lose the mantikhoras or else it'll follow us to the village and endanger everyone in there."

More growls were heard from the distance. A sharp needle-like object went through the air that flew right beside Lucius' shoulder. 

"Faex! (Shit!)" 

"Did you defecate?" I asked him blankly. He must be really frightened.

"Big brother isn't scared. Don't you worry about it," he assured and winked.

"Argo must be scared. We should give Argo a rest."

"You underestimate him," he boasted.

He turned his head to survey the beasts.

"We have to be quicker.” He placed a kiss on my neck.  "I need to lead them away from the village. I'll come back for you, stay hidden.”

"What —"

I was thrown to the bushes. The pegacorn flew up just in time to dodge the needle sent to their direction. Their silhouettes disappeared in an instant to take this chase to a different venue. 

He got himself into a mess again. Was he like this for the last eighteen blue moons?