It was Tuesday and a particularly sweltering morning in the castle town of Maschens. Still, the town’s people crowded together on both sides of the road. They had been like that since before the sun rose, determined to see the one person who had saved them all. With their necks craned to one side they eventually heard a roar of cheers towards the entrance of the town.

The ones closer to the entrance would see him first, but that only caused the anticipation to grow in the people further down. 

And then they saw him. A boy in his late teens with locks of white hair that shined with a blue hue when the sun reflected from it. He rode on a marvelous gray horse while the castle knights around him walked. The knights had on full armor but the boy only wore a simple blue tunic with white clouds on the sleeves, pants and boots. If one didn’t know him, they wouldn’t believe that the boy had just been to battle against one of the most destructive demons the world had ever known.

But there was no one in the world who didn’t know who he was. The child blessed by God, Tyura.

The townspeople began to push against each other in their excitement as they reached out their hands towards him and shouted his name.

“Tyura! Tyura! Tyura!”

The ones who had children hoisted them up on their shoulders so they

could have a better look, and explained to them who Tyura was. Though it was impossible to hear anything over the noisy crowd, the children nodded and pretended to understand. All they knew was that the boy passing in front of them must be someone great.

Through all of this, the one causing such an uproar -that even the king himself couldn’t evoke from his own people - didn’t even bat an eye.

Contrary to the enthusiastic crowd, Tyura had the suppressed desire to speed up this painfully slow gallop through Maschens. If it weren’t for the knights encircling him, he would have done just that. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the whole spectacle, he just found it unnecessary.

Tyura looked forward, squeezing the reins of the horse as he peered at the castle gates that was a few meters away. He wondered what reward the king would give him. A sense of dread crept over him as he remembered the party the king threw for him last time. It lasted seven whole days and unfortunately as the guest of honor, he had to attend every one. He would rather face a thousand demons than have to do something like that again.

“Tyura?” Lost in thought Tyura had failed to notice that they had reached the gate, and now he was just sitting there in a daze.

Tyura looked at the knights who had called him blankly. His mind still hadn’t caught up to the current situation. The knight, thinking he had offended him somehow, lowered his head.

“Sir Tyura, no, lord Tyura. We have reached the gate.”

“Ah,” Tyura let out thoughtlessly. He recognized this knight. He was one of the ones who fought with him in the battle the other day. His name was…Lebell. A senior knight. Tyura frowned slightly. Although he got all the glory from the citizens, the soldiers and knights who fought with him were often overlooked. He didn’t deserve the titles sir or lord. He was no noble and he was too young to be called sir. 

“Tyura is just fine, sir Lebell.” Tyura smiled tightly. He was never good at these types of interactions or any interaction in general. “Proceed.”

“Yes…Tyura.”

————————————————

Tyura rested on the side of a pollen covered road, not caring how it stained his clothes in bright yellow splotches. It had only just turned spring but it was already so hot. Occasionally, a warm breeze would blow—giving little to no relief at all to the scorching heat-and stir that pollen into a thick yellow cloud that eventually settle into his hair.

Tyura didn’t pay much mind to this. He was busy twisting the Kings latest gift-a penannular brooch with a sword running through the middle and a purple fire opal in the center of the sword- between his fingers.

“Tyura, I present to you this brooch as a token of gratitude from this kingdom and as a token of gratitude from me.” The King had said as he pinned the brooch on Tyura’s chest with shaky hands, “Please continue to protect us all and quickly put an end to this war.” As the king the nobles surrounding them began to clap. 

Not once did the King mention that when the war was over, Tyura would die.

 Perhaps to the King and to everyone else, that part didn’t really matter.

From the moment Tyura was old enough to understand words, he was told that he would sacrifice himself for mankind. 

You are going to die young Tyura. Your image will be engraved in the hearts of everyone as the young hero who fought a war against demons with the power of God to save us all. Tyura remembers his caretakers at the church telling him this as soon as he was old enough to understand words. Everyday he would have to hear how honored he should be to die in the glorious war.

Maybe that should be enough for him.

Tyura clutched the brooch tightly and his hand shook from the pain of it cutting into his skin and from the force of him resisting the urge to hurl this “token of gratitude” across the road.

“Tyura!”

Tyura swallowed the sound that nearly escaped from his mouth and turned back to see a girl bounding towards him.

As soon as he saw her swinging ponytail of braids and wide smile he knew it was Lainy, and he instantly broke out into a smile of his own.

She was the only person who treated him like a normal human being. 

Lainy stopped next to him, bracing herself on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. 

“So,” she began, wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead as she quickly looked Tyura over, “what did his majesty give you this time?” Her eyes went to the brooch as soon as she spoke. She hummed as she studied it. “Not as fancy as the other gifts, but it’s still pretty nice.”

Tyura chuckled lightly, and reached to touch it again instinctively.

“You want it?” Tyura said jokingly. But really, he wouldn’t mind having a reason to get rid of it.

“Ha!” Lainy tossed her head back. “It’s not like I can sell it. One look at me in these… rags,” She gestured to her overall dress with patches sowed in. “ and they’ll have me in jail for thievery.”

“But one day things will be different ” Lainy looked at Tyura with a spark in her eyes he knew all too well. Tyura gave a weary smile as he shifted to get more comfortable on the ground.

As much as he enjoyed spending time with Lainy, he had hoped to be home before nightfall.

———————————

Sometime during their conversation, Tyura had managed to guide Lainy on the path to her home. The heat lowered with the sun, causing the walk to be almost pleasant. Soft warm light fleeted through the trees casting interesting patterns on Lainys brown skin. 

Tyura watched as she continued to talk animatedly. He had lost track of what she was talking about but he couldn’t help the tug at the end of his lips. 

“-the only time commoners can even look at a noble is during the festival. Oh I cant wait. Maybe you can go with me next year.”

Next year… The words were like a bucket of cold water over his head. The thoughts he was able to push away thanks to Lainy came rushing back. Even she… 

“Of course…” Tyura hoped the expression on his face resembled a smile at least to reassure her. Her face dropped as she realized a little to late.

“I-I mean…”

“No…I can’t wait for next year either.” He lied, avoiding her worried eyes instead looking at the patch of green grass ahead of them. They had reached the end of the path and were now on Lainy’s farmland. A single black and white cow grazed in the far corner of a low and poorly made wooden fence. It shook its head disbursing the swarm of flies covering it.

“Let’s do it.” 

“Huh?”

Tyura turned to Lainy fully and took her hand. Squeezing it gently. “Let’s go to the festival together.” 

Lainy’s bewildered look turned determined. She squeezed his hand back and nodded.

“You promise we’ll go together next year?”

Tyura nodded, feeling a spark of hope.