'huh!'
Talia's words might as well have been a bucket of cold water snuffing out his last glimmer of hope.
'She's going to kill me. Everyone I know will die and I will also die. Why should I die, why the fuck is she laughing'
"Take him then, it will not make any difference anyway" lord Folium spoke, with disappointment obvious on his face.
But the lord remembered something and asked "I was surprised beforehand so I did not notice but, my lady, why didn't his majesty order us publicly? This matter would have been dealt with swiftly if he did"
Lady Talia's smile went away and she said "There are some reasons for his majesty's decision but the most important ones are to prevent humans from running away or resisting and to retain dignity"
"Dignity?" exclaimed the lord with surprise and questioned "what does this have to do with dig-" he then paused. He now had an enlightened expression on his face.
"Yes, it is as you have deduced. If the public learned that a human would one day rise and overpower us, some would have outright denied it and ridiculed the crown and master Solomon. Some would have hidden away the humans in hopes of one of them being the one, to use him as a weapon and more"
"So the only reliable way was to inform the lords of this matter and have them execute the humans. I believe you understand that the matter I have entrusted you should not be revealed to anyone, not even the members of your family, yes?"
"Yes I understand"
There were a few moments of silence, moments in which Ango absorbed the information that was just now mentioned.
'So… there is no way'
He was hopeless. He could not escape, he could not run away from lady Talia since a squad of guards would accompany her, he could not think of any situation that could lead to his escape but even if he could, there were only directions he could go in. Deeper into the elven territory, into the territory of the dwarves and the great forest. Elves would kill him or worse, dwarves would do the same and the great forest was the home of the beasts, even more dangerous than the first two options. He could try and talk with elves and dwarves, even if they didn't listen there would be a glimmer of hope but with beasts, he wouldn't even have that option.
'I am truly … fucked'
It was not that Ango was a coward, he certainly didn't think so himself at least, but there was truly no way, no way that he with his meager strength could escape.
The rest of the conversation sounded like incoherent mumblings to Ango, it was like he was listening to them speaking through a film of water but he did find out that lady Talia wanted to leave tomorrow morning.
After they were done, he followed lady Talia like a puppet, doing what he was told without being conscious of them. The banquet also passed in the same manner with Ango's face a mask of emptiness.
At some point after the banquet he asked lady Talia if he could meet his family at night. It was dangerous to ask this, one of the reasons being that slaves could not request anything but this time, since he knew about the prophecy.
'Even if I shouldn't ask, what is she going to do? Kill me?' Ango thought to himself with a mocking tone.
'I'll die either way, at least this way I might get to see mom and dad for the last time'
The punishment that led to him and his family separating on bad terms didn't mean he did not get along with his family. Ango's family was one of the few families that were quite close to each other in the settlement; most did not stay together and would choose different partners after a while.
They talked to each other whenever they could, his father had taught him many things, mostly about sex but also how to take care of himself, clean his wounds or read.
Yes, his father had taught him how to read but only a few words. In his younger years his father was a servant in charge of transporting simple letters.
On the other hand, his mother was always behind him, taking care of him when he was sick or injured. Always comforting him, teaching him how to repair his clothes and make himself shoes out of straws. The three were always together but now …
His parents weren't saints; they had their bad moments and they had their good ones but they were Ango's and he loved them.
He wanted a chance to at least say goodbye, even hoping that maybe they had calmed down and had forgiven him.
Lady Talia, whose feet Ango was massaging while kneeling on the ground, closed the book that she was reading and looked at Ango in silence for a few moments. She then opened her lips and said "You have a family? Hm… why don't you show to the garden or the places worth seeing in here and then we'll go to your settlement"
"Mistress, you want to see the settlement? I- forgive me mistress but I don't think the settlement is a suitable place for a royalty like yourself, you do not have to lower yourself" Ango exclaimed with mild shock clear on his face but he thought about an elf and a royalty at that visiting the settlement, there were so many things that could go wrong.
"Hm… since you know about the prophecy, I can't exactly leave you to go back by yourself and I can not have a guard know about this matter either so that they'll know what to look out for. So, I either have to come with you or don't allow you to go" she gently shook her left that was in Ango's hand and raised her other leg for him to massage.
She then continued "And since I am not so heartless as to deny you your last meeting with your parents, I will come with you"
Tears welled up in Ango's eyes, he couldn't believe that elves were capable of such kindness toward his kind, he lowered his head and exclaimed with sincerity "Thank you mistress, thank you".
That evening Ango showed her some of the good places that he had heard about from the other elves, though they did not walk on foot, they took a carriage. He showed her the palace gardens with their colorful trees and flowers unique to this area, the Silverlight Lake which sparkled with different lights due to the colorful stones inside it and the lookout tower. Once Ango had to deliver food to the lookout tower and he had to go to the top of the nearly a hundred-meter tall building. The view of the great forest, and mount crown that height provided had mesmerized him; so he decided to take her there.
After their tour was done, they started to head toward Ango's settlement. There was still time a bit of time left until curfew but he didn't think that anyone would stop him with lady Talia in the carriage around. They passed some of the guards and even Lambert which ruined Ango's mood but they all showed respect toward lady Talia and didn't stop or question them.
Ango stopped in front of his house, he then walked toward the carriage door and informed lady Talia that they had reached his home. She acknowledged him but also told him that he couldn't go inside.
He looked around and saw Berry (the one who woke him up). He called him over and asked "Can you ask my mom and dad to come out? Tell them it's very important"
Berry was suspicious at first but when he looked at the carriage, he decided to not ask any questions. He just nodded and entered the house.
Almost a minute later Ango who was fidgeting outside, out of nervousness, saw his parents leave the house. Some other slaves were also around, trying to find out what was happening for a carriage with an elf to be here; they were also intrigued by Ango's clothes.
When he first saw his parents with worried faces, he wanted to run up to them and hug them but their last interaction caused him to lower his arms and instead say "Mom, Dad-" just uttering the words made tears well up in his eyes and his throat to close up.
Ria and John looked even more worried now but they didn't say anything. Ango took a deep breath and continued "I can't stay here anymore, I was given as a gift to lady Talia so I will have to leave tomorrow"
Ria and John's faces froze. They were angry at Ango because of what had happened, they knew it was unreasonable but since when emotions had acted in a logical way, but they did not wish to lose their son.
"I know i- I know that it was my fault that my little brother died" the welled-up tears were now turning into a stream and his fists were tightly clenched.
"I understand if you hate me, I understand if you want me to disappear, I know that you might not want to call me your 'son' anymo-"
*Slap
John had taken two steps forward and slapped Ango's face. The boy stopped talking and looked at his father with surprise, his hand on the side of his face that was slapped.
John took two more steps forward and raised his hand again. Ango flinched but was surprised the next moment. John suddenly hugged him tightly and said with a serious but shaky voice.
"NEVER say that again" he moved his head a bit, looked deep into Ango's eyes and added
"You were always my son and you will always Be my son"
Ria also came forward, joined the due and hugged both of them. They tried to talk but the dam burst open. Tears flowed from their eyes and they hugged each other tighter. They wanted to talk but amidst their cries and sobs, their voices were incoherent.