A man in a white coat peers through a pane of glass at the pupil of a taciturn young woman sitting on the bed. Grasping his wrist trying to locate the pulse, the doctor shakes his head a little as if refusing what he sees.
"Your Majesty. I have checked her signs and seen her reflections, everything about her physically is normal. The state in which it finds itself is not the product of any physical ailment; I feel that more than her body, it is her mind that has become ill" – After spending the night together, Rafael woke up in the morning to see how Julia was. Realizing that the young woman who until a few hours ago could communicate, was now submerged in a trance from which there was no reaction no matter how much she spoke to him.
-"You are supposed to be the best court doctor! Are you so incompetent that you can't cure her?
-"!My Sir! This has nothing to do with whether or not I'm able to cure her! What the young woman suffers is not in the hands of what a doctor can do. If it is as she says, the impact of yesterday's news must have affected her to the point of wanting to disconnect from reality.
If I wanted to put it another way, she has locked herself inside to find herself in her own safe place" – With a serious look, the doctor faced Rafael without caring that it was the king. As a doctor, he felt obliged to look after the well-being of his patient rather than comply with the whim of the monarch.
"If you're really worried about her, I think it's better to keep her away from people and any situation in which her condition could be further altered" - Taking his briefcase from the bureau next to the bed, the doctor left leaving a prescription with a list of medicinal herbs appropriate for the nerves.
Standing next to her in the room, Rafael looked at Julia with an air of regret, reflecting on his face the anguish of not being able to do anything for her.
"Everything has been my fault. If only I had realized the situation of the girl, you would not have to be in this state. I don't know if you can listen to me, but I want you to know that from now on I will try to make amends for all the damage I have caused in your life. Until the day my heart stops, I will watch over you" – Kissing her on the forehead while holding the delicate hands of the maid, Rafael left the room giving the order to a maid to help her clean up and dress her in the dress. that he had prepared for the banquet.
On the other side of the capital, where the transition between buildings clearly divides between the popular district and the slums, a woman covered in a dark cloak wandered the alleys without an escort or company. The strands of red hair that protruded from the fold of the fabric, gave faint sparkles when the light that filtered between the roofs collided with it.
The air stale by the smell of rotting garbage that was piling up in the cracks of the sidewalks, made the lady take a handkerchief to her nose trying to avoid the nauseating aroma. Walking without hesitation, dodging at times the drunks and beggars who lay on the floor resting from the stupor of alcohol.
At the end of a desolate alley, a thick wooden door with rust-beaten rivets hung a sign engraved with herbs and medicines. As that place was frequented more by illiterate people, the owner of the place felt that it was more practical to put her advertisement like that, than to show her name to the public.
Hitting the doorknob three times, Berenice waited attentively for an answer to her knock, tapping her slipper impatiently on the tile, waiting for the moment to quickly enter the premises.
"I see you have already arrived. As promised, the concoction is ready. It happens before someone realizes that you are a noble lady and they kidnap you to sell you to a brothel" – An elderly woman, with silver hair and a face full of wrinkles, her back was bent by rheumatism and she hardly gave a few steps outside your premises.
The children of the prostitutes who lived in the alley used to call her the witch grandmother, because from the windows of her house came the penetrating aroma of the herbs she used to make her potions.
Taking the hood of her cloak trying to cover her face more, Berenice entered the old woman's house wiping her feet preparing to sit at the tea table.
Just as the sense of smell could detect being close to the door, inside the penetrating aroma of the herbs came at times to give the visitors slight headaches. Added to the lack of light due to the thick curtains that covered the windows, the objects arranged in the surroundings of the room cast sinister shadows when the flames of the candles were snatched.
"Wouldn't it be better to open the windows a little?" – Berenice approached one of the curtains to draw the fabric so that the sunlight entered the room, being stopped by the old woman's wrist. Feeling surprised by the strength of her thin and calloused fingers, the young lady looked at the witch's dazed expression, feeling her heart race as she continued to hold her.
"Many of the concoctions and herbs in this room would not withstand sunlight. Most of these plants grow in caves or dark and humid places, they are very careful if I want to preserve my work material" – Releasing her wrist pointing to the table, a bottle containing a purple liquid was ready for the young woman to take it. it will take.
"When you mix this concoction with any drink, its aroma and color will meld and no one will know the difference. You must make the person drinking the elixir look you directly in the eye. Only then will it have the effect you want" – When Berenice took the jar from the table, the documents that were in it were blown away by a gust of air that she did not know where it came from.
When the old woman saw that, she quickly approached to where the young woman was, noticing that the engraved symbol on the table still had traces of a faint glow like blue flames. Moved by curiosity, I take a candlestick and place it at the height of Berenice's face, perfectly seeing her singularity of the iris.
"Girl, you can't leave yet. Take a seat and listen to me very carefully, what I am about to tell you are not tales of yesteryear or superstitions as the clerics usually call them" - Dragging a chair to stand in front of her, the old woman sat down and began to tell a story that time had brought to oblivion.
Before the age of the kings, beyond the myth of the creation of the world that the church usually recounts in its homilies. Men lived in harmony without borders or racial differences, connected to nature and its flow of life. They lived celebrating the elements and their blessings, their relatives died without lamenting for them. They were all aware that, being part of creation, they were all one.
Thanks to the innocence of their hearts and the purity of their minds, the spirits coexisted with men without any restrictions. Occasionally falling in love with each other, putting aside their physical nature and other times adopting flesh and blood.
The spirits that took human form mixed with the sons and daughters of men, bringing offspring into the world. The sign of her mix was passed on to her children in the form of red hair and the mark on her sight: eyes with two-tone irises.
These descendants were called hufiras, beautiful young people with great talent to control the elemental energy that surrounds creation. Each one with its own affinity to each element, in a constant balance of its environment. With their abilities they were capable of wonders of immeasurable power and beauty.
But that was creating a gap between the humans and the hufiras, passing from admiration to contempt and eventually to persecution. Although it was true that the hufiras were powerful, their number was considerably low compared to the sons of men.
The years that followed the bloody struggles made the spirits feel horrified at the nature of man. When they thought of intervening, the Gaia became aware and ordered them not to participate against the men, they being responsible for mixing.
Grief-stricken at the death and persecution of their descendants, the spirits prayed to Gaia for a blessing upon the world. Hearing their pleas, I grant men the gift of oblivion; doing with it, that at some point the hufiras existed.
The few hufiras left on earth wandered for centuries wandering without a place to lay their heads. Surviving thanks to their powers under a curse: if they were seen by men using them, at that moment they would drop dead.
– "Why are you telling me all this old lady? What does that have to do with me?"
-"Just for a moment, look at me carefully" - Standing up with the help of a cane, the old woman recited a song that radiated from a light that illuminated the dark room. For a brief moment, the skin that was dry and wrinkled, became as smooth and perfect as that of a young girl. The silver hair was dyed a beautiful vivid scarlet and the virtue that had been lost for decades bloomed like a rose in the middle of the field.
Seeing this, Berenice got up in astonishment taking a few steps back while trying to contain the expression of astonishment on her face.
Just like the fire of a match that burns out in an instant, the glow disappeared from the old woman's body, returning her to her original state. Spitting up blood as he couldn't hold back his cough.
- "Old woman, what's wrong with you?"
– "Girl, did you not listen to the story I told you? Certainly you have hufira blood in your veins, that's why you have that reddish hair and your beautiful eyes; but you also carry human blood in you, turning you into a half-breed.
A hufira can use his power against another hufira without problems, but if he does it against a son of man, his destiny is to die" – Trying to maintain her composure, the old woman used her last strength explaining to the young woman that she could handle the spiritual power in almost the same way as a pureblood hufira. That she just needed to diligently study over the ancient writings and she would be able to control its power without risk to herself.
Indicating with her hand the shelf where a book already worn by time was, as if it were a relic passed down from generation to generation, the old woman dropped her arm almost with her strength leaving her body.
-"The elixir I have made for you is powerful, but in the hands of a hufira its power is unimaginable. Choose well the person to whom you will give it to drink, look for someone who has the power to protect you "
– "Why did you do it old lady? Why did you decide to lose your life? – The woman who had never shown a single emotion earning the nickname of ice princess, was at that moment shedding tears for an old woman whom she had only known for a few days. Moved in her heart by a distant sensation of her childhood, as if nostalgia for the past hit her soul, Berenice delicately took the head of the old woman who already felt the heavy hand of death on her eyelids.
"When I first saw you, I felt like your spirit had suffered for years. As if you were bound by heavy shackles that had cut off your freedom. I felt deep sorrow for you, as if I saw myself decades ago. I thought of just giving you the elixir and letting it go, but seeing your eyes and how the table reacted.
I didn't have the courage, I couldn't leave you in that state. Only by revealing who you are, you could achieve freedom" – Giving one last breath, the old woman exhaled her last breath and the weak heart stopped beating. At that moment, the woman's body began to feel lighter with each second.
Stunned by what she saw in front of her, the old woman's body began to turn into a fine powder that only left behind the clothes she wore with her before she died. That was the fate a hufira faced upon revealing his power, the extent of the curse of oblivion.
If Berenice had been a mere human, the memories of dealing with the old woman would have completely vanished. But by carrying hufira blood, the young woman continued with her memories intact.
"Thank you old lady! Go in peace" – Getting up from the floor, Berenice took the elixir bottle from the table and went to the shelf to get the book. Grabbing her hood, she covered her head and hurried out of the witch's home; surrounded by the eyes of the children, who wondered if she lived in that house.
The sun was moving on the horizon, reaching its zenith when Berenice had once again arrived at Count Solera's mansion. The butler, who was already waiting for her at the door, indicated that her trousseau for the banquet was ready in her room.
The noble lady only listened to him without answering half a word, walking down the hall to the stairs where a maiden received the cloak and the bottle with the elixir. Receiving instructions to pour it in its entirety into a bottle of wine that would be presented as a gift to the king.
- "Miss, what is this liquid?"
- "Do not ask unnecessary questions and just follow my orders" - Berenice fixed her gaze on the eyes of the maid, who hesitantly answered affirmatively to her mistress, to immediately go to the kitchen to proceed with her mandate.
After four hours of diligent preparation by her ladies-in-waiting, the beautiful lady wore a dark blue dress accompanied by light blue stone jewelry. His long reddish hair, he wore a white gold headdress that resembled a fan-like shining curtain of rain.
Ready for her meeting with the king, she ordered one of her maids to take the bottle of wine and escort her to the palace carriage already waiting outside. When His Majesty's attendant closed the door of the carriage, they began their march in the direction of the palace.
Looking from the window of his room, Rafael noticed the arrival of the carriage and went to his study to receive Count Solera's daughter.
"Eternal glory to the sun of the realm!" – Inclining the back and lowering the face; In a slight bow, putting her right foot forward while spreading the hem of her skirt, Berenice paid her respects to the king.
"As always, your formalities and tact are worthy of someone who is in charge of diplomatic affairs" – Despite being a woman in a patriarchal country, Lady Solera had earned her last name to be able to approach Her Majesty and show her their capabilities. Much to her regret, Berenice recognized that the weight of her father's name had served as a stepping stone to show herself to the world.
-"As my lord requested, the delegates of the kingdom of Tigris were diligently attended by the corps of maidens. However, Prince Eleazar is a bit difficult to handle."
-"Say it as such, he is a complete idiot"
-"Rafael, you can't say that out loud! If anyone listens…"
– "Berenice, besides you and me. My office is off-limits even to the head maid when we are together. This place is safe for you"
"Then you are right, my lord, Prince Eleazar is a pain in the ass" - Listening to such a fine lady use such vulgar language, Rafael could not help bursting into laughter so much that his spirit could be heard through the door.
"Since we were children, you are the only person who has made me laugh at any time or circumstance. I am really grateful to have you by my side as an assistant" – Rafael's words shook Berenice's heart, who felt that warmth that flowed from the deepest feelings of her being. Since childhood, she was always in love with the king; seeking to follow him at all times, regardless of the outbursts of rage he used to experience.
Love is an emotion that usually covers many defects when seeing the person you love, no matter how difficult they are to handle; even if he was the ice princess, that man always had the ability to melt his heart.
Allowing herself to be carried away by the warmth of the moment, Berenice approached Rafael and took him by the hand, looking him straight in the eye. Surprised by that gesture, the king looked back at those beautiful bicolor eyes in which he could feel that a genuine feeling beyond admiration was reflected. Inadvertently taking a gentle kiss from the noble lady's lips.
"Miss Solar. I'm sorry, but I can't reciprocate your feelings. In my heart, someone else has already left part of their being. Even if I can't be reciprocated, I can't deny what my heart feels" – Lowering her head with a bit of resignation, Berenice had bet her feelings on that unrequited kiss.
"I understand, Your Majesty. Please forgive my impertinence" - Pressing her hands against her hips, clenching her fists, the wounded lady asked the monarch to allow her to make a toast to celebrate between the two of them for the success of the banquet.
Acceding to Berenice's request, Rafael sent for his servant to bring the bottle of wine that the lady of the Solera family had brought.
"Berenice, I..." - Feeling guilt in his chest, Rafael tried to comfort the lady in front of him. Being silenced by her shaking her head at the monarch's words.
"Your Majesty, it is not appropriate for a man to say a woman's name if there is something more than a friendship" - The smile on Berenice's face contrasted with the redness of her eyes as she tried not to shed tears of pain. Trying to keep her composure like the ice princess once again.
"To your health, great sun of the kingdom" – Raising the glass, Berenice drank the wine and Rafael followed him; without taking their eyes off each other, as the witch instructed.
"Miss Solar. Berenice, what did you give me…" – Feeling that the room was spinning, the king collapsed on his knees on the floor at the lady's feet. Who bowed before him with eyes drowned in tears.
"Forgive me Rafael, forgive me for what I just did to you. But if you would never open the doors of your heart for me, then you would not be able to protect me by your own desire either" – Kissing him once more on the lips, Berenice stood up and wiped the tears with the gloves of her dress.
"You will protect me from any danger or threat. It is an order, get up" – Like a doll whose will has been taken away, King Rafael obeyed the lady of the Solera family without question. As the old woman told him, the will of the man who took the elixir would be subject to the woman who looked into the eyes after drinking it.
The person would act under the will of his slaver, without putting up any resistance even if that meant taking his own life.
– "Act normally, you should not attract attention. But in public you must be affectionate with me if I ask you to."
-"It will be done as you say" – For Berenice, subjugating the one who was the love of her life ate her up inside. She was aware that in doing so, she was no different from her petty father.
"My lord, may I enter the office?" – On the other side of the door, as if he had summoned the devil, Count Solera sounded anxious to know what had happened inside with the meeting his daughter was holding.
"Passe count Solera" – Conditioned on Berenice's will, Rafael allowed the count to enter his study, where no other nobleman had ever set foot, except for his daughter.
With a smile that did not hide her joy, Solera slowly applauded as she approached her daughter to put a hand on her shoulder.
- "My daughter, have you told the king about Prince Eleazar's request?"
- "What request are you talking about father?"
-"Which more? The request for a political marriage with Princess Elena, of course" – Berenice at that moment understood her father's words, when he meant that he would find a way to control the uncomfortable prince during the celebration of the banquet.
It was customary in the kingdom of Antioca, that the royal couples had a place away from the public that could only be accessed by a small number of attendees to congratulate them. Knowing of the prince's interest in Elena, the count took the opportunity to get rid of the princess by celebrating the political marriage.
-"Father, how can you suggest such a thing? You know that Prince Eleazar is a vile womanizer and I could never allow Elena…"
-"Shut!" – Attacking her face with a slap that threw her to the ground, Solera had lost her composure at her daughter's challenge in front of Her Majesty.
Just as Berenice had ordered before the count entered the room, Rafael held him with both hands by the neck, strangling him while lifting him up forcefully, leaving him with only the tips of his feet touching the floor.
-"!My Sir! I was just disciplining an ungrateful daughter! Spare my life"
– "He will not listen to you, now he only obeys me. You should have thought twice before hitting me in the face, father" – getting up from the ground wiping her blood from her lips, Berenice stood proudly as she approached Rafael's shoulder.
"So many years trampling on me, humiliating me. Making me feel like trash when the trash was you. But no more, dear father" – Just when Berenice was about to give the order to Rafael to break her neck, Count Solera smiled and used his trump card.
-"I hope you can live with a clear conscience, when you kill your father and your mother"
-"My mother died when I was four years old. What are you talking about?"
– "That was what I made you and your brother believe. She is alive, in a place that only I know and if I die, my men have orders to kill her" – Laughing barely with the little breath she had left, Solera looked at her daughter's panicked face upon hearing such a revelation.
-"Rafael, let him go right now"
-"As orders" - Releasing the grip of his hands, Count Solera fell to the ground coughing while rubbing his throat.
Berenice felt her entire reality crumble in front of her, needing to sit up due to dizziness. Giving time for Count Solera to get up and from his jacket pocket, he took an object that he threw into his daughter's lap.
A lock of red hair, some of which were already graying. That, without a doubt, was proof that it was her mother's hair. The gray hair was evidence that he had aged, since if it had been taken when he was supposed to have died, all the hair would have been a vivid shade of red.
"When you were still a child, your mother challenged me, just as you just did. I had already decided on your marriage to the prince, but she started threatening to reveal all my illicit dealings if I went ahead with my plan.
For an instant I thought about killing her, solving the problem in one fell swoop. But you know me better than anyone, I am a man who always looks to the future"- As Count Solera used to say, through trickery he had convinced Berenice's mother to go on a family trip to the family estate on the outskirts of the city. capital.
In the memories of the young lady's childhood, on that trip the carriage was attacked by a group of bandits who took prisoner her mother, her brother, her and some servants. Leaving their father behind to hold him ransom for them.
When they were taken into captivity, the bandits took their mother aside by covering the children's eyes. Unable to see where they had taken her, the children spent days locked up until a group of kingdom guards freed them.
When they left the hut where they were locked, Berenice saw a smoking pile of bodies in the distance, making out a faint golden glow from the wrist of one of them.
Running with tears in her eyes, freeing herself from the soldier's grasp, the girl was able to identify that the bracelet was one of her mother's jewels. Stunned by the scene, she couldn't contain her emotions and collapsed on the ground unconscious from the impact.
- "I saw her, I saw her cremated corpse!"
-"What you saw was the corpse of one of my farm slaves. The idiot thought that she was giving her freedom when I took off her chains, she thought that the bracelet I gave her was for her to use to survive, when it was the sign of her imminent death" – Laughing out loud, Solera remembered the face of the slave girl who begged for mercy as the overseers doused her with lamp fuel and set her on fire.
"Now that you know the truth, my dear daughter. I hope you can cooperate with me as obediently as you have been doing. I don't know how you got the king to become a puppet in your hands, but it's wonderful.
But remember, you can have the strings of your precious toy. But I have the puppeteer's strings" – Shaking her mother's lock of hair in front of her face, Solera incited Berenice's fury to prove that she had her at her mercy.
"Princess Elena's marriage will be announced at this banquet. Try to make all the necessary arrangements, my daughter" – Closing the study door, Solera left Berenice dejected on that leather chair. Who put his hands to his chest as he wept bitterly at the misfortune of a life in which he had only known misfortune.
"I will be free. What a beautiful lie you told me old lady, I'm just a beautiful cardinal. A cardinal that sings in his imprisoned cage and now, now I have dragged the man I love to my hell" – That study remained submerged in deathly silence until it was time for the banquet.