I offered Leon a hug and placed him on my bed asking him to stop being sad for me. I do not understand how such an emotional pure soul could survive a war and being kept captive by some maniacs. He watched me eating the food Ri brought me without saying a word, but the quietness of the situation started to drive me insane and I decide to speak.
"Why are you so touchy with me? Is it because of what happened in the Red Light District? You were afraid me not too long ago", I try to tell him nicely, but I pause realizing it might have sounded rude. I'm not good with words.
"Well yes, I think. That might have something to do with it. But it's also other things", he whispers to me, almost like he does not want to be heard.
"What things, little prince?" Somehow I cannot control my sarcastic tone. I bite my tongue for a moment, hoping the pain will make me less bitter.
"If I don't take your attention, then who will? Ri or Xayan, right? I don't want that. I want to be glued to you at all times so you give that attention to me, not to them. Also, why are you calling me a prince?", he cries annoyingly.
"Well, didn't we see it in the magic mirror? You were an aristocrat, didn't you? Also, when exactly did you change your clothes? I didn't even notice you weren't naked anymore", I say missing the whole point about 'giving him attention' on purpose.
"You could see I was naked?"
"Of course, I made the cloak, idiot. I can see right though it if I want to." Urgh, I can't stop acting like this. But why do I need to stop acting like this? He is in MY house, wasting MY time, wanting MY attention, while offering me what? Anger?
No, I'm wrong. I need to be nice.
"You're the idiot. Why would you want to see me naked?", he tells me in a tense tone.
"Why are you guys arguing like this? You're both idiots", Xayan's voice can be heard behind the closed bedroom's door.
I go and open it, grab his clothes and pull him inside. All of sudden, I feel really annoyed by these two guys. I'm always annoyed, but this time even more. One of them starts acting out after impressing me with his tears and the other one sneaks and listens to our conversation.
"Are you with me or against me?", I say threatening him.
"I came here to apologize. Calm down. I mean no harm", he tells me. "I was a jerk earlier. As I was thinking about your... past, I realized that you were wronged. And you deserve peace. For this reason, I want you to know that, as my savior, I will protect and cherish you. Thanks, goodbye."
He tries to leave but I pull him back quickly. He will not walk out on me. Who does he think I am? What's that nonsense about protecting and cherishing? Did he go outside to ingest poisonous grass?
"Guys, we need to think. Ok? Think! First, what do we do with Ri? I am not taking him with us. He deserves to be safe", I desperately tell them, not understanding why we all are so out of focus.
"So you are not attracted to him?", Leon asks from across the room.
"That's your problem right now?", I bark at him.
"Stop flirting", Xayan mutters. "Anyway, we should do what we are supposed to. I do not have any money, but I will work to pay you back. I suggest that you, Otilia, give him enough money to create a new life and erase his memories about what happened."
Fair enough. He did the thinking for me so I call Ri and tell him the situation. He looks at me with accepting eyes and approves of our plan.
"Are you just going to accept forgetting what just happened?", Leon asks suspiciously.
"Well, I do not have a choice. I don't even remember how we get here. You don't need my approval, this is just you showing kindness to a guy with nobody in the world, isn't it? You want me to agree first, so you don't have to feel guilty", he answers.
Somehow, I can understand the position he is in. He needs to embrace solitude in order to survive and none of us can offer him our company. I wonder if he had friends there, I wonder if they escaped. Our meeting was a matter of coincidence and it should remain a fade memory as he goes and lives the rest of his life, while us three, I don't know, end up sentenced to death?
I nod to Ri and bring some money from a bag. It's enough for him to live by himself for 5 or 6 months. I do not know how knowledgeable he is about the outside world, so I try to offer some motherly advice. Afterwards, I am probably older than him.
"Always keep your money in this magic wallet. After putting your finger here, in the middle, it will register your fingerprint and nobody else will be able to open it", I tell him while showing him an unused wallet I kept tossed away. "Do not travel at night and always follow the crowds. Don't spend money on expensive stuff, okay? This is only enough for a few months. There's a caravan going at the seaside tomorrow night, if you want to be a performer, dancer or singer, you can go with them. They also have a school in there, in case you want to study something. I recommend leaving the city and not returning. This place is too dangerous."
"Wow", Ri laughs. "You're truly worried, aren't you?"
"Why are you laughing?", I yell.
"Aren't you erasing my memory anyway?"
"I can select which layers of your memory to repress. I'm no amateur. Xayan, can you please take the hallucination cloak from Leon and teleport Ri to the inn in the city center after I am done? My spell will numb his brain for around 25 minutes, so you need to be fast, okay?"
After Xayan mutters, I touch Ri's hands and stare into the depths of his eyes and soul. It feels wrong to erase the moment we had together with Leon, so I only remove our faces and voices. He resists a bit, but nothing I cannot fight against. Our names, faces, voices are gone. I keep the memory about the fire intact so he doesn't try to return to his pervious master and I make sure he remembers my advice. From the outside, it must seem so easy. Frozen like statues, we just stare into each other's eyes, lost in time. In reality, my skull feels like it's being scratched from the inside by some long, sharp fingers. My blood rushes into my face and I can feel it burning. I must be so red... As I feel that my goal was reached, I release Ri's hands and lay comfortably on my chair.
Xayan disappears and reappears in less than 20 minutes, while I'm still in the same spot he left me in, dozing off. He comes to me and touches my forehead.
"You seem to be fine now, why are you so tired?" Did he just ask that?
"Normal people need to sleep", I chuckle. Did he actually forget how us, the rest of the world, sleep at night? Leon watches us, playing with a book he found on my nightstand. Why is this guy so comfortable in my room? Did Xayan put some weird spell on him? No, it can't be, he can't do mind manipulation.
"I suggest we go find two of our former companions. It seems that Leon is more affected than me, so I don't think he actually remembers them. But it's going to be uncomfortably funny to see you next to them, Otilia."
"Why is that?", I ask and I raise an eyebrow.
"Well, we will have two dragon riders and one dragon killer. Haven't seen this combination before", he says while approaching me and touching my hair. "You have really interesting hair, makes me want to steal it."
"Get out, both of you, get out and let me sleep." Whatever I need to know, I'll find out tomorrow, I'm too tired to panic.