"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"
The crowd chanted in unison, demanding the execution of anyone who was on the ground, on their knees in front of the king.
The king of Lacrontte, XX Lacrontte, towered over the entire village on a type of altar where only he sat on his throne, with a cold gaze fixed on his people as he watched adults and children cry for redemption.
"I warned you to leave."
But this was their home. They also had the right to live there even if they didn't have marks. They also...
The first head rolled, and the bloodthirsty crowd with inhuman thoughts cheered in excitement, asking for another. They wanted all of them, the weakest ones, to be exterminated to forge a kingdom only with the strongest.
"The mark is power, son. The marks are power. Power to destroy your enemy, do you hear?"
No, father, they're not. You're mad, you're insane, insane! You're crazy, and you won't drag me into that madness with you.
"Keith," I hear someone calling me in the distance. Gradually, their voice becomes clearer and more audible. "Calm down, it was just a dream."
It's Luke who's holding my arms to keep me from hitting anyone. When he lets go, I sit up carefully. That unknown pain is gone now, but the bitter feeling of that memory persists.
I know well that my destiny was to be the king of Lacrontte, and shortly after, to die by falling from that balcony, so I wonder, what happens when you tempt fate, or simply refuse to let fate play out? What happens when you fight against fate for something better than what you've been dealt? Or much worse, what happens when you try to avenge fate?
"Keith, it's over."
No, Luke, it's not over. It's still happening, so I have to stop it. I have to kill it.
"How long did I sleep?"
"All night."
I nod. I haven't wasted any time, so I won't have to rush any part of my plan in the future for my revenge to be just on the day of the coronation as king of the false prince of Lacrontte.
"So there's no time to waste. We're leaving for the castle right now."
"Now? Don't you prefer...?"
"No, there's no time," I say, getting up without letting him finish.
In the distance, Maiara tries futilely to gather some scarves, gloves, and hats that seem to have been dragged away by the wind. I remember those as the things the nuns at the orphanage gave us so we wouldn't be cold.
I approach her, and silently start picking them all up. When I'm about to grab a scarf near her hand, she takes mine with precision, as if she knew my hand was there.
"How...? How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Take my hand. You knew where I would put it, didn't you?"
She looks me straight in the face, and although I know she can't see me, I feel observed.
"Can you see, then?" I ask cautiously.
"Not exactly," she murmurs.
"Then how did you do it?"
"I'll tell you on the way so we won't be late."
"Okay," I agree. I stand up after packing everything and put my backpack on. "Are we going?"
***
"When I was a child, big Blindigos used to come to my village."
"Blindigos?"
"Yes. Since our favor is that of the sun, it's very common for our sight to be poor, so the art of blindness has been passed down from generation to generation among important families."
"Hmm, I see. And why didn't you learn it?"
"My family was part of a clan that had been short of children with marks for over twenty generations, so little by little we lost prestige, and therefore, wealth. One day, before I was blind, a girl my age from a prestigious clan saw me begging, so she gave me some bread, but when our hands touched, there was a spark in her eyes. She said I would one day be very powerful, so powerful that I risked going completely blind, so she taught me to look using the power of what surrounds me as eyes."
"Don't only those with the gift of the earth can do that?"
"No, blindness can. Those are the sixth sense and the spiritual gaze. Legend has it that, as the sun gives life to the earth, the earth thanked it by giving all its gifts to those marked by the sun, but they can only use them if their heart is pure."
"Isn't your heart pure, Maiara? Or why can't you use it? Either way, it's not up to me to judge her, because what morality would I judge her with? I killed all the inhabitants of a castle and plan to do the same with my father. I'm not much better than her."
"Someday I'll tell you."
"Huh?" I look at Maiara. She walks holding my arm while her head is bowed. "What do you mean?"
"My story. Why I'm blind and my soul isn't pure."
I squeeze her arm slightly, causing her to furrow her brow slightly.
"Then I'll tell you mine someday too."
"Hey!" someone yells behind us. I turn my head back just to see Luke running towards us, looking quite agitated. "I stopped for a second to get water and go to the bathroom, and you didn't even notice. What's wrong with you, rude people?! I could've been kidnapped, and none of you cared!"
"I'm sorry," I apologize. "I was listening to Maiara..."
"Sure, listen to Maia and leave Luke. Typical of men."
I chuckle and continue our way. It's almost dusk, but we still have time to reach the castle.
"Wait, did you just call me Maiara and not Maia?"
"Yes."
"Why? Do you hate me or something?"
I sigh. "I can see why you two are such good friends. Drama seems to be your common thing."
"What do you mean, are you comparing me to that shortie?"
"Who are you calling shortie, stupid blond?"
"At least I'm the size of a boy my age."
"At least I don't dye my hair."
"Enough," I mutter, tired of hearing them fight. I had never heard them argue before, and I never want to hear them fight again. Frankly, they annoy me.
"Well, at least I can see."
I stop abruptly.
"What did you just say?" I ask Luke, annoyed, but Maiara wasn't bothered at all by what he said.
"Well, while I was seeing, I learned to read, unlike someone around here."
"Both of you, stop it," I stop them. "What's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly fighting?"
Luke looks at me with narrowed eyes, but then he and Maiara burst out laughing.
"Nothing's wrong, we fight occasionally."
"Yeah, man, nothing's wrong," says Luke, giving Maiara a gentle tap on the head before continuing to walk.
When Maiara senses my intrigue, she hastens to explain.
"Luke and I grew up together since we were quite young. We're like siblings, so since we don't fight over anything, we sometimes say rude things to each other."
"He called you blind."
"Because I am blind. So it doesn't matter."
What a strange relationship these two have.
I continue on the path, now more slowly because of the debris in the area, when a few meters ahead Luke stops, turns around, and points ahead.
"Welcome to the now incinerated and destroyed castle of Devereaux."