ã€ŠI, a deathly regent, cannot be seen by anyone but a blind womanã€‹


 Prologue

    The Death is omnipotent, no doubt, but even He was unable to handle such a long line of newly-come souls to the Afterworld when epochs ago humanity was so rude and greedy to start wars, killing each other in bitter battles for power and territories. Day by day The Death was wearing Himself out, accompanying the dead on their last journey. Being drained and weary, He concluded that the time to share His power of the Afterworld had come, and a need in the heir was the agenda. There was only one problem¨CHis heir had to be born. Only living things were capable of giving birth, but The Death¡¯s touch was lethal. The despair and tiredness were pressing Him, before one day He heard a legend about a curseress who had deceived The Death Himself. The curiosity engulfed Him. Who is powerful enough to trick The Death? he thought. If that person truly existed, was she able to solve the problem He had? And would she agree to it?

    The Death spent days and nights in search of the most powerful and almighty curseress in the world, and when He found her, The Death was stunned by her beauty and the recognition didn¡¯t flash in His eyes immediately.

    The deadly kissed they called her for what had happened to her. This was the girl He had come to take her soul in infancy dozens of circles ago, but, to His surprise, she had refused to leave her body¨Cthe baby who had not even talked. He had not ever experienced anything like that and would never feel that again. Regina was the only one who had stood up to The Death and saved her soul.

    Seeing The Death approach, Regina tilted her head and greeted Him as an old friend of hers. She remembered him, although she had been too small to understand what had been going on around her, and it was not the only strange thing.

    Regina the deadly kissed heard The Death out. When He was finishing His speech and almost begged to help Him for any price He could afford, the only words she said to Him were we are bonded to each other and withdrew to the library she had inherited from her foremothers and buried herself in the ancient books and notes, looking for any mentions of a spell or mojo to become living and dead simultaneously. Living for giving birth, dead for The Death to touch her flesh body and not to put the curseress to death.

    Time had passed. Hot, sunny days had been replaced by cool winds and torrential rains, cool winds and torrential rains by biting frosts and falling snowflakes, biting frosts and falling snowflakes by blossoming trees and green grass. The day Regina came to The Death, she asked him for a cost¨Cfor giving birth to their children He would leave her alone to live on the earth for an untold number of days, never trying to find her and to take her soul to the Afterworld.

    The Death agreed. Cementing the bargain by the blood bounds, He reclined with Regina the deadly kissed that night. Forty-four weeks later the curseress gave birth to five boys. Despite the fact she was the most powerful and almighty curseress in the world and even The Death had gifted her with His integrity, the soul of Regina the deadly kissed was taken by her own children.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    The beauty and courage of the curseress left a lasting impression, and The Death, lest to perpetuate the name of the fearless and ingenious woman in flesh, declared His sons regents¨Cin their mother Regina¡¯s honor. That day the deathly regents started their new way.

    The Death¡¯s sons¨CSurm, Mort, Tod, Smert, and Oti grew up faster than He expected. They became youths in the twinkling of an eye, and The Death started teaching them to be the deathly regents. At that time, He noticed that His sons inherited not only different eyes¨Ca black eye from Him and a blue one from Regina. The first-born deathly regents were immortal and had a lethal touch, but, unlike their Father, they could be harmed or killed by Saint Silver.

    Once when The Death heirs went to their first collecting, Oti was to take the soul of a curseress, but fell in love with the village girl and left her be and abandoned a small house with a scent of herbs and salt, being confident she could not see him. Nevertheless, the curseress knew Oti was there and prevented him from leaving. After listening to Oti¡¯s story about why he had chosen to go away, Marinette¨Cthe curseress¨Cextended her hands toward him, backing Oti to come closer. She refused to live without the deathly regent and was ready to die, but to feel his lips over her own, even if it meant it would be the last what she would feel in her life. But when their lips joined in a kiss, Marinette did not drop dead in his arms. This was a true miracle for the inhabitants of the Afterworld, thanks to which they found out the regents were able not only to take souls but to give too.

    Since that day thousands of new regents had been born by bond of originals and curseresses, but with each generation, they got weaker and weaker. Eras after, the regents became barren and deadly-touched. One of the sons¨CMort¨Caccidentally overheard the conversation between his Father and Agata¨Cthe most powerful curseress of that time. Unbelieving his own ears, Mort summoned his brothers and confided that The Death had bargained with the curseress to curse His own heirs to end regents reproducing. Infuriated by their Father¡¯s decision, Surm, Mort, Tod, Smert, and Oti gathered all the powers they had and ganged up against The Death. The Death¡¯s sons exterminated every curseress in the world, leaving Agata for last out of their revenge on The Death¡¯s for ending the line of regents and invaded their Father¡¯s refuge. That war was named the Deathly Battle.

    The Death appeared to be the one who survived that battle. The last of the sons, who was dying in His arms, was told ¡®My son, my dear Tod. I tried so hard to prevent it, but your and your brothers¡¯ ego took its part. I bargained with Agata the curseress to save my sons from their own greediness. I had fathered you to be my heirs, but my sons were so eager to rule the mortal world that they forgot it. Power blinds, my son.¡¯

    When the saint silver pierced the heart of The Death¡¯s last son, the war found its end, and peace came in the Afterworld. The Death handed over His power to the remains of freshly-born regents and departed so no one knew where to mourn His sons.

 Chapter One

    Call of Destiny

    Letum

    I was watching ripples on a pound in the Quiet Garden, being in the company of arousal buzzing bees and bumblebees which were busying themselves by pollinating abundant trees of a heady-scented sort I had never known the name of but was mesmerized by the beauty of tiny, star-shaped, white flowers. I had spent a long time in the world of the fleshies in my ghost body, so I was glad to be finally kissed by the rays of the Afterworld¡¯s sun. It was early morning and even birds were not awakened yet despite the sky burning in the flame of the deepest orange shade of the waking up enormous star which gave us warmth and light.

    A sudden impulse brought me down to the grassy softness of the emerald lawn by the bank of the pound. The night had happened to be a tough one, but my eyelids refused to shut and sleep over the picturesque view worthy to be captured on the canvas by the masterful hand of a gifted artist at dawn. However, I overestimated the endurance I possessed and gave up all the attempts of resisting the tiredness which was devouring me completely. I closed my eyes and succumbed to the urge to drift somewhere far away to the lands of tranquility and comfort, being lulled by the pleasantly cool blow of the morning wind.

    Of course, my nap did not last long. The remote shouts and whines brought me back to my senses, and swearing aloud not because of irritation to the one in the background who had not been in the training center for a while but simple family bonds. I had the misfortune to realize I missed her much.

    I took off and headed to the hall where the shouts were coming from the open window, reaching it in a matter of seconds. I found myself standing at the doorway, my eyes fixed on her. Her red-wine bob was chaotically traveling in the air in rhythm with her lunges and strikes. The drops of sweat ran down her face. I entered the bright room in the morning beans where there were only two of us. My sibling set aside the wooden sword at the sight of me and curved her lips. Her elegant but no less strong hand wiped sweat away from her forehead and at the moment I failed my try to sneak up from behind her back by brushing the lying on the floor training equipment with a loud noise which outed me (I blamed the drowsiness after the rough night for the absent-mindedness), two black eyes revealed themselves, piercing the solid body of mine.

    ¡°Good morning, sunshine,¡± she greeted me wryly with a shortness of breath. The whimsical notes in her tone made me mirror her smile.

    ¡°Tory,¡± I said to my sister with a saucy jerk of my head as a way of greeting, ¡°when did you come?¡±

    Tory leaned on the wall on her right to catch her breath, ¡°About three hours ago.¡±

    ¡°And instead of finding your sibling first you started with a workout, did you not?¡±

    It looked like my question affected her not just a little because her attractive features got tensed, ¡°Actually, brother, I spent some time at first to find you chambers because, my dearest sibling, you did not bother to tell me that something had changed in there, and then to be told that you were in the world of living.¡±

    The nebula in my head caused by lack of sleep had not let me comprehend what Tory had said about the time of her arrival so I had rebuked her in vain. For sure, three hours ago I still had been cleaning the mess in the fleshy world, showing the newly minted deceased fleshies the path to the Great Line where, according to our beliefs and tales, they would have to find peace or would be suffering for their sins until the time had its end. Even regents were not aware of what would happen to a soul after death. We had been born to chaperone mortals to the Afterworld and the Great Line for after death people had not always understood what had been going on and millions of stray souls used to wander in between the realms to never find the way away.

    ¡°Hey,¡± Tory¡¯s voice which sounded less carefreely now brought me back to the present, ¡°Are you feeling well?¡±

    My head nodded quicker than I could think, ¡°Do not worry. I need a rest, yes, but I am fine, or will be after a long deep sleep. Is Talia with you?¡±

    ¡°Why, not today. She has a business to deal with and will join us here no earlier than the day after tomorrow. You missed her, did you not?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I did. She is a much more pleasant companion to share conversation with than you, my sister,¡± I taunted Amatory. ¡°How was the camp?¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    She cracked her knuckles, and the slow tread brought her closer to the place where I was watching her, cutting the distance between us. Her graceful and smooth movement exposed Tory¡¯s newly acquired skills. All I could think about was that the camp of calmness went to benefit her despite my bias and misgivings. Once a while the regents from the camp and our training center exchanged the mentees for the experience of origins, which presented the study of physical strength from our side and the power of the spirit from the other, with some elements of physical defense for sure, should not be the possession of only those who keep it. This time Baleruhb had chosen Tory and Talia for the journey to the camp of calmness.

    My sibling opened her mouth to vocalize something, but a clarion call in the shape of her empty stomach and an incredibly loud groan interrupted her. I was ninety-nine present sure she had not put a tiny breadcrumb into her mouth for she never did exercise on a full stomach to avoid a repeat of the situation when she had been allowed to the training halls for the first time and had eaten a double portion of porridge and fruits, as she had thought, not to run out of steam after several rounds. Consequently, she had thrown out her breakfast on the floor of the ring in front of everyone who had presented there.

    My sister lifted up her gaze to me, and I predicted her question, ¡°Mind having breakfast?¡±

    ¡°With pleasure, Tory. But you have to take a shower before. I do not want the pungent scent of your sweat to spoil my appetite.¡±

    She pinched the upper edge of her dark-gray-soaked T-shirt and sniffed, grimacing, ¡°You are right. The smell is awful.¡±

    ¡°Let us go to my chambers,¡± I offered. ¡°Have you seen Baleruhb yet?¡±

    ¡°Nay, Let, it was too early even for him when I crossed the threshold of the center.¡±

    I sighed, ¡°I asked you a thousand times not to call me Let.¡±

    ¡°I will stop when you start calling me by my full name, Let.¡±

    I had forgotten why I had been so happy to learn about her departure to the camp of calmness. She was unbearable.

    ¡°Fine, Amatory. Is it better?¡±

    ¡°For sure, Letum.¡±

    For a moment, the only sound that was following Tory and me was the echo of our boots¡¯ soles pressing the stone-polished floor, though I knew my sibling quite well¨Cshe did not have a personality of a silent type but babbling and even gossipy from time to time, so it did not amaze me when she started a kind of casual conversation, ¡°How is it going so far?¡±

    I shrugged, understanding well what she meant, ¡°I am getting used to it, I suppose.¡±

    ¡°You suppose?¡±

    ¡°Well, yes,¡± I tried to make the words sound natural but added a fraction of a hint that I did not want the continuation of this conversation, forgetting my sister¡¯s tendency to ignore it.

    ¡°Letum,¡± she went on, ¡°you have not been claiming anyone to be your lover for so long and now it turns out Octavia occupies the chambers I remembered as a refuge of my eligible brother.¡±

    ¡°I had no other choice, Amatory.¡±

    All the regents were cursed by the curseress for the sin our ancestors had committed¨Call of us were barren and not able to continue the kind. Those regents who lived in the Afterworld were the last of us. Nonetheless, we had never lost hope.

    The origins who survived in the Deathly Battle had set the procedure named ¡®mating¡¯¨Call of the regents had to be claimed as lovers for the revival of our kin. Despite the lack of the vivid feelings and emotions which were common for fleshies, the inhabitants of my realm were capable of finding their lovers by the indivisible bond of affection and attraction to each other. In the case of those unfortunate like me who had not claimed their partner before the fiftieth starlight corridor, they would be mated forcibly. That was what had happened to me and was the reason for Amatory''s distress. If she only knew.

    ¡°Look,¡± I snapped with unconcealed growing irritation, ¡°I am drowsy and rather hungry which can lead to another quarrel between us and you have spent no more than three hours in the walls of the training center. I have no will to discuss my personal life right now or whenever else because it is my life and I can handle it.¡±

    Amatory snorted, nevertheless, the topic was no longer delved into by her and I was very glad. Right until the call of duty overtook me in the middle of our way to the refectory out of blue.

    ¡°Right now?¡± Tory asked and I heard a shred of aggravation in her voice because she was well aware, just like me, that the call could not be ignored or dismissed. That was what all of the regents had been bred for. No words required, so I moved my head down in a single motion, confirming what she had said.

    Frankly speaking, I was vexed no less than my sister¨Cthe restless night in the world of living was expressed by the feebleness of each of the muscles beneath my pale skin and the severest urge to fall onto the soft cushion face-first and bury myself under the sheets. But the dreams of my rest were not bound to come true. At least until the sun was at its zenith in the Afterworld.

    ¡°I have to depart now, sister. Are you capable of finding the refectory yourself?¡±

    Tory¡¯s fist hit my upper arm within the shortest split of second I had not even time to react for defense. An ¡®ouch¡¯ which I dropped out of my mouth resembled a hiss better than a cry of pain.

    ¡°I have not been here only for just one starlight corridor, you moron.¡±

    I snorted, rubbing the bruising spot the punch had left the burning feeling, ¡°You are the regent with the most terrible perception of space. I would insist you are unlucky enough to get topographical creationism at birth.¡±

    Realizing that it was my biggest mistake, I crossed the border before she struck me again and swerved and headed straight to the place I was summoned to. ¡°See you, sister.¡±

 Chapter Two

    Choose your words wisely

    Hope

    I woke up earlier than him. Again. Lewis¡¯s hot even breath tickled the gentle skin of the naked back under my neck. His hand was on my breast¨Cour favorite position of sleeping. My left arm was in agony from the prolonged lying on it, but I didn¡¯t want to disturb my husband¡¯s sleep. Millimeter by millimeter I was slowly shifting to a more comfortable posture.

    His breathing pattern changed, hinting at the slow awakening. My plan to let him sleep a little more before the most important day in his life came had failed. Lewis was still half asleep when his soft full lips with a small scar right in the middle of the upper one touched my spine, giving me pleasant chills.

    ¡°Good morning, love,¡± he whispered into the flesh of my body, warmed by his breathing, and kissed again.

    I turned to kiss him back, rustling the sheets beneath my nudity. My hands were traveling on his face with the prickly, two-day-old stubble. At the moment the pads of my fingers groped for the familiar spots under the soft earlobes, I cupped the sharp jawline and tenderly pulled him toward me.

    ¡°Morning, my darling.¡±

    The tip of his cold nose brushed my cheek, and Lewis buried his face in the curve of my neck, inhaling the scent of the persistent expensive perfume he¡¯d presented me with for our fifth anniversary two days ago. I liked the magnificent notes of vanilla and patchouli it¡¯d left on my waist-length hair.

    Getting out of his warm and strong arms, I pulled away the duvet, dressed in a smooth, atlas cover, and placed my bare foot on the hard and cool parquet flooring.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± his still husky voice sounded somewhere behind.

    The second foot touched the floor, and I stood up with my back turned to him, revealing my naked ass, ¡°To the bathroom. The second pack of chips was too much. I really love lime and chilly flavor, but waking up in the middle of the night out of excessive thirst and the overfilled bladder in the morning drives me insane.¡±

    I turned left and made three moves to reach the wooden lacquered chest of drawers by the west wall of our small bedroom. Sliding on the surface with furrows from the brush and sloppy deepening, my hands found the plastic, rough handles of the second drawer from the top and pulled it out. I felt the ties of my knit sleeveless jumpsuit and retrieved it to put on, escaping from the cool claws of the last of Fierce day air.

    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± purred Lewis, ¡°You look striking with no clothes on.¡±

    I shrugged, lifting the synthetic straps on my chiseled, according to my husband, shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m blind. I can¡¯t see how I look.¡±

    ¡°But I can.¡±

    He could. His eyes were able to spot a microscopic piece of anything. Lewis had a worthy-of-envy talent to describe things and people and was keen on doing it. He¡¯d detailed me so many times I knew what each of my tiny moles and wrinkles looked like. Once I¡¯d asked him to describe the turquoise color because I¡¯d never seen that before. I¡¯d been six when I¡¯d lost the ability to see and hadn¡¯t been able to recall a lot of what I¡¯d remembered especially colors. Nobody had ever explained to me what turquoise looked like. Or any other colors.

    Nobody.

    Excepting Lewis.

    We¡¯d been smoking weed on the balcony of our common acquaintance¡¯s house when I¡¯d asked him to do it, thinking he¡¯d fail like everyone before him. But Lewis had burst into amazing pure laughter and had said, ¡°A piece of piss, Hope.¡±

    That¡¯d been the moment he¡¯d interested me.

    ¡°Have you ever been by the sea during a storm?¡±

    I¡¯d had no will to make it easy. And neither to complicate. ¡°Perhaps,¡± I¡¯d managed.

    Lewis had chuckled. ¡°Then you, perhaps, felt the spray of sea waves on your face.¡±

    Again, ¡°Perhaps.¡±

    ¡°And smelled the salt in the fresh air.¡±

    That was the moment I¡¯d noticed that I had been nodding all the time.

    ¡°This is the way I imagine turquoise, Hope¨Cthe splash of salty water in the ozoned air.¡±

    That¡¯d been the moment I¡¯d fallen in love with him.

    The king-size bed squeaked when Lewis made his way to me. I¡¯d never felt anything more exciting and seductive than my man¡¯s scent, and when he reached me, the smell drugged me again, and I smiled, leaning back on his jacked, hairy chest. He slid a strap away, letting it fall down my arm freely. The touch was so mild.

    ¡°Wait a few minutes,¡± I asked Lewis, adjusting the jumpsuit, ¡°I¡¯ll get washed and be back to help you with the speech, my newly minted rector.¡±

    He was eloquent, no doubt, but when it came to public speaking, my husband acted like an insecure teenager in an attempt to invite the most beautiful and popular ample-bosomed star of the school to prom. The way he stuttered was so cute I couldn¡¯t help melting.

    ¡°Three minutes,¡± Lewis whispered into my shoulder.

    ¡°Five.¡±

    ¡°Four.¡±

    ¡°Lewis.¡±

    He pecked my forehead, ¡°Five. Four fifty-nine. Four fifty-eight.¡±

    ¡°Ass,¡± I elbowed him and rushed out of the bedroom as quickly as my state let me, but not because of the timing. I couldn¡¯t handle the liquid inside me anymore.

    It took thirteen steps to get the divided bathroom. Lewis had fixed all the door handles in our flat at the same height, so I didn¡¯t need to search for it every time by touch.

    Finally revealing myself, I went to the bathroom and started the morning routine. Stooping down to braid the long hair, my head hit the plastic corner of the new washing machine which we¡¯d bought in need to replace the old one that had broken down three weeks ago. The new washing machine was a little wider, and I still couldn¡¯t get used to it. I¡¯d been facing that corner every morning and evening since it¡¯d been delivered. Thank Ranita, this time hadn¡¯t been that hard. I didn¡¯t even feel like losing my balance or vomiting.

    My sweaty palm found the ceramic, rippleless sink with a small breakaway piece on its left side, which felt another way not because of the hole, but because the gritty structure was completely different from the slick surface. The motion sensor detected my hands and turned the water. A gelid flow wet the skin, getting warmer little by little. I squirted a small amount of medical cleansing foam from the soft velvet bottle on my left and put it on my skin massaging it, then splashed it with water. The gentle tickling I¡¯d got used to appeared on the toweled face. My fingers applied and rubbed the stink ointment into the scar tissue in the area where my eyes should¡¯ve been, but after the accident in my childhood I didn¡¯t talk about, there were empty eye sockets, covered by the strange felt skin with no hair on it. I didn¡¯t have eyelashes and the left brow. Neither had I the eyelids. That was why I was wearing huge sunglasses which could disguise this horror on my face all the time. Lewis and his parents were the only men who saw me without them.

    Through the noise of running water, I heard the joyful chirping of a young titmouse and the howling wind from the Sacral Sea. When I¡¯d lost the vision, the entire feeling had escalated. I could feel the slightest disturbance in the air or the temperature changing. Tastes had become more distinct. As they said, ¡°There are benefits of being blind.¡± I wouldn¡¯t say that. They didn¡¯t know what it felt like to ¡®see¡¯ with your hands, not your eyes.

    The baseboard from our bedroom cracked, giving out my husband. If I needed thirteen steps to get to the toilet, for him it was eight. A minute later the door to the bathroom, where I was finishing the teeth cleaning, swan open, and Lewis came in.

    ¡°Time¡¯s up, love,¡± he announced. His voice. His freaking velvet low voice.

    ¡°I can slide over,¡± I said and moved away and slammed into the stupid piece of¡­ metal and plastic called the washing machine.

    ¡°Be careful, Hope.¡±

    Rubbing the left side, I came up to the sink to spit out the remains of the peppermint toothpaste and to rinse the mouth. The cotton T-shirt rustled, and it wasn¡¯t my hand on the slightly injured site anymore. Lewis¡¯ attentive hot palm was caressing back and forth, moving me closer to his strong, elastic body. The bristle of his bamboo brush gnashed on the right of his lower jaw. As he always started cleaning from the left side, I could say he was about to finish, so I decided to leave him alone.

    But when I found myself at the bathroom door with the handle in my grip, Lewis picked me up and took me away to the hall with no warning. I cried out in surprise, then smirked. I knew where he was heading.

    Eight steps straight, turning left, two more steps, and I was on our still warm bed again, and the love of my love nestled himself on top of me, balancing on his stretched arms on either side of my body. His peppermint breath was so tempting when he got close to my ear and ordered, ¡°Take off your jumpsuit.¡±

    Saint Initiatoress, he drove me crazy.

    Lewis didn¡¯t wait for me to begin the obedience and lowered the upper part of the knit cloth I was wearing to the waist, revealing my chest. Unhurriedly, he started kissing me from the sensitive spot on my neck he knew about and used this information against me every time, immersing me into oblivion.

    ¡°Lewis,¡± I moaned.

    ¡°Shh, Hope.¡±

    ¡°Lewis, you¡­¡± another kiss, ¡°You have to go over your speech.¡±

    ¡°We have enough time,¡± he said and directed his lips to the soft hollow between my small breasts.

    ¡°Lewis¡­¡±

    ¡°Today a new beginning has its start,¡± Lewis voiced the words we¡¯d been choosing for him for the last two weeks with his lips on my nipples, ¡°I cannot predict the way we will follow or the challenges that we will face in the future,¡± my husband¡¯s hands glided up under the fabric of the jumpsuit and put it off in one movement.

    ¡°Lew¨C¡±

    ¡°But what I know ¡­¡± he cut in and didn¡¯t finish. Lewis spread my legs, and I felt his wet impish tongue between them in a matter of seconds.  I curved my back, and groaned so loud, being unable to handle the growing will.

    ¡°Fuck it,¡± I exhaled and grabbed his shortcut, directing him to give me the pleasure I was craving for.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ***

    It is the supreme honor for me to invite to this stage the new rector of Nordery University¨CLewis Branon Hill, former art history teacher of the architectural faculty,¡± the very low for a woman voice of the leader of Calire town¨CRalody Brine¨Cthundered from the speaker we were sitting near to, and the audience burst into applause. I squeezed Lewis¡¯ sweaty hand before he left his seat next to me and went to the stage to make the speech, we¡¯d ¡®practiced¡¯ thrice this morning.

    ¡°I love you,¡± my words were no more than a whisper.

    ¡°I love you too, Hope,¡± Lewis kissed the back of my hand.

    The rubber sole of his dress shoes made a barely noticeable rasp against the old flooring, which seemed to be linoleum. He was further and further from me. A step on the hollow sills on the left of the stage echoed with a muffled sound. Several of the wooden planks creaked beneath Lewis when he was going to the mic. I might have heard Ralody Brine shake my husband¡¯s hand, but I wasn¡¯t sure. Plenty of whispers and soughing people in the assembly hall confounded me.

    The audience applauded again, and Lewis started, ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m glad to see so many students and professors gathered here this afternoon. Today a new beginning has its start. I cannot predict the way we will follow or the challenges that we will face in the future. But what I know¡­¡± he paused, and I prayed to Ranita for him not to forget to take the speech on paper.

    ¡°What I can assure you is that I am going to be one of the best rectors. The doors of my office are always open for each of you¡­¡±

    I¡¯d never heard these words before. Lewis, you silver-tongued ass. I was so proud of my husband. The swishing synthetics shifted my attention to the noise source. A strong scent of tobacco mixed with luscious notes of fruit perfume stroke my olfaction. A woman took a free seat on my right and leaned on the hard and squeaking armrest, according to my flair, to talk to me without someone else¡¯s ears.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we were introduced to each other,¡± the familiar almost masculine voice resounded now right in front of my ear, ¡°Ralody Brine.¡±

    I felt the weak disturbance of the air, what could mean she lifted her hand up to shake mine by way of greeting, but realized her mistake, seeing the massive dark glasses that were concealing half of my face, including the scared part. It was so typical for seers, and I couldn¡¯t help smiling.

    ¡°Hope Jordan-Hill,¡± I said and stretched my hand so as not to make the leader of the town we lived in feel embarrassed. Though Ralody¡¯s skin was so smooth and soft, her palm was enormously big and the grip with which she squeezed my hand made me think it should have been a man.

    ¡°I like your dress, Hope. I wish turquoise suited me as flawlessly as it suits you.¡±

    Bastard. Lewis had told me the dress was red.

    ¡°Thank you, Ralody. My husband¡¯s chosen it for me.¡±

    She shifted on her seat, ¡°He¡¯s got a good taste not only in choosing wife.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t flatter me, please. I could become conceited, and you¡¯d have to explain my rapidly grown-up demands to Lewis.¡±

    The leader laughed, ¡°Beautiful and witty. I love it.¡±

    It was so unexpectable for me to hear someone else call me beautiful besides my husband that I could hardly prevent my lower jaw from falling down to the linoleumed floor. I made an attempt to thank Ralody, but Lewis¡¯ words caught me off guard.

    ¡°¡­and I¡¯m really grateful to my first and only love in my life for supporting me in these circles. I don¡¯t think I would ever reach any of the achievements without my wife. Hope Hill, thank you. You believed in me at the moments when I didn¡¯t. I¡¯m standing here, on the stage of the Nordery University as a new rector thanks to you and your faith in me.¡±

    I expected everything, but this. The love of my love had thanked me from the stage in front of hundreds, if not thousands, of people. I didn¡¯t know what to feel. Delight? Confusion? Proud? I was still not over the fact that Ralody Brine found me beautiful. There¡¯d been too much astonishment for one day.

    The applause and cheering deafened me. For a second I lost orientation. Fortunately, my ass was comfortably adjusted on the velour, soft seat, and no one noticed my passing disarray. At least, I hoped so. The warmth of the tobacco-scented woman¡¯s hand on my forearm brought me to the senses.

    ¡°You should join your amazing husband on the stage.¡±

    ¡°What? No¨C¡±

    The leader left me no chance to object. Against my will, she put me on my feet with the strength I could compare only to Lewis¡¯s. I tried to make it clear that the surroundings were unfamiliar to me and it would be quite difficult to move there for the first time. However, it didn¡¯t work out.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Hope. I¡¯ll lead you there.¡±

    I worried just about how she¡¯d lead me there. Saint Initiatoress. I wasn¡¯t used to anyone¡¯s touch on me, except my husband¡¯s. It felt so strange and scary. Her movements were so fast my booted in light flats feet couldn¡¯t adapt to the pace of her steps. I twisted my ankle on the roughness of the way Ralody was ¡®guiding¡¯ me, and it bothered me with frustrating burning in the muscles. It was so embarrassing.

    Ralody Brine stopped with no warning, and my pointed shoe flew into the foot of the hollow but not less hard sills. There¡¯d probably be a bruise tomorrow on the toenail which had taken the hit.

    My ears caught the approach of the familiar rubber soles. I¡¯d recognize his step pattern by the habit of bearing weight on the feet'' sides at any time. A wooden plank creaked very closely to us.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take her from here. Thank you, leader.¡±

    ¡°For sure, you¡¯ll do it better.¡± The leader of Calire patted my back as if I were an old friend of hers, ¡°Good luck, Hope Hill.¡±

    I turned in the direction where her voice had come from, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Only when I smelled the besotting scent of absinthe and lavender, I could release the tension in my body.

    ¡°I¡¯m here, love,¡± his hand snaked around my waist. ¡°Lift your leg, there¡¯s a high sill. Higher, love. Okay, that¡¯s it.¡±

    The love of my life knew I didn¡¯t have a soft spot for being carried by him in public, but I wished he¡¯d done it. The eight sills drained as much of my powers as if there were a million of them. I even got sweaty and prayed to Ranita the dress Lewis had chosen for me wasn¡¯t visibly soaked for I was going to be in the limelight for an indefinite time.

    ¡°What happened to the shy lady of my heart who avoids groups of people when there are more than two of them?¡± Lewis asked me the way the question was reachable only for my ears.

    ¡°Ralody Brien happened.¡±

    ¡°Oh, this little blondie in her repertoire as always.¡±

    My husband was talking about the leader of the town like they¡¯d been acquainted with for ages, and I hadn¡¯t a clue. ¡°Do you know her?¡±

    ¡°Kind of that.¡±

    The conversation piqued my interest in the relations between my husband and the leader of Calire, but it might be discussed later on the way to my in-laws¡¯ house. For now, my urgent problem was that I could get with each creak of the floorboards beneath our steps that we were coming closer and closer to the microphone, and I hadn¡¯t been told yet what was going to be.

    ¡°What am I supposed to do?¡± Lewis held on more tightly, and his rapid heartbeat went pitter-pat near to my left shoulder. At least I wasn¡¯t the only one so nervous.

    The heat of his breath burnt my ear, ¡°Say a few words. Tell everyone in this assembly hall how lucky you are to have such an imposing and intelligent husband,¡± he said with a wide smile. Bastard.

    ¡°Let me introduce my wife¨CHope Hill,¡± the microphone echoed his words all over the hall. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind if your new rector gives the floor to the most inspiring person you¡¯ve ever met.¡±

    I heard clapping and shouts again, being led by Lewis to the mic. He placed me in front of it and started adjusting the height for I was only one meter fifty-four centimeters tall. His strong and hot hand landed on my lower back, pushing a little bit forward as if telling silently ¡®You can start.¡¯ So, I started.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to thank my husband for saying ¡®don¡¯t attract much attention today¡¯ and then taking me to this stage,¡± I attempted to joke my anxiety off, and, hearing the chuckles and giggles of the audience, concluded that I wasn¡¯t that bad.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that, love,¡± Lewis tried to make an excuse, but I was on a roll.

    ¡°Dear, I¡¯m blind, not deaf.¡±

    I heard Ralody Brine burst into an awkward laughter, mirrored by a good half of sitting in the hall. I hoped it hadn¡¯t been too much. A low snigger came from the spot where my husband was standing. This sound made me realize it was going nice for a person without a pre-prepared speech in one''s pocket.

    ¡°On a more serious note, I¡¯m truly proud of my husband¨CLewis Branon Hill. And note, please, I didn¡¯t help him. He received the position thanks to cleverness and hard work, not me. I was just sitting on the couch, not attracting much attention.¡± I thought this stand-up at Nordery University would be widely known. ¡°And, for sure, I can¡¯t pass by¨C¡± ¡®My husband¡¯s merits for Calire¡¯ I wanted to say, but a weird thump from behind the hall walls distracted me. I strained my ears to figure out what was happening there, but regretted it immediately after hearing, ¡°Shots.¡±

    ¡°Shots?¡± the word swept over the audience, starting the murmuring.

    ¡°Hope?¡± My husband touched my elbow. At that moment the shooting appeared closer and became louder for seers to be heard. At first, there was no reaction, but a second later¡­

    The first cry of panic that pierced the hanging silence was female, accompanied by sounds of clicks of high-heeled shoes and uncontrolled body movements. Then it grew into a cacophony of shuffling boots and shouts, and I didn¡¯t notice instantly that the one with a gun had been already shooting in the assembly hall.

    No, not one.

    Two.

    No, three.

    Saint Initiatoress, there were more than six of them.

    The ground literally slipped from underfoot. Lewis held me in his arms and carried us out of the living hell.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I hoped for an answer.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine, Hope, just hold on.¡±

    I clasped my hands behind his tensed neck and lowered my head.

    ¡°Lewis, here!¡± the leader of the town shouted, and my husband headed in the direction she¡¯d shown him, I supposed, ¡°There¡¯s a hidden staff door to the basement o¨C¡±

    We stopped, and it did not foreshadow anything good. Lewis¡¯s heart was pounding rapidly against my head. He put me back on my feet and strongly yanked by his arm, taking me behind his back. He was shielding me, but from what? Lewis stood back, speeding up and making me do the same.

    ¡°Ral,¡± his voice was no more than the likeness of a loud whisper, ¡°when I yell, take Hope and run as fast as you can.¡±

    I clung to the crispy sides of his cotton shirt, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Hope, please.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t leave you, Lewis.¡±

    ¡°Hope, you must.¡±

    A bullet whizzed and smashed into the wall on the right, interrupting us. Then a series of shots thundered from six different sides.

    ¡°DOWN!¡± Ralody shouted.

    I fell forward, hitting the relatively soft linoleum flooring with my face. The huge sunglasses flew aside with a crush. For the first time I was so happy there wasn¡¯t hard, cold tile on the floor, otherwise, my nose would have been a bloody mess of tissues and cartilage. The weight of solid muscles dented me into the linoleum. Lewis¡¯s shaking hands surrounded my head. I couldn¡¯t breathe. The claws of panic fettered my lungs. I was suffocating.

    ¡°Love,¡± he called me, and, for a second, it seemed to me that everything was fine, ¡°Babe, you need to calm down.¡±

    I gasped for the air.

    ¡°I know, it sounds so stupid now, but we have to pretend to be dead, okay?¡±

    There were fewer bullets, flying out of the submachine guns, in the air. And less cries.

    ¡°Hope?¡±

    I smelled a metal scent of blood mixed with something else. Urine.

    ¡°I¨C¡± inhale, ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡±

    ¡°Good girl. Ral? How are you?¡±

    Her hair fell down her hands, scraping her skin, when Ralody slowly, barely noticeable in the din, turned to us.

    ¡°Fucking scared.¡±

    For a fucking scared woman her heart rate and voice were surprisingly tranquil. Maybe it was just a defensive reaction to everything.

    ¡°Who are they?¡± I asked from under Lewis¡¯s body. ¡°What do they want?¡±

    ¡°No idea, love.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d venture to suggest,¡± the low voice came from the right side, ¡°that this is the hand of the Reunification cult.¡±

    My heart skipped a beat at the mention of this name. Lewis felt it too.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard from them for ages. Why today?¡± he asked.

    The last mass murder of the Reunification cult had happened twenty-three circles ago¨Ca month after my parents¡¯ death. The sectarians had taken over the Main Temple of the Saint Initiatoress Ranita in Mavrony¨Cthe capital of Ranita¨Cduring the Praising Day and had burned the building with the worshipers inside. One thousand seven hundred twenty-six people had been burnt alive, including forty-four followers of the cult.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Heirs of the crackpots grew up and continued the business of their insane ancestors?¡±

    I felt my stomach twist. No, no, no. I couldn¡¯t vomit now.

    ¡°A good theory, but it¡¯s not very likely.¡±

    There was a gunshot, and something heavy collapsed near us with a chilling slap. The scent of gunpowder and blood burst in my nose. My husband flinched at me.

    ¡°Lewis, is t¨C¡±

    ¡°Shh, Hope, it¡¯s just a¡­ bag. It¡¯s a bag.¡±

    Ralody gasped, covering her mouth and nose with her hand to make it not that loud. I knew he¡¯d lied because my panic attack hadn¡¯t let me yet, and we couldn¡¯t allow a new one to start. I was repeating ¡®You can handle it. You can handle it. You can handle it quietly. This mantra helped me not to become hysterical even when a warm and sticky puddle of a stranger¡¯s blood wet the sleeves of my turquoise dress.

    I couldn¡¯t hear a shot anymore. The floorboards of the stage cracked, and all of the people who remained in the assembly hall sank into silence.

    ¡°Brothers,¡± the nasal male voice appeared from the speakers, ¡°this day will become the beginning of a new era. We¡¯ve been gathering our powers for more than twenty circles, and finally can eradicate the absolute iniquity called the Authority of Ranita.¡± The man spat, and his henchmen mirrored the action. One of them spat next to us.

    The commander of the sectarians went on, ¡°Today these infidels will be brought to justice. All of them. And their supporters too. The Five will be thriving and great again! The Reunification is coming! Ave Unio!¡±

    ¡°Ave Unio!¡± the gunned men all around the perimeter of the assembly hall exclaimed.

    Some girl not far from the place we were lying sobbed aloud, which didn¡¯t go unnoticed either by us or by the terrorists.

    ¡°Brady, please.¡±

    The cult follower headed to the opposite side from me shielded by Lewis¡¯s weighty body, shambling his feet in the heavy leather boots. My heart stopped when he paused. I perceived that the gun was pulled on the girl by the smell of urine that grew stronger.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± the commander crooned into the microphone.

    The girl fell into a stupor, terrified. She couldn¡¯t manage a single word. I didn¡¯t want to even imagine what she felt at the point of a gun.

    ¡°I thought I asked you a question,¡± the nasal voice said.

    The poor student was shaking so hard that I heard the metal necklace tapping against her chest.

    And then a shot.

    A smell of gunpowder and blood.

    Cries and sobs.

    ¡°Brady,¡± the man on the stage addressed, ¡°you do not need to be so radical, you know.¡±

    ¡°The bitch deserved it,¡± Brady threw casually as if the killing wasn¡¯t anything horrible and forbidden.

    Before her breathless body hit the floor, immobilized by the bullet in her head forever, the words the girl had murmured before her death glided up under my skin. More likely, Brady gunned her down for them.

    Saint Initiatoress, save me, she¡¯d vocalized her last words.

 Chapter Three

    Hope dies last

    Hope

    It¡¯d been about sixteen hours since we¡¯d been taken hostage by the followers of the Reunification cult. I knew that because the smartwatch on Lewis¡¯s wrist had vibrated at eight in the morning¨Cthe alarm to wake up. Thanks to Ranita, the overseers hadn¡¯t noticed it, or he¡¯d have been already dead. I wished we¡¯d been basking in our soft bed instead of a sleepless night on the hard floor of the university assembly hall under the supervision of the armed terrorists.

    All of the survivors had been taken to the stage and seated around it to be in full view.

    ¡°Let the Sacrifice Night begin,¡± the leader of the cult announced rapturously in the middle of the hostages and I cringed.

    The Sacrifice Night.

    I¡¯d grown up in an orphanage and had no possibility to read normal books out of the absence of eyes, and the nurses hadn¡¯t been educated enough to teach me to read ones with embossed patterns on pages instead of ink letters, not to mention the price of them, so I¡¯d only listened to the lessons, but not that carefully, though that history lecture I would remember till the end of my life.

    The United Provinces of Freedom had been living and flourishing for thousands of circles. But after the war, which would be named The Red Waterfall for the battles had washed the earth with flows of blood, it was divided into the five settlements: Dagmarantha in the south, Clodissea in the west, Ranita in the east, Michaline in the north. The fifth settlement¨CMedastar¨Cwas located right in the middle of four others.

    The self-proclaimed chieftain of one of the clans of the United Provinces waged The Red Waterfall, being sick and tired of occupation and usurpation of the Voice of Truth¨Cthe leaders of the United Provinces of Freedom, worshiping the Divine Quintet¨Cheretic deities. Ranita the Initiatoress spearheaded the army of young men and women who were eager to free the place they called home. Inspired by the action of the Initiatoress, Clodissea the Invisible, Dagmarantha the Piercing, Michaline the Ice-hearted, and Medastar the Moonlight gathered their powers to free their lands. Though the forces of the Five Emancipatoresses breached the walls of Proovilax¨Cthe capital of the United Provinces of Freedom ¨Cthe influence of the Voice of Truth was more powerful than the Emancipatoresses could imagine, and when They announced the attack of the Infidels (Ranita, Clodissea, Dagmarantha, Michaline, and Medastar), the peoples rebelled against each other, provoking the civil wars here and there. The Emancipatoresses were captured and taken to the notorious prison of the Light Tower dungeons.

    Clodissea, Dagmarantha, Michaline, and Medastar, being tortured for dozens of days, betrayed Ranita and her plans against The Voice of Truth in exchange for their lives. They accused the Initiatoress of forcing them to follow her under the fear of their families¡¯ deaths, and the four, having no other choice, had obeyed. The leaders of the United Provinces of Freedom publicly hanged Ranita the Initiatoress. Four Traitorresses were forced to watch the execution of Ranita right in front of the scaffold, after which they were butchered on the spots where they stood for the edification of the rebels.

    However, the folks of the United Provinces of Freedom, even ones who supported the Voice of Truth, took the deaths of Ranita and Four Traitorresses, which became an eye-opening event, as a dishonest way to maintain their power and suppress the inevitable revolution. Peoples of the United Provinces of Freedom united to fight back the Voice of Truth. The Red Waterfall lasted forty-four seasons and forty-four days.

    When the last descendant of the members of the Voice of Truth was buried alive on the square where they¡¯d hanged Ranita the Initiatoress, the power of the United Provinces of Freedom officially fell. But the troubles were not over.

    The folks of Four Traitorresses denied the fact of the betrayal by their self-proclaimed chieftains, which almost unleashed another war that no one was ready for. The New Chieftains made a decision to divide the United Provinces of Freedom into five sovereign settlements, named in honor of the Five Emancipatoresses. The high and thick marble walls on the borders were built as a reminder of the union that would never happen again.

    The Voice of Truth worshiped the Divine Quintet¨Cfive gods and goddesses in the flesh that were controlling the lives of mortals on the earth. Yarotare¨Ca goddess of earth, fertility, and blossoming, Volodarish¨Ca god of waters, rains, and fogs, Penulary¨Ca goddess of fire, heat, and a home hearth, Svaroveles¨Ca god of air, winds, and frost. The last one was the god of death, mold, and changing of seasons, which stood over others¨CMoribillius.

    According to the Union mythology, Yarotare, Volodarish, Penulary, and Svaroveles were dependent on the powers of Moribillius, who ruled the times of the circle, and were named after relevant gods. He allowed the others to prevail on the earth, yielding every ninety-one days for brothers and sisters to continue the Circle of Life, which included three hundred sixty-four days. But everything had its price. So did Moribillius''s powers.

    In addition to the three hundred sixty-four days, he added an extra one that happened every four full Circles of Life to be worshiped by the mortals. That day was named the Sacrifice Night because being a god of death meant it required death.

    Every four full Circles of Life on the final day of Svaroveles¡¯ reign each of the twelve clans of The United Provinces of Freedom had to sacrifice the youngest soul for it was pure and innocent. The twelve chosen infants were brought to the top of the Smoking Colossus¨Cnow a dormant volcano in the east of Dagmarantha. People threw newborns into the mouth of the volcano with boiling lava to eulogize Moribillius¨Cthe all-powerful god.

    When another Sacrifice Night came, the youngest member of the November clan was Daulton¨Ca two-day-old son of Ranita. The settlers forcibly took the little boy from his mother¡¯s arms. She was drained and exhausted after the difficult birth, but her grip on Daulton weakened only when the settlers beat her to unconsciousness. The sorrow and grief that the future Initiatoress had experienced didn¡¯t break her but encouraged her to plan the day of her unlimited revenge on The United Provinces of Freedom and the Voice of Truth for taking her only son.

    After the Red Waterfall, all the seasons were renamed: Svaroveles into Fierce for the fierce frosts and coldness, Yarotare into Subtle for the subtle scents of blossoms, Penulary into Sultry for sultry days before a thunderstorm, and Penulary into Motley for the motley defoliation. The extra day of Fierce¨C the Sacrifice Night¨Cthat was to happen every four full Circles of Life became the Day of Grief to remain as a reminder of boys and girls who would never see the sunrise and sunset again.

    Today was the ninety-second of Fierce.

    How could I forget?

    One of the senior officials that¡¯d come to the solemn ceremony of a new academic semester was brought to somewhere behind the hall doors by two huge terrorists. Their steps were booming and intimidating. Instead of infants, they decided to sacrifice the closest to the Authority people.

    ¡°Cleanse the world from evil! Ave Unio!¡±

    ¡°Moribillius Vult!¡±

    ¡°Please,¡± the official begged between the exclamations, ¡°please, don¨C¡± he didn¡¯t finish. I guessed one of his bringers knocked the man with the stock of the machine gun. I was scared, no doubt. But what happened next forced me to get terrified. I wouldn¡¯t ever be able to forget the horrific cries from what the cult followers were doing with the officials outside.  I couldn¡¯t conceive how loony they should be to torture men to scream so stridently. My trembling body clung to Lewis in an attempt to keep myself calm, though the official¡¯s cries would dwell in my memory forever.

    We were exhausted and dehydrated. The tongue in my mouth was as dry and sharp as sandpaper. My head was so foggy and tired that the odd hissing in my ears started bothering me. Lewis and Ralody had been holding my shaking hands for all this time. I was scared even to open my mouth after what Brady¡¯d done to the innocent student¡¯s prayer. I wasn¡¯t sure whether the Protectors knew about hundreds of hostages at Nordery University. If they did, why hadn¡¯t they freed us yet? At least, they could have started negotiations with the sectarians.

    I couldn¡¯t say how much time had passed. The followers of the Reunification cult had taken more than three of the officials from the hall and never let them come back. The screams and pleas didn¡¯t bother me that much anymore, as if my entire organism refused to acknowledge the hell on the earth around us.

    It was unbearably stuffy here. They¡¯d wired all the windows and several of the main doors with explosives in case the Authority dispatched snipers to the roofs of the neighboring buildings. The smell of blood, urine, and decomposition of corpses was in the air, making my empty stomach hurt from spasms of the gag reflex I was suppressing hard.

    ¡°Hope, wake up. Love, please.¡± The fear with which he said these words scared the shit out of me, making my pulse uneven. I couldn¡¯t understand why he¡¯d said that. Had I been shot and hadn¡¯t noticed it? But there was no pain or moisture from blood on my body. Seemed like I might have passed out because after recovering consciousness I found myself lying on my husband¡¯s lap, albeit my back had been up against the cold concrete wall a moment ago. Lewis was slightly shaking me by my shoulders, provoking acid reflux.

    ¡°Stop,¡± I uttered weakly.

    ¡°What happened?¡± the leader of the town asked. Only now I realized she was still holding my hand.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Lewis pushed me slowly toward Ralody to seat me back. They both supported me because I felt so dizzy and couldn¡¯t focus on anything. The burning acid in my empty stomach was about to find its way out of me.

    ¡°Lewis.¡±

    ¡°Yes, love,¡± my husband said, stroking my back.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna vomit.¡±

    His hand lingered on my lower back, ¡°Fuck.¡±

    His muscled but weakened after a day without food, water, and sleep hands embraced me and lifted my disobedient body off the floor. Seemed like we were sitting next to the stage edge because Lewis put me on my knees, wrapping his arm around my waist. The heavy massive boots of the nearest to us follower hit the wooden floor, coming closer to where we were with each step, but when I started spitting my internal organs out, the moves stopped.

    Another spasm in my stomach pushed the gastric acid which burnt my throat going outside. My hands couldn¡¯t withstand the weight of mine, and if the love of my life hadn¡¯t been gripping me, they would¡¯ve buckled, and I would have probably choked to death in a puddle of my own puke.

    ¡°Look, brothers,¡± the familiar nasal voice of the crazy cult leader laughed, ¡°Cleansing has started! Saint Moribillius will purify your soul and body, sister!¡± He addressed me and it caused another acid fountain from my mouth. Finally, there was nothing to vomit with, and I collapsed on my side, supported by Lewis.

    ¡°Give her some water, Brady.¡±

    When I heard the word ¡®water¡¯ my overdried lips felt the phantom moisture on them. But it wasn¡¯t fair.

    ¡°Please,¡± I coughed, ¡°please, give water to everyone.¡±

    ¡°Hope, shh¨C¡±

    ¡°What did you say?¡± the leader asked.

    ¡°Hope, shut up,¡± Lewis squeezed the skin on my ribs under the chiffon dress to pain.

    But I didn¡¯t. ¡°I asked to give some water to everyone here,¡± I gasped, spitting the remains of the acid and sour saliva out, ¡°They need to be purified too, don¡¯t they? Water will help them do it quicker. What do you think?¡±

    It was stupid. I knew that. But I wanted to help the people around me no less than to quench the thirst. They would probably shoot me down, but, at least, I¡¯d tried.

    The prolonged silence was pierced by a martyred cry from behind the plastic door.

    ¡°Give them water. Sister¡¯s right.¡±

    Thank you, Ranita. Thank you very much.

    ¡°But,¡± he went on, ¡°don¡¯t give it to the infidels. They¡¯ll be suffering till the end. If any of you decided to share with these filthy brats, you would be sacrificed with them.¡±

    It meant, that¡­

    ¡°Ralody,¡± I whispered to Lewis¡¯s ear when he helped me stand up.

    ¡°We¡¯ll manage it, love.¡±

    My ass took its place between my husband and the leader of Calire again.

    ¡°How are you?¡± Ralody Brine asked.

    ¡°I¡¯d say for the current situation I¡¯m pretty fine.¡±

    ¡°Good girl,¡± Ralody tugged a loose strand of the hair behind my ear.

    The door slammed shut, and the stamping of four heavy booted feet thundered in the assembly hall, accompanied by cracking of plastic and splashing.

    Water.

    They¡¯d brought bottled water from the cafeteria on the second floor.

    One of the overseers came to us and threw bottles on the floor. Only two.

    ¡°There¡¯s no water for you, Authority whore,¡± I heard a quite young male voice. ¡°Suffer for sins you¡¯ve done for your filthy govt.¡± He spat on Ralody. ¡°Ave Unio!¡±

    My husband flinched, and I took his forearm to prevent any stupidity he was going to commit.

    ¡°Ral?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Lewis. Drink the water, you¡¯re thirsty.¡±

    ¡°You too, Ralody. You¡¯re parched. We¡¯ll work something out.¡±

    Ralody Brine merely snorted, ¡°I¡¯m gonna die anyway. What¡¯s the point?¡±

    Neither me nor Lewis was courageous enough to disagree with her slowly said words because we both knew she was right. His hand squashed mine immensely tight.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell that, please,¡± I almost begged, ¡°we¡¯ll survive. As Lewis said, we¡¯ll figure out something.¡±

    The weight of her palm warmed my shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re right, Hope, we¡¯ll get out of here,¡± the leader of the town promised, even so, it sounded more like a reassuring speech for me, not an assertion.

    My fingers fumbled for the bottle''s gritty cap and turned it clockwise to open it and failed. I had no power even for such a simple task. Lewis, seemingly, caught sight of my fruitless tries and resolved the problem with a quick movement of his wrist. My hero. When the celestial moisture reached my parched mouth, it struck me. I would have finished that half-liter bottle up in a gulp, but my mind alerted me to slow down. Ralody needed so much as a third of the bottle to recover from the horrors we¡¯d been forced to endure. And yet, Saints, either I¡¯d never known that water had such a delicious taste, or I was that dehydrated to make it up.

    Time was passing, cries were loud. Ranita the Initiatoress, where the hell were the fucking Protectors? How many people should have died to be finally rescued? The hissing in my ears became stronger. The innervated muscles of my emaciated body subsided. I caved in and fell on my husband¡¯s shoulder, fighting the drowsiness, although I was losing.

    ¡°Take a nap, love. I¡¯ll watch you,¡± Lewis said and removed me from his lap. I was willing to withstand that, but my entire organism pressed the button ¡®turn off.¡¯

    I couldn¡¯t say how much time the semblance of sleeping on love¡¯s thighs instead of a soft down pillow had taken when my ears captured the fragments of the conversation between Lewis and Ralody.

    ¡°¨Chind Hope¡¯s back. Band slowly down and drink. They won¡¯t see if we shield you.¡±

    So, Lewis was trying to give the remains of the water we hadn¡¯t drunk up to his friend.

    ¡°I¡¯m not gonna risk your lives just for several sips.¡±

    ¡°Stop it and take fucking water.¡±

    My husband¡¯s tone was irritated and exasperated. It¡¯d been a while of convincing.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯m gonna be dead in a matter of hours.¡±

    ¡°Ral, don¡¯t¨C¡±

    ¡°Lewis,¡± she interrupted my husband, ¡°I¡¯m the leader of the Calire town. They¡¯ve left me for last as a small tidbit.¡±

    Lewis remained silent. He had no word to answer this. Me too. Really, I didn¡¯t know what kind of words could suit there. Another man fainted and the floor, piercing the silence in the assembly hall with a muffled sound of falling.

    ¡°You know where it is, Lewis,¡± Ralody lowered her voice to a new low, and I realized I wasn¡¯t supposed to listen to her. She didn¡¯t know that my hearing had become sharper because of the loss of vision. ¡°If you survive, let them know.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll all survive, Ralody. Don¡¯t you dare think differently.¡±

    She snorted, ¡°You¡¯ve always been such an optimistic man.¡±

    My lips twitched to vocalize the question ¡®What the fuck are you talking about?¡¯, but the words got stuck in my throat. Ralody didn¡¯t intend the words for my ears, whatever they meant, and I made a decision to pretend to wake up.

    Getting up, I felt severe pain in my neck and left side from lying in a crooked pose. Lewis patted my back. His movements became slower. He was drained. I knew he wouldn¡¯t agree to fall asleep when his wife and his friend¡¯s lives were jeopardized. Anyway, I could try.

    ¡°Lewis,¡± I began, ¡°love, you nee¨C¡±

    I hadn¡¯t noticed the thundering steps of heavy booted feet approaching the wall near the stage edge. ¡°Stand up, Authority bitch,¡± this nasal frightening voice, ¡°your turn has come.¡±

    No, no, no. Please, not Ralody. Not now.

    ¡°As I said,¡± she murmured with an unhappy smile, that was clearly audible in her too-low-to-be-female voice. I thought she was ready to die.

    My brain didn¡¯t function well. I wanted to take her hand but had no time to search for it, so I gripped her rather wide forearm and pulled her to me.

    ¡°Hope, let me go, please. Don¡¯t give them a reason to kill you too.¡±

    ¡°Ralody¡­¡±

    ¡°Lewis, take her,¡± she asked my husband, who all of a sudden obeyed and removed my hand from the warm and silky skin of the leader.

    I was trembling. Lewis too. My reason was fear. His one was helplessness. He embraced me, and his increased heartbeat pounded into my chest. It took him a good deal of effort not to run after his friend. My suggestion was that he didn¡¯t do anything not to get in cult followers¡¯ sight because of me.

    ¡°Shh, Hope,¡± he kissed my temple, ¡°It¡¯ll be okay. We¡¯ll get outta this. All of us,¡± I wanted to believe him. But I didn¡¯t.

    Ralody Brine was going to die in agony. And we were supposed to listen to her cries of suffering until she was silent forever.

    Saint Ranita, help her.

    The dizziness engulfed me, and I blacked out one more time, but this time when I started feeling again, Lewis wasn¡¯t shaking my shoulders. He was lying on my left unconsciously. I lifted on my weakened arms and crawled to him. Groping my husband¡¯s jawline, I cupped it, and my thumb brushed his one-day face growth.

    ¡°Lewis.¡±

    No reaction.

    ¡°Love.¡±

    Still nothing.

    I slapped him slightly, and he mumbled something inexplicable.

    ¡°Lewis?¡±

    ¡°Love¡­ your nose.¡±

    My hand flew to my nose and detected a warm viscous liquid under it. Blood. Looked like I¡¯d fainted face first and had injured myself against the old wooden floor. Only now the throbbing pain in the nose became tangible.

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch it, love. The last thing we need is infection,¡± I heard a thud that sounded as if someone was tearing out a piece of fabric from one¡¯s clothes. ¡°Let me look,¡± he said word-weary.

    Ranita, when the hell was it going to stop?

    A touch of cotton wiped out some blood. Lewis¡¯s shirt.

    Then it happened.

    The door that had been mined exploded. Lewis jumped on me and pinned me to the wall behind my back, shielding me from any shards. The deafening ringing in my ears stunned me and I needed some time to grasp what was going on.

    Panic.

    People were screaming. The followers of the Reunification Cult started shooting. Someone was shooting back, because the sound of bullets, flying out from guns, was distinct from the ones I¡¯d been listening to for the last hours. The Protectors had finally come, but the relief didn¡¯t fulfill me.

    I suppressed a spasm in my stomach and overwhelming fear. We couldn¡¯t afford panic to cloud our minds if we wanted to survive.

    ¡°Hope,¡± Lewis had to raise his hoarse voice in the cacophony of doomsday around us to attract my attention. ¡°Hope, we need to run. Now.¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°Put your arms around my neck.¡±

    ¡°Lewis, you¡¯re exhaust¨C¡±

    ¡°No time for denials. Do it.¡±

    He was right. We had to get out of it as fast as we were able to. I did what was necessary. Lewis picked me up, and my legs enlaced his waist. I held him extremely tight.

    ¡°Whatever happens,¡± the love of my life breathed, ¡°just know that I¡¯m genuinely happy to be your husband.¡±

    My heart skipped a beat. I realized that there was a huge chance to get shot. And yet, I wasn¡¯t ready for it.

    ¡°No fucking farewells, Hill.¡±

    Lewis found my lips and kissed me so hard. ¡°Just know, Hope Nataly Hill, that I love you and will always do.¡±

    Our foreheads met, ¡°I love you too, Lewis Branon Hill.¡±

    ¡°Get ready.¡±

    He took off so promptly that my teeth clenched to pain. My husband was a sporty man, but being drained and having a dead weight in the form of a fifty-five-kilogram blind worthless woman slowed him down. I was about to jump off him so he could save himself, but the grip on my upper body was tighter than ever. Lewis won¡¯t let it happen. He¡¯d rather shield me from bullets to give me a chance for living, my beloved stupid hero.

    I heard his rapid heartbeat through the cries and shots, and it was the only thing that was keeping me sane.

    Before the extreme pain pervaded my entire tired-out body.

    I couldn¡¯t keep that cry inside and let it out. It stunned Lewis, and we fell on the floor. My turquoise dress got wet from sweat and¡­ blood. The hole from the lead bullet was bleeding. I wanted to call his name, to say ¡®I love you¡¯, to hug him for the last time. I didn¡¯t do anything. I was paralyzed by terror and pain. My heart was beating faster and faster with each sharp inhale, which gave the impression of greedily swallowing air, and it became the reason why I was losing blood faster and faster. The dress Lewis had chosen for me to support him on the crucial and grand day of his career turned into a soaked piece of expensive chiffon. I would be dead out of blood loss before the Protectors rescued us.

    I¡¯m so sorry, dear. I¡¯ll be waiting for you at Ranita¡¯s castle when your time comes. I love you, Lewis Branon Hill.

    I wish my lips didn¡¯t remain motionless. But they did. Just like my entire body on that solid, cold floor of the assembly hall where we should have celebrated promotion with his colleagues.

    I got goosebumps all over my almost lifeless body. Was it what death felt like? The world¡¯s sounds went quiet, and the blackness I¡¯d been watching since I¡¯d been six became even more black.

 Chapter Four

    I¡¯m blind, not deaf

    Hope

    The ringing in my ears mixed with the noise of fluorescent light above me, and I regained consciousness. The smell of antiseptic, iodine, and blooded bandages told me I was at the Healer¡¯s Abode. It was hard to breathe as if my throat and lungs were on fire. I coughed and regretted it in a second. All my guts were in agony. I whined and bit my dry cracked lower lip. Someone went into the ward, shuffling audibly the feet against the tiled floor of the infirmary to inform me about one¡¯s presence.

    ¡°I¡¯d recommend you not to do any jerky movements, Hope,¡± a sweet female voice declared. ¡°My name¡¯s Lucy Farrole. I¡¯m your healer.¡±

    Lucy Farrole came closer to the bed where I was lying. ¡°I¡¯m going to check your pulse and other functions. If you feel anything wrong, let me know, please.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s¨C¡± I coughed again and cried out of pain. ¡°I can¡¯t breathe.¡±

    The bed beneath me cracked and started moving. The back of it rose, bringing me to a sitting position.

    ¡°Open your mouth, please, I¡¯ll give you some water.¡±

    I dried the glass my healer pressed to my lips in one gulp, but it didn¡¯t ease the stinging.

    ¡°The burning feeling in your throat and respiratory tract could be caused by prolonged use of a medical ventilator out of severe respiratory failure you experienced after the operation. It happens rarely, but has a place to be.¡±

    A medical ventilator? Respiratory failure? Operation?

    My mind couldn¡¯t comprehend this information. The last I remembered was Lewis and I, running out of the assembly hall.

    And then we¡¯d fallen.

    ¡°Lewis!'''' The shout went out of my mouth before I had a chance to think. ¡°My husband. Where is he?¡± I leaned against the bed armrest and tried to lift myself up through the unbearable pain in the abdomen and almost succeeded, but when a needle went out from the vein of my right arm, leaving behind a hot thin trickle of running blood, I freaked out.

    A pair of tiny but no less strong hands pinned me to the bed back again.

    ¡°Hope, please, you need to stay in bed or you¡¯ll pop the stitches.¡±

    ¡°Why¨C¡± I suddenly felt sick and dizzy, and it nipped my question in the bud.

    ¡°Hope, what¡¯s wrong?¡±

    An acid burp flew out of me. Fuck, I was so ashamed of it.

    Lucy¡¯s hand glided up behind my head, ¡°If you¡¯re going to puke, I¡¯m holding a bedpan right in front of you.¡±

    There was nothing I could throw up now, but the bloody spasm of gag reflex hurt me so mercilessly and echoed in the area where the stitches were.

    Ranita, help me.

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    When the episode had its end, the bed beneath me lowered, and I found myself lying.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked quietly, ¡°Where is he? Where is Lewis?¡±

    Lucy Farrole was quiet, and this silence put everything upside down inside me.

    ¡°Hope, you need to rest.¡±

    ¡°WHERE IS MY HUSBAND?¡± I was inhaling and exhaling unevenly, what felt like a million piercing sharp blades in my throat. Why she didn¡¯t tell me?

    ¡°Hope,¡± the healer broke the silence, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    No, no, no. No. It couldn¡¯t be real. Please, no.

    ¡°The bullet went through him and got stuck in your spleen. You survived just because you fell on the back.¡±

    That wasn¡¯t true. It couldn¡¯t be. No way.

    ¡°Lewis had no chance with the exit wound he¡¯d got. He died on the way to the abode from blood loss.¡±

    The blood on my dress. I¡¯d thought it¡¯d been mine. Lewis had been bleeding on me and I¡¯d had no goddamn idea. The only loved man in my life had been dying, shielding me from the firefight.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to go,¡± I said and made an effort to jump off the fucking bed, but my body let me down, and I fell on the frigid hard floor of the damned abode.

    ¡°Marry, call the guardians,¡± my healer yelled. ¡°Hope, roll over.¡±

    I buried my nails into the tile, feeling them come off from the beds. My heart was pounding in my ears. When Lucy¡¯s hands flipped me over onto my back, I opened my mouth and unleashed a deafeningly loud howl I¡¯d never heard or even thought I¡¯d been capable of.

    Lewis.

    My husband.

    The love of my love.

    He was dead.

    The smell of the cheapest cigarettes burst in my nose. Two other pairs of hands grabbed my limbs. The guardians had come. I didn¡¯t know why, but my entire body was fighting back. I should have been beset by a pain in my abdomen. Instead, I was suffering from the anguishing hurt in my heart.

    ¡°Leo, hold her. Hope, please, you need to calm down. You can harm yourself.¡±

    I wanted to cry. Ranita, I would have washed the world with my tears for Lewis. If only I¡¯d had them. But I had neither tear glands nor eyes.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you merely inject the sleeper?¡± asked a low male voice.

    ¡°It¡¯s been only five hours since we took out her spleen and a part of her pancreas. Her organism is still weakened after the cult¡¯s attack and might not be able to bear a dose of the sedative. I don¡¯t want to risk it.¡±

    But I wanted to.

    I wanted her to get me sedated to death.

    ¡°She¡¯s bleeding,¡± said another male voice. This one seemed older.

    ¡°Stitches. Ranita,¡± the healer swore. ¡°Keep her still, I need to check.¡±

    Two men pressed me into the bed, and the warmth touched my skin under the procedure thin rob.

    ¡°They¡¯re in place,¡± she sighed, ¡°Marry, bring the smallest dose of Bolutone. She¡¯ll hurt herself.¡±

    My spine curved from the choked cry.

    ¡°Hold her, boys, I need her vein.¡±

    A stinging pin prick pierced the skin of my left arm. In a matter of a minute, I lost the ability to resist. Then I wasn¡¯t capable of even managing a squeak.

    ¡°Let her sleep for a while. I¡¯ll check Hope in three hours.¡±

    The steps of three pairs of feet headed to the exit.

    ¡°Crazy bitch,¡± the older voice whispered.

    ¡°She endured the terrorist attack and lost her husband, Mark. Show some respect.¡±

    I didn¡¯t give a shit what they thought about me.

    The door shut. I was alone in the infirmary. All of my muscles turned into jelly on the healer¡¯s sheets. My head fell on the shoulder out of a lack of power to keep it up. The fucking fluorescent light right above me started flashing with a hideous shrill sound. A drop of water landed on the ceramic sink, but I didn¡¯t comprehend this sound. My mind stopped working. I heard lots of sounds and didn¡¯t detect them, or, couldn¡¯t understand where they came from.

    Fatigue and somnolence hit me so accidentally and hard. My skin crawled although it was quite warm here, and a thick blanket covered me. For the first time, I felt my eyelids (or what was left of them) flinched as if trying to shut, and it frightened me, but everything I did was breathing out. I was finally falling asleep.

    ¡°I am so sorry.¡±

    This monotonous male voice took me unawares. The fucking sleeper took its part. I¡¯d had to strain to murmur the question through a dream, ¡°Who¡¯s here?¡± There¡¯d been no noise, smell, or hint of people coming in. I didn¡¯t even feel the presence of the man, which happened rarely.

    ¡°You¨C¡± he faltered, ¡°you can hear me?¡±

    Even being drugged I realized what a stupid question it was.

    The effect of the medication was stronger than me. Before the entire blankness devoured me, I deadpanned, ¡°I¡¯m¡­ blind¡­ not deaf.¡±

 Chapter Five

    Talking fleshy

    Letum

    The female shouts penetrated through the thin walls of the healer¡¯s abode when I was doing what I had been bred for. I could not conjecture what would happen after I had crossed the doorstep of the ward next to the one my work had summoned me to. I should have merely consorted an old man to the next part of his life that destiny had prepared for him and have left the healer¡¯s abode full of the fleshies with his soul, but an anomalous feeling inside my gut made itself felt when I was passing the white door of the ward. The oddity was I had no physical pain or disturbance but something deeper I lacked words to describe out of never experiencing anything akin to what was now presented. I stopped, watching two men and a woman exit the room. The woman¨Ca healer¨Cstormed by me right to the nurse who was talking to her colleague in illuminated by the cold grayish-white light of the fluorescent lamps hall while the men were leisurely abandoning the ward.

    ¡°Crazy bitch,¡± the one with deep wrinkles around his eyes and mouth whispered.

    The second man looked much younger and more compassionate. ¡°She endured the terrorist attack and lost her husband, Mark. Show some respect,¡± the latest rebuked the old one.

    They were not abandoning the room then. Someone was still there.

    A female.

    And here my curiosity got the better of me.

    I glided through the finite gap of the closing door and found myself standing in the middle of an ascetic room with a faint resemblance to an old small wardrobe which would not contain more than two coats and a quite modern narrow couch where a tied woman with no eyes was lying. Although the ward was being heated by the powerful electrical system, allowing no coldness, the hair of her entire body was standing on end.

    I took a noiseless step toward the couch. The female was murmuring something I could not perceive at first, but heeding her slowing down a breath of hers, I managed to hear a name. Lewis.

    I recalled what the man with a more pleasant appearance had said about the woman on the couch. She had lost her husband during a terrorist act. More likely, her recently passed away partner had been named Lewis. I had no clue why this name bothered me. It sounded somehow familiar and important. Standing back, I directed my sight to the foot of the couch where fleshy healers predominantly put a card with a medical history of patients. With no deviation, the printed name I saw on the piece of hemp paper struck me to the place where the strange feeling had its roots.

    Hope Nataly Hill.

    The mentioned feeling in my gut pinched me from inside, and I unwillingly uttered, ¡°I am so sorry,¡± out of the blue and it scared me to chill on my skin¨Call the regents had no feelings for the fleshies. What was propelling me at that moment remained as an unsolved mystery to me. I was about to depart in a hurry to get my mentor as soon as I was only capable of unraveling the riddle of my emotions when a velvet female voice pierced the silence of the half-empty ward, bouncing from the pink-orange in the last beams of the setting sun walls and echoing as if we were in an endless cave. A scent of wetness coming from the tiny bathroom only amplified my imagined pictures of the dark space with the excessive moisture caused by the absence of sunlight which would initiate evaporation.

    ¡°Who¡¯s here?¡± Hope forced, being weakened by the effect of the sedative drugs the healer had more likely used to quiet her.

    I was aghast by the question so much that my tongue was not able to maneuver to forge a single word.

    ¡°You¨C¡± I paused to shoo the shock off. I wondered how silly my facial expression was at the very moment, ¡°You can hear me?¡±

    Hope¡¯s head sluggishly fell on her left shoulder. It was obvious that she did not control her body. The drugs had been relaxing the muscles. And yet, being a step away from a sound long sleep till the morning had come anew or even later, her lips curved, forming feebly, ¡°I¡¯m¡­ blind¡­ not deaf.¡± Leaving me stunned, the eyeless woman passed out. Only her even breathing was disturbing the peace of the ascetic ward.

    I understood that there was a big need to talk to someone about what had just happened, but lingered staring at the fleshy female, serenely sniffing on the compact square cushion beneath her head. Her brownish slightly-waving hair framed her relaxed, atypical face. Hope¡¯s lips were narrowly ajar which made her look like a sleeping child. It was quite difficult to tell how old she was because the scar tissue took up a good part of her face, including the eye area and a quarter of her forehead. The asymmetry of her face caused by the absence of the right brow impressed me so much that my eyes were fixed on her face as if trying to picture her portrait as detailed as it was only possible, nevertheless, I had no need or idea what for. I could not get rid of the scratchy feeling inside me. Fixing my eyes on her, I thought ¡®Poor woman¡¯ or ¡®how hard her destiny is.¡¯ The problem was I had never done things like that before. A job is a job. I had not ever thought about the the fleshies I had to show the path or their lives. I was emotionless to the mortals.

    Then why on earth was I not able to take my attention off the usual fleshy female? Not answering my silent rhetorical question the living liked to ask so often, I turned around, summoning the brightly shining portal in the shape of a line as wide as a hand which snaked up the walls and the ceiling to open the passageway from the fleshy realm to the Afterword. I passed the barrier, leaving the ward and Hope in the embrace of Morpheus behind me. To my surprise, I cast the last sight to the woman on the couch, lying in the rays of the portal. I thought that even if she had the capability to see, neither I nor the way to my place would have been caught by her sight. I was invisible to fleshy¡¯s eyes, just like the world I permanently resided in, sometimes visiting the world of living in the line of duty.

    The barrier was crossed, and I stepped on the soft mossy floor of the training center territory. It was late evening there, so the not black yet but navy-blue, starry sky was following me to the very doors of the three-storied building which was gleaming with a color of water at night¨Ctransparently dark. Inside, I shut the creaking door as a need to be oiled behind my back and headed to the only person I would throw myself into the sword of the saint silver for¨Cto Baleruhb, who could be always found in his study or the training hall on the second floor. I knew the mentor would not be exercising at that time of day, so I followed the way to the stairs in the east wing. Choosing the optional rhythm of my pacing to be brisk enough yet unsuspecting to others in case I was viewed by other habitants of the Afterworld who were still practicing in one of the halls, I skirted the fragile at first glance edges of the handrail made of black glass. The echo of my steps bounced from the granite walls and flew around the vacated corridor, where somewhere down slaps of hands against the punching bags in the boxing room and female heavy breathing were heard. I would have recognized Tory¡¯s fashion of whining when she was hurt even if I had been deaf.

    I¡¯m¡­ blind¡­ not deaf.

    Her words flashed in my mind, and I ceased going as if the phrase had shaken off the haze of destruction, reminding me where and why I was aiming to. I would share an hour of conversations with her later, for now, I had to reach Baleruhb¡¯s study.

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    My feet restarted touching the granite floor of the training center toward the destination. I had passed at least four halls where the youngest were exercising with open doors and, luckily, managed to get past them disregarded. Despite the weather outside was always the same¨Cneither hot nor cold¨Cthe temperature in the hall varied, depending on the quantity of practicing males and females, and the air there was constantly seasoned with a scent of sweat and blood, although now I could smell the fresh notes of wet ground and plants which always occurred after sundown when got all the windows got wide open all over the training floor by mentors in charge to ventilate the space.

    I quickened my pacing at the view of the dark-brown stairs which led to the second level where exactly I was heading. Upstairs, I snorted, being not dazed by the sight of the entire story flooded with candlelight from the only opened door. Baleruhb did not appreciate the lack of light during work or study. My approach was not that unexpected out of my boots with heavy track soles being extremely comfortable but too loud not to out me come from afar. Before I came to the attention of the owner of the room, he called me by name from behind the open door, which made me smile. He knew the manner of walking of each of his mentees.

    ¡°Good night, Baleruhb,¡± I greeted the man with a short-cut who was looking for something on his bookshelves.

    Baleruhb turned his wide back to the mentioned shelves and presented me with a short nod, ¡°How was your day, boy?¡±

    I shrugged, ¡°Quite fine. Another addicted fleshy thought that it was his drug ¡®parish¡¯ when he saw me, exclaiming ¡®Wow, dude, that fucking pusher didn¡¯ lie to me¡¯. I wonder when he understands that the fucking pusher pushed him his last dose in his life.¡±

    The man who looked no more than thirty by the fleshy standards, but was more than thousands of circles ago, bared his teeth with a chipped tip of his left fang, ¡°These fleshies are so fascinating, aren¡¯t they?¡± He sat on the edge of the wooden desk, topped with folders and books in a language I had seen once but cared not much about memorizing at least the name of it without speaking of the alphabet or a word in it.

    ¡°One would not realize that he had died,¡± Baleruhb went on, ¡°another would cry and beg for one more chance to live his life again in an appropriate way. I like the kind of them who treat death like an old friend of theirs¨Cwith honor and respect. It makes our duty more special, do you think so?¡±

    Was my luck beginning to change because our discussion had started with the topic I needed so I did not have to make up any doltish reasons and pretexts to direct the flow in the right direction? Well, I hoped so.

    ¡°Oh, I do,¡± was my answer, ¡°I find observing them quite whimsical, especially talkative ones, and their reactions when fleshies do not notice that their paths in the Afterworld blend in the Great Line because of being too busy talking to you to even look around.¡±

    ¡°Hah, that was not my favorite type,¡± black-haired Baleruhb admitted with a resemblance of a curve on his lips. ¡°They always talked about their grandchildren and what high prices for rice and buckwheat in the supermarkets were. It annoyed me a lot. I am glad I am a mentor now so I have no point in leaving the training center.¡±

    I chuckled, going to the burgundy velvet armchair next to the massive working table which my mentor invited me to sit in with a lax wave of his moderately big hand, ¡°Fortunately for us, we are not to be detected by living fleshies, otherwise we would be bored to will of dancing in the field of white lilies barefoot instead of seeing a single fleshy again.¡±

    The corners of the mentor¡¯s lips quivered, forming two tine dimples on his cheeks, ¡°Thousands of circles ago time was different, Letum, you were a newborn, so I doubt you remember the era before the Deathly Battle when we regents were capable of talking to fleshies and even touch without causing their death, while they honored us like respected creatures.¡±

    I had not seen it myself, however, I was aware of that foggy part of the history of our kind, being told by those who were progressively waking from the haze of the curse. ¡°I am aware of that,¡± I admitted, taking my chance to lead to the bothering me puzzle, ¡°But I just¡­ I do not know why, but I just cannot believe it, you know. I mean, regents had such power. Has no one spoken to a single fleshy since the Deathly Battle? Were there no cases?¡±

    Baleruhb lowered his eyes to the rustic pattern of the dark granite floor beneath his feet, then tsked, but not by way of expressing that he was annoyed by my ignorance or my curiosity of mine. It was more like accepting the past and previous events. ¡°No, Letum, there was not a single regent being noticed to talk to fleshies. The bitch named Agata is one to blame, boy.¡±

    ¡°But the curseress¡¯ spell is losing its influence on us. Lots of the oldest who survived are putting up together the broken-up pieces of their memory. Did you think of a possibility to get those power and skills back?¡±

    The mentor squinted, piercing me with his sight full of confusion and suspicions, ¡°Why are you so eager to find it out, Letum?¡±

    I should have known better than that. Of course, my question would cause this sight of him.  A mentee did not come to his study with such a morbid interest in the past and present. It was important to me to steady myself and not give up on what had truly happened in the ward of the healer¡¯s abode in the realm of living. I did not want to endanger the woman¨CHope. I trusted Baleruhb, it was doubtless, but there was a but¨Cit was the first communication between a regent and a fleshy, so I had the courage to state that she would not be allowed to live her life by the oldest just like that, and it gave me no peace. The poor female had endured so much without that.

    I shook my head in an attempt to distract him from scanning me, ¡°I have taken a soul recently. A male one. He died from the gas that had burnt his lungs severe enough to cause asphyxia. The man was one of those who do not care about themselves after they die but their relatives. He asked me if his wife was there because he wished to tell her I love you for the last time. When I assured him that his wife was still alive, he asked me to quote him the day I would see her,¡± I shrugged, ¡°I saw her later, in a matter of fleshy hours. Her time had not come, so it was accidentally. I wanted to tell her what her husband had told me, really,¡± my hand snaked up the column of my neck and scratched the back of my head, ¡°I have no clue why.¡±

    Looked like I had managed to convince the mentor in my story. His features visibly relaxed, ¡°I dare to suggest that it is right because of the theory of easing the curse you have revealed,¡± he cocked his head, ¡°I cannot accept or deny the fact all of us are unable to experience any kind of emotions to mortals not because of Agata because I merely do not remember it, but I believe that once emotions were streaming through us much brighter than now. Maybe you experienced something called sympathy in the fleshy world.¡±

    ¡°Sympathy?¡± It was a new word for me.

    ¡°Mm-hm. It is a feeling which appears in your chest when someone is in a hard situation and all you want is to comfort that person. Curiously, it happened to a fleshy. I cannot recall a single case even before the Deathly Battle, though, it might be the influence of the curse.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that is interesting.¡±

    Baleruhb stood up from the edge of the desk he had been sitting on for all the time we had been talking and slowly shorted the distance between us. ¡°Does anyone know about it?¡±

    I shook my head, not really understanding what my mentor was up to.

    ¡°Good. Do not tell it to anyone before we are one hundred percent sure it is what it seems to be. I want no unrest.¡±

    I assumed his decision was connected to the rumors that had started spreading after the body of a newly-born regent had been found with five stab wounds to his chest under the bridge that connected the left and right banks of the Afterworld. The young guide to the other side had been mercilessly murdered by the blade of the saint silver¨Cthe only metal that could pierce the flesh of regents. The metal had been prohibited from minting after the Deathly battle when thousands of us had died a heroic death, protecting lands from the heirs of the Death. Apparently not each of the dwellers of the Afterworld agreed with the law, keeping the arms still with them.

    ¡°Letum,¡± a sound of my name which had flown out of the mentor¡¯s mouth drew my attention to him again. I thought I had pondered a little and had not noticed when Baleruhb had taken a seat on the edge of the wine-red armchair arm on the left side. ¡°Is anything else bothering you, boy?¡± He joined his hands and rested them on his lap. He eyed me from head to toe, pending my reply to be vocalized.

    I wordlessly shook my head.

    ¡°Then, let us leave it here. It has been a long day.¡±

    I took the dismissing hint and hopped abruptly, ¡°Certainly it has. I would better go to my chambers to rest. See you tomorrow at the ring.¡±

    Baleruhb smirked, ¡°See you, boy.¡±

    I exited my mentor¡¯s study, closing the door behind my back as noiselessly as I could, and found myself standing in the dark empty hall.

    ¡°Letum,¡± Baleruhb called me out.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    The mentor wetted his lips by licking them and pointed at me with his index finger, ¡°Correct me if I am mistaken, but did not you have to guide the soul of William Harrison from the fleshy world?¡±

    Deathly sons.

 Chapter Six

    The boyhood friends

    Hope

    Bouts of hysteria and nightmares had happened every day and night, but with time they¡¯d become a less frequent thing. During the days I¡¯d spent in the healer¡¯s abode I¡¯d been under drugs and had not always distinguished dreams from real life. Lewis¡¯s parents had visited me four times, and all those times I hadn¡¯t been capable of saying anything intelligible because of sobs or meds. Jacob and Laura loved me as their own daughter. My mother-in-law had retired two circles ago and had now a lot of free time, so she¡¯d offered to live with me for a while after the discharge from the abode until I could get used to living alone. A saint woman.

    When I woke up, my head was splitting. The nurses were watching the television in the hall. The baritone of Jeremy Cloud¨Cthe governor of Ranita¨Cbroke the silence. Still half-sleeping, I heard him talk about the terrorist attack and the funerals of those who¡¯d died.

    ¡­ The funerals of four hundred people who had been killed during the university invasion were held today. I offer my most sincere condolences to the families of the victims. No one can imagine the horrors that they endured. This is the loss that leaves an enormous hall in our chests forever.

    But we need to be strong at this difficult time. The Protectors have already established the identity of the attackers and started the investigation in the case of organizing a criminal group and committing a terrorist attack. One of the shooters who survived will be interrogated soon. He will be punished as he deserves, I can promise it¡­

    Apart from the hissing speakers of the TV and the annoying sound of raindrops against the glass of the ward windows, there was something else. Light sniffles. I¡¯d say female ones, but not Laura¡¯s. She should be with Jacob at Lewis''s wake now. The nurses never slept in the rooms with patients.

    ¡°Is anyone here?¡±

    My question woke up the sleeping woman.

    ¡°Hope,¡± I heard her call my name and turned my head toward the familiar low voice.

    ¡°Ralody?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sweetheart,¡± she stood up from a chair or something like that with a creak, ¡°Hope, thank Ranita.¡± She embraced me, which hurt me a bit, but I didn¡¯t care. Ralody was alive. I sobbed and hugged her back. The slight luscious sillage remained on her skin. Something was wrong, but I didn¡¯t know what exactly. She felt differently. She¡¯d lost some weight and was now spindly, yes. But¡­ her breast. I didn¡¯t feel a touch of it like before.

    ¡°Ralody,¡± I gasped, ¡°Lewis¡­¡±. I couldn¡¯t say that.

    ¡°I know, sweetheart, I know.¡± A hot drop sneaked under the synthetic rob and immediately turned cold, running down my back. That was what tears felt like. I¡¯d already forgotten it since I¡¯d lost the privilege to cry.

    ¡°I¡­¡± I gasped again into her bony shoulder, ¡°I couldn¡¯t even bury him, Ralody. I¡¯m stuck here for ages. They didn¡¯t allow me to leave the abode.¡± My abdomen was on fire from the sobs of sorrow.

    ¡°Shh, my girl,¡± her hand was patting my head, ¡°I know, it hurts so much.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t handle it. I can¡¯t. I don¡¯t know how to live without him.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be with you, Hope,¡± she whispered into my ear, losing another drop. ¡°I don¡¯t think Lewis¡¯s ever mentioned me, but we were really close once. I miss him too, sweetheart.¡±

    The back of my rob had soaked up liters of Ralody¡¯s tears before we two threw our grief out.

    When our pulse stabilized, I pulled back a little, suppressing the pain, and groped her wet face with prominent cheekbones and wide jawline. I cupped it on both sides and brushed my thumbs back and forth. She smiled mildly, and it broke my heart. I¡¯d been so absorbed by my woe that I forgot the last time she¡¯d talked to me was the moment when the followers of the Reunification cult had taken her behind the plastic door of the assembly hall in the university.

    ¡°What happened to you?¡±

    Nothing good, of course. It was clear.

    Ralody hesitated. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s horrible, Hope,¡± the leader of Calire said bitterly, ¡°are you sure you want to listen to my story?¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s hard for you, then I don¡¯t.¡±

    Her once smooth hands squeezed mine.

    ¡°When we exited the hall,¡± she began, ¡°I was ready to die. I tried not to look at the disfigured corpses of my colleagues and acquaintances scattered here and there. I saw what they¡¯d done to them, Hope, and I will never find words to describe all the horrors I saw there.¡±

    The crack of her voice broke something inside me. I swallowed. Even though I¡¯d lost my eyes twenty-three circles ago, I still had nightmares with my father¡¯s bluish-gray hand, hanging from the tube in our bathroom. But to see so many injured dead people at once¡­

    ¡°Nevertheless, I couldn¡¯t imagine what was waiting for me.¡±

    ¡°Ralody¡­¡±

    She sobbed and I regretted asking her to speak.

    ¡°I was a kind of devil for them. That was why Strabin saved me for last.¡±

    Strabin had to be the man with a nasal voice.

    ¡°But why? Just because of your position? For doing your job?¡±

    Ralody hemmed, ¡°There are a few people that know about¡­ the changes. Lewis was one of them. I¡¯ve been concealing any mentions of it, but the cult found it out somehow.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    She bent over me and lowered her voice to whisper, ¡°I was born a man, Hope.¡±

    Oh.Oh.

    ¡°When I turned fifteen and my mom gave me her concealer to cover teenage acne,¡± she told me, ¡°I liked using it, so I started buying other cosmetics with my pocket cash. My collection was epic, even my mother didn¡¯t have that much. With time I realized that the body I¡¯d been born in wasn¡¯t mine. I was in love with fashion and makeup while my peers were playing football and doing judo. My mother knew that and had nothing against it. She understood I didn¡¯t choose it but had been born who I¡¯d been born, unlike my father. When he noticed my ¡®morbid fascination¡¯, he attempted to whip this shit out of me. I still have scars on my back,¡± she took my hand and led it to the smooth scar tissue on her body under the cotton shirt. ¡°Thanks to my mom I managed to escape from that house of horrors to Mavrony. She gave me a great chance. There I entered the university and started saving some money for the surgery, working as a cleaner in a nightclub at night only cause the study wouldn¡¯t let me have a job like a waitress or cashier who have day shifts. I know your question, and the answer is yes, gender reassignment surgery was banned before it got known, however, there were underground clinics that were dealing with it. The risks of irreparable damage and even death were high, but I didn¡¯t care. I¡¯d rather die trying than live like that.  Two circles of surfers and wakeful nights, and the sum I needed was in my bank account. As you can notice, it was successful, and I wasn¡¯t injured much more than it required. The trouble would meet me next when I found out that It was too problematic to get the documents for my new identity. I don''t want to talk about it right now, that¡¯s why I¡¯ll shorten this part, telling you that in the end, I had a new ID and driver''s license.

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°Circles were passing, but I didn¡¯t dare to come back to Calire in my new body. Only when my father died would I climb into my car and drive back to my motherland. ¡±

    Then, if the leader of the town trusted my husband enough to tell him her darkest secret, it could only mean¡­

    ¡°Roady,¡± the name thundered in the air.

    I thought I¡¯d stunned Ralody for she kept silent for a long time. I even wanted to ask if she was still here when her lips divided, ¡°I haven¡¯t heard this name for ages. It¡¯s so strange, you know.¡±

    My hands slipped down her arms and nestled on her lap, ¡°He talked my ear off. Roady this, Roady that.¡±

    ¡°Are you kidding?¡±

    ¡°No, Ralody, I swear,¡± I slightly giggled so as not to cause another painful ¡®punch¡¯ in my stomach. ¡°Lewis was talking about your adventures constantly. My favorite story is when you two had listened to too many myths and legends and went to the swamps where you lost your boots, running from the Red Drowneress, who, as it turned out, was just the owner of the house, adjoining the marshland.¡±

    ¡°Oh my Ranita, my ass was violet from my father¡¯s leather belt for two weeks after that day because I¡¯d left a new pair of trainers in that damned mud.¡±

    We laughed. Both of us. Her body shuddered, and I lost balancing stability, grazing Ralody¡¯s chest accidentally. She whined piteously.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did I hurt you?¡± I asked the leader.

    She rubbed the place I¡¯d grazed, and the cotton fabric of her shirt rustled. ¡°This is the answer to your question, Hope,¡± Ralody tucked a strand of my hair behind the ear. ¡°As I said, I was born a man. And men aren¡¯t supposed to have breasts.¡±

    Oh, Saints.

    ¡°They cut the implants out of my body.¡±

    Holy shit.

    ¡°Sick bastards.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°But¡­ I¡­¡± I hesitated to ask her that.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, Hope. It¡¯s just a question.¡±

    I pursed my lips, ¡°I didn¡¯t hear you cry.¡±

    A prolonged pause was accompanied by dripping drops of rain outside the building.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to hear it. You were so scared. And Lewis¡­ he was crazy enough to rush to save me, even though it cost him his life.¡±

    Another bitter laugh flew out of me.

    ¡°Sounds like my husband.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t believe that. She¡¯d been silently enduring such a¡­. I had no words to describe it.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Ralody.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go over it.¡±

    I was sure she would. Ralody Brine was the strongest woman I¡¯d ever happened to meet.

    The click of the wide heels appeared in the hall. I knew that sound.

    ¡°My healer is coming.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Ralody asked, confused.

    Someone knocked at the door of my ward and entered with no offer to come in.

    ¡°Good morning, Hope.¡± I see you have a visitor. How are you, Leader?¡±

    ¡°Please, call me Ralody.¡±

    It seemed like Lucy nodded, considering that I caught the sound of a movement and falling hair.

    ¡°Hope, I need to examine you.¡± The healer started rubbing her hands together fast to make them warm before they reached my skin.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave you alone,¡± Ralody said, standing up from the bed, ¡°Let me know if you need anything. I¡¯ll be in the hall.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The leader of Calire exited the abode ward and shut the door wordlessly.

    ¡°She¡¯s so lucky. Ralody, I mean. She¡¯s the one of the officials who survived,¡± Lucy Farrole stepped closer to the bed, ¡°I¡¯m going to palpate the area as usual.¡± Despite her tries, the healer¡¯s hands were freezingly cold, and I flinched too suddenly even for myself.

    ¡°Sorry for this. It¡¯s abnormally chilly even for the beginning of Subtle.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay. I can handle it.¡±

    I felt her fingers on my skin around the stitches.

    ¡°Does it hurt?¡±

    ¡°Less than a week ago, but still does.¡±

    ¡°Good. And now?¡±

    ¡°A little.¡±

    My healer finished the examination and covered me with a thick blanket.

    ¡°There¡¯s no infection or inflammation. I¡¯ll assign one of the nurses to take you to the ultrasound tomorrow. I want to look at the postoperative welts and whether they¡¯re healing well or not.¡±

    ¡°Healer Lucy, do you¡­ when am I allowed to go home?¡±

    She looked through her notes. The ballpoint pen was waltzing on the paper, making a rustling and wet sound.

    ¡°Well, two weeks at a minimum.¡±

    Another fourteen days, surrounded by a nauseating smell of chlorine and bandages.

    ¡°And it will still be necessary to be on a special diet and observe a surgeon to prevent any complications or deteriorations. Is there a healer¡¯s abode where you live?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Just across the road.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, but I have to ask you this. Are you able to get it alone? If you are not, I ca¨C¡±

    ¡°I can, healer Lucy. Thank you. My mother-in-law is going to stay with me for a while. I think we¡¯ll manage it.¡±

    I didn¡¯t mention that I¡¯d refused. Laura was a wonderful woman who loved me like my own mother, but I couldn¡¯t let her carry my troubles on her shoulders, especially after her only son¡¯s death.

    ¡°Nice to hear it. So, Hope, for today that¡¯s all. I¡¯m going to change the dosage of your medicines. If you feel sick, dizzy, or any changes in your organism, let the nurse know.¡±

    ¡°No problem. I will.¡±

    ¡°Then, have a rest, Hope, and stay hydrated. A bottle of water is on the nightstand on your right,¡± she pivoted on her heels and headed to the door. The knob squeaked, but Lucy froze. ¡°Should I call the leader?¡±

    Ralody was still here?

    ¡°Sure. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°No problem. See you later, Hope.¡±

    ¡°See you, healer.¡±

    A minute later the door opened again, and Ralody rushed as a hurricane into the abode ward, bringing the freshly brewed sour notes of robusta and the coconut sweetness.

    ¡°Is that what I¡¯m thinking about?¡±

    Ralody chuckled snidely. ¡°I didn¡¯t know what you preferred, so I bought a coconut vegan latte.¡±

    ¡°Saint Ranita, I haven¡¯t tasted a drop of coffee for ages. They drink me with that herbal tincture.¡±

    ¡°My poor girl. We have to fix it.¡±

    She took my hand and put a warm paper cup into my grip. ¡°Be careful, it could be hot. Do you need sugar? I have a sachet of brown one.¡±

    ¡°With pleasure.¡±

    A plastic spoon hit the walls of the cup with a barely audible thud.

    ¡°Ralody¨C¡±

    ¡°Call me Ral.¡±

    I smiled. Lewis had called her that.

    ¡°Ral,¡± I liked the way it left a blissful sensation on the tip of my tongue, ¡°may I touch you? I mean your face.¡± My hands were my eyes. Only by touching, I could draw rough outlines of one¡¯s features or a thing in my head. ¡°It sounds ridiculous, I know¡­ Never mind.¡±

    Her big palm put my ones on her left cheek, summoning the ¡®painting journey¡¯ to have its start. ¡°Don¡¯t smear my mascara, please. It cost me a fortune.¡±

    My fingers traced from the clearly delineated cheekbones to the ear and discovered short vertical scars on both sides of Ral¡¯s face. She¡¯d changed her features long ago. Then they headed up past temples and met her tall and broad forehead that was framed by the hairline. Going down, I reached her thick and coarse eyebrows. They were asymmetric¨Cthe left one was a little lower than the right one, which could be caused by a habit of chewing food on one side. My fingertips lowered to the unbelievably interesting eyes with slightly upturned corners, avoiding mascaraed eyelashes. Both of my hands slid to an artificially small elegant nose. Beneath her nostrils, there was a kind of tripe that usually remained after rhinoplasty. The nasolabial folds were not deep and I felt no fillers under the sleek skin. I brushed my thumb across Ralody¡¯s natural plump lips.

    ¡°It should be prohibited to have such a great personality and be so striking simultaneously, Ral.¡±

    She smirked, ¡°Thank you, sweetheart. I¡¯m happy to hear it from you. I mean¡­ you know¡­¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m blind. Don¡¯t be afraid to say that.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Just because you¡­ can¡¯t see, you don¡¯t judge by the appearance.¡±

    Oh, Saint Initiatoress.

    ¡°Is that why you got plastic surgery?¡±

    She said no words. I thought I¡¯d fucked up.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. It was such a tactless question. Let¡¯s change the subject to something more positive, okay? I really wonder how you got the position of the leader of Calire with no ties and prosperous parents.¡±

    Ral laughed, and her laughter made my heart melt. ¡°It¡¯s a long story.¡±

    ¡°I have plenty of time. Do you?¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± she said enthusiastically, ¡°let¡¯s start with the day I came back to Calire¡­¡±

    I didn¡¯t have the faintest idea how many hours we¡¯d spent talking before her phone buzzed and Ralody had excused herself for a need to hurry to the office. Our conversation was a load off my mind. After Lucy had checked me in the evening, making me as cozy as it was possible in this situation, I had the sensation that I would fall asleep that night with no nightmares for the first time since the healer¡¯s carriage had brought me here.

 Chapter Seven

    Brainstorm

    Letum

    She was lying on the soaked with her own sweat white sheets, strapped to the narrow couch. Among the muttering of her heavy breath, I distinguished a name. The name.

    ¡°Lewis,¡± she called feebly.

    She was wasting her powers in vain, calling the man who was dead.

    ¡°I am so sorry,¡± I said and was to depart.

    The complete silence that fell in the cramped room of the healer¡¯s abode brought the rising eerie tension. The ghost body of mine trembled, and I pivoted to cast a sigh goodbye to her, driven by the urge of necessity to do it.

    She was standing in front of me, her scar was fixed on me as if she was watching right through my very soul.

    ¡°Who¡¯s here?¡± she whispered, and the hot breath of her burnt the skin of my face.

    ¡°Can you hear me?¡±

    Her head tilted with a petrifying crack of her neck. The dark hood of her almost black in the darkness of the room hair covered her face, still, I could see the uncanny smile with bleeding cracks on her lips.

    ¡°I¡¯m blind,¡± she wheezed, ¡°not deaf.¡±

    ***

    I had been asleep for three days and would have drifted in the realm of Morpheus longer if the veil of her long black hair which was pretty itchy had not disturbed my dreaming.

    ¡°You will oversleep your eternity, Letum,¡± Octavia crooned next to my ear.

    I turned away from my lover to the stone wall and covered myself with the thick blanket, but even beneath the layer of lint her fingers, calloused from long-lasting training, managed to reach the sensitive area of my flesh¨Ca tiny hollow behind the earlobe. Although the milky haze blurred my sight, I grabbed her forearm and cast the most disgruntled look which was only possible.

    ¡°Leave me alone, please, I am not into talking to you now,¡± I said to her and rested my head on the cotton pillow again, letting my eyelids shut.

    My lover tsked disappointingly. ¡°Then,¡± she chortled with unhappy laughter. She was in mood neither, ¡°If you do not possess a will to talk to me, so maybe, you would like to know that Baleruhb sent me?¡±

    The sheets crunched beneath my body when I adjusted my pose the way I could look at Octavia. ¡°Did he mention the reason why he needs me?¡±

    She crossed her arms and silently stared at me, facing me with a half-side, ¡°No,¡± she informed me reluctantly, ¡°He only asked me to summon you to his study. Do not look at me like that, Letum. Baleruhb bothered to tell me nothing about what he wants from us.¡±

    ¡°Us?¡±

    ¡°Yes, lover. He is expecting both of us to come.¡±

    I raised myself on my elbows pokily. Despite the three-day sleep, I felt no better than the night of the attack in the world of the living. Baffled by a ton of thoughts that swept in my mind, I did not realize at once Octavia threw pieces of fabric that occurred to be my black trousers and knitted sweater into me.

    ¡°Dress up,¡± she said at the doorstep, ¡°I will see you there, lover.¡±

    The door shut, depriving me of the view of Octavia¡¯s silhouette, nevertheless, I did not mind. Privacy was such a rare thing to happen since we had been mated forcibly. At least I had. Even the sheets were soaked with the scent of her skin and lavender soap she made herself withdraw from all afterword affairs, making her be with me even when she was not. I did not dislike it, but it created a kind of pressure on me.

    I did not need much time to get washed and dressed, and when the softness of the sweater slid over my skin, my feet started motions before I was ready. The hallway seemed to be deserted. Most likely it was about the hour when all the inhabitants of the training center were gathering now at the rooms for the night practices. All the better.

    The haze had not melted fully yet, though it did not disturb my subconsciousness to sort through all the possible options of the occasion of bidding me. The only reasonable consideration I could find in the crannies of my mind was the conversation that had happened upon my return from the world of the living. Had Baleruhb discovered anything that would explain how the female fleshy was capable of talking to me? I did not know. But I was going to find out whether the mentor was willing to give me a helping hand or not. The fleshy¨CHope Hill¨Cwas haunting me even in my dreams. And I would not admit the circumstances of our meeting were a mere coincidence.

    My path led me to the right, but the maneuver was not destined to take place. The cooper braided head I had not seen for a while popped up around the corner. Her smile could illuminate the entire universe. Talia did not let me start my greetings, holding me tight to the crack of my ribs and I gasped.

    ¡°I missed you so much, Letum,¡± she murmured gleefully into my shoulder. ¡°Have gained some mass since I saw you last time?¡±

    ¡°Aye, I suppose so. When did you come?¡±

    Her grip weakened which allowed me to inhale the necessary volume of air to function in normal ways. ¡°This morning. Amatory told me you had had a rough night, so I did not dare to disturb your sleep.¡±

    At least somebody cared. The thought that this person was Talia spilled through my veins with the sweetness of honey. She released my body and looked up at me with dancing flames of cheerfulness in her eyes and pinched my cheeks to slight pain on both sides of my face.

    ¡°I apologize, Letum,¡± she replied to the ouch which I had blurted out, ¡°You look so sweet when you have just been bestirred.¡±

    ¡°You know, Tal,¡± her eyes looked at me absorbedly, ¡°I sometimes think you should have been born as my sibling. Tory has never shown her sister¡¯s tenderness like you do.¡±

    ¡°Well, I am your sister-in-law, as the fleshies call it.¡±

    What would you be called if I had not been such a gutless coward? I did not vocalize it, although the words were mercilessly trying to overcome the obstruction in the form of my purse with all my might lips. Instead, I pulled one of her French braids in retaliation for my damaged cheeks which were burning with striking flame where her fingers had left the red spots.

    ¡°I am a bit in a hurry now, Tal. Baleruhb is waiting for me. Shall we find each other later tonight?¡±

    ¡°Actually,¡± she said, retrieving her hair from my fisted hand, ¡°I was on my way to his study when I faced you.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to say that you are also¡­¡± I paused here, conceptualizing the current predicament, ¡°You are not here only to visit the center, are you?¡±

    Talia neither confirmed nor refuted my conjecture. ¡°Let us go,¡± she changed the direction of our conversation, ¡°Baleruhb¡¯s patience is not unlimited.¡± She tugged me towards the massive staircase and I had no other option save to obey.

    Our mute journey took no more than two minutes, but the awkwardness between us, caused by innuendo, remained even when the wooden door of the mentor¡¯s study groaned its greeting and we found ourselves in the shining last beams of the sun room where Baleruhb, Amatory, and Octavia were sipping a scarlet liquor¨Cviburnum wine, if my sense of smell did not fail me. The latter, seeing me in the company of my sibling¡¯s lover, jerked her chin up haughtily out of her pride and did not even bother to greet us with a usual nod. Unlike my sister.

    ¡°Here you are, sleepy beauty,¡± my sibling said to me by way of salutation and smirked snidely.

    I said nothing in response because what I was watching dumbfounded me. Amatory was wearing a figure-hugging black coverall that could not remain unnoticeable because I had known her since my very birth and she would never put on anything that would even vaguely emphasize her shapes. As far as I remembered, her closet used to consist of my clothes. Noticing my staring, Amatory endowed me with the sight of hers, saying stop gawking or you will regret it, little brother. She had a fairly difficult character to cope with and there was a really high risk of getting obtunded by henbane at the most inopportune moment and finding myself naked at the river bank, fully covered by ink writings which would remain on my skin at the very least several weeks like she had already avenged me for I had spilled a secret of hers in front of our group, although unwillingly. Frankly speaking, I was frightened of Amatory even now, so the best decision I could make was to draw my attention somewhere else like the dusty books on the shelf above the fireplace. Was it safe to keep such inflammable items near the naked flame?

    ¡°Do not taunt your brother, Am,¡± Talia reached Amatory and snaked her arm around my sister¡¯s waist, pulling her closer to give a greeting peck to her cheek, but Amatory turned abruptly and their lips joined in a kiss.

    ¡°Foxy thing,¡± Tal laughed.

    I had no idea where to fix my eyes on. There was no spot in the study where my peripheral vision would not catch the caress of those two. Why, it had been a while since two of them had claimed themselves as lovers and my eyes had not seen both of them for they had departed to the camp of calmness, and I had allowed myself to think that what I had been feeling to Talia would die with time, but it was still alive and was now devouring me from inside. Each cell of my body was screaming in agony at the sight of her kissing my own sister. The hardest part of it was to give my facial muscles no permission to betray me.

    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°Should you discontinue your lovey-dovey not?¡± Octavia cut in, ¡°You two have enough time for all the sentimental slop. Now is an inappropriate time for this. We have much more important things to do than watching you two French kiss.¡±

    ¡°Do not be so rude, Octavia,¡± Baleruhb¡¯s bass thundered, drawing everyone¡¯s attention to him, ¡°Though, I partly agree. Give me Talia for proper greeting, Am, and we will start. Now, come to me, girl,¡± he beckoned and embraced her with such gentleness as if she were his daughter. ¡°You are so skinny. Do you feed her not, Amatory?¡±

    ¡°I missed you too, big B,¡± Talia said and let him go, coming back to her lover.

    The original regent nodded to me by way of saying ¡®hello¡¯, ¡°How are you, Letum?¡±

    One of my lips¡¯ corners jumped when the mentor eventually addressed me. ¡°A glass of viburnum wine will soothe my state,¡± I assured him.

    ¡°That is my boy.¡±

    A bottle gleamed in the melting light of the oil lamp on his desk. The alcohol liquid hit the bottom of a hewn from the clearest crystal goblet with a splash. The mentor handed it solemnly to me and I rested myself in the armchair on the left of the massive desk. Talia and Amatory took the other two. Octavia did not budge an inch from the spot by the Baleruhb¡¯s desk, still holding her head up high.

    ¡°Well, big B,¡± my sister started unceremoniously. Yes, she was not a regent with a dreamy character like Talia. ¡°My gut does not allow me to think that all of us were summoned for mere welcoming words, were we not?¡±

    Her lover glanced at Tory and then shifted her sight to the mentor who was nestling himself on the matching desk chair, decorated with affinity to armrests. Baleruhb sipped from his glass and the wine painted his full lips crimson. He licked the remains of the alcohol away and met Tory¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°Nothing can be hidden from you, Amatory,¡± he said apologetically, ¡°I wish we met in other circumstances, girls, but alas, we have what we have.¡±

    ¡°Then could you please bother to explain what we have.¡±

    Tal inhaled and pursed her lips. She was not into the manner of my sibling¡¯s talking to the original, neither was I, but we dared to say nothing¨CAmatory was the best at interrogating. Psychology, as the fleshies called it, was her strong suit, and if she chose this way to extract the information she needed, then we would let it be.

    Baleruhb pinched the bridge of his broken nose a million times. The dark circles shadowed his already black eyes. I assumed he had spent this night in his study without a split second of sleep.

    ¡°I have to insist on your consent to keep what you are going to hear confidential.¡±

    Octavia, Amatory, Talia, and I exchanged blank stares.

    Something had happened.

    Something abysmal.

    Getting our wordless consent in the form of slow nods, the mentor¡¯s fingers brushed his slicked-back dark hair, and he began, ¡°As far as I can suggest, you have already been informed about the homicide a few days ago.¡±

    ¡°That poor newly-born whose body was found under the Atriumidos bridge?¡± Talia asked.

    Baleruhb nodded, ¡°Yes, girl.¡± He had a little drink of the heady liquid before starting to talk again, ¡°This night another body was discovered. The same pattern¨Cshe was stabbed in her chest to death by the Saint Silver sword.¡±

    The study became silent.

    One homicide was a homicide.

    Two¨Cserial murdering.

    ¡°Do you have any suspects?¡± I was not sure which of the girls spoke.

    He shook his head, ¡°No suspects, no evidence, no witnesses.¡±

    ¡°Are there any traces of narcotics or poisonous plants in their blood?¡± Octavia entered into a discussion.

    ¡°The first victim¡¯s blood has none. We have not managed to carry out an examination of the one whose body was found yesterday. Still, I am certain we will not determine a single cue.¡±

    I sipped the wine and its cloyingness spread in my mouth, harboring the burning touch of alcohol behind the taste until it went down my throat.

    ¡°Were the bodies brought to the crime scene?¡± The novelty I heard in my sister¡¯s voice told me she was eager to get out of him all the knowledge the mentor had in his possession about the case. Sometimes it seemed to me Amatory had infomania.

    ¡°There were no traces of it. Everything points to the fact that the regents came willingly.¡±

    ¡°Then the victims were acquainted with their killer,¡± I suggested.

    Talia leaned forward, putting her elbows on her lap, ¡°It would be logical to suspect the common friends of them.¡±

    ¡°But you know it without us, do you not?¡± my sister asked casually.

    All of our eyes were fixed on the mentor, waiting for him to reply.

    ¡°You are right, girl. We are working on it. The victims were from different districts of the Afterworld, so we excluded friendship and relations for the regents had never been seen together in their surroundings. The only mutual acquaintance we managed to puzzle out for now is Corrigan¨Cthe library keys keeper. Kirby is interrogating him right now.¡±

    ¡°I daresay you question his participation,¡± I knew my sister was about to ask the same and I could not help myself but outrank her, although I would regret it.

    ¡°I do doubt,¡± Baleruhb snatched me from my recollections, ¡°Corrigan saved my ass at the Deathly Battle. I owe him my life. Nonetheless, I have to check on him despite my gratitude. I do not want to let the murderer escape from justice and wander freely around the Afterworld, assassinating our kin, only because my emotions affected my reasoning. We lost a great amount of us at the Deathly Battle and are still baren. We are immortal, but not unkillable. Each of us is on the account.¡±

    Amatory drank her wine in a gulp and was now toying the empty glass with an elegant leg¨Ctwin to one which was half-filled in Talia¡¯s hand. ¡°With all due respect, Baleruhb, I have not got the answer to my question yet.¡± The original looked at her blankly, so my sister had to remind him what she was talking about, ¡°Why are four of us here?¡±

    His languorous sigh fulfilled the stillness of the room. None of us ventured to utter a sound while waiting for the answer.

    ¡°When The Death was gone to mourn His loss,¡± Baleruhb reminded us of the history of our kind, ¡°and the Deathly Battle was declared to be over, all the swords, daggers, blades, and other attributes of the war which would be able to unalive regents were coercively confiscated to prevent the faith of our ancestors and extinction of regents¨Cwe would not get through one more conflict like the Battle. When peace was ingrained in the post-war Afterworld, those original regents who had managed to survive instituted the prohibition of possessing any kind of arm and established the punishment of ideological remodeling by injections of white lilies nectar into the veins of the culprit for as long as it required to for killing regents.¡±

    Punishment was not a proper name for what they had established¨Cwhite lilies nectar was a poison for my kin, but penetrating it in low doses would paralyze the nerve system and immobilize the body, while the poisoned brain would visualize the deepest fears. I had seen it work only once¨Cwhen Baleruhb and Corrigan had detected the mole. My mind kept the memories of the Deathly Battle in the corners out of my reach, but my entire skeleton still quivered when my consciousness showed me the picture of the drugged regent. I remembered the blood that had been streaming from his eyes and the convulsions of his body as if he had been tortured by all kinds of torment at once.

    ¡°The forensic doctor concluded that the weapon of murder was a sword, which narrows it down. There are only two storages in the Afterworld which keep them.¡±

    ¡°But the locations of them are classified, are they not?¡± Talia protested.

    ¡°They are, girl. But the murderer had managed to descry one of them.¡±

    ¡°Something is telling me that it is somehow connected to us,¡± Amatory murmured.

    Baleruhb joined his hands and put his chin on them, ¡°The storage which has been robbed recently lies right under the training center.¡±

    To say our features expressed an alarm was to say nothing.

    ¡°I was the only one who knew the whereabouts of it.¡±

    ¡°Does that not make you the most probable suspect?¡± Octavia asked with a note of disbelief in her voice. Or hope that he was not our murderer.

    ¡°I have an alibi if you are asking me for this, girl.¡±

    My lover shook her head negatively, and I noticed a shred of solace go around her body.

    ¡°Do you want to say,¡± Amatory interfered, ¡°that it is not impossible one of the mentees is responsible for the two homicides?¡±

    ¡°I cannot state that it is how you state. That is why you were summoned today.¡±

    I brushed the edge of the half-emptied goblet, staring at the golden lines of the tracery, and asked the original regent, ¡°Do you want us to spy our groupmates and other habitants of the training center each day, including nights, to confirm or to refute your assumption?¡±

    Before Baleruhb¡¯s lips divided to publicize the clarification of what we had gathered here for, the door of the study cracked, and Kirby¡¯s curly head popped up from behind it without knocking. The plausibility of not witnessing the changes on his swarthy face at the sight of three of us sitting in the velvet armchairs was almost zero. The regent was definitely surprised to find the mentor not alone.

    ¡°Hello everyone,¡± Kirby timorously uttered and sent a quizzical gaze to the part of the room where Baleruhb was sitting on his chair like on the throne.

    ¡°That is fine, boy,¡± the original assured him, ¡°they are trustworthy. Come in, Kirby, and have a seat,¡± he waved his hand and pointed to the chair on the left side of the desk I had not noticed, ¡°I expect you to tell us what you have managed to extract from the keykeeper.¡±

    Baleruhb filled another glass with viburnum wine and gave it suavely to the newly-come regent when the latter was passing by the workplace of the mentor.

    ¡°Corrigan has the undisputable alibi, confirmed by the library grimalkins,¡± Kirby declared, ¡°He was sorting the books and manuscripts, left by the habitants, on the day of Roman¡¯s murder. As for the time Ann was slaughtered¨Cyesterday night¨CCorrigan was sent to serve as a sentry of the chronicles and would never leave his post till the sun painted the sky marigold.¡±

    Baleruhb¡¯s whole appearance demonstrated that the information he had just been told did not befall to be unexpected, however, a sign of relief for the man who had once saved his immortal but not unkillable life affected him by the feeble vibration of the mentor¡¯s chest like he breathed out the accumulated air with a fraction of ease, regardless of the necessity to start searching for the mass murderer over again.

    The original regent lifted himself, towering above us, ¡°Then our theory is in charge once more.¡± He turned to face us, ¡°As Letum said, I need you five to keep the leeriest regents under constant surveillance of yours.¡± To the quietude which reigned after his request, he added, ¡°I am not obliging you to obey it. You are at liberty to choose whether you have the will to participate or to remain aloof. And I do not demand the decision right now, but have to ask you for the soonest answer for there is a great risk to find another assassinated newly-born.¡±

    The cracking embers in the fireplace were singing the song of withering. The time had passed so rapidly that I had hardly noticed the gloom of future night had wrapped the study.

    ¡°I am at your service, big B,¡± Amatory¡¯s voice sounded fairly enthusiastically for the nail-biting situation we had on the agenda.

    ¡°Me too, Baleruhb. It is a great honor to be useful, especially after what you have done for Am¡¯s and my sake.¡±

    The original had publicly supported their mating while the entire Afterworld had denied the bond of them, referring to the imperative of the regeneration of us, and same-gender lovers were not supposed for it. I had seen lots of star corridors since that time and was now able to say that the story of Amatory and Tory had inspired hundreds of regents for the same act, and the originals in charge had had to give up, allowing such lovers to claim. I had not said and surely would never say, but the pride for my sister I had experienced that time was immeasurable even if my heart had been torn apart.

    ¡°If you free me from the lectures with Cabernetty, I will spy on Letum brazenly,¡± Octavia told the original and looked at me for the first time since Talia and I had entered the study.

    I was sunk into my sentiments when the unsolicited attention of all present became tangible on my skin, and my head abruptly flinched to face four pairs of black eyes staring at me ponderously.

    ¡°What about you, little brother,¡± Tory said wryly.

    ¡°Am.¡±

    ¡°Letum, I do not push. Take some time if it is needed.¡± Baleruhb had always been supportive and attentive to us after the Deathly Battle had claimed the lives of our parents, and I would swear to my immortal life he meant what he said.

    ¡°Of course, I am in,¡± was my reply. ¡°I thought it was rather clear.¡±

 Chapter Eight

    Morana

    Letum

    The northern cool wind brought freshness of the air, mixed with the rare scent of the conifer from the forest. This gloomy day cloaked the sun behind the gray clouds which were ready to water the entire Afterworld at any moment. I had to get the walls of my destination before the icy drops drenched my black cape.

    These days I would be spotted only in two places of my homeland¨Cthe chambers of the training center and the dark corner of the Main Library where I was heading right now, kicking the tiny pebbles beneath my boots. Since the conversation between four of us in Baleruhb¡¯s study had happened, everyone¨Ceach of the habitants of the training center¨Chad been looking sly and distrustful to me. I had a need to divert myself, otherwise a mental breakdown was inevitable and the only distraction that occurred to me was to resolve another mystery of my eternity¨Cthe fleshy named Hope Hill and her inexplicable skill of hearing and even talking to me despite my nature.

    The boundless building with five spired domes towering over it came into my sight. The fog, thickened around the brick walls, was milky-transparent and distorted the natural shades of granite¨Cthe color of the building. The Main Library threw open its golden gates in front of me as a hospitable landlord who was welcoming his dear guest in my face. I stepped over the threshold and the echoing thuds of my boots scattered across the void corridor of the regent¡¯s legacy inanimate preserver. The emptiness could be explained by the part of the day¨Cit was early morning, so most of the habitants were warming up before the upcoming exercise. Opportunely for me, my mentor had allowed me to miss the training hours. Baleruhb and I had agreed that it would not be superfluous to analyze all the homicide cases which had ever been written on paper and papyrus, although there were a minority of the known murders in the Afterworld. As morbid as it sounded, it was human nature to take the life of others out of desire. In addition, under this pretext, I could explore the paper for the presence of  past situations, related to mine.

    The itching feeling in my gut to find anything that would remotely resemble a rational explanation had only increased with passing time after I had become an object of the fleshy¡¯s attention. I had spent thousands of hours, flipping the pages of the most ancient and dusty books and manuscripts the library¡¯s grimalkins had been able to provide. Still, I had not a shred in my possession of what would answer the bothering me question¨Chow was it possible?

    The red koi carps were flocking in the azure waters of the pound along the passage of the Supreme Hall¨Cthe hall of the greatest traffic. Here rested the books of mythology and folklore, including ones which would narrate about the fleshies¡¯ lore of legends and fables. Passing by one of the shelves, my sight caught the title Forest spirits and monsters, and I could not help recalling the story my mother had loved to tell when Amatory and I were a little older than infants instead of weird fairy tales with happy endings the fleshies told their offspring.

    The story started with the forest that was located between the realms of living and regents. The souls of those who had unlived themselves in the world of living would get lost in the greenery of trees before getting the Great Line, never finding a way to their peace but this forest to be punished by wandering among the branches until eternity collapsed. Some would say the souls talked to regents, begging for redemption and forgiveness, but all their pleas were no more than just a murmur of wind among the leaves of majestic trees and elegant bushes for taking such a great gift as life should be penalized by infinite suffering.

    The strange thing was I could not remember my parent¡¯s appearance but the way she had lowered and raised her voice to make the narration more expressive and eloquent.

    I lingered at the column when a hushed purr of a skillfully balancing on the handrail grimalkin drew my attention to it. The negligibly wet brown fur coat of the beast was gleaming even in the dim light of the hidden sun.

    ¡°Bright and early, Letum,¡± the grimalkin, named Dante, said right into my mind, ¡°Cannot sleep?¡±

    ¡°No, as you can see,¡± was my reply, ¡°Have you had breakfast recently?¡±

    A pair of ruby eyes rounded, ¡°How do you know that?¡± Its head deftly rotated one hundred eighty degrees, hinting on impatience of the brown beast.

    ¡°A piece of fish flesh is stuck in your whiskers,¡± I put my index finger up to the place of joining of my cheek and nose, ¡°Here.¡±

    I knew I should not have, but it was stronger than me, and I let out a soft chuckle at the sight of Dante using its fur paw to wipe away the evidence of hunting and failed.

    ¡°Let me,¡± I insisted, cutting the distance between me and the grimalkin, ¡°It can be complicated to clean your muzzle without any kind of reflection.¡±

    The raw fish left an unpleasant touch on my skin. I shook off the piece into the blackness of the dark corner next to me.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Dante said to me telepathically, ¡°I would be really grateful, Letum, if this stays between us. I am not ready to listen to Hendrik yell at me for the stupid fish. I will never understand why we have to hunt outside the library when we possess the pond with food in abundance.¡±

    ¡°I daresay it is because the pond should live, and the koi carps are the life itself. They symbolize the difficulties of life when they are to swim against the tide and the lightness of being when the tide matches their path and so on. The Main Library created itself with the ecosystem to function as a single organism and every beast, every plant, and even every speck of dust is crucial. Just imagine that each of the grimalkins would think like yourself and the hunt would remain until there was not a single fish in the waters of the pond. It would destroy the whole ecosystem.¡±

    Dante¡¯s curious gaze told me it could not find the link.

    ¡°Look,¡± I started the explanation, ¡°if there is no fish, the insects will breed to an uncountable amount. They will need to pollinate flowers and plants which will also serve as food for them in future. However, there will not be enough plants for that. It will be dying slowly until the last fly draws its last breath. The library will die with them, taking everything, including the grimalkins, to its grave.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Dante meowed without mowing its mouth, ¡°now I see why Hendrik gets mad for each of the carps I was unfortunate to get caught devouring.¡±

    ¡°Have you never been told about it?¡± I wondered.

    ¡°To be honest, I have not. None of us has. Hendrik merely prohibited hunting and many other things without logical reason to me.¡±

    It conveyed the impression of the oldest grimalkin¡¯s desire of giving orders to others. What a bossy beast. Did not Hendrik understand that blind orders without any kind of clarification would raise only the gripe and incredulity of the wisest¡¯s requests. Bitterly, my point of view would never be shared by Hendrik or whoever else for everyone and everything would always think the way they do was only right. Let it be then.

    ¡°I am happy to hear it, Dante.¡±

    The grimalkin stretched its flexible body and yawned. The beast jumped off the handrail and started moving idly in the direction of a small, almost private, reading room, secluded in the multitude of the library book stands. Dante looked back, wagging its fluffy tail.

    ¡°You want to have a look at the manuscripts I have recently discovered on the lower level, do you not?¡± it asked and stared at me, ¡°Well, not me. The library threw it off the bookshelf right onto my head when I was having a lovely promenade around the corridors, and the contest of what I found was suspiciously akin to the books you are reading these days, Letum. So, should I go myself or will you join me?¡±

    All the regents, even the originals, were not allowed to the lower level. The library did not let us in itself and no one knew why, but preferred not to ask the ancient creature.  I felt my lips divide, not fully believing in the good luck I was gifted with, ¡°Of course, I will.¡±

    ***

    The warm light of an oil lamp unshadowed the rough pages, worn down by time. The ink on the paper was semi-faded, yet the sense of writing was not visually difficult or knotty to comprehend.

    The manuscript had been created by the regent, named Tristania, and looked more like a diary than a document. It said, the last known case of communication between a living fleshy and a deathly regent had occurred at the time before the Red Waterfall¨Cthe battle in the world of living when the self-proclaimed chieftains of The United Provinces of Freedom had joined forces in the fight against the ruling regime of the Voice of Truth¨Chad started.

    I was summoned by the call of duty. The hut I found myself in was warm despite the severest frosts of Svaroveles outside. Confusion pierced my consciousness when I looked around and it turned out I was alone in the heated, wooden cottage. And then my sight fell on the clay hearth with the burning fire inside. The hearth was the heart of the hut¨Cthe warmest place to sleep at nights. That was why I had not detected the bearer of the soul to be guided. He was soundly sleeping beneath the cotton fabric, stuffed with goose down. The trickles of sweat rained down his reddened face, but shiver did not let him go. The fair-haired youth curled up in a ball out of the intense pain in his entire body¨Cthe result of the high fever he had. They called it Tryasavitsa¨Ca female spirit who possessed a person''s body and induced diseases.

    The fleshies always feel sorry for such young souls without a chance to live the life they were gifted with and sometimes I was eager to feel it too just to experience it at least once in my eternity. An ember flew out the hearth with a crash, bringing me to my senses. His time had come. I comforted myself with a thought that I was to stop his suffering and the young boy would find his peace when his turn in the Great Line came. I stepped closer to help the innocent face his fate.

    ¡°You¡­¡± I heard from behind my back. ¡°Are you Tryasavitsa?¡± a girl no more than seventeen addressed the question to me and I almost dropped my jaw onto the floor, made from wooden bricks.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked her. The mere fleshies possess no skills to see through the shroud of the Afterworld which protected regents and souls.

    The girl sobbed, ¡°I beg you, Likhoradka, don¡¯t make my brother suffer more than he is now.¡±

    Who on earth was Likhoradka? I glanced at the girl with long braided hair akin to one on the boy¡¯s head. It was shimmering with all the possible shades of the sun. Her slender hands were holding something that resembled dried herbals. The strong scent helped me to define it as mugwort and yarrows¨Cthe fever-reducing remedy.

    ¡°Are you a curseress?¡±

    Was it possible that the sons of the Death had exterminated all of them but one who would produce her offspring, continuing her kind? That was the only thing I could assume, standing in the middle of the wooden hut under the sight of a fleshy who was definitely looking at me and even was holding a dialogue between the two of us.

    ¡°I¡¯m Krasimira,¡± her voice quivered, ¡°Please. I¡¯ll bring you sacrifice, I swear, but not at once. It¡¯s Svaroveles, Likhoradka, cattle die because the frost has killed the grass. Please,¡± she pleaded with tears in her blue eyes. If she really was a curseress, she had no clue about it.

    ¡°Kasimira,¡± I sang her name, ¡°I am afraid his time has come.¡±

    The girl froze and stared at me with wide eyes on her tear-stained face. She did not tremble or shake with a sob, however, the realization of what was happening was not lost.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t Tryasavitsa,¡± she stated.

    ¡°No, Kasimira, I am not.¡±

    ¡°Then you,¡± she swallowed, ¡°you have to be¡­ to be Morana.¡±

    She called by the name of the goddess of death the habitants of the settlement believed in. And I had no other option but to play the role of hers.

    ¡°Is Vsevolod dying?¡± she asked me so quietly I had to watch the movements of her lips to understand.

    ¡°I hate to say it, but yes, my dear,¡± for the first time since she had come into the hut I ventured to move. I thought she would start, quail, or tremble, at the very least. What was my surprise when Kasimira stepped forward without a twinkle of fear in two sapphires of hers.

    ¡°Why?¡± she whispered deathly quietly I nearly missed it. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t he have more time? Why now?¡±

    ¡°I am so sorry, Kasimira, but I cannot answer it. I am not responsible for it. I merely do what I was born for.¡±

    The acceptance of the inevitable reflected on the girl¡¯s face when she started silently shedding salt tears. ¡°Will he be happy after death?¡±

    I knew I had no right to lie to her, but could not help myself. There were only two sheepskin coats in the hut¨Cone on the bench at the entrance and another was worn on the girl with two waist-length braids. Vsevolod and Kasimira were orphans, and now I had to take away her only living relative, condemning the poor girl to while away her days in loneliness.

    ¡°Yes, my dear,¡± I told her, comforting, ¡°He is already awaited by your most affectionate parents.¡±

    Kasimira was not able to hold back drops anymore. She sobbed, putting the hand free of herbs over her mouth.

    ¡°Please,¡± she finally managed to say, ¡°take him now. He suffered enough,¡± and turned around to the creaking wooden door she had gone through.

    What was I supposed to say? I still do not have a single idea. And I still believe my decision to take Vsevolod¡¯s soul wordlessly was the right one. Before my lethal touch fell on the boy¡¯s heated body, I casted a look at Kasimira again. The fire was grumbling from the hearth of the hut, interrupting the girl''s sobs. I could do nothing but to do my job as soon as I was able to because the girl had to bury her little brother and my hesitation would not do her a favor.

    ¡°Vsevolod,¡± I called him, whispering into his ear. The boy instantly vaulted on the clay hearth, astonished by the unfamiliar voice of me. All the signs of the illness and the severe fever on his face faded, leaving the ruddy cheeks of the child glow in the gloom of the hut.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± his unbroken voice demanded. ¡°Kasimira!¡± Vsevolod shouted at the sight of his sister crying in the corner. ¡°Kasimira, who is this?¡±

    I patted his tiny shoulder, ¡°She cannot hear you, sweet child.¡±

    Vsevolod raised his blue eyes full with awareness at me.

    ¡°Morana,¡± he said, his voice steady. I suggested the boy had known he would die.

    ¡°Is that all?¡± his sister whined, turning back, ¡°Is he¡­ is he dead?¡±

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°I am sorry, Kasimira,¡± I knew my sorry would do nothing to her, and yet, I had said it. ¡°We are departing.¡±

    ¡°Can she hear you?¡± Vsevolod wondered. Before my lips divided to reply, he asked, ¡°Morana, would you mind saying to my sister that I love her.¡±

    For the first time in eternity I abhorred my own being and nature for the pain I caused. I had been doing it for eras and had seen rivers of spilled tears, but all of them had never affected me because I had been nowhere to be seen for the fleshies. There, being trapped by the emotions which were inherent in all living people, I started choking on the tormenting feeling from under my skin. I was involved in the harrowing moment of saying goodbye forever.

    ¡°Kasimira,¡± I faced the girl, ¡°Vsevolod loves you.¡±

    Her lower lip shivered. She was looking around the room, searching for her brother, but found only his breathless, curled up body beneath the down comforter. ¡°I love you too,¡± she said into the air, ¡°don¡¯t be afraid. Mom and dad are already waiting for you.¡±

    ¡°Is it true?¡± a pair of blue sapphires pierced my ghost body.

    ¡°Most likely.¡±

    And that was the moment two of us walked away in the direction of the Great Line in the Afterworld. None of us looked back. Neither me, nor Vsevolod. He and I knew there was more harm in it than good.

    ¡°Will she be all right?¡±

    The conversing leaves of linden trees were the only source of sounds around us. The Afterworld air kissed my cheeks and messed up my hair, making it dance on the blow.

    ¡°My dear, a loss of your beloved people is never a facile thing to go through. The pain will ease with time, but she will never be the same person she was before your death. And you will never die in her heart, just like she in yours.¡±

    The curiosity of Vsevolod did not let him be¨Chis eyes were keenly traveling around the surroundings and I was not sure he had heard my answer. He took my hand on the spur of the moment without a single spark of doubts as if I were someone close to him. I bit my lower lip, but did not let go of his hand.

    ¡°We¡¯ll meet again anyway,¡± the boy stated out of the blue, ¡°it¡¯s a matter of time only, but we¡¯ll be together once and forever after all. Why cry?¡±

    For his age he was significantly insightful. I would not recall an adult reason as ably as this boy. How could I break the dream of his?

    ¡°Well, Vsevolod, separation is always arduous, especially when one does not know the particular time of the reuniting. The idea of wandering round the world alone while one is somewhere else and waiting for his or her relatives and friends depresses lots of the living.¡±

    ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right, Morana,¡± he agreed.

    ¡°Actually, I bear the name Tristania,¡± I decided to confess eventually.

    ¡°Tristania? It¡¯s a beautiful name. I¡¯ve never met anyone with it. Only Lada, Anastasia, Zaria, and so on. Who named you that?¡±

    ¡°My mother insisted on it although my father liked ¡®Tristania¡¯ not much.¡±

    Vsevolod tripped on a rock beneath his feet, but my grip did not let him fall. And then, as if nothing had happened, the boy had his sight set on the horizonless landscape, muttering, ¡°I don¡¯t remember my parents. They were mauled by a bear in the forest when they went there to bring some berries because we were starving. Kasimira told me that we take after our mother, although the big birthmarks on our backs are the gifts from our father. Once he noticed a teensy freckle on my nose and¡­¡±

    He was so talkative that boy. The rest of the way his became silent zero times. The Great Line showed its end, and the moment of saying goodbye to Vsevolod had come. He stood behind a woman with silver hair and casted a glance at me for the last time.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you go with me?¡± he wondered, batting his eyelashes.

    I shook my head, ¡°No, dear, I am only to bring you here. You should go through it on your own.¡±

    The boy did not seem upset or scared. He just shrugged and waved goodbye to me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like long farewells.¡±

    ¡°Me neither, Vsevolod. Have a good path, then.¡±

    ¡°Have a good¡­ uhm¡­ day? No. Have a good eternity, Tristania.¡±

    That was the end.

    Or not?

    ¡°Dante,¡± I called the grimalkin quietly, not to break the peace of the library, ¡°Do you know where I can find the biography of the regent named Tristania?¡±

    Dante stopped licking its tale and froze on the mend.

    ¡°Tristania? Let me see,¡± the creature¡¯s paw landed on the thick shelf of the stand which separated me from others inside and it cried with a pathetic crack. Dante jumped up, scrutinizing the fine print on the spines of the old books, presented there. It was waltzing on the wood and murmuring ¡®nay¡¯ or ¡®not here¡¯. What an amazing thing.

    ¡°I remember quite vividly I saw the volume with her name on the cover among the books of this wing because it did not seem familiar to me, and I would like to note all the books and manuscripts here are firmly saved in my mind,¡± Dante¡¯s paw patted its head, covered with brown fur, ¡°Give me a minute, Letum.¡±

    ¡°I have eternity in my possession so I am in no rush.¡±

    Dante smirked, moving his long whiskers, and turned away to go on searching. The grimalkin¡¯s claws carefully snagged on the shelf not to damage the property of the Main Library.

    ¡°Ah, here you are, little rascal!¡± it exclaimed. ¡°Letum, I need your hand.¡±

    Well, it definitely was needed. The volume was twice if not thrice the size of the poor grimalkin. I was used to carrying heavy stuff and yet the volume forced me to strain. When I opened it, the book with silver names Tara, Tissabea, Teodora, Tristania, Titussia on its cover turned out to be a folder with sorted manuscripts inside. The folder hit the table with a booming thud which echoed through the aisles of the stands.

    ¡°Damn,¡± the grimalkin exclaimed, ¡°you will wake up all the seven Ephesus sleepers!¡±

    ¡°My apologies, Dante.¡±

    I tried to open the volume as soundlessly as my skills would allow me to. I inserted the pages and they rustled gently in my hands. The ink was almost faded, but I managed to see the partly preserved handwritten text. The letters on the papyrus formed the biography of Tristania¨Cher genealogical tree, place of birth, the line of origins. And nothing about the girl powerful enough to see the unseen. My eyes scanned the text once more to find nothing. It was written a lot of the regent¡¯s appearance I needed not.

    Where are you? I was repeating again and again, reading the manuscript.

    She was nowhere.

    After prolonged seeking my muscles relaxed, releasing the papyrus on the table. I gave up. Did I have any other option?

    I gathered the pages together to put them back to the ancient folder when a strange squiggle at the bottom of one of them hooked me, attracting all the attention on itself. Upon closer examination, I glimpsed a combination of letters and numbers which looked like a cipher.

    I89-90TR

    Solving puzzles and riddles was not exactly my forte. Amatory was the gifted one in our family. So, I was about to rack my brain when the sun got to its zenith. I needed to be lent a hand.

    My head automatically jerked in the direction of the fluffy creature. Dante was kind of sorting the books left by the visitors. The brown fur coat of it was covered in places with gray dust and cobwebs. Yes, sometimes the job of library grimalkins included getting dirty.

    ¡°Dante?¡± I whispered audibly so the grimalkin would be distracted from what it was doing.

    Dante made a soft buzzing sound that resembled purring when its name, called by me, reached his ears. Imposingly bending around the barriers as pushed back chairs and piles of books lying on the floor, the grimalkin arose in front me, nestled itself on the surface of the table, and rotated his head bafflingly.

    ¡°What is it you summoned me for, Letum? Is there anything wrong with the book I gave you?¡±

    I held out the papyrus I was interested in and pointed to the nearly vanished cipher in the lower corner of the page.

    ¡°Do you have any idea what it could mean?¡±

    Dante glanced at the cipher and then at me with an ambiguous look as if the writing was no harder than two and two.

    ¡°Letum,¡± it began, ¡°you spent so much time inside the wall of the Main Library, did you not?¡±

    ¡°Uhm,¡± the question took me aback, ¡°I am positive I did. Why?¡±

    ¡°Have you ever looked up at the edges of the stands?¡±

    Obviously, I had not, otherwise I would have noticed the combinations of letters and numbers similar to the one I had discovered I was viewing now.

    ¡°Oh,¡± I breathed, ¡°Well, then. Dante, would you walk me to the stand with this number on it?¡±

    The grimalkin¡¯s whiskers swayed when it beamed, ¡°Of course, my dear friend. Follow me and keep up, please.¡±

    The sitting on the reading places of the library regents were busied by staring into the texts of their choice, so we fortunately appeared to be out of unpleasant attention from their side. Good.

    I86-90TR

    I87-90TR

    I88-90TR

    ¡°Where is I89-90TR?¡± I asked Dante when we reached the stands with related numbers and spotted none with one we needed.

    ¡°It should be here,¡± the creature said, ¡°It can be possible that the stand was replaced during the renovation when the pound overflowed its banks several star corridors ago. I will check on the notes at the archive room. Be right back.¡±

    Although the grimalkin was made from flesh and bones, Dante went through the solid wall and disappeared behind it. They used this trick to save time, traveling around the colossal building of the library. Such wondrous creatures.

    To while away the time of waiting for Dante to come back, I made a beeline to the stained-glass window. The view of the overcast gloomy day gave me the blues and somnolence. I leaned on the windowsill and looked off into the distance. It was raining outside, but despite that, I could smell petrichor and a slight blow of wind, standing behind the glass which was reflecting my silhouette.

    The oddness of the moment made me tense.

    The walls of the library were impregnable. I pivoted on my heels to face the forest of the stands where I got lost alone. The corner was secluded and located far from the peopled corridors and reading halls.

    The coldness of an air flow brushed my calves. It came from the right side, so the only option I could see for me was to head there. It was so peaceful that the sound of my rubber soles hitting the concrete floor resonated around. I walked to the huge stands by the wall with the thickest volumes I had ever seen. All of them had covers made from natural leather. They might be really old for the law of sanctity of leriadas had been established when Baleruhb had not been born yet.

    My peripheral vision spotted motion on one of the shelves. I shifted my gaze there to see the sticking out threads which used to be used to fasten pages together were dancing in the air. Coming closer, I felt a touch of freshness on my skin. I managed to discern among the books that there was a vertical, even crack in the wall behind the stand. Not a crack¨Ca gap.

    A door gap.

    I had not a second to notice that my body was pushing the weighty stand aside without my command. The noise of the scratching against the floor wooden legs reverberated in the abandoned, to my luck, library section.

    I was not mistaken. This was the door, but camouflaged as if it was the wall¨Cno knob, no pattern, no lock. Had I not made out the line, I would have never said it was there. The author of this work had tried all his best to conceal it.

    My fingers were fluidly traveling on the gritty surface in seeking any kind of lever or button which would provide me the way to what was behind the hidden door.

    Found it.

    I pressed the scarcely protruding part and almost fell face forward when the door opened inside, but succeeded to keep balancing on my feet. I turned back to ensure myself no one was watching me and then stepped on the stair, going down into the obscurity of the secret basement. I was felicitous enough to be born as a regent because my vision would not weaken in the dark like fleshy¡¯s one, and it was what helped to perceive the rows of book stands when I passed the last stair and found myself in the forgotten section of the Main Library which had been deserted for an unknown, but definitely long time.

    I could have gone upstairs and informed Hendrik about the hidden storage behind the concealed door, instead I went on voyaging in the passages between the stands, worrying not so much about probabilistic jeopardy which might be lurking there. The book spines were time-battered and smelled like moss and timber. I could not see the titles of them because they were not written on the visible parts of the books. It caused a strong surge of keenness in my chest and I could not help myself but to retrieve a volume.

    Approaching the nearest to me stand, I eyed the spines. The colors were hard to recognize, so I picked up the first available book and almost pulled it out when the bloody-red cover of one below drew my attention to it like the apple from the Garden of Eden, beckoning me to pick it.

    And I did.

    At first it seemed to me that the book was going to break into pieces in my hands¨Cit was that brittle. Squinting, I read the title on the cover and immediately froze in shock.

    Tristania

    Unwittingly, I looked up at the edge of the stand. Wiping the dust and dirt on the metal plate with corrosion on it, I did not believe in what popped out.

    I89-90TR

    I instantly opened the book to discover the sewed together papyrus pages. On the first one there were familiar curls of cursive g and b. The same I had occurred to contemplate on the manuscript that was now lying at the right corner of the table upstairs. The writings gave the impression of Tristania¡¯s diary. I flipped through the manuscript to the part where obviously a page missed.

    The page, I corrected myself.

    No doubt, the notes were dated several days after the death of the boy.

    No one knew about what had happened the day I had taken Vsevolod¡¯s soul because I had not dared to tell anyone. It had been a while since I had seen Kasimira for the first and last time. I could not get her voice out of my head.

    Who are you? She had asked me and the question had been spinning in my mind for days. I was frightened by the thoughts my consciousness had borne but was unable to resist them.

    I desperately needed to meet Kasimira again.

    The girl possessed the skills no fleshy did. I was still puzzled who or what she was. I had felt nothing, standing next to her¨Cno regent¡¯s aura, no earthen scent that would indicate a curseress, no sign of being the Afterworld habitant.

    I did not think a lot when my foot hit the frozen ground of the settlement. The forest edge was still, even a slightest blow of Fierce wind would not unsettle the peacefulness of the day. The sun was hidden behind the gray canvas of the low-flying clouds. It would have been a usual landscape of nature if my attention had not been drawn to the black circle contrasting with the whiteness of the snowdrifts here and there. The air was still impregnated with a scent of burnt hay and flesh.

    The crunch of frozen crystals on the ground made my head jerked towards the source of the noise. A girl was walking from the tangled thicket.

    The girl.

    I would recognize the glow of her fair hair even beneath the fur hood of the wolf¡¯s skin she was wearing to protect herself from the chilblain. Kasimira stopped at the earth mound and knelt in front of it.

    Here, I thought. Vsevolod¡¯s ash rested there.

    I moved forward, keeping the idea of my action being a huge mistake and leaving back to the Afterworld at once in my mind. I remained soundless in the world of fleshies, however, the girl detected me somehow.

    ¡°You¡¯ve come again,¡± she said to me as a way of greeting, ¡°Is there anyone to die in the settlement?¡±

    I came close enough to notice her puffy eyelids and the void in the blueness of her eyes. Poor girl was alone to face all the burdens of existence in this cruel real world.

    ¡°No,¡± I told her, ¡°I have come here for meeting you.¡± When a flicker of fear illuminated her weather-bitten face, I hurried to explain myself, ¡°Oh, my dear, your time has not come yet.¡±

    ¡°Then what do you need from me, Morana?¡± the girl got perplexed.

    A good question. I was not entirely sure what on earth I was doing in the world of living with the only fleshy who was able to see my ghost body like I were not a creature from the immortal side. My decision to materialize there, possessing no plan of what to do, was sort of impulsive. Would it work out if I told Kasimira the truth about me and my intentions? I was going to find it out.

    ¡°My name is Tristania, dear,¡± I introduced myself, ¡°And I am not the goddess of death and sickness.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not? Then who are you?¡±

    ¡°Well, this is an incorrect question, Kasimira. What I am.¡±

    She fidgeted on the frozen, hard ground. Had I been in her shoes I would have squirmed too.

    ¡°I am a deathly regent¨Can unseen guide to the afterlife. I appear at the moment when one¡¯s life comes to an end to accompany his or her soul in the last journey to the Afterworld.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to say that all the pictures of the world all of us are used to don¡¯t exist?¡±

    The call of duty forced me to finish my exploring.

    Why now? I asked wordlessly although I knew there would be no reply.

    I tore three or four pages out and folded them to put it into the inner pocket of my jacket. I tossed the book onto the shelf too hard, so it hit another one, dropping on its side, and it caused the domino effect when lots of the volumes fell down with echoing thuds.

    Deathly sons.

    Looking at the door upstairs, I hope that no one heard the cacophony of booms I had spawned involuntarily. The way back was illuminated by the thin beam of the light from the oil lamps all around the perimeter of the Supreme Hall which was breaking through the narrow gap I had left. When I stepped on the lowest stair and stumbled on something undersized and hard like a stone my mind conceived the oddity of the basement¨Cdespite the roomy place, the echo bizarrely ignored the opportunity to show itself in here. None of my movements and actions had been accompanied by the permanent arm candy of empty space.

    ¡°Wondrously,¡± I fumbled under my breath.

    Upstairs, standing in front of the solid door, I peeked out in case there was someone nearby not to give the secret basement and myself away even if it was really silly on my part for the stand what had been keeping the passage out of other¡¯s sights was now pushed aside, creating a kind of chaos and mess there, so no one would miss what I had discovered.

    By good luck, the section was still out of the presence of the regents and the Main Library habitants. With a fraction of tension in my muscles, I shoveled the door, seamlessly abandoned the passage, and took the stand back to the place where it would conceal the way down to the well of ancient knowledge. If it had been being stored away for so long, then the regent who had done it had had reasons for it. Perhaps, I should not have learnt about it as well, but I could the basement in secret, at least till I sorted the things out.

    For now, I had to find the grimalkin to warn it about my departure. The creature did not adore the cases when it was to do something in vain, like looking for me in the library where I was not, and spend its precious time.

    My feet directed me to the jilted desk by me with a pile of books and manuscripts. The grimalkin was nowhere to be seen. The call was getting stronger and stronger, ringing in my ears to pain. There was no time in my possession.

    Dante, where are you?

    A noise came from behind my back, making me pivot. The brown creature was leisurely heading to me, dragging a weighty hard-covered book, wrapped in its tail.

    ¡°Here you are,¡± Dante said, preventing me from even opening my mouth, ¡°I have to disappoint you, Letum,¡± its tail tossed the book like it was a feather, and it fell on the surface of the study, ¡°there is not any stands with such a number. Here,¡± Dante pointed into the page, ¡°it says the stand I88-90TR is the last one. Is anything wrong?¡±

    I was massaging my temples when it asked me this. ¡°I was trying to tell you that I have to be off now. Call of duty.¡±

    ¡°At the most interesting moment as usual. I must not delay you any longer,¡± the grimalkin licked its nose.

    ¡°Dante,¡± I said, leaning toward the fur ear, ¡°can I trust you to keep my interests far from the curious minds of others?¡±

    The grimalkin smirked and meowed, ¡°Quid pro quo, Letum. I will put it off until you come back.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Dante.¡±

    Without waiting for the fur creature to move, I hastened to open the portal to the world of the living to do my job.