ZARETH MALIUS
I pushed the door inwards, the hinges creaked subtly—the sight of Cathe’s bedroom coming into my view. The paintings hung by the walls took my attention for a split second as I considered them, realizing that my little sister had fancied herself with another hobby. I let my attention drift from the half-completed canvas, placed before a wooden stool—a half-complete painting of a bird flying over the horizon. A smile crept across my face.
“Cathe is quite the artist, isn’t she?” I mused, pride swirling inside me.
“That she is,” A familiar voice responded, and I turned on my heels discovering its owner—Helaina, the only person in the entire household who had ever bothered to take care of my ill sister. And for that I was extremely grateful, perhaps even more than my father.
She moved to the last rack, cleaning off the remaining dust with practiced movements.
She was young. A lot younger than most nannies were. Being in her twenties she brought quite a few jealous eyes from the other employees especially one particular one. Remembering a certain incident, I felt the insides of my mouth turn bitter.
When Helaina turned, she gave me a light bow, “What might-” She cut herself off as she noticed the box that I’d been carrying. Her confusion dissolved—like water being dropped into a sponge. She smiled warmly and I felt a tinge of embarrassment of a sudden.
I waved it away. “Where is Cathe?” I whispered.
Helaina gestured toward Cathe’s study, a faint light radiating from within. The door was slightly ajar but not enough I could peak from my position.
Knowing Cathe I could guess that she was immersed in reading something and I was right.
As I squeezed myself through the door like a cat sneaking into the kitchen, a warm light greeted me first before a sweet and buttery smell tickled my nostrils. The source of the first one was the large window placed in the middle of the room which allowed the morning light to pour inside.
My eyes fell on Cathe’s sitting figure, in front of her was a thick leather-bound book opened. Her small eyes leafed through it as she immersed herself in its world, yet her hands moved forward perfectly each time to pick up another cookie from the tray every so often.
Her wheelchair was a little away from her. Placing the box atop something, I neared her—my steps slick and quiet like a leopard.
When I was near, I jumped on Cathe from behind, hugging her tightly. She gasped in response but I was just a bit faster. “Happy Birthday, Dear Sister!”
“Woah—stop it,” She said, swatting my hand away. “I can’t breathe dummy!” She pouted and I retracted a step back.
“Sorry,” I let my shoulder hang low.
”Fine. Just don’t do that next time.”
“Of course, sis!” I grinned.
My eyes slid to the book that she had been reading. I asked her,” What were reading so intently?”
“Crystals,” She looked at me over her shoulder, “You gifted it to me a year ago, remember?”
“Hmm…” I mused, stroking my chin in thought, and then snapped my finger as memory made itself known. “Ah yes. Wasn’t it about a girl becoming the ruler of her kingdom?”
“That’s in the second volume but forget that,” She said, her eyes skated toward the present that I’d brought with me. She smirked, her curiosity beaming. “What did you bring your little sister this time? A sequel to last year's puzzle, perhaps? No?”
She guessed for a while but soon gave up when she realized that I was no easy adversary. There was no way that I was going to spoil the surprise. I wanted to see her surprised expression when she opened it.
“Just open it,” I urged her.
She tsked and slowly unwrapped the box, revealing the contents within. “A drone?”
“Yup! The latest model. It can easily reach the Lambarg fountain from here. And the camera attached to it will let you experience the scenario like you are there yourself.” I explained.
But unlike the kind of expression I’d expected of her, there was a gloomy shadow forming on her face.
Not sure if I’d said something wrong I asked, “What’s wrong? Are you not happy with it? Should I-”
“Zareth,” She said, a hint of gratefulness in her tone. “I’m really happy that you went out of your way to bring me this. I’ve always been happy whenever you bring me anything. It was nice. It is nice. I like it very much. But,” She paused, her tone shifting from gratefulness to sadness and I felt my stomach churn at the thought of what she might say next.
“I wanted to see it with my own very eyes. Is that too much to ask for?” She asked, desperation in her voice.
I remained silent for a few breath but the words that came out from my mouth wasn’t something I was very proud of. No, it would be better to say that I regretted them. But a moment in the past can’t be changed. They can’t be rewritten. Only, the regret remains.
“You can’t. Father would never allow that. You know how stubborn he is. And right now it is a crucial time for him. All his enemies are trying to hurt him, but it is not limited to him only. They would harm us if necessary.” I said, my face blank as a slate.
I knew what I’d said was right. It was logical but logic is only useful in certain scenarios. Humans are emotional creatures. We are just nothing but slaves to our emotions.
As my words poured out, Cathe silenced silently. She had to. After all, she knew all of this herself yet I was reminding her of all that fact. Was that something big brothers were supposed to do? Maybe so…
“I know,” She whispered at last. But before relief could flood me, her next words sent pangs of pain across my chest. “But for how long Zareht? How long do I have to stay here—alone, empty, and without anybody but you to talk to? How long must I spend thinking about a life that I could have had? A life where I lived differently?” The more she spoke the louder her voice became and I stood there like a petrified statue.
“Every night, I imagine a life where I was normal—running around like a girl my age would. Like how I would play with other kids in the field, how I would steal flowers and make a mess but alas it was all a dream. A dream! But that small dream gave me hope. Hope that even if I wasn’t able to run around, I could still see the world by myself. Because I’d a brother who cared for me.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
When she stopped all that remained was her empty sobs. I hugged her and she struggled at first, trying to push me away. But I was there.
“I am here, Cathe. With you,” I didn’t know how much my words did for her. Nor if it was any better.
But one thing was for certain— I was wrong. Wrong to think that she was fine. She wasn’t. Not as much as she showed herself to be. I should have thought more.
By the time, I was back on my feet, my lower half was aching because of kneeling for too long.
“I’m fine now Zareth,” Cathe said, a wry smile tugging in her lips, but her eyes swollen from all that crying. She wiped the remaining bits of tears left on her face.
“Are you?” I smirked, bringing a confused look out of her. “Helaina come here!” I ordered.
Seconds later the door was pushed open and the woman who was responsible for taking care of my little sister was inside. She passed a quick look over me and then noticed Cathe with her puffy eyes, the sign of her crying remaining. Her eyes slid toward me and she stood with a questioning look.
I didn’t bother explaining. It was a moment between two siblings. Instead, I said something else which surprised both of them.
“Please dress Cathe into something pretty,” I said, noticing Cathe’s flabbergasted look out of the corner of my eyes. “Make her look like a princess, will you?” I grinned.
----------------------------------------
“I’m sorry but I can’t allow the Young lady to leave the manor,” Helaina said with a rather stern voice, leaving no room for further discussion.
Maybe it was wrong for me to even expect her to be open to the idea, considering her position but that didn’t mean that I was going to give up. Now when I‘d already made my decision to take Cathe outside. I was serious and Helaina was going to understand that.
“I understand your sentiment, Helaina. But tell me,” I said, looking up to her eyes. Despite our height difference, it felt like our eyes met parallel. “Which is more important to you: Cathe or your duty?”
“It’s not about that—” I cut her off.
“It sure is,” I gestured toward the seated Cathe, winked at her, and then changed my expression to that of a saddened older brother. “Look at her! Her eyes are still puffy from the tears. I bet she will start crying again if you don’t agree to it.”
I spun on my heels once again, looking at Helaina.
“But-”
“What? Do you intend to not fulfill the one thing that Cathe wished on her birthday? If so I am disappointed in you, Helaina.” I shook my head.
She sighed at last, “Fine. But I will accompany you two. There will be no debate regarding that.”
“Of course mam!” I smiled.
“Stop with the cheeky look,” She said, but breaking into a smile herself.
Our way of the manor was surprisingly easy compared to what I’d expected since it was early morning but most of its credit lay in Helaina’s impeccable acting ability. She would lure the other servants on sightings, while I bring Cathe and her wheelchair out of view. It would be a white lie if I said Cathe and I weren’t enjoying the thrill of playing hide and seek.
“Ugh…” I sighed, finally outside the rear gate. “Finally we are outside. She should be here soon.”
And that she was.
Wiping her hands on her clothes, Helaina walked toward us. “Let’s go.”
Even though the Lambarg fountain was rather close, I hadn’t been there many times. But the road there was very short so we arrived rather quickly, the crowd of tourists coming to our view. As expected we had to buy ourselves tickets to enter.
Lambarg was the name of the entire place and it was now turned into a tourist attraction, attributing greatly to the number of people. Some came to see it’s famous fountain, others ancient buildings all around us.
It was also the first thing that attracted my attention as I marveled at the houses made centuries back, still preserved. They looked old and worn-out as if they would fall if anyone were to touch them. There was a boundary around them to stop anyone from going too near the buildings. And a few guards were rooming around keeping things in check.
There was a particular house that was open to the people as they could enter inside and see things for themselves. But we didn’t go there instead found our way toward the Lambarg fountain.
As we continued forward after asking the directions from one of the guards, a commotion in the crowd stopped us. I noticed someone standing above a makeshift podium and a crowd formed around him. Behind him was some railings.
The bald old man smiled widely, “First founded centuries back in remembrance of the heroic sacrifice of the last sentry during the war of mutiny—fancy that they decided to call this entire town Lambarg, but only a small portion of which remains to date. Lambarg means ‘the new beginning’. Despite the warrior's struggles the country still fell into the hands of their enemies—destroyed and almost brought to ruin. What a pity!” The man shook his head, displaying his conflicting emotions. “But by the wills of the heaven, prince Azmir of the second generation successfully managed to reconquer his forefather’s land, bringing a great end to their epic tail. Isn’t that so wonderful?” he smiled, causing the listening crowd to break out in disagreements.
“—No way—”
“—You’re lying—”
“—Prince Azmir was assassinated beforehand—”
“Now, now,” the man gestured, “That is the end of the story. I will leave you all with your opinions. I’ve just said what I deem to be the truth.” He took off the nonexistent hat of his bald head and bowed toward the crowd. “I bid you well.”
His words were left hanging as his entire body disappeared, bursting into a rain of purple petals. My eyes widened at the sight and I heard Cathe gasp.
“How?” Cathe asked in surprise.
“A parlor trick,” Helaina answered, “They are rather great at surprising the crowd” She explained.
I didn’t have much knowledge of history itself but the little that I knew Prince Azmir wasn’t the one to conquer their lost land but it was his distant cousin Prince Izmir. or at least that’s what I’d read in history books but tone of the man he didn’t seem to be lying. Perhaps a conspiracy theory, I wondered.
I didn’t bother much with the thought and instead focused on enjoying the sight before me.
“Um…Helaina?” Cathe hesitantly called. Helaina turned to ask if there was something that she wanted. “Can you buy us some ice cream? I’ve been wanting something sweet.”
Helaina’s eyes met mine and I nodded. “Alright, but don’t leave from here my lady,” She said, taking her leave.
A couple of moments later, I opened my mouth. “Do you want to say something, Cathe?”
Both of us watched the fountain as water poured out from its top and hit the concrete walls around it. The splashing sound of water was serene.
After a while, I asked, “Do you have something to say, Cathe?”
“You know Zareth,” Cathe said, her voice distant, “Despite how beautiful the fountain is, no matter how much it tries, how strong it hits the wall caging around it, the water won’t flow outside. It won’t move freely. Bound and chained, though, and sought. A pitiful existence, isn’t it?”
Her gaze was lost in the beautiful water and I realized what she meant by that. She was talking about herself. No matter what she did, she was chained and shackled.
I looked at her eyes, but her gaze sank further into the water—perhaps seeing something that I couldn’t even comprehend.
“But zareth you do have a choice, don’t you?” She said, her voice still lost in a world beyond me. I waited and listened. “Why don’t you let your thoughts flow? Do your emotions dance under the twilight? Why stop the flow when it can create a cascade of beautiful events all riling up toward the conclusion,” She paused, a smile blossoming on her face. “Peace.”
I stood there with no thought in my mind. What did she mean? There was no answer from within me. Was she even speaking to me? I thought. Perhaps but those that she uttered that day were engraved in my soul, so deeply that I could never forget them. Not now, not ever.
She grabbed my hand, bringing me out of my reverie. “Let’s make a wish,” She said passing a look around all the people who had their eyes closed.
Superstitions, I thought.
“Alright,” I said, outward despite not believing in such things.
I closed my eyes, the world turning dark. Moments passed and I felt the sound around me slowly disappear, both the sounds of water and the murmurs.
I didn’t know what I’d wished for at that moment but I did ask for something. Something that I deeply sought.
But the peace and serenity that surrounded me was no longer there. It was replaced by the shouts of people, their words of panic, and before my mind could return, something struck me as bolts of sharp hot pain overwhelmed my senses. I saw flashes and my body was flung aside.
My body fell on the concrete as I saw flashes of red and blue. The pain muffled most of the noise but the little that I could make out was curses, shouts, and prayers.
Wails.
Cathe, I thought, my stomach dropping in response.
I extended my arm forward, trying to find her but there was nothing. She was not there. Not within my reach like a moment before.
With my blurry sight I saw the concrete around the fountain broken into pieces, water still gushing out and creating a rive beneath it. But there was more. Cathe’s wheelchair was upside down but she wasn’t near it. Before my world darkened I saw the image of a woman shielding someone with her entire body.
It was Helaina.
----------------------------------------