A chill runs down my spine. I shudder, wondering just how many of these children are so desensitized to death that they can have everyday conversations about their deceased parents. This wouldn’t happen in Celestia, not in a million years. Death is an uncommon, sad, and divine experience that may be celebrated, but is highly respected. I would never introduce my dead parent this way. It would be looked down upon.
But here? This is the only way they can cope and move on. The boy is only seven. How many other young children will grow up without a mom? Without a dad? Without both parents?
“Hey, Prince Aurelio!”
The boy’s tiny shout shakes me out of my thoughts. I look at Ophelia, but she gestures for me to move along. Daelia waves me toward her.
“Come on, slow poke, my new best friend here would like to introduce you to someone!” she calls.
I make my way toward them, the little boy bouncing up and down in excitement as I approach. His small, scrawny frame, pale skin, and dull black hair don’t match the life in his sparkling hazel eyes. I have to do a double take to fully wrap my head around the sight.
“Prince Aurelio! Prince Aurelio! Do you fight bad guys like Daelia?” he asks.
I frown, furrowing my brow, but when Daelia nods to the sword at my side, understanding dawns on me.
“Oh! Yes, yes I do. I try my best to protect Queen Alessia.”
“Dad, Dad! Did you hear that?” the boy chirps, whirling around to address the grave marker. “He fights bad guys, too! Our village will be safe forever and ever and ever!”
In the blink of an eye, the boy crutches over to me and seizes my hands. They look so tiny, less than the size of my palms. Then, he looks up at me, his eyes shining innocently, the sparks of hope in his eyes burning down all my reservations. I kneel down and pick up the boy so he doesn’t have to stand on those trembling legs anymore. He giggles as I perch him on his right shoulder.
“You’re super strong! Are you a knight?”
“I am. I’ve been training since I was about your age,” I say, booping his nose.
The boy lets out another adorable giggle. My heart melts in a nanosecond. He’s already got me wrapped around his little finger.
“I want to be a knight, too!” he says. “I want to be strong and fast and brave like you guys! Then I could protect the whole village from the bad guys!”
I suddenly understand why everyone wants kids. Picking the boy up and holding him high overhead, I ask, “What’s your name?”
“Keendelle!” he cries triumphantly.
“Well, Keendelle, I think you can be a knight. You’re already braver and stronger than everyone I know.”
His eyes round. “Really?”
“Yes, really. And one of these days, I’ll come back and train you myself. You’ll be the best knight in all of Krasta, you hear me?”
Keendelle cheers as I put him around my shoulders, where he rests his little chin on the back of my head. “Did you hear that, Daelia? I’m going to be the best knight ever! Prince Aurelio said so!”
“I have to agree,” she says, flashing a smile at me.
Unfortunately, that smile doesn’t reach her eyes, and I have a feeling I look the same way.
This boy could be healed, and he could one day be a knight, but I don’t have the heart to tell him that the bad guys are the people from his own kingdom, and that if I train him to be a knight, he’ll likely have to use that sword against his own people.
I swear to you, Keendelle, I promise myself, I won’t let you down. I will free your country from its suffering, so you never have to lift that sword.
Chapter fifteen
Alessia
Idon’t think Aurelio realizes I’ve been watching him play with kids for the last hour instead of napping, but at this point, I don’t care about the telling-off I’ll receive later; this is too adorable to miss.
Aurelio is dancing around the street, little boys practically fighting one another for the right to hang onto him or climb him like a mountain. He’s playing tag with them, then he’s running away just to let them give chase, and then he’s letting them tackle him to the ground and proclaim victory over the Prince of Celestia. His laughter echoes all the way down the street; I swear, every time he laughs, the sun shines a little brighter.
I can’t keep my eyes off him. After the tender, sweet moment he gave me earlier, I could barely read without losing focus and daydreaming about Aurelio unexpectedly. I gave up five chapters in and came outside to talk to him, only to catch him in the middle of a game of bandits and knights with all the boys of the village. I’ve been transfixed this whole time, catching the way his face lights up every time a boy calls him a prince; the way his shirt flies open in the breeze and gives me a nice view of that upper body of his, and the subtle moments when I swear he’s on the verge of tears after a boy compliments him and calls him a hero. His uncaring, disinterested demeanor is gone, replaced by a paternal energy and a depth of care that I didn’t know he was capable of until now.
