At the end of his tale, the Hero pulled back from Audiselia's legs and moved a little away from her, staring at the city lights, catching her legs against him and burying his head in them.
The queen had a vague look in her eyes after the child's story.
- Now that you know that I killed her, you're going to wring my neck?
- What are you talking about?" said the queen slowly, "it must have been painful for you...
An acidic surge rose abruptly in the Hero's throat, before he swallowed it back down as quickly as it had come; he had never taken the time to realize that it had indeed been painful for him to finish off his own mother.
Lonely scarlet tears clumped in the corners of the human's eyes. He had been so absorbed in his idea of revenge against the hero of the legend and the Nemesis that he had not realized that he had lost his mother; he was just obsessed with the idea of avenging her. As if he were a robot with a single goal that omitted other considerations - like those androids of Vicenti.
He tightened his legs and answered with a trembling voice a simple :
- Yes...
She started to caress his head again by touching his hood, she could hear him sniffling. Feeling that he was holding back from crying because "a man doesn't cry", she apologized.
- I'm sorry I treated you so badly, if I had known, I wouldn't have...
- No, it's okay. I'm used to it...
How sad.
Audiselia was tormented by remorse, she had fought that boy with such violence and contempt, even though she held back because she could not forget, in her heart, that he was Elena's son. Now she knew that he had earned the title of hero, not because he had somehow managed to kill her, but because she was willing to let him carry the burden of the world on his shoulders, just so that he would live one more day... Was he aware of it himself?
What is she saying? She knew very well from the beginning that her friend had sacrificed her life so that this kid could live, she just couldn't accept that the one she loved had died, of her own accord, for a child she was pampering instead of the one they could have had...
With the story that the faceless boy had told her, she understood a tiny part of the pain that he had suffered in his life with this simple passage, the evil that tortured him in his youth must have been twenty to thirty times more violent than now, it was thanks to the heroic regeneration that he could move freely, that he could not end up in the hospital every time he made a move... And she sent him back there without any pain.
She was disgusted.
- You told me that when you told me your story, I would understand how you would kill the Nemesis and the Hero, but I did not understand. Elena's attempt failed and she ended up dying.
- I thought you would have understood. I will use pure heroic energy and infiltrate Nemesis Prime's body.
- You'll just kill him, but that doesn't explain...
- I'm not done! So to get rid of the Hero's Will and make it no longer exist in this world, I'm going to turn into Nemesis Prime and make my plan, destroying everything that belongs to the legend.
- But if you become Nemesis Prime and kill Nemesis Second with heroic energy with what little consciousness you have left, you're not going to make it.
- I already know that.
- So you have another plan?
- No.
- Don't tell me that...
The plan of this child was to... commit suicide with the two entities that have been fighting for the future of Fayiera Terra and its inhabitants for millennia.
How much did he suffer from his mother's disappearance?
Was his rage so powerful that he was willing to sacrifice his own life by letting his anger control him?
Destroy the world at any cost...
With the story of Elena's death, she understood where she had been going when she had told him that this little Man was like her: all that anger, all that bitterness, all that resentment, all that remorse that he had, she had also once had it in her. If she hadn't met Elena, or even Torn and Sawyer at first, perhaps the worst for this kingdom, or even this continent, would have happened if she hadn't become the protector of the Faerie of this kingdom - not even counting the coming of that evil dragon, some twenty years ago.
- I don't think your mother would have wanted you to kill yourself and take the world with you, especially since she told you to save it.
- I don't see the point.
- And the Will, will it let you do it?
- I've gotten used to his scolding and tantrums, and since the voice is screaming in my brain, it won't blow out my eardrums. It's more bearable than eating the rantings of strangers who insult me about my appearance. After all, they're not wrong, I look like and am a monster.
- You should have more confidence in others and have higher self-esteem.
- You say that as if you know me, but I have Helmir and my big brother Asteron...
- You have been silent even towards Helmir and your big brother during all these years, and you have not shown either of them the slightest sign of language, otherwise Helmir would have told us how to communicate with you, whether in writing or by gestures to gain your trust. And you should know that even if other people's opinions about you run rampant, Helmir and the wingless fairy princess hold you in high esteem, despite the atrocities they may have heard about you or witnessed.
- If you say so...
Audisélia was staring at this disoriented kid, he seemed not to believe a word she had just told him. She then stretched out her hand towards him, small flashes appeared on it, she was going to probe his mind to understand all the suffering he had in him, but she refused.
This was not how she had managed to get back on track, she had to understand him and help him to make himself understood through words.
She swore to herself that she would fix this broken boy as long as he remained in this kingdom.
Then she noticed something that intrigued her:
- Finally, you told me a lot of his story from his point of view, how can you know all this without having been there? asked the queen.
- The Memory of Previous Heroes.
- What are you talking about?
- When a hero dies, symbolically or not, he receives the memories of that predecessor and those who came before him, so yes, his resentment, his hatred, his joys... his life in general, I can see it if I feel like it or if it allows me to fill in my hero, so a disturbing intervention of the voice in my head.
- So you could know your mother's whole life?
- Potentially.
- Do you...
- Are you sure you want to know something through me?" he interrupted her, "I don't want to stop you, but having answers to questions always leads to more questions, and especially if I can search her memory and get what you want, I won't be able to know with what feeling she thought that, depending on the situation, yes, I could, but for what you're looking for, it will be more difficult, especially since you never talked about it or she was hermetic to the signs.
He spoke to her at length about all that was involved so he didn't have to, he had already delved into his mother's memory, but more than that, he had connected with the memory of the Nemesis and that kind of thing isn't totally one way. The Nemesis could very well search the boy's memory while he was recounting his story and find out where the Hero was, currently.
It was like going to your neighbor's house and leaving your door open, while you're not there, someone can walk in and disappear when you arrive - best analogy I can think of right now.
And as he probed his past, he noted that he had also probed Zelda's since he had been able to discover some of her reactions during her story, which was impossible, he could only read the Nemesis and the ancient heroes of the legend.
He must have interpreted them.
- You may be right," conceded the giant queen, "I'll be left with countless questions that you won't be able to answer... I'm thinking of going to see a necromancer from our protectorate instead.
- Seriously?
- Just kidding, silly.
- Anyway, it would be impossible.
- Why?
- A hunch. But if not," he changed the subject, "weren't you going to tell me something about my protégée?
Without taking warning, her Franca returned, she had managed to throw him off a thorny issue, what did he have to hide?
- Yes, yes," she repeated quickly and nervously, twisting her fingers, "but you might be mad at me...
- Why is that?" said the Hero, raising an eyebrow.
Why was she making such a fuss about telling him the reason for the hatred that the people of this kingdom had for her protégé? She was acting like a prepubescent teenager who wants to confess her feelings to one of the loves of her life, but the joke, once passed in his mind, he rather thought that she had something to blame herself for.
- Well, I said I would tell you the truth if you told me the truth about your mother's death so I will explain the hatred towards the winged fairy and her dream, and I have only one word, she exclaimed with a false pride.
Her behavior was really strange, why was she acting so absurdly? Was she really the powerful monarch she had been described as? It bothered him more than anything else, maybe it was because he constantly compared her to his mother...
- Before she was born, I had already been the Queen of Sylvania for a decade or two I think, and since I was enthroned, and long before, I was compared to the Bewitched Queen Betrayer of Sylviana, more commonly known as "the Felon", Marrynelia Miriati Grave. I was subjected to remarks all my childhood about my resemblance to her even though she had died hundreds of years before I was "born", I had no idea what she looked like at that time!
It was true that the Hero had been struck by the resemblance when they had fought each other in the throne room. If she was talking about the woman he had seen in one of the purple windows that had not been shattered by the electric shock she had thrown. This fairy with the long horns on both sides of her head and the evil aura seemed more than malevolent to him, but what had given him chills were her eyes that seemed to be watching him, that familiar look and that sly smile.
- A time when they could spit on you in front of everyone, humiliate you, beat you up in a dark alley, leaving you naked or just wearing clothes that were closer to rags than to decent clothes, taking your innocence, by the way, was not an unimportant option. Whether you were of royal blood or not. And the hysteria and violence of the Nether was my only daily life, I was nothing more than a scum of that society while I had noble blood, if I were to tell you all the abominable things I did to survive or... just out of rage... I would debunk you. Without knowing it, both the locals and myself, I ended up as a murderous urban legend of the Nether and had to kill myself, but that's another story," she chuckled, "but deep in this realm despite my royal blood, a hand that I had rejected was once again extended to me when I woke up in this forest that was unknown to me. It was Torn and his son. It was much later that I met your mother, but in spite of many adventures, and my enthronement, people continued to slander me because of this resemblance with Marrynelia Miriati... and a miracle happened, a wingless fairy was born among the nobles! At the beginning, I didn't care at all, frankly, I had to take care of restoring order in this kingdom that had gone to the dogs, I couldn't blame it on my predecessor who had done everything for the country to stop being this anarchy due to the queen's betrayal, however, it can be totally blamed on her Prime Minister who had plundered the coffers during this laborious reign.
Well, well, well. But wouldn't someone have done this same thing a few weeks earlier?
- I got my part when I was barely older than you, you know. So it was a big deal. You're entrusted with a country full of history that you don't know and you have to trust old men who are ten times your age and don't explain anything to you, you're just a pretty scarecrow in the face of the kingdom while the real business was going on behind the scenes. I got my own ladies-in-waiting after Elena's sultry departure and ended up doing more and more of the "nonsense" in between the wars that were thrown at us. And the biggest one is about your princess. Shortly after she was born, the nobles were already saying among themselves that she was a bad omen, that she should have died in her fall... " Another misfortune falling on us!" they said. But the fact that she was wingless was not the only anomaly she was born with, as I explained to you our powers come from our wings, but especially from our spine. This is the main source area of our magic to most faeries but especially us faeries, and it is further amplified by our wings. So you can imagine that most wingless people are devoid of any magic like you... Well, to a lesser extent than you.
- But that's not what I saw, commented the Hero, several times she used magic against me, both to heal me and to impress me.
- Yes, healing spells were the best they could do, she confirmed, but that didn't stop them from having another use, the ones without were used in certain situations when we went to war as decoys or bait. However, this would never be her case thanks to her rank and the lasting peace that I was able to establish, but also, by the fact that the anomaly that she possessed made her potentially the most powerful fairy that could exist in this world.
- "The most powerful fairy that ever existed in this world"? repeated the Hero, dazed.
- The most powerful fairy that ever existed in this world. Yes. Her magical potential is immeasurable, but she could not deploy it because of the non-existence of her wings, this magical power was blocked in her, but this made her a being with much heightened senses thanks to this, which gave her a lot of ease in her learning.
- That's... cool, I guess," said the Hero, "that makes her my strict opposite.
- You say that but you must have some semblance of magic in you like everyone else.
- Absolutely not.
- But then," said the queen, "how did you manage to perceive my magical attacks through the dust or just my physical attacks that I made imperceptible thanks to Soundproofing?
- Seriously? Lightning attacks can be seen and heard," laughed the Hero, "but I know what you mean, I perceive magic in a different way than other humans or faeries, in a way that they themselves could perceive if they paid more attention.
- How do you do it?
- Thanks to my hearing," said the Hero, tapping his earlobe.
Thanks to his hearing? repeated the queen, but this is unbelievable, magic is inaudible, it is when it clashes with something or when it performs a well-defined action that one could hear it. Would "them" hear it?
- But it's more than that, it's more instinct. I don't really know how to explain it, but it's the only "way" for me to compensate for my lack of magical sense.
The queen admired the boy's ability to adapt despite his young age. She wondered what kind of life he had lived during all his journey outside to be able to put in place so many tricks to be able to correct all his handicaps. She saw great potential in this young man, excluding the fact that he was predisposed to the role of protector of this new land.
- But you see, it's lucky for you because magic has a lesser effect on you, it takes longer to heal you or to cast a spell like your curse since you are not really receptive to magic so you can never be subjected to an illusion enchantment unlike the Princess-Without-Wings who is an open door to all spells. From the moment she was born, she was...
- What do you mean by that?" asked the Hero in complete incomprehension.
The queen did not answer immediately, she twirled her index finger around her thumb, looking around in a blur, before turning to the Hero and admitting her sin.
- While I was visiting her because she had fallen ill, I took the opportunity to cast an illusion spell on her, giving her an appearance close to that of... the Feline.
- What?" said the Hero, getting up furiously, "what the hell is wrong with you? What the hell! She already has no wings and you're putting another burden on her, why?
- Because me, my resemblance with the Feline is not f..., the queen got carried away, I carry it since much too long for that to be tenable!
Audisélia sat down and pulled a branch from the roof, making circles on the mossy floor, the Hero stood looking at her with an accusing eye.
- By shouting, we must have heard you, commented the Hero.
- Surely not, my voice is heard less far than my singing and still, the squires are far from us.
- How could you do that?" said the Hero with wide eyes, "and that story about the traitorous fairy is over five hundred years old according to what I've been told and fairies live to the max... two hundred years... who can still believe that the Fairy had a child five hundred years apart? It's crazy!
Audiselia smiled and looked at him:
- The fairies here live for two hundred," she said, "but remember, you're as much of a dumb stranger in this impossible world as I am, and you think that's the most amazing thing in the world?" chuckled the Fairy Queen, "there are a lot of things that could make one think that I'm her daughter, or that she's her daughter. The Feline was a renowned archmage and a great scientist, her knowledge of magic was erudite. Who knows what occult arts she may have used to have a child or a "door" to reincarnate...
- This is crazy...
- That's what she was: crazy.
- So are you with your illusion spell and when will it end? It's been in place for at least ten years.
- I am not the Abominable Living Weapon of Sylvania for nothing, Audisélia pointed out to him, my reserves of magic are almost unlimited, a being chosen by the gods, and you could attest it during our fight.
It's true that he had been electrified many times by her smaller electrical attacks as much as her huge lightning falls.
- And this is not my only particularity...
The queen removed one of her long gloves and showed her hand to the Hero, electricity shot out of it, just small flashes.
- I have a genetic attribute like humans.
- Do you have human blood?
- That's right, but it's way too diluted in my bloodstream, I'm really not anywhere near it.
- But wait, that's impossible!" exclaimed the Hero, "No Fairy can use a genetic attribute without imploding or dying at birth!
The Hero noted, in the meantime, that the queen's chest was shining during her demonstration, she noticed it, that's when she unzipped her dress from behind and hardly exposed herself. The Hero, taken by surprise, looked away, blushing at this wanton behavior, he was not going to observe the breasts of the sovereign of an entire country... However, it would look good on his resume, he could boast about it to Asteron who was pestering him, even if the Fairy was really the exception that proves the rule, about his difficulties to socialize...
Was it because she had seen him almost naked as a worm, making her automatically enter his intimacy?
The queen stealthily approached the Hero and leaned towards him, the Hero felt her coming and turned around, he screamed in fright as he thought he saw her chest but what she was showing him was what was above it, something was glistening inside her body, a blue light that shone above her breasts.
- What is it?
- My core, allowing me to use this famous genetic attribute. For some reason, compared to you, I need a core. This is probably what allows me to have a genetic attribute. And if you doubt it, I remind you that I don't totally need to cast lightning spells to be able to use it, she says while getting up and closing her corset, the wingless fairy princess guessed it when I knocked you out but she couldn't, and still can't, put the point on it since no one in this world would be able to imagine such a feat could have been achieved five hundred years earlier.
- So it was to avoid being suspected of having too close a link with the Feline that you seized the opportunity that the nameless princess had immense power in her to be able to use her as a scarecrow...
- I would have liked it to be as... thoughtful, but it tends more towards futility and immaturity, I did it because I didn't want to be lumped in with her anymore, to stop being bad-mouthed behind my back and in front of me, to stop being the reincarnation of the Feline. I did it to stop being an outcast...
- Condemning another person to be.
- I know it's wrong," she sniffed, "I know your mother would have yelled at me if she'd known I'd done something like that, but I just couldn't take the insults anymore!
- In remorse, you lied to her and said that by becoming a queen, she could get wings, concludes the Hero.
The queen raised her head and looked at the Hero, confused by what Elena's son was saying.
- But it's not true!" Audisélia got up furiously, "how can you dare to insult me like that? I didn't lie to her!
- Are you going to tell me that putting her on that throne will give her wings?
- I don't know! But I'm sure she can! I looked for every possible way after I did this, and this is the only one I could find! "The enthronement would allow the future queen to acquire what she lacks," the official royal text said. That way... that way, I could forgive myself without her ever knowing...
The Hero noticed that his interlocutor was on the verge of tears, he did not distinguish any lie in her voice. She really believed it. She had confidence in what she claimed to be true. The Hero felt bad for having accused her wrongly - well, to a degree, where Audiselia seriously thought that putting the Fairy on the throne would give her wings, she really wanted to right the wrong she had committed before, and the Hero could not afford to judge that, he who had caused so much harm around him for his own sake. Could he judge her for wanting to put the devotion of this people on another person than his own because she was tired of their slander, when this was what he had wished all his childhood?
- I... I'm sorry I said you were a liar and judged you too quickly," apologized the Hero, "I don't really have the right to judge you after what I have done, do and will do.
The great queen Audisélia sighed and approached this little Man and embraced him, and without him realizing it the queen had shrunk to a size closer to the human, she tenderly caressed his back.
- It is not serious, calmed down Audisélia, I understand your annoyance, you appreciate the Princess-Without-Wings and it is true that if I had played with her...
- What the hell!" he shouted, "I don't care!
The fairy-queen stepped aside and stared at him with a smile.
- What is this reaction?" laughed the queen.
The Hero discovered with surprise that his mother's friend had reduced in height, she must have been one meter eighty-five, ninety at the most.
- But how?" said the Hero with astonishment.
- Well, using magic, beta!
- But I didn't think you were capable...
- To use something other than lightning magic? I've studied," she giggled, "if I can create illusions, I can do something else. Well, I admit it was your mother who forced me to branch out, she reminded herself, but if you had any talent for magic, I would have taught you.
The look on the Hero's face was sullen despite everything, something was wrong, something had disturbed her, she pointed two fingers that she electrified at the back of her head and wanted to plant them at the back of the Hero's head to read what was on her mind but refused and gave up the idea. This is not the way to understand the others, this is not the way to detach herself from the vision she had of herself... that of an artificial being.
If she wanted to understand the others, she would have to connect with them by opening herself up to them.
- Do many people know about this?
- Except for my bodyguards, the most senior spies, Caesar and you, she said, no. However, I would like to cut this conversation short because I have a request to make to you...
- What is it?" asked the Hero, an invisible eyebrow raised.
- I know I don't really have the right to ask this of you, but if you're willing, I'd like to be your mother.
The Hero's eyes widened with a dazed smile, what was this impromptu question? Why was she asking him that?
She let go of him and turned her back to him. She put her hands behind her back and raised her heels before lowering them, and repeated this action several times as she explained the reason for this request.
- I don't even know why I'm asking you this, but I would just like to apologize for treating you so badly and I would like to help you in all your needs without it being distant. And I must admit that it would be a way to get closer to Elena even though death separates us. Knowing the child she raised and allowing her to move on. After all, she told me before she died that I would be able to save you... to help you! So why not be your mother...
The Hero laughed out loud at the Queen's explanation, and she turned in disbelief at the boy's hilarious expression.
- What's so funny?
- Nothing, nothing, says the Hero wiping his non-existent laughing tears, but I understand especially that you want to have me as substitute of the child that you would have liked to have with my mother.
- Yes...", the queen presumed, "you are not making fun of me, are you?
- Absolutely not! defended the Hero, it's just that I didn't expect to be asked that at my age and with my face.
- It's not nice to yourself to think that.
- No need to fool me, I know what I look like, although it's been years since I've seen myself in a mirror..., but we don't really need to have a filiation as deep as mother and son, you can be my big sister, even if Helmir told me that she and I are more than a nephew and his aunt, so you could be my auntie...
He was not stupid. He knew very well why the queen was asking him this, he wasn't going to start screaming at her that she could never be his mother, because Elena was his only mother, that she was unworthy of making this kind of request of him, whether she was a queen or a super-powered force of destruction. He could see the kindness and deference she showed him, and it wasn't as if Elena was truly his biological mother, but he couldn't, well, he wouldn't move on by pretending that what had happened to his mother was in the past.
He couldn't afford it.
- But I could be a second mother to you, said the queen.
- A third one, in this case," said the Hero, "but I don't know... I can't see myself accepting that...
A third one? wondered the queen, so he is not really Elena's child?
At this simple thought, the queen was happy that this child did not come from her womb, but she erased this horrible thought: he was still Elena's son whom she raised, and it would not change anything to her proposal.
- Besides," he added, "they already say you help the Princess-Without-Wings a lot, and most people think it's unfair, compared to the others and all...
- It is my right to do this, I am a noble like them so I have the right to choose who I want to support if I don't manipulate the rules... and I intend to help you so that you will be able to beat your opponents, because in truth, you are quite good, but not enough to fight your future opponents, your handling of the sword really leaves something to be desired.
There was a silence between the two.
The boy was looking at the ground. The queen came back to him, crouched down and held his chin. Surprised, he wanted to hit her hand but the queen held him back.
- Don't be so reluctant to be touched or approached, kid, or you'll end up all alone.
- I know that... Mom already told me.
- However, what I want to tell you is that you don't have to answer me for my request, I just want us to start again on a good basis both of us and finally, I find it difficult to express what I feel to the others and it ends up in situations like the one in the throne room... I intend to help you as your mother would have asked me if the circumstances had been different, in exchange, I want you to feel good here, in Sylvania. You can stay as long as you want, even after the end of the fights, it may not be the best kingdom for you, nor the most hospitable or the most equal... But ! I want you to feel at home.
She stood up and held out her hand.
- I want you to trust me as if I were your big sister.
There was no reason why he couldn't trust her, she might be messed up, but she always - from what little he knew and what he had seen of her - did everything to make things right. Although he said he didn't hold the violence with which she had treated him against her, he couldn't help but feel resentful, not to the point of wanting to make her pay, but to forgive her so easily, wouldn't that be showing weakness and, more importantly, if he hadn't been immortal, she would have killed him for sure?
He let go of his recent grudges, whether they were well-founded or not, Audiselia was one of the few people in this world who cared about him and had apologized to him - he could tell Asteron that a queen apologized, so he better do it for the holophone battery!
The Hero shook her hand and she drew him to her and gave him a hug and a spin.
- I'm so glad you forgive me!
The Hero couldn't imagine what it would have been like if she was her normal size. Despite the strangeness of the scene, he couldn't help but smile. How long had it been since he had felt the love of a person?
What a child... Will she never grow up? Ha ha!
She stopped, kissed him on the forehead and looked him straight in the eye.
- I'm sure that underneath that black spot is a lovely young human man," said the queen in euphoria.
- Ha ha, I doubt it...
- So believe me, because I mean it.
The queen put him back down and sat on the ground, she made him lie on her lap once again so that together they could admire the lights of the city. She began to stroke his hair through her hood again, but the Hero took her hand and put it directly on his head. The queen said nothing and continued her caresses. She felt the hollows in the boy's scalp as she touched him, and he shivered at the touch of her hand, but held back from shaking for fear that she might judge him.
- Don't worry, said the queen, I don't care.
- Okay...Majesty..., he whispered.
In this position, he was the most vulnerable, by letting her touch his wounds, he was giving her his complete trust, so she was going to do the same at his level.
- You can call me by my first name, you know.
- Okay... Audisélia..., he repeated feverishly.
- But not in front of the others, eh, she specified, Sélia, it is also appropriate for me.
He then let himself be stroked, until he fell asleep, leaving him at the mercy of the queen if she wanted to be malicious, but she had absolutely no plans to do that. She just wanted to do this, as a reminder of Sawyer and Elena who used to rock her when she was younger.
A shadow walked up to the queen and knelt behind her, one knee and a fist on the ground.
- You were there from the beginning, I presume? asked Queen Audiselia with a more serious tone than with the Hero.
- I have been charged with watching him, my queen," said Helmir.
- I know, I'm talking to the man behind you," she clarified, pointing to the other shadow behind her.
A knight came out of the darkness, removing his helmet: it was Sawyer in shining plate armor. The night elf had indeed felt a presence near her but since it was not hostile, she did not pay much attention to it.
- Were you afraid that he would come to take his revenge?
- Maybe," retorted the bodyguard, "but he's not as stubborn as you.
- You think? I never went after the Nemesis, though.
- Because you have a kingdom to look after.
Helmir stood up and stretched his arms towards the queen.
- Should I take him to his apartments?
- Not now. I think I'll keep it with me for a few more moments.
- Did you fall in love with this boy?" asked the warrior fairy.
- Jealous?
- And then what? he said, rolling his eyes, can you leave us a few moments Helmir.
- Of course.
Helmir returned in a flash to the darkness of the night, leaving the two childhood friends alone.
- Did you finally get the answers to the countless questions that have been plaguing your mind?
- Not totally, but the most important ones, yes. And that satisfies me, although it still depresses me.
- I am happy for you, answered the knight, it will pass you, do not worry.
- His death does not affect you?
- Yes, but you know me, I don't like to show it.
- Before, when we were younger, I was the one who protected you from the other children who made fun of you because you were a crybaby," laughed the queen-fairy.
The fairy crossed her arms and looked away from her queen.
- Your attacks do not affect me.
- But since then you have become very strong.
- I had to do it to protect you from others and from yourself.
- I must admit that I gave you a hard time.
- Yes," he said, shaking his head.
- I want to ask you something.
- Yes ?
- Could you take this boy under your wing to be your apprentice.
- Well, why me?
- Because you are the best swordsman in the kingdom, and if you could handle a rambunctious brat like me, you can do it with my son, well, my future son when he decides to say yes. You would become the master of arms of the hero of the legend. Isn't that extraordinary?
In front of the mischievous look of the queen, he could not but give in. It was not for the ephemeral prestige that it would bring him knowing that no one would know, but because his love had asked him.
- I will prepare two or three exercises for him, but I won't be ready until his next fight.
- I think he'll be able to handle it by then.
Sawyer looked at the boy, seeing him dozing, mouth wide open, breathing air in and out of his lungs with difficulty, he could only empathize with this human who had been through so much misery.
Maybe he would find someone who could mend his heart among the young children of his generation...