With his eyes shut closed and his hands resting under his chin, I watched my infant son’s chest rise up and down as he slept peacefully under the gaze of our wooden ceiling.
“Gamon,” I said in a quiet and steady voice. “When The Royals come to take him away, do you think he’ll remember me?”
My boyfriend’s eyes glanced around the room in silence. He would’ve married me, if it wasn’t for the fact I was mortal. The Royals were everlasting deities that had lived in our ethereal and culture kingdom since it’s very beginning. Sadly, Gamon was one of them. They had a traditional oath only to marry those of the same hierarchy, age, or immortal being, but my boyfriend had been different. He had gone to live just like any other peasant in one of the kingdom’s many villages, knowing very well he didn’t want all his desires and needs handed to him with the snap of a finger. Unlike his elite family tree, he wanted to work for his success. This was when he had met me. A thin, frail, and poor young girl, I never expected someone of his bloodline to fall in love with me. I was a mere seamstress who hemmed dresses and fixed patches for the local people, barely making enough money to keep myself afloat. Yet, Gamon loved me. A few months ago we even had a son together, and we named him Hisoka. However, this only made me struggle to work harder. Side by side my boyfriend and I toiled in the fields and spent long nights preparing clothes to sell by morning. In doing this, we barely left time to accompany our baby. Often times I would put him on my lap while I sewed, but he would only ever get sleepy and start to cry, his face begging for the attention I sadly couldn’t give him. This had been my biggest problem for a few months, but it all changed when Akira came to visit one day.
How I hated her, with her reddish-brown hair twirled into a high bun and dark eyes that seemed to taunt everything in its path. She was an immortal deity, come to see how her fellow Royal Gamon was fairing off in poverty. From the very beginning I noticed something odd. Her irresistible beauty put my boyfriend in some kind of trance, his face flushed with red whenever he spoke of her. He told me how they had known each other back in his days living at the kingdom’s palace, and how regal she had looked at every ceremony or parade that was held. He told me of the day Akira became one of the many queens, and the time she had gifted him with the finest silk. Even in those instances, I could barely notice the sirens going off in my head. I was only focused on how The Royal continued to taunt Gamon with pleasing suggestions that drove me mad.
“Don’t you want your son to have a better life? To live somewhere other than some fowl peasant’s shack? You are indeed of The Royal bloodline, Gamon. Therefore you are always welcome to move back to the palace with me…” Akira would say, batting her eyes at my boyfriend while she gently touched his shoulder.
Weeks passed and I could see that my boyfriend was starting to listen to the deity’s voice more openly. I didn’t know how, for as a father and the love of my life, he should have stayed loyal to our impoverished family. But even I was starting to become convinced. Akira was good at persuading people, almost too good. She had even started building a friendship with Hisoka, cradling him in her arms and talking to him as if he was her own. Her actions made me question my own self, would I be happier if I knew my baby and Gamon were living happily in the palace? Would it be better for them? Whatever the case was, my boyfriend had finally made his decision. He had gathered us all together, baby, deity, peasant and all, and spoke the words I had prayed he would not say.
“Akira… I’ve decided I’ll come live with you.” He said.
With a triumphant smirk, The Royal lady went back to the palace to prepare a room for him and our son. She said she would return later the same evening, which left Gamon and I in silence for the rest of the day. Now we waited. I felt as though my life was falling apart yet getting better for the ones I loved with each passing second, and it was breaking my heart right in two.
“Ahhhh,” Hisoka yawned, stretched, and rolled over to sleep again, back onto the rug we had laid out for him. I stared at him for quite some time, the thought of how he would soon have a new mother almost bringing me to tears. But I refused to cry. I would not shed sadness for the wealthiness my son would soon have.
It was in that moment that I asked my boyfriend again, if he thought Hisoka would even remember me.
“Maybe he will, dear.” Gamon said, watching my face anxiously. “But he truly is so young, it’s why Akira wanted him to live with me and her too. She likes kids, you know… She’s giving our son a chance.”
I looked across the room to where my boyfriend was sitting in an old and creaking chair. How was this happening to me? I had worked so hard my entire life just to make a few coins, and now the love of my life is taken away from me? Just when I thought things were getting better with the new start of our family, it was stripped right out of my hands.
“Stupid Akira…” I muttered so silently I prayed no one had heard it. “I don't understand it Gamon, why must she take our only child? Why can’t I live with you too, and we can all be a family?”
My boyfriend shook his head sadly, his hair falling out of its long and black ponytail.
“I'm afraid it doesn’t work like that. You are not a Royal, and you can sadly never be one. Only they are allowed to live in the palace this kingdom holds so greatly… It’s just that…” He moved across the room to where I was sitting and took my hand. Then, with his soft black eyes, he gave me the most pleading look I had ever seen from a man.
“Darling, I will always love you. You will never leave my heart no matter what happens to us. But please, let me do this for our son… for his future.
I felt small drops of wetness starting to trickle down my face as we stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like a century. How sadly unaware Hisoka was of everything, the small whimpers in his sleep being the only thing heard throughout the entire house. I tried to treasure the moment in my heart for as long as I could, but a knock on the door and it was ruined in a heartbeat. Gamon slowly got up and answered, but only after he had made sure there were no tears in his own eyes.
“I’ve returned.” The dreaded voice of the deity called out. In walked Akira, the same look on her face as though she was forever taunting someone internally. This time her hair was down, a crown of blooming flowers on her head that represented our kingdom’s symbol.
“Why hello there,” The Royal winked at Gamon as she took it upon herself to walk inside. “I have horses and some soldiers waiting outside, so let’s not waste our time in this place, shall we?”
My boyfriend shrugged uneasily. We both watched as Akira lifted our baby off the rug he was sleeping on, holding him at eye-level as she cooed gleefully.
“Who’s ready to go live somewhere better, hmm? Now you don’t have to stay in this disgusting place your mommy calls a real home!”
I was so sick of the immortal’s cheeky insults, all I wanted to do was sock her right in the face. She would never know the pain it had cost to even afford a house like this, but she wouldn’t care anyway. The stupid Royal had never worked a day in her life.
“So, what are we waiting for? Let’s get out of here.” Akira grinned as she put Hisoka on her hip. As her and Gamon neared the door, I rushed to them so fast I was practically tripping.
“Wait! I have something for my son.” I said to their surprise. Quickly, I dug into the pocket of my torn and withered skirt and pulled out a necklace. Attached to the necklace was a small bottle, so small even a baby could wear it. That was exactly my intention. Carefully, I placed it around Hisoka’s neck as he looked up at me in wonder.
“I made this when I was a very young girl,” I said to them both. “It’s something I’ve saved for a long time. This is a charm that wards off bad luck. Please, let my son take this. It’s the only thing he will have left to remember me…”
Akira nodded her head in agreement, her eyes flickered with suspicion but she kept her lips pursed tightly.
“As you wish, peasant.” She murmured. “But your son may never know your his true mother. He is mine and Gamon’s to keep now.”
My boyfriend looked flustered. I knew what he had said to me earlier was the truth, about how he loved me no matter what happened between us. But it was pretty clear to see that he loved The Royal more now. In his deep eyes I saw the truth, as he blew me one last kiss goodbye.
Then, as the two of them took each other’s hands, Akira opened the door. I saw the soldiers and the horses waiting outside like she had said, even many villagers watched in curiosity. It was almost as if Gamon leaving his peaceful life was some new welcoming to The Royal’s rich and entitled one. Still holding onto my boyfriend’s hand, Akira kept him looking at her and all the wonders around them instead of turning back to me. Gamon did not tremble, he did not flinch, he looked just as though he had been living The Royals lifestyle for many years before. Standing in the doorway to what was once the shack he had built for me, I watched as the love of my life, my months old baby, and the immortal with her guards left our village. As I stood alone, I thought of of the bottle I had given Hisoka. It indeed was something I had crafted as a little girl, but what Akira didn’t know was that it held a deadly purpose. Inside the bottle was poison from a flower we called “Hanakotoba”. For generations it had been known as the only thing able to kill a deity. I hoped that one day, Akira would find out what the bottle truly was, but it would be too late. I hoped yet again that Hisoka would grow up and figure out how to use my poison, and destroy The Royals tyrannical dynasty… It would be my last revenge.
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