Smoke ||Book Two||

Chapter Seven

"Jared? Are you even listening to me?"

The man did his best to blink back into reality, but his attention was completely stuck at the piece of fabric in his hands. He had never considered wearing an eye-patch before, but it was quickly becoming known that people didn't want the help of someone with two colored eyes.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Mateo. I was just thinking. I never thought it would come to this," he spoke honestly to his best friend; a friend that was nearly four years older. Jared turned the patch over in his hands, beginning to tug on the strings that would hold it in place. "Do you really think it will help?"

Mateo offered a smile, nudging the other man. "Only time will tell, but at least you'll be mysterious now. That's sure to bring the ladies around."

Jared tried to not be jealous, knowing that Mateo would never know the feeling. He had two brown eyes that were the perfect matching shade of each other, whereas his own were drastically different from each other. His left eye was a dark brown, the exact shade of his father, and his right was a mixture of bright and dark blues from his mother. They had always tried to make him feel better about it by insisting that he had gotten the best from the both of them, but he wasn't quite sure the more he experienced the world.

At least the rest of him was normal.

"Sure, if you say so. What do we have to do today?" Desperate to change the subject, Jared began to walk away from his friend in hopes that the other would catch the hint.

Mateo shrugged, running after Jared to keep up. "My father said he wanted us to help him remove some of the trees around his property. Apparently, he wants to extend the amount of space the horses can run and the trees are in the way," he scoffed, crossing his arms while they walked through their city. "I don't know why they can't just run between the trees."

He'd be lying if he said he was listening to Mateo begin to ramble. Jared sighed and positioned the eyepatch in place. He tilted his head back to keep it above his left eye, allowing him to tie the string underneath where he had gathered all of his hair back. Once it was secure, he lowered his head and shoved his hands into his pockets.

It was morning, the sun slowly beginning to peak over the great walls of Luxtene. Jared had finished his own household chores only minutes before Mateo had arrived, leaving him thankful that he didn't have too much down time. They were in their morning routine, something they had done since they were young teenagers.

Jared would take care of his chores first by himself, as his parents were wealthy nobles and had very little to do around the house. He lived within the main city, mere blocks away from the Luxtene castle where the royal family resided. After his work was done, Mateo would meet him by the front door. Together they would walk towards Mateo's family farm and help anyone they found on the way. Once at the farm, Mateo's father would put them to work. He'd pay them both equal wages, which was more than enough for Jared. Despite coming from a family with money, he couldn't care much for it. Having nothing to do with it, he hoarded it within his bedroom away from the eyes of his parents.

Usually if they helped anyway else outside of their family, they would be paid for the work. While Jared didn't mind, Mateo was more invested in receiving money. He longed to live away from the farm, instead hoping for the city. He wanted to work his way into the castle to serve alongside the royal family. While something like that could work without money, Mateo knew it would be easier to get where he wanted to be with it.

Seeing his friend's goal encouraged Jared to work harder, knowing that every coin helped Mateo. The two hardly ever ran into any issues over the years, most of it being settled quickly, but the last year was proving more difficult. Rumors had begun to spread throughout the city streets of witchcraft users after a blinding light had disrupted the townsquare. They said a man came from the glow, covered with blood and dirt. The man looked from beyond this world. His most prominent feature had been his eyes. The most brilliant gleam of teal and purple were glowing nearly as bright as the light he arrived in. They deemed him insane, until the young prince David comforted the stranger and took him to the castle. That moment had proved unfortunate for Jared, as now anyone with facial oddities were suspected of being involved; especially eyes.