"And the dolls?" the girl asked.
"The dolls what?" the Usurper said.
"After all, they can get to the mountains."
Tamen pondered, but didn't answer, and stared at the fire. Milo took a sip and glanced at the waving flames, too.
"You haven't finished..." she looked up at Sammarius, as if mocking her from the painting.
"After the birth of the children, especially after the birth of my brother, my mother became softer," the Usurper continued. "She had the goal of raising us differently than he did. She told us that when we were very young. She reopened the University. It taught more theology and mysticism, but there was also room for a few applied sciences."
"A man gets used to everything," said Milo from the back of her chair.
"Yes. And can wait," Tamen nodded.
He got up and walked over to the table. Taking the bottle, he returned and refilled Milo's glass and then his own.
"She waited a long time. And she was getting ready. She was... less in touch with me. She loved my brother. She didn't just love him, she gave him everything. As I grew older, I was taken everywhere with my father, and I almost stopped seeing her, only in the evenings, at supper, when he began to let her into the Palace again. My brother, on the other hand, spent most of his time with her. She spent all his youth studying with him by herself, talking to him, smiling at him, loving him..."
Yomera fell silent. Milo put the glass on the floor, walked quietly over to him, and crouched at his feet, placing her hands on his lap. Tamen smiled and continued:
"As the years went by, it was as if she had changed. She became kinder to my father, and she began to spend time with me again. I even thought we might be a family. Her tinkling laughter as she walked through the castle, my father's sternness receding."
He laughed and threw his head back. Milo looked up and realized that he was looking into the eyes of Sammarius in the painting.
"Isn't it idyllic?" he continued, smiling. "Happiness in the family of a tyrant."
They sat in silence for a long time, listening to the crackling of the fireplace.
"Would you like to... talk to her again?" Milo finally asked.
"I used to. Now... I don't know. Things have changed so much. That's not what worries me right now."
"What then?" the girl asked.
"You," smiled the Usurper.
She smiled back, but there was still a question in her gaze.
"This may sound trivial. But I'd like to find myself," he replied embarrassedly to the girl's silent question.
"It's not strange at all," she said soothingly.
"Yes, only you are free to be you. And I am forced to play a role not according to my talent."
"So what's stopping you from giving it all up and running away... Oh yeah, the desert," Milo pursed her lips sadly.
"If only it were that simple. Imagine. Imagine if I were to resign or just disappear. They'd be at each other's throats fighting for my place. All the birds who live in silver cages dream of gold, and only the one who lives in gold dreams of freedom," grinned the Usurper.
"So you sacrifice yourself for... For what?"
"For people... Order..." he shook his head. "I just don't want any more blood spilled than has already been spilled. I think the Salt Lake below the City is already filled with it, and we're drinking desalinated blood instead of desalinated water."
YOU ARE READING
Heart's tale
FantasyA long time ago, there was a planet on the surface of which a real living Heart was beating. Each of its beat gave life to many wonderful creatures, and humans were no exception. Once, during a mountain collapse, they became afraid that something m...
