Tale Of A Fallen Phoenix

Chapter 2

Seven years had passed in the blink of an eye. While the world continued to flow through the river of time with various developments as usual, a dynasty in the south sustained its isolated existence from the world. Everyone thought that the Phasnis dynasty, which once wielded immense power that shook the entire world, was no longer as strong as it used to be. Whether they were right or wrong, they would see in the future...

In the early morning, before the sun had risen, a small child in Phasnis's annex gazed out of the window. The child's dawn-colored eyes shimmered as if they wanted to be a part of the dawning day. As the sun slowly rose, the crimson hair became more striking under the sunlight. The little child, slightly dark-skinned, touched the window with tiny fingers. He wanted to go outside... He had been confined to this small, four-walled room for as long as he could remember. Even being allowed to leave his room didn't happen more than a few times a year. Moreover, today was his seventh birthday. If he was lucky, he might at least be allowed to spend some time in the garden. Despite trying to console himself with this thought, he couldn't lift his low spirits, knowing well that it wouldn't happen. A tear rolled down his cheek as his eyes welled up. He quickly wiped his eyes with his hands. The door would be knocked on soon, and it wouldn't end well if they saw him crying. Flaws like him were not allowed to cry, to be afraid, to be happy, or to show any emotion. The only thing permitted to show on his face was a smile, a mask of happiness. If he smiled and behaved well, even if he made a mistake, life would be a little kind to him. That's why all he had to do was to keep smiling. Everything would be fine.

A few minutes later, as expected, there was a knock on the door. Without waiting for a response, the person who knocked burst in, as if a response was not possible. The person who entered was one of the servants who looked after him. She had short, light brown hair and eyes of the same shade. She placed the tray on the table and was about to leave when Hadeon tugged at the girl's dress. The girl sighed and turned back to look at Hadeon with cold eyes.

"What is it now?"

As Hadeon pointed outside through the window, he looked at the girl imploringly. How much he wanted to be able to step into that garden just once... However, the servant girl didn't seem to warm up to the idea. She wrinkled her face and, ensuring that Hadeon let go of her dress, said,

"I can't be bothered to take a little brat like you outside. I have so much work to do, so leave me alone and go eat your meal or something."

As the servant left the room, the smile on Hadeon's face faded. He felt sick to his stomach. He already knew he would get such a result, so why did he feel so bad? He climbed onto his bed and sat down, trying not to cry. Why weren't they allowing him to go outside? What was he doing wrong? He was aware that he wasn't welcome here, but he couldn't understand why everyone seemed to hate him so much. What had he done to deserve such hatred?

Tears began to flow down his face as he lay in the fetal position, accompanied by silent sobs. He hated crying, but right now, he wanted to cry so much that he couldn't stop himself. He wasn't sure how much time had passed as he cried. As he drifted off to sleep, he could have sworn he felt a hand caressing his head...

Hadeon woke up feeling terrible. His stomach still churned, and his chest ached. He found himself feeling somewhat teary. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and as he did so, his gaze fell on the window. That's when he realized he had slept the entire day. It wasn't such a big deal, really, because he had a limited number of activities he could do, and he usually spent his time watching the animals pass by the window in the forest. Most of the time, these observations resulted in a friendship. For reasons unknown to him, the animals seemed to like him much more than they liked humans, and he loved the animals in return. Especially, his fox friends who visited him frequently were his cherished companions. Although they couldn't speak, they often seemed to understand Hadeon and played various games to make him smile. It was also important not to forget the owl that occasionally visited in the evenings. This was the best way to spend time in this room.