Catina never had a reason to hate her strange appearance. Her golden hair and deep brown eyes- eyes that could be mistaken for red- had never caused her any misfortune. Until one night, the great conqueror arrived- a man who wanted the world for him...
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Once out of sight from the crowd, I fall.
Arms pick me up, dragging me. I recognize the voice, far off and away.
"No. No Mikabellum. You did not go through all that, just to give up now."
Soleia continues to drag me, her voice growing frantic.
My legs do not work.
I stare blankly up at her, watching as she continues her efforts in trying to make me stand.
"Get up. They will want to see you again. You cannot disappear. Please, Mikabellum." A sob leaves her, dry and desperate as she shakes my shoulders.
My mind stills. My world seems to have stopped.
I killed a man.
I look down at my hands and see the red.
My breathing grows faster.
And just as I start to see black in my vision, pain cracks along my face.
I'm thrown back, a sharp cry leaving me.
Holding my cheek, I look up to see Solei standing over me.
"A goddess of war is not so weak," she hisses, "pull yourself together. You don't have time to fall apart."
She's right.
I stand and close my eyes, taking a deep breath before reopening them.
Soleia eyes me wearily before nodding.
"Your performance was good Mikabellum...more than good. But it can't stop here."
"I know," I clear my throat, trying to regain my voice. It cracked with the unshed tears I could not spill.
"You brought justice to him. He deserved his fate."
I stare at Soleia, stunned at how easily she could accept the consequences of life and death.
"They are looking for you."
I hear it then. The chant for my name.
Solei turns to me, and for the first time I register a different emotion on her face...fear. Like Roark, she is eyeing me with an unease. I wonder vaguely if it is because of my appearance. Because of the red that stains me.
"I can only help you this much," she whispers, "go Mikabellum. Your people are calling."
I look up and meet the stars. I remember Roark's words of how my own eyes resembled that of the falling orbs. I think of the time when a traveling soothsayer came to our village. How she told our fortunes. I don't remember much of what she told us, but for some reason, her words come back to me now.
"Your color of fortune is red," she laughed, "like your eyes little one."
"My eyes are brown."
The old female simply had shaken her head in amusement before flipping over another card, her smile falling at the sight of whatever was brought to her.
