Kaen-
As a child I was taught that the king's word is the law and there is no one who can oppose it.
My hands tingled under the Seraphin gloves I wore. They fit my hands perfectly and made a squeaky sound when I rubbed them together. Like what was under them they were black and trailed all the way up my forearm. For eighteen years I had worn the gloves my matron had made for me. And for eighteen years I had to live with the guilt of why.
Akane had touched me and I didn't feel repulsed by her touch. I was surprised but it didn't feel wrong. I had touched her and she had seen my hands. In my bed, I rolled on my side. My gloves rested on the nightstand beside me and they gave a comfort that I had been with for as long as I could remember. I gazed at my outstretched hand in front of me.
Just like Akane had said last night in front of the princess's room it was pitch black. The mark of flame had burnt me as a child and I lived with the scar to this day. It was hideous and even my parents had been repulsed by me when it happened.
In Front of me I could see every mark and scar that lay on my hands. The scar swept up the end of my forearm and had resembled smoke at the ends. A fitting mark of the chosen one. Since I was a young boy I could remember hearing my matron tell me I was the chosen one of the fire gods and that I would be the greatest Seraphim to ever live. I thought that was a bunch of bullshit. I had never been chosen. I had just been lucky.
Unlike the other generals the fire matron was not my mother or grandmother. I had been taken in by the matron as a child eighteen years ago. Now I'm twenty-two and I love my matron as my own mother.
I couldn't sleep. She had seen my blackened hands and looked at them with curiosity instead of disgust. Her touch was soft and she looked at me without the repulsion that the people of the clan looked at me with.
I could hear the morning birds outside of the window chirping their morning songs. I stayed awake for the entire night. Although I had missed an entire night of sleep, I felt as though I had been sleeping. Without a wink of tiredness in my mind I leapt from the bed and slipped on my gloves.
The feeling of having them on was enough to get me through the day. In the afternoon the king would host a ball to find a suitor for the crowned princess Akari. The king had been getting old and his health wasn't the greatest. She was next in line to claim the throne. The king was a fair ruler and he had saved Akane from execution.
I had taken the fire clans pledge to serve the king and protect the lineage with my life the moment I was declared the heir to the fire matron. It was an honor I hadn't expected. Everyone in the fire clan knew what I had done and the matron still declared me heir anyways. It would be years before I would take on the responsibility of becoming matron.
My leader was still young and strong. She lead the Seraphims with an iron fist and motherly love. She had pardoned me of my crime and taken me in as her own when all I had ever known was gone. I could never repay her kindness if I lived for thousands of years.
I walked down the palace stairs to the first floor where I would train the new recruits for the war. I wore the armor gifted to me by my matron. With maroon undertones and silver plates. I had the fire emblem on my shoulder and my sword strapped to my hip. The sword Gideon was passed from matron to general and it had the ability to set itself on fire exactly like its user. It was the Seraphim sword of the fire clan and I would carry it with pride. Each general had a sword with specialtys and each matron gave the general the sword when they were named heir.
"Goodmorning Killean'' I spotted my younger brother in the training hall and gave him a small wave with my gloved hand. "General Hano'' Killean bowed and took his place next to me as my second. I had watched my matron proclaim Killean my second and saw the horror on Killean's face that day. From then on Killean would refuse to say my given name.
He would call me by my last name or my title but never my given name. It had only been about a year since I had gotten a second but for that time it hurt to see Killean so distant and hateful towards me. We were brothers and I sometimes wished I could have the bond I used to share with Killean back then.
My brother had scowled at the recruits telling him how he looked just like the general. It was true of course Killean looked just like a younger version of me and he obviously didn't like it. We both shared dark red hair and the red Seraphim eyes. Both had the same strong jawline and build. Killean was just a few inches smaller than me. He wore the traditional second uniform that all the seconds wore. A red-brown tunic with combat pants and a band around his arm signifying his status and his clan.
Generals didn't have to wear the band but all the workers had to wear a band in the palace. If you weren't human or android you had to wear a band. There were some Seraphim that worked in the kitchen and even the head chef was Seraphim. What they didn't have was a blessing from the fire gods. If you didn't have an affinity for the element of the clan you lived in you had the option of working in the palace or living in the outer circle of the clan. You can also try alchemy but the clans frown down on it and most of the people in the inner and outer clans dont use it. I learned it due to the fear I have of my own power. I could learn to use alchemy to be useful and wouldn't rely on the "blessing" I have.
"How many new recruits do we have?" Killean looked at me with his usual frown and looked back at the recruits. "Eighty-seven total and ten have the full ability" Killean did not spare any emotion in his voice and he continued to avert his eyes from me. Although it hurt, I knew why Killean hated me so much and I couldn't blame him for it. I hated myself for it too.
I spent the day with Killean training the recruits and explaining the status of the war to them in full detail. They had to know what they were getting themselves into before they went to the battlefield. I couldn't get the look Akane gave me that night out of my head. No one had ever looked at me that way and she had touched me. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.
In the afternoon I was to get ready for the ball along with the other three generals. I was to wear my formal clothing and keep a sword on me at all times. I was the general of the fire clan after all and I was tasked with protection and guarding this event along with the sea clan guards.
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In my formal wear I strapped Gideon to my hip like I did routinely every day and walked out of my room. The anxiety of the night before was still lingering in my thoughts. I couldn't get the picture of Akane and the look she gave me out of my head. It was messing with me too much. He found himself piddling with his gloves again from the squeaking sound they made. The feeling was overwhelming and he couldn't help but think of his hands underneath his gloves.
I'm supposed to hate her.
They felt normal but they weren't. I knew that and that's why I hid them away. They were a symbol of the thing that ruined my life and put me in this situation with a tainted one. Go on a job with the executioner they said it'll be fine they said.
Deep down I knew Akane never asked for her ki just like I hadn't but I couldn't help but dislike her. For as long as I could remember the gifted were taught that all the tainted were killed by the king because they were dangerous and couldn't be trusted. But here she was. Working for the man that killed her own kind. She killed her own kind, the only ones that survived. How had that affected her? What was it like for her here? No, I can't feel sympathy for a tainted one.
I knew Akane was often isolated and many didn't even know what she looked like. For the ten years she had lived in the palace she had been alone. For that I could never relate to her. I was taken in and I was loved. I felt a flash of sympathy but quickly pushed it away. She was tainted and I could never feel anything but hatred for her.
I passed through the halls and the people and droids working in them. The droids in his room had dressed me in my formal armor. I wore burgundy underclothes and I wore golden armor over it. My gloves were polished and fixed this morning by the service bots and the fire clans emblem was engraved into my chest plate.
As the fire clans general and heir I was required to represent them in the royal palace and in front of the royal family. I always felt the weight of that responsibility in my chest and it weighed even heavier because of the debt I owed my matron and my birth family. From the corner of my eye I could see my sister's face and the expression of agony on her beautiful tanned skin. She still looked so young and the guilt ate away at me at the sight. Blinking away the sight and the tears welling up in my eyes. The image of my sister had trailed me since the day the accident had happened.
The accident that changed the course of my life had happened twelve years ago and it felt fresh in my mind like it had happened just yesterday. I had discovered my ki as a child and I was very powerful. The fire power was too much and the accident happened.
"I'm gonna show you sis look at me!" I had set myself on fire just like my father could do and my mother. I was only ten years old and I had the firepower of my father, maybe even stronger. The moment I turned it on I heard my sister scream in agony and crumple to the ground. I saw her face before she was nothing but ashes. It was twisted in pain and the tears that fell out had evaporated as soon as they had revealed themselves. It was my fault. My sister had died because of me and there was nothing that could fix the guilt I felt in my core every time I thought of it.
Ever since that day I had been terrified of my powers and the thought of using them made me want to throw up. After I had killed my sister I saw his mother break down in sobs and my father had looked at me not with the usual look of love and pride but with horror and pain. I could still hear my mothers sobs that day. For a few months they had tried to forget and forgive me and live like normal. But I guessed that they couldn't because soon enough I was on the streets with nothing at all. My brother had looked at me with absolute disgust and hatred and I knew I deserved it more than anything.
I felt cramped in the gloves that brought me so much comfort. They seemed to squeeze the ki that resided in me out but I couldn't remove them. No matter what I wouldn't. I would rather die fighting in the war than use my powers even if it was to fight for my king. I knew it was driving me crazy and that it was the reason I saw my sister and heard my mother's sobs in my dreams and out of them.
Even so I didn't care. I walked down the hallway refocusing my mind to the ballroom I had to guard. This event was crucial for the kingdom of Ryujin. If the princess found a suitor she would be ready to take the throne and the kingdom and the Ryujin bloodline would continue. I felt my brother come up beside me from the huff he released the moment he was at my side. Killean had his hair brushed back and he looked like a younger me. I could feel a smile coming on but I stopped myself before my brother could see it. Killean was wearing his usual tunic and band but he wore the fire emblem and had a sword strapped to his side. He beamed with pride even after being around his "killer brother".
The nickname Killean had given me had been the worst one and the one that hurt him the most.
"After today im heading off to a job with the king's executioner and you will be temporarily in charge of my position and the people that work under me." I looked at Killean and from the expression of excitement and anxiety on Killeans face I could tell it would be fine. It would just be a few weeks and then everything would go back to normal. "Don't worry, I'll do the best I can, General Hano '' Killean soluted and straightened. His face was blank and even though I knew Killean hated me he still had a sense of duty to his clan and his matron. It made Killean a good second.
I continued walking and we reached the ballroom doors. I fixed my gloves and straightened my armor. "Go to your post and pay attention to the people and your surroundings. Nothing can go wrong today, understand?" Killean just nodded and we stepped into the ball room.