♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ Every village would cry His name
For He sets the towns ablaze ♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ
♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ What are you crying for
Oh dear Tigerus of Aerre ♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ
♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ Hush the darlings not here
Go to sleep Tigerus of Aerre ♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ
♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ What are you crying for
Oh dear Tigerus of Aerre ♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.
"What's that song?"
Two children and one adult snake their way through the seas of crowds. Though the sun had said goodbye and the day had declared it retires into the night, the bustling market situated in the capital city of Aeternus refused to quieten down.
"It's called Tigerus of Aerre, or some folks called it 'the Darlings' song."
Between the three, the only person seeming a little out of the ordinary is Helios who is cloaked as if he's a fugitive. Liselotte wears her usual shabby dress and Cyril, who Helios introduced as 'his trusted adult' wears a plain white top and long brown trousers.
Just half an hour ago, Liselotte, having finished tending to her mother until she's asleep sneaked out of her home. As promised, she met Helios and a man whom she did not recognise by the well in the village. "This is Cyril, he's a good friend of mine." Helios said, introducing the young girl to the man. He's tall, bulky, with an astonishingly square jaw and thick eyebrows.
'He does seem like a trusted adult.'
Lise nodded to herself when she saw him. "Hello Cyril, I'm Liselotte." The little girl zips her lips to a wide smile and extend her hand to be amiable.
Cyril stared at her and then back at Helios, and then opened his mouth, but nothing came out as if some the words have been swallowed by air. Liselotte, though nervous, kind of anticipate meeting Helios's friend but her heart dropped seeing the once neutral grey aura seeping out from him turned to a dark shade of brown.
'Does he not like me?'
"Cyril?" Helios called, noticing the air turned a bit sour.
"My apologies," Cyril bowed down, "Something crossed my mind."
'Why'
'Why did his aura changed?'
Cyril straightened, his expression smoothing into a polite, distant mask. "My name is Cyril. I am... a guardian of sorts. I am Helios's friend, indeed." His voice was a low baritone, fitting for his size, but it was carefully measured, each word placed like a stone in a wall.
Liselotte offered a small, tentative smile. "It's nice to meet you."
'Why do you look suspicious of me?'
Her heart hurts,
The man gave a single, slow nod, his dark brown eyes lingering on her for a moment too long before turning to the smaller, shorter boy beside him. The dark, murky brown aura she saw bled from him like a slow seep of ink into water. It was the colour of distrust, of unease. But Helios stood beside him, calm and trusting, his own aura a steady, cool silver.
'Helios brought him. He must be good. I must be misreading it.'
She tucked the observation away, a small, cold pebble in the pocket of her mind.
'Or am I? Is the dark aura directed only towards me then, if the man is good in nature?'
'But why me? What did I do wrong?'
"So this is our plan," Helios pulled out a crumpled piece of paper with distinct drawings and letters. "I've spent hours since our last departure this afternoon trying to decode where it might be, and I figured this building must've been in the capital city, Riveria. To be exact, somewhere near the central night market."
Lise have heard of the capital city of Riveria, but she had never been there. "Isn't that far away from here?"
"Not exactly, we'll catch a carriage that'll take us there around half an hour."
And so, the three humans began their journey. They hitched a ride by renting a carriage and spent half an hour sitting in the cramped, cluttered space that stinks like a damp towel never properly dried. Lise wanted to talk to Helios, but at the same time she felt a sense of unease. There's an invisible dagger pointed at her, she felt as if she was the threat that Cyril must defend Helios from.
'I can't spoil this adventure,'
Once the carriage came to a halt, they continue with their move, Helios leading the way with the map held tightly in his hand. Cyril fell into step behind them, a silent, looming shadow that made the bustling crowd part without a word. The cheerful, macabre song followed them, a stark contrast to their quiet, purposeful little group.
And that's how we got to this point of the story,
♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ What are you crying for, Oh dear Tigerus of Aerre ♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.
"What is this song about? I like it," Liselotte asks, her voice a little too bright, trying to stitch the silence back together with conversation. "It sounded a bit sad."
Helios glances towards her, they're walking side by side now with Cyril just two feet behind.
"Tigerus was once an Emperor who ruled Aeternus a long long time ago.
A remarkably powerful Emperor, he is known for being feared. But do you know what else he is known for?"
Liselotte shakes her head,
"Beautiful and just."
♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ Tigerus! Tigerus! His darlings dead! ♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.
"So it was a twist when he killed his lover."
♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ Tigerus! Tigerus! Spare us of your rage! ♫⋆｡ ♪ ₊˚♬ ﾟ.
"And went mad, burning up towns and killing millions."
"Why would he do that?"
"I don't know. It's a known legend, we don't know whether that story is true or not. What we do know for a fact, is that Tigerus is the only Emperor in history to have committed mass genocide towards his own people. About the reason for his spiral towards madness, only God knows."
Liselotte thought the story is quite upsetting, "Why didn't God intervene?"
"That... I don't know either." Helios looked down at the parchment, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Towards the old grove, past the merchant's square. The 'X' is near the standing statue of Genos: the capital's memorial." He mumbled to himself.
"Are you... Children, certain about this?" Cyril's voice rumbled from behind them, not unkindly, but with a weight that made it clear he was not. "The night is deep, and the old places hold their own secrets."
"I'm certain," Helios said, his tone leaving no room for argument. It was a tone Liselotte had never heard from him before, one that belonged to a Lord, not a playmate. "It's important."
Cyril did not argue further. But as Liselotte chanced a look back, she saw his gaze was fixed on the back of her head, the dark brown aura swirling with a silent, unasked question. He was a good man, she repeated to herself. Helios would not bring anyone else.
'Woah that big man folded just like that. Why?'
She turned her face forward, towards the dimming lights at the edge of the market, and tried to focus on the adventure, and not the guardian who watched her as if she were a threat he had been ordered to protect.
Stalls grew in number to their left and their right. The echoes of the guitar grew fainter and the song of the legend of Tigerus drowns into the noise of the market. People buy and sell goods: food and all sorts of delicacies, weapons, cheap fabrics and some expensive wools, and many more. Lise in particular, is drawn to the delicious smell of food and her stomach grumbles.
"I'm hungry,"
Helios looks at her and let a small laugh escape his lips. "We need fuel, you're right. That one right there looks delicious! Lamb skewers, Onda's signature." He pointed to a man selling grilled skewers just five foot to their right.
How exciting! Lise had never seen someone cook food like that before.
"Oh!" She rummages through her dress pockets. She had forgotten to bring her sack of money. "Sorry, I can't buy anything..." Her heart feels heavy, "You would have to eat without me."
He furrowed his eyebrows, a look of genuine offense on his face. "No way are you implying I'd eat without you? Ridiculous. Of course I'll pay for your food."
Liselotte shook her head, her cheeks flushing. "No, I can't. It's too much."
'Food is expensive,'
"It's two lamb skewers," he said, as if stating the most obvious fact in the world. He was already moving towards a stall where meat sizzled over glowing coals, the scent of rosemary and garlic hanging thick in the air. He returned with three skewers, handing one to a silently surprised Cyril and two to Liselotte.
"Where's yours?" she asked, the heavy, savory weight of the skewers warm in her hands.
"I'll only eat if you accept the food I offer," he said, his silver eyes glinting with challenge. "So? Will you let me starve?"
Defeated, Liselotte took a small, hesitant bite. Then her eyes widened. The meat was unbelievably tender, falling apart in her mouth, seasoned with herbs she had no name for and a richness of fat that her own meager cooking never achieved. She always cooked for herself and her mother, with limited resources and a child's limited skill. This was something else entirely. This was magic.
She devoured the first skewer in a manner that was not at all ladylike, the flavors exploding on her tongue. Something even her best oat porridge could never compete against, no matter how good her mother said it was.
Helios watched her, a genuine, happy smile replacing his usual soft one. "How's that? Don't tell me you want to refuse any more food. We have the whole night to explore the foods here." He turned to Cyril. "Stay here. Guard the map. We'll be back."
And so, they explored. Helios, the boy with the moonlit eyes, became a guide to a world of taste. He made her try flaky, honey-drenched pastries filled with nuts and dates from a baker who shouted in a language she didn't know. He bought her a small clay cup of spiced wine, watered down until it was just warm and sweet, and a flatbread, hot from a clay oven, dipped in golden olive oil. He found a vendor selling fried balls of mashed chickpeas, crisp on the outside and fluffy within, and another with cheese soaked in brine, so salty it made her drink water but so good she took another bite.
Liselotte laughed, her worries about Cyril's dark aura and the mysterious map forgotten. She pointed at strange fruits, and Helios would buy them for her to taste. She asked about spices, and he would explain their names. She'll ask and he would and answer. She'll state the food she desire and he will throw his gold and silver. For a glorious, fleeting hour, she was not a poor girl tending to a sick mother, but an explorer on a grand culinary adventure.
And then, as she stood holding a sweet, sesame-seed candy that stretched like golden thread, the laughter caught in her throat. A sob, sudden and violent, shook her small frame. Tears, hot and silent, began to stream down her face, tracing clean paths through the dust of the market on her cheeks.
Helios's smile vanished. "Liselotte? What's wrong? Was it bad?" His voice was laced with panic.
She shook her head, unable to speak. How could she explain that it was all so good? That the sheer, overwhelming kindness, the explosion of flavors, the simple act of being given something without having to earn it with one gold coin at a time, had broken a dam inside her she didn't even know existed? The joy was so sharp it felt like pain, and all she could do was stand there and cry.
"I'm... I'm just, simply, irresistibly, so happy right now."
Emotions overwhelm her senses, happiness powers her muscle as she takes a step forward and embrace the boy cloaked in dark brown hood. The once heavy heart now feels like it could explode from warmth.
"Thank you, thank you! Oh how I wish we could do this forever!"
'That's right. Once mother gets better I will introduce her to Helios. Then, we would visit Riveria to the night market. This time, I will be the one buying food for them.'
She could feel Helios's heart beat, unaware that it had turned into a chaotic mess.
'I hope mother likes him.'
"I-"
Helios's eyes widen, taken aback by her sudden attack. Yet, it relaxes in a matter of seconds, welcoming the embrace, as if it was natural. Then, he returns the hug, wrapping his arms tightly around her shoulder.
"It's my pleasure." He whispered tenderly, close to Lise's ears.
Though the night has just begun, they have already wished it would go on forever.