Once Upon a Story [ HIATUS ]

True Nature (1)?

This is like the origin story of how Sebastian came to be Lunam's personal guard. And I found it fair to discuss the other side of the coin while I was at it.

Word count: 1476
════════════════════════════

"How many more pathetic mortals will come seeking my favour?"

"Guardian of the Gate, the Great Lunam, we mean nothing but praise and adoration toward you."

"Is that so?"

At her feet kneeled a woman and her son. Lunam noted how embellished their clothes were. The finest silk draped over their shoulders paired with enough jewelry to finance a castle. They were nothing short of filthy rich, and it irked Lunam to watch them.

The woman explained her side of the affair. Her husband had left her for his mistress, and she desperately needed financial support. She claimed she feared her sons and daughters would starve by the end of the month.

"I have done nothing to deserve this fate, Great Lunam," she proclaimed, eyes watering with tears; an entertaining show for the guardian to watch. But her attention was elsewhere. Her son hadn't said a word and kept his head down. He had been fiddling with the ruffled ends of his sleeves since he arrived, unable to calm his growing stress.

"Please, Lunam, we beg of you to aid our family," the mother pleaded, falling to her knees. Her son followed as though it was rehearsed for him to do so.

Her husband fled, and now only her son remains.

"I admire your devotion, but your request reaches deaf ears," Lunam replied, leaning back on her throne.

"I don't understand what you mean?" the woman said, playing innocent. "Isn't it fated that I will live a prosperous life? Isn't that what the deities prophesied on my birth?"

Lunam quirked a brow. "My, even the court jester strikes wiser than you. Who are you to proclaim falsities in my presence?"

The woman visibly flinched under the harshness of the guardian's words. One word out of place, and she would be sent back.

"I apologize. But please, reconsider my request," she tried again. "I bore weak children. Look, my son, he is thin and fragile. My daughters can hardly walk without losing their breath. Please, as a woman, you would understand how difficult it is for us to live amongst men."

Lunam grew intrigued as she listened to the woman drawl on about men and their heinous trouble to society. They were vile creatures, rippling with lust within their souls, reducing their wives into love-making machines and parading them as accessories to their wealth. Women were dolls displayed for men to find their preference in the array of delicate features and voluptuous figures.

"That is all we are to them," the woman seethed. "A pleasure of life existing not for ourselves but for their desires."

"I see where your opinion lies, but my answer remains unchanged," Lunam repeated. "You fail to notice that your greed has brought you this fate. Did you think it was wise to present yourself wearing such extravagance? Was I meant to be impressed by your peacock display of feathers?"

"No, of course not!"

The panic was starting to settle. Lunam made it clear her mood was sour, and the woman took note of this. Her face paled and glistened with cold sweat. "Please, I will do anything. I cannot return empty-handed."

"Very well, I will give you the sum you asked–"

"Oh, thank you, Great Guardian Lunam!" Her excitement exploded, and her face shone with a smile, one undeserving of Lunam's grace. Her head hit the floor as pressure built up over her body. She barely glanced at her son to see him untouched by the force.