Evident

41.

Aureliano

Love...

At one point I thought that word carried less than what it was, thought it was easily said and toss it around aimlessly without any direction of reasoning.

Love changed that way of theory. It showed me that it was deeper than words, more than the four letter it carried...it was the very coffee eyes of the woman that ruthlessly broke me by joining with the enemy.

Bly had warned me. Told me that Concenta was nothing but conniving...

Was I too blind?

Too blind by what was her.

To see how much she hated me, used me for money?

Bly had told me about the conversation she overheard with the woman and Mato, how her intention was to lead me back to Italy just for the sake of 3.5 million cash...

That was my worth?

My whole entire being, my existence was added up to 3.5 million dollars?

And here I thought of her, thought that her worth is more than my fucking exhale. I told her I'd do anything for her.

I'd sell my very breath for hers just so that if she died later down the line, she'd get a second chance to live just by living with my breath.

To make matters worse, I'd still do it.

I'm still willing to give it up all for her, was still willing to go to Italy, endure the hatred of my father so that she could find peace. The peace she was looking for. Searching for.

I thought she founded peace with me.

I clenched my jaw, watching as the hundred dead piles of my warriors and those Russians, surrounded the square of the tribe, they were piled up in groups, the oranges flickers of the fire, glinted across my face as it cackled.

And even though the tribe mourn for the lost of our people, I'd still fucking do it for her. She's the right ownership of every exhale and inhale of my breath.

"You know she promised me." Mato speak up beside me as he sat in the wooden wheelchair, his gaze set on Halisa, a harsh reminder of Concenta's betrayal...

I flicked the blunt from behind my ear and place it between my teeth. Extracting the lighter from the pockets of my pants, I rolled the friction wheel to inflict fire to the bud's end where I automatically inhaled the weed, my every thoughts converting to hers, releasing out smoke through my lips.

Every heart warming feminine voice that I heard, had my eyes searching around the square, pathetically thinking that she was here.

I fisted my hands, neck craning around as I looked to my left, scanning my right. She wasn't here. Desperate enough, I glanced through the fire, seeing her firey persona.

My hands twitched to grab it.

Hold it before she burned away.

Shaking my head to stop myself from walking there, I closed my eyes, exhaling a cloud of smoke to calmed myself down.

It's crazy how the mind thinks...my jaw rocks when I notice that she wasn't there, just a fragment of an illusion that was cackling in the fire.

"She promised she'd keep my words a secret. I partly blamed myself for all of this because I saw it in her eyes that day."

"The pain that your engagement caused. The marriage. It would have broke her... I shouldn't have turned a blind eye to your love. Her care. I was selfish. Forgive me son."

"No need to apologize for something that was one sided Mato, I get it, the person you thought would love you the most..."

"What do you mean, your people are in danger all because you're distracted with me, we need to cut back on seeing each other for now so that we can work on what we just heard. I can't let your people live in danger and harm, Aureliano." She held my face. Her eyes widening a bit as we locked eyes.

"Assure me that you will focus on this, make sure that Amerio isn't out to hurt your people and when everything is under control, I swear on my life that I will see you again.... please, I love you." She begged me.

"Is the same person who hurts you the most." Her voice echoed in my thoughts the longer I stared within the fire, that night replaying over and over again of our skin to skin contact of cum rushing love.

I tasted the weed on my tongue, the smoke of the bodies flew a dark gray thick smoke into the air, the orange flames gliding across each bodies that I wished for it to do the same to my thoughts which seemed to not want to leave.

Wished for it to burn my need to ashes.

It wanted to stay within thick moments of her, the little miss coffee eyed, the sinful dark skin woman which fixated me deeply.

I needed to leave this area, it was getting to my fucking head.

"Before I die..."

I paused as he whispered that word as I drove my resistance towards the square to my office, the warriors aiding with the burning of the bodies to lessen the death that I didn't caused. I turned around to glanced on Mato who was still gazing on the dead bodies, a sad expression on his face as he kept his eyes on his daughter.

I told him that we should have buried her separately, a place special to his heart content but he refuses to give in.

He wanted her to burn with her people, a sign to show to the others that just like in life and in death we were one.

No man was greater than another whether they were higher in position or not. A king should have a heart of a servant, willing to serve, willing to be humble.

"I want to tell you something Aureliano."

The only time he called me by Aureliano, was when he wanted to talk and these talks were normally ones that told me to sharped up for something serious.

"I've trusted Concenta enough to let her know about this, like I told her, I'm extending the same words to you, I was fearing of this moment because I thought it would throw you off your role as chief, I was so focused on you tying the knot for the success of our tribe, not knowing that the real danger to hurting my people is when a chief is not operating happily, peaceful."

"I now knew that I shouldn't have forced you to marriage, it is now in your hands if you still want Bly."

I never wanted her, nor would I ever. Neither would that need change. I had more important things to do now and that is reviving my people, reassuring them that life still resides after death.

I needed to find the opposing enemies, the Russians, Amerio who was missing and not to mention, her.

"The secret that I shared with her was that, a month ago I founded out that I have muscular dystrophy something that slumped me to the wheelchair that I am in. I kept this away from you because I wanted you to focus on the happiness of the people and now I realize all along that I was wrong."

"How much longer?" I narrowed my eyes in focus, awaiting the words of the man I considered my father.

"I am not sure, some days it seems as if It'll be my end. At this point I am just holding unto the little string of hope."