a tale for love | n. riki

four

"My name is Heeseung."

"Your name and your sister's name are very unusual. They aren't quite Xernian are they?"

The boy shook his head. "No. Hayoung and I come from a small ethnic clan in Xernia called Sol. She's also not my sister, but is like one to me."

"Ah- I see," Caspian exclaimed, "How old are you Heeseung?"

"I'm twelve."

"And how do you know how to speak the Odessian dialect?"

"My mother and father taught me. They were teachers and thought it would be important to know," Heeseung paused. "Do you know where they are now?"

Caspian was silent, remorseful for the young Heeseung. "My boy, I'm sorry," he said softly, "By the time we found you... they were dead."

Heeseung's reaction was unexpected to Caspian. He seemed to have known already rather than hopeful in his parents' lives. It was more like he needed confirmation to move on.

"Can you take me to Hayoung?"

**

Outside of St. Marella's orphanage was a small courtyard guarded by a cobblestone wall with moss in its crevices and a black, steel gate surrounding the front entrance. The children would play in the courtyard at noon and go to mass at sundown. The nuns of St. Marella's church would take care of the orphans and would give them primary schooling before moving on to secondary.

On this nice spring afternoon, Caspian took Heeseung to the orphanage. The boy was barely able to walk, limping with every step. His legs were severely wounded, covered in burns, but he was determined to see Hayoung again. When they finally arrived, they saw a crowd of children in the courtyard standing in a circle. They were rowdy and chaotic chatter surrounded them. As Caspian and Heeseung got closer, they saw that there were two kids fighting in the center.

"Get her!" a kid screamed.

"Get that Xerninan swine!" another yelled.

Caspian was mortified when he heard those words. He opened the gate and ran through, breaking the crowd of children apart. There in the center he saw Hayoung with her face beaten black and blue, hunched over and catching her breath. There was a young boy about twice the size of her laying flat down next to her.

"There's no way," Caspian thought in disbelief, "Did she actually beat him?"

Hayoung looked up and saw Caspian. He certainly was the most visible as the 6'4 man stuck out like a sore thumb in a crowd of children. She then lowered her eyes and found herself face to face with Heeseung, her only remaining family. Her eyes softened and soon welled up once she made eye contact with him. She started wailing loudly, walking over to him, the rest of the children at the orphanage stunned by the duality of the girl. It was as if Hayoung was possessed by an evil spirit, beating the boy up to a pulp, but seemed like a helpless baby when she saw Heeseung in front of her.

"Heeseung," she sobbed, falling to her knees, gripping the hems of his shirt tightly. She proceeded to say words crying and hiccuping in between, but not comprehensible to Caspian.

Heeseung, despite his pain, crouched down to Hayoung, stroking her head softly and embracing her, whispering comforting words in their special dialect. They were finally reunited.