There have never been secrets between Iano and his twin brother, Miano. But that changes when his brother marries an heir of the most powerful fief of the village. With such power comes the right to see the face of the Goddess. Only, Iano's twin mus...
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Bats and insects screeched outside.
Kairou had been inside Papa Satouka's tent for such a long time that he hadn't realized night had fallen. He headed first to his tent to fetch hooded clothes to keep the feral mosquitoes at bay, and that was an opportunity to leave that contract and research project behind.
Under the firelight of his lantern, he sighed as he looked at the bound pages. He was deeply conflicted. He had known Professor Helou had been lying about the tests of treatment for The Bite on the native Anuka people. But now that he had confirmation for it, he wished the Professor had been telling the truth after all.
Very few were lucky enough to be given two fathers in life. Kairou dreaded being unfortunate enough to lose both in the span of six years. The fact all of this could happen before he was properly an adult made it all too cruel.
His biological father had died suddenly, in a motorcarriage accident while on one of his trading travels of metal merchandise between Gomeh and Arustan. He had traveled those routes countless times, even before Kairou had been born, then one night his motorcarriage had gone off trail and lurched into a steep slant.
Mama Tito hadn't allowed Kairou or any of the siblings to see the body, despite claiming that at twelve years old Kairou was already a man. At twelve years old man... old enough to understand what was happening, but too young to know how to cope with the sudden loss or to do something of value to help keep his family afloat. To say that Kairou had been lost during such a time of anguish would be an understatement. But Mama Tito wasn't to blame, she had other three kids to look for alone now. But after the accident, those three months without a father had been the loneliest Kairou had ever been in his life.
Kairou had been lucky to be taken under the wing of the professor not long after his father's passing. And Papa Helou became Kairou's new father. One who had seen Kairou's thirst and desperation to get out of the industrial neighborhood. Professor Helou had come as the safe way to grant Kairou's wish. Unlike his father, he had the means to make it a reality. Kairou sighed profoundly. He wasn't ready to go through losing a father figure again. But letting fear paralyze him was dishonoring both of his fathers.
