A Pile of Ashes

Chapter 1

                 
This was a story I wrote by the request of my friend Luci.

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"You are a disgrace to our family! I will not have you be heir to the throne!" he bellowed. "I hereby banish you to another dimension."

I stared at my father for a while, uncomprehending. Did he just say he's banishing me? His own son? I don't know why I was surprised. It wasn't like he ever gave any his children such priorities. "Why? What have I done?" I asked, stonily. 

He stared at me for a long time. "You are doing it again. Right now. Your eyes are speaking their own language. They betray all your thoughts. It's an outrage! This is unacceptable for a future King."

"Must you banish me for such a thing? I'm sure I can fix myself and prove myself worthy, father."

He sighed, "I have given you plenty of time to fix yourself. I believe your brother to be more worthy of the throne. Leave, so you may get a chance at life elsewhere, or I shall be forced to kill you."

I realised he was trying to do me somewhat of a favour and knew it was my que to obey and leave. "Where should I leave for?"

"Go to Lehava. She will find a place where you will fit in better. But as you know, you will have a price to pay."

I bowed my head in respect and left for the famous sorceress.

I entered her dark, cold cavern, quite possibly the only cold place I knew of, and looked around, waiting. She peeked around a cauldron and ushered me to come in. "The King has told me of his request, and I have prepared a concoction for it," she waved a little flask in her hand. "It will take you to the one dimension that you will fit in. But, as you know, there are certain complications."

I nodded.

"You will need to find something known there as 'Love'."

"I'm good at finding things," I interrupted. "But what exactly does this 'Love' look like?"

"It is not an object, and you shall have great difficulty finding it. Now, let me continue." Lehava replied scornfully. She pulled me towards the centre of the circle she had carved on her floor and started to pour the potion on its outskirts. She then pressed a round object in my hand, "You have until all the seeds of this pomegranate rot, that's one seed for every hour you have. In this time, a woman must tell you they love you, or you will die."

Smoke started floating up from the ground engulfing me in its fumes. My nostrils flared up in pain, unable to breathe. "What is love?" I asked again. "And what in Hell is a woman?" My throat constricted with the effort of speaking. My eyes started to sting and I gave up trying to see. The last thing I heard was her cackling, before my whole world spun around me, pulling me into a dark nothingness.