The Butterfly Crown

Carved Out Of Gold - Keeva

Who sows fear,

reaps weapons

- Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Bellhaven was nothing that I had expected or ever have seen. My whole life I only had known the grey stones of Melar, the big tower with it's hoary clock face, the bay, the market, the abandoned alleyways. It had the smell of a big city, as did Teliassen. When I had spent my brief time in Teliassen, I had felt like the colors just had turned from grey to flavescent, that at it deep cores both city were beating to the same rhythm.

But Bellhaven was different, it wasn't a village, but it wasn't a metropolis either. The steady pace of Kallisto, the warmth of Fion's body in front of mine, the buzz of the light of dawn, gave me a security I never had experienced on any road. The houses were strung together, all in the color of white, they didn't tower into the air, they looked modest and welcoming, the window shutters were multicolored, yet I noticed dirt on the pavement, broken glass and the howling of stray dogs. Not even this place could be circumvented by poverty.

My eyes trailed over the street and ended up an a building bigger than the others. Building might have been a misleading word, it was much rather a ruin. It could have been a castle, or one of the houses built by people before our time, Edan probably would have been able to tell the difference.

For the first time after the dead children, I saw people. They were enveloped in dark shabby cloaks, sitting on the ground and on the debris. A woman with long raven hair and typical tan teliassian skin, like sun kissing bronze, was bent over a body that she held between her arms. Blood-curdlingly soundless she was crying over her dying child. Next to her were children, beggars and what seemed like homeless large families. The ruins were filled with gruesomeness. How could a city so beautiful and untouched be so damaged and indigent at the same time? My brain couldn't comprehend what was happening quick enough, because we were already unnoticed had passed the ruin when I found my voice again.

"We need to halt, we need to help them", I told Fion, who turned around to face mask best as he could.

"We cannot halt", he objected "We also cannot help them, their affliction is carved out of gold"

"What do you mean by that? Something only can be carved out of stone and even in that relation it doesn't make any sense", I replied.

"Their suffering is caused by the crown and their gold they are sitting on", he answered.

I pressed my lips together and raised my eyebrows. "If the crown knew of all this, they would help. I most definitely know that, I know the people who rule the council, I know the person who is the head of our realm. No injustice would be overseen, they rule quickly, they rule easily. This is without a question an easy decision to make", I said.

"Levitas vincit. Levity wins. It's easy to do nothing, that is the truth. Your uncle he knows about the circumstances here, he knows about the circumstances anywhere. He has to know it, he is king. His web of spies is inescapable, you will notice that soon enough. I'm astonished by the fact that you act like there are no dying children in Melar and that you are defending the monsters you ran away from", he retorted.

"I did not run away from them. I also did not run away from responsibilities or out of fear. I left because I wanted my freedom, it should be everyones greatest asset. Regarding dying children, it highly likely that they do exist in Melar. But they die behind closed doors because of lack of medicine, not on the open streets, our beggars are beggars because of the destruction of their houses during the attack of the North, where the crown spent all savings on reconstruction of the city, but unfortunately  there were not enough", I told him.