At The Heart of Tale Kingdoms (COMPLETED)

8. RAIE - Betrayal

He hadn't been asleep for half the night before someone shook his shoulders and whispered loudly at his ears for him to wake up. Raie opened his eyes to find little Jemms kneeling over his face. A huge cloud of fireflies had gathered above him, casting a strong light on his tired eyes.

"Wake up, I have to show you something." Jemms muttered. Raie sat up

"We thought half a night of sleep would be enough for you to understand what we have to tell you." Raie looked at the other beds, Jegina and Egrea were fast asleep. Jemms followed his gaze.

"They have a long day ahead. Do you feel sharp?" he asked him but Raie didn't know how he felt so he nodded.

Jemms stood and started climbing down the tree, the huge blob of fireflies followed behind him. Raie rubbed his eyes and followed. They reached the ground and headed west, neither to the forests entrance or the playground.

The Stator thought of how a month ago he thought nothing much existed besides Storan. Back to when he didn't know of the colorless man who called himself the first of Yth nor of the lands with red skies or a forest that grew like a library with dormant children who had no guardians to lead their paths.

As they walked he remembered a random day when his uncle found him outside cutting wood. Tsy Reyy used to forbid him from helping the maids collect and split the wood. He believed Raie would start chasing after the young girls, having reached the age of sixteen.

"The girls are beneath you," he would say, "All they want to do is trap you. So, they can tell their foul grandmother, the Stator is to be their husband. They see it though you fail to. They see your sunlight hair and silver eyes. They gawk at your strong stature as you sweat over those logs. You might not smile and insist on spending half of your day brooding with those broad shoulders slumped . But all these rats for girls imagine themselves as the light to your night."

His Uncle always talked with a jealous tone as if Raie was a prize he had won and some petty flies for thieves were stuck to his victorious scent.

But Tsy Reyy never had a need to bother. Raie had always ignored any advances, he knew he wasn't made for such luxuries of the heart. The Stator wasn't born to love, he was no golden prince. He was born to lead a rotting land with its nasty trees and corpse for people. And only a smart fool like his uncle would want a treasure dying prince. Maybe guardians weren't as important he thought.

"Over there, it's our gathering area." Jemms brought him back to the present. The tree library was dimly lit with a few nocturnal insects and their own fireflies making it look like a dark sky with stars.

Earlier, Raie had wanted to ask Egrea how did children come to settle in such a mythical place but he had assumed she would eventually reveal it in one of her trailing tales. But the girl hadn't and he was left to ask Jemms who made Raie feel stupid. He asked him anyway.

"How did you come to settle here, all alone, Are you from Cquirath?" Jemms shook his head and sighed.

"In the start of the Greha in Storan," he paused to think of something, "you call it the decaying disease. Then, when the disease started claiming more victims, a group of fake sorcerers and heretics became popular. They claimed to have the ability to stop the sickness from infesting other families if they could agree to their terms."

Raie interrupted him, "When did the decaying.. the Greha start? Storan has no records and the Trias, our old schools appeared to have crumbled first. Every important detail perished so Storan has been left with no knowledge of its history." Jemm nodded in an unknown agreement.