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“I got the message loud and clear,” I interject.
“You can’t blame them for their animosity toward you. They are only reacting to years of distrust from anything pertaining to the north. But I don’t want you to focus on that. I want you to think really hard about what you saw today. What conspicuous peculiarity grabbed your attention?”
My brows pinch together at the middle of my forehead as I try to recall the many places we went to earlier and if anything felt unusual or off about it. It’s a difficult task to do, since my mind wanders not only to the ugly looks I got, but also to the stolen intimate moments Levi and I shared.
“Kat, please, think. This is important,” Levi encourages when I take too long to answer.
But then it comes to me.
As we walked through his cobblestone street filled with shops of merchants and swordsmiths, I was surprised to see that most of them were run by women. In fact, there were very few men amongst the shoppers too. Even the children that playfully ran in the streets were mostly girls.
“Men,” I finally state. “There weren’t many men.”
“No, there were not,” Levi agrees sullenly. “For every east-born male, there exists at least five women to him in comparison. Can you venture a guess as to why that is?”
I want to say that the same plague that took my mother was responsible, but sickness is not prejudice nor selective in the lives that it takes. Then I recall the camp I found Levi in after I left my home. There was ample evidence of the tens of thousands of men that had been there, ready to invade Tarnow Castle before they were ordered to return east.
“War. War is the only reason I can think of that could cause such a gap in percentage.”
When Levi lets out an exhale, his tense muscles relaxing instantly, I know I got the right answer.
But then a new one arises.
“No.” I shake my head, still confused. “War can’t be the only denominating factor for such a large, disproportioned difference. For it to be so, it would mean that every living male had to be enlisted in the great army of Aikyam.”
“That’s right. It does mean that. From the tender age of six, every east-born man must pledge his life to defending Aikyam at all costs. Babes are taken from their mothers to become soldiers when they haven’t even had time to be children. The only exception to this law passed by your father is for those of noble birth, and even they must answer the call after their fifteenth spring has been reached.”
“No,” I belt out in denial. “I would have heard of such a law.”
“Would you?” he counters patiently, stroking my cheek with his knuckles. “You weren’t even born yet when your father passed such a law, one that only affected the east. The northern mountains that you so adore, the ones that make sure to keep Tarnow safe from their enemies, also ensures that they keep you clueless to what life is for the rest of us who had the misfortune of not being born in the north. Each of our kingdoms, be it east, south, or west, pays the price of servitude in their own way. A hefty price at that. The king of the north demanded it so. And for decades we obliged, knowing that to defy him would be treason to the kingdom we so loved.”
The sense of dread consumes me as I feel this conversation is about to get ten times worse—the burning question lodged in my throat terrified to come out.
“What really happened to your parents, Levi? For I fear the plague that stole my mother didn’t steal yours.”
“No, it did not,” he retorts, that sharp edge of steel back into his tone.
He hears it too.
Levi takes a fortifying breath, calming himself before he utters another word.
“After news broke of your mother’s untimely death, all the kingdoms mourned the loss. While King Orville had been a tyrant, it was well known that Queen Alisa did not support her husband’s methods or views. Yes, she may have stood by his side as his wife and queen, but she tried to ease our suffering by offering her own counsel. I can only speak of her kindness when it comes to the east. Especially, because she had used my own mother to deploy most of her messages to my kingdom. Where Orville demanded that all men be enslaved to the crown by going off to fight his wars on foreign lands, Alisa made it evidently clear that the children not bear arms and serve in our troops in lower-level capacities. Be it mending our armor, securing our weaponry, or cooking our meals. The law had been clear, and yet she found a loophole where she could save our younglings from seeing bloodshed for as long as we could keep it that way.”
Having Levi talk so fondly of my mother, brings back memories of her to the forefront of my mind.
He’s right.
She had been born from winter, yet she still managed to have a warmth about her. A diamond heart that wasn’t hardened but shone brightly for all the world to see.
“But while we mourned, your father plotted,” he continues, his nostrils flaring. “For all his faults, your father loved your mother. She was his conscience. Or at least as much as she could have been to a man whose ruthlessness and greed knows no bounds. The minute she left this mortal plane, your father became the thing we always feared he was—a monster.”
My heart begins to drum, recalling how in fact my father changed when my mother died.
Before he would talk to me. Even if only to ask me how my day had gone. He was never gentle or kind, nor did he ever pretend to be that kind of man, but at least he tried to show some sort of fatherly affection toward me. A gentle hug every now and again. A little praise here and there. A kiss goodnight. He tried. And because he did so, I loved him even more for it.
It’s easy to love someone who showers you with love and affection because it is in their nature to do so. But when it’s not, and that person tries with all their might to show you they care, even when it goes against the very fabric of their being—that to me is an even greater show of love.
Or for a while, I thought it was.
