Frozen Summer

Chapter 12

I had trouble bringing Ramos back to the village, I was lucky that Malik managed to get out and bring in soldiers to carry us. While they were carrying us back I passed out. Apparently my family was worried because I slept for 4 days. Somehow when I woke up I wasn't feeling hungry at all, all I wanted was to know what they did to Ramos's body. Since he didn't have any other family, I feared the worst but luckily Malik offered to be the one to bury him. When i learned this i wanted to run to his grave but my parents refused to let me go until they were sure i was well rested and fed.

I was eating in complete silence, my parents had this weird look on me as if i was some kind of weird beast, my dad sat in front of me and took a deep breath.

" Son, we heard what went down, Malik told us you encountered a Liéchi. I should be scolding you for going despite our warnings but instead i'm more curious to how you made it alive. The blacksmith died so you were the one who killed that spirit weren't' you ? "

" What if I did ? "

" Richard, i need you to be honest with me here, DID you kill this Liéchi or NOT ? "

I didn't get why it was such a big deal, i mean sure it was strong but it wasn't impossible to kill.

" Yes I did kill it, after it killed Ramos I just ... did some things that even I can't explain."

My dad then started praying and my mom came to comfort him. My dad was shaking his head in disbelief.

" Honey I hoped this day would never come, I truly prayed each day that nothing would ever manifest . "

" We have to tell him, he deserves to know now" .

I was completely lost .

" Wait, what do i need to know ? What are you hiding from me ? Did you know that I could do these things ? "

My parents were staring at me in silence. My mom then moved behind me and kneeled down to remove a plank of the floor, she took out what looked like a small wooden chest. She placed it on the table in front of me.

" Open it "

I opened the box and inside found a red cloth with the king's emblem on it. It smelled good, somehow it smelled like something I knew.

" What is this, why do you have cloth that seems to belong to the king himself "

" Seventeen years ago, we heard a baby crying in the forest, wrapped in this cloth, it was you Richard ". She took a deep breath, trying to hold back her tears. " The queen was awaiting her fourth prince, we never knew what became of it as the custom is to kill it or abandon him. When we found you in the forest, we knew who you were but we raised you and loved you as our own son. "

I couldn't believe what i was hearing, me ? A prince ? All my life I thought I was crazy for thinking I could achieve more than being a farmer.

" That still doesn't explain the fact that i can do magic as a male "

" It does, you know our kingdom hates magic users. The 4th child is a bad omen because there is a possibility of it being a magic user. So the kingdom adopted this custom of always discarding the child. "

" So what would happen to me if i ever walked into the king's hall and presented myself as their child and a magic user ? "

" You would be killed on the spot ! " My father had never been so scared. " or you would be tortured until u gave us up ".

It was a lot of information to take in, I didn't want my parents to be scared for me at all times. But I had to tell them what I had planned.

" I know you will find this stupid and even more now that i know what i know, but i want to join the army. I want to be the greatest fighter the king ever saw, and then after he acknowledges me as a great man I will reveal to him what I can do and who I am. He doesn't need to welcome me with open arms, but maybe, just maybe he will stop seeing magic users as spawn of the devil. Maybe he will stop causing pain to people that he doesn't even know."