The Harvest of Souls

CHAPTER 1

ÁSTUR

05.01.8462 - 7:15 AM

The luxurious hotel room near Liberty Square, wholly drenched in darkness due to the thick blackout curtains, suddenly lit up. The vibrating sound on the bedside table, combined with the luminosity emitted by the Micro Communicator, woke Lélia for the second time that morning. The woman groped, still dazed until she found the device and turned off the alarm; with a wave of her hand, she made part of the curtains open, slightly illuminating the room.

"Good Morning," she said, running her hands over the youthful face of the man beside her on the bed.

"Good Morning," answered the young man yawning. "Slept well?"

"The two hours of sleep you allowed me?" She asked, smiling genuinely.

The man gave a little grunt as he stretched.

"Hmm, it's your fault," he said. "Nobody asked you to be the most amazing woman in this universe."

"Thank you," Lélia replied, leaving the bed naked. "I need to get ready to go to the airport. These fifteen minutes that I postponed will cost me."

"You care too much about your work," said the man.

Lélia went into the bedroom bathroom and yelled from inside while she got a toothbrush:

"My boss is very demanding."

She took less than ten minutes to come out of the bathroom completely dressed, already showered, hair combed, and wearing clothes of light shades.

"These formal clothes do not suit you," Commented the man.

"Being naked in a hotel bed with a longtime friend of yours does not suit you," answered the woman giving a wink to the man in bed.

She climbed into bed and kissed the man slowly, before starting to hum as she looked deeply into her lover's eyes:

"Su boca que besa, borra la tristeza, calma la amargura."

She then kissed the man once more.

"Now, seriously, I still have a one-hour flight to Luísia, and I need to be at the office before nine o'clock. And you need to meet Victor soon, and start to organize Asturias' Independence Anniversary celebration."

"I know. It is that... this year... I'm so discouraged with these celebrations."

"It's important to your people."

"It makes no sense to organize a celebration for a victory that belongs to my aunt."

"Again: it is for your people that you are doing this," Lélia gave him a last kiss. "Have a nice day, I love you, Richard."

"Love you too," Richard replied, kissing Lélia's hands.

As soon as Lélia left the room getting into the sumptuous hotel corridor, Richard dropped his head on the synthetic feather pillow and went back to sleep.

ÁSTUR

05.01.8462 - 1:22 PM

The modern all-glass building clashed with the other buildings around Liberty Square. The Asturian City Hall was a low, rectangular eight-story building, interspersed with glossy black boards that reflected the sunlight and created a particular shadow on the glass walls, preventing sunlight from penetrating the building's rooms. On one of the largest rooms on the eighth floor, right in the center of the building, was the Mayor's Office.

Richard was seated in front of a glass table, through which, while on top of it, all of the mayor's electronics devices were simultaneously recharged. Victor had been talking for over ten minutes without even a break, while Richard tried to hide his sleepy face. Behind Victor was a string of televisions that floated a few inches off the room's floor and featured several different faces.