Fate II

CCXXXVI

Tending to the lilies in the Royal Garden as they bloomed magnificently in the late summer weather, Lucy walked silently with her white dress and shawl flowing behind her. Her face was pale but still healthy but it was clear that she had become thinner.

"In the end, war is inevitable," a cold wind blew.

Her honey-brown eyes had long lost their color but she still retained hope for a better world; a better world for her children and her people. But, all things come with a cost. There was nothing free in this world. Especially peace.

"We'll protect you," a firm hand placed itself around her waist and Masrur gazed down at her, his eyes holding nothing but the purest and most passionate affection. "I'll protect you."

Her eyes teared up and wavered with hesitation.

"I don't want to lose you. Any of you."

"You won't."

She laughed and turned to Masrur. "You know just as well as I do how many lives will be lost once war breaks out."

He pursed his lips and answered with confidence, "You won't lose any one of us. Not a single one of us Retainers."

She widened her eyes.

"We'll return one by one safe and sound. Trust us."

Her lips quivered and her chest heaved silently. She wanted to believe them. She wanted to trust them. But she herself knew just how sudden death was. Even to the most powerful of people.

"I trust you all," she worked up a brave smile. "For you are the people I chose. My most precious friends."

Masrur smiled fondly and kissed her softly on the head, his arm firmly around hers. He didn't care whether she was Sinbad's wife or the Queen of Sindria anymore. To him, she was just plain Lucy, the woman he had hopelessly fallen in love with and will continue to love well into the future. They only had one life to live and he'd rather live it without regrets.

"The weather's grown warmer," she said, feeling the warmth of the sun against her skin. "It'd be nice if we could take a family vacation again."

He smiled bitterly, the two knowing full well it was merely a hopeful wish.

"But," her eyes softened in sorrow, "that child won't be returning this year as well, will he?"

Masrur remained silent. "Yes."

Gazing into the distance, she tightened her hold on her arm and pursed her lips in bitterness. She was only twenty-six, her beauty having only bloomed all the more and her youthful appearance unchanging. Yet, her eyes have grown weary with despair, and the number of tears she had shed only worsened her already fading vision.

"He'll be safe," Masrur reassured her.

"I know," she closed her eyes. "As reluctant as he may be, he always performs his tasks perfectly. I trust him."

Masrur nodded his head in agreement.

"Rather," she continued, "I wonder when will be the next time I'll be able to touch him."

His heart shattered into pieces seeing her look so defeated and broken. Masud, Shameena, and Saheim, but she had lost too many precious people for her to feel the happiness she once had. Their deaths alongside Sikandar's leaving and rising tensions between Sindria and the Kou Empire only wore her down. A tear rolled down her face and Masrur widened his eyes.

"I wish I could just disappear," she said. That way, none of this will ever happen.

"No!"