Amelia Merlin and the Game for Okamila

Part 5: Marco

Marco didn't have a last name. Not that he cared, last names were only for the rich and he was the farthest thing from that. He despised the wealthy, the ones who did everything in their fucking power to keep the poor in their place.

Except for Rose of course. She gave away as much money as she could without her father seeing it. Rose was the best thing about this godforsaken city. Everyone else was either a religious freak or a drunk. Marco was inexcusably the latter of the two. Not that he cared, anything was better than the gods.

That was the thing he and Rose fought about most. She loved the gods and he hated them. What had they ever done for him? To which Rose always said that they brought the two of them together so how bad could they be?

Marco remembered the day they met. He was seven years old and the slave master from a small city called Viserys, had taken him to Re'na to be sold. Slavery wasn't huge in Re'na, compared to the other cities, but there was still a wealthy man or two who would pay a pretty price for a pretty little boy like Marco.

Luckily for Marco he'd been sold to one of the Knights of the Lake as a squire. So he followed Sir William around from training to jousting tournaments to battles. That was back when the Knights of the Lake actually helped out in battle. Marco learned a lot from Sir William. The first time he killed a person it was because they were trying to kill him. The man had come into the house in the dead of night but Marco was still awake, polishing shoes. He saw the man stalking through to the bedroom, sword drawn, and Marco knew exactly what was going to happen. So he grabbed a sword from the kitchen that he had been sharpening and he ran it through the back of the assassins skull. After that Sir William said he could start training to become a knight.

And so on his first day at the training centre, a young Lady Rose Dellisandro came to visit the gallant Knights of the Lake.

The second he saw that silver princess coming around the corner on her big black horse, Marco hated her. It was nothing personal, he hated all the wealthy people in the entire world. So when she got down off her high horse and went around to all the knights, Marco just rolled his eyes and kept swinging his sword. He wasn't going to let some girl distract him.

But then she came right up to him and was all, "how are you this fine day, good sir?"

To which Marco responded, "Why are you here, my lady?" As scornfully as possible.

Rose looked hurt but stuck her chin out and said, "I'm here to meet the citizens of my city. To get to know my people."

Marco laughed. "Trust me, my lady. These are not your people. These are the Knights of the Lake!" He said sarcastically. "And they're nothing like the people on the outside of this place. If you really want to meet your people you've got to go down there." He pointed to the exit of the lake.

"Father won't let me."

"Didn't think you needed anyone's permission to do anything. Aren't you the silver fucking princess?" He went back to swinging his sword and he'd almost forgotten she was there until her small voice said,

"Will you take me?" He stopped abruptly and looked at her like she was stupid. "It's just that no one else will and I need a guide or I'll get lost."

All Marco saw this was an opportunity to show the wealthiest girl in the city how the rest of them lived. Maybe give the bitch some perspective on life. So he said, "Fine. But you have to sneak out of the castle. Tomorrow, noon, meet me five hundred yards to the right of the castle gates and I'll show you the world."

Every day was the same after that, wake up, go training with whatever knew swordsman there was, clean up, go see Rose, go on an adventure, drop Rose off, go home, train, sleep, wake up and do it all over again. He showed her every shop, every street, every hidden place, every nook and cranny this city had to offer, Marco knew about and he showed Rose everything.

Whenever he yelled at someone to fuck off, pushed someone out of the way, or stole from a shop, Rose always got this sad look on her face. But it never stopped her from following him around. The first time Rose saw him kill someone, it was just a stupid bar fight, these things happened all the time, she didn't talk to him for the rest of the day no matter what he said.

When they got older and the city no longer held secrets from Marco and Rose, they left the city. She took horses from the stables and he took her to the caves of the Gentle Woods or to the Valley of Fools. He showed her where to find the Nests of the Young Men, or the caves where you could still see dwarve's treasure. He could find unicorn tracks and small strings of silver hair that matched Rose's He tried to find the small hints of magic that hadn't been destroyed by the lizards yet.

Slowly they fell in love. It wasn't some bullshit fairy tale love. Or maybe it was, Marco didn't really know the difference but he did know that he was no Prince Charming. He started to enjoy her musical voice where before it irritated the shit out of him. He longed to see her smile and laugh. Her laugh was the best thing in the world. He snuck her into plays to see her face light up with glee.

She was too good for him. That much was clear. Her kindness was an exact opposite to his unapologetic rudeness. But Marco didn't care that she was too good or that she deserved someone better. He was too selfish to give a damn that there might her someone else out there for her.

They were fifteen years old the day he took her to the ocean, it was the best day of his life. He'd stolen bread and cheese and strawberries for a picnic and they rode out to the ocean together. They stayed all day. She usually had to go back before dark but not today she said.

They played in the waves and she threw seaweed at him so he picked her up and threw her in the seaweed. They lay on the sand for hours listening to each other talk about nothing. Marco had never felt so happy in his entire existence.

"Rose," he said softly.

"Yes?" They stood with their toes in the water. Bright red fish that glowed with an orange light swam around their feet.

"Can I say something?"

"You already have." She laughed and poked him. "You're saying something right now."

"Something serious."

"Okay." Her big grey eyes looked impossibly lovely.

"I love you." He said without his usual ferocity. This time his voice was gentle. "I've never been so happy than when I'm with you. I love you like the stars love the night sky, with beauty and light and I love-"

She put her hands on the side of his face, stood up on her toes and kissed him.

Marco's world fell apart. He wrapped his arms around her and nothing else mattered except this exceptional girl he was holding.

When they broke apart she said, "I love you Marco." 

They spent all night on that beach. And when they woke in the morning Marco started brushing sand out of her hair. 

"No." she smiled and took his hand away. "Every grain of sand is a reminder of how much I love you."

Things changed after that. Marco would sneak into her room at night, or they would just spend the day lying on the forest floor looking up at the sky between the trees. They still went on adventures but they really just needed to be together. 

The day after Rose's wedding to that slimy piece of stinking shit Blaxton Monatheon, Marco quit the training for the Knights of the Lake. Sir William almost whipped him when he found out Marco was going to go join the army of Re'na. Marco's best friend, Sam, was at a loss for words. 

He followed Marco around his small house as he packed his things for the army. 

"Why are you doing this mate?" Sam leaned against the door frame.

"This war needs to be over." he shoved his sword in its sheath.

"Yeah well it's not gonna last forever is it?"

"If I join the army, go into a battle as much as I can, which isn't going to happen if I'm a knight by the way, then I can finish this thing. You know I'm the best. When I'm not with Rose, I'm fighting. And since Rose is married, the only fucking thing left for me is to fight. I know that Rose needs to stay with Blaxton for the alliance or whatever. So the sooner this goddamn war is over, the sooner the alliance doesn't matter, which means the sooner Blaxton Monatheon can die." 

And so off he went to war.