The hand that kills Two years later, news arrived that my father came running to share with me. He showed me a picture in the newspaper of a young woman with a scar that went from her mouth to her ear and Marcos beside her. The news said that they had separated. And that was not all. He sent that newspaper and a note showing regret and asking his father to take him back. I did not believe for a minute that regret, I distrusted Marcos, because he never mentioned how he knew our address and this to me was a sign that something in that story was false. Maybe the whole thing was fake. But Dad was excited. And not listening to my warnings of a possible frame-up, he sent another letter inviting him to join us again. Dad, helped by my father-in-law, prepared a wing of the mansion we lived in just for Marcos, so that he could have more privacy. I demanded that Gabriel take me to a place of our own, for I had no desire to be close to my brother and had no confidence in him. Nothing coul
A soft wind whipped my face as I knew the sun was shining and flooding the world with its scorching heat. I lazily opened my eyes when I heard someone calling me for the third time, insistently and in an urgent voice. Anat was staring at me with wide, surprised eyes. I took a deep breath and sat up. The subjects stopped waving their giant fans and the pleasant wind disappeared. Those fans they held with pride and devotion were a gift from Frod, a god who had fallen in love with me and was trying at all costs to win me over by sending rare gifts. As I was no fool, I knew that the day I fell for his charms, he would use me, and soon he would be bored and go find someone else who would make him happy again for a few months. I didn't like to see Anat in my domains, much less in my palace, for I knew she liked to leave a present in the belly of everyone she visited. "Anat! What do you want here? I will not be one of your incubators to hold another of your subjects." She s
Walking out into the courtyard, I could still feel Helios. He was still in the throne room. Decided, I became like a hurricane and went into the desert where Lineo's palace was. I was not surprised that all the rooms were covered with thick curtains that prevented the sunlight from invading. Since he began to take blood from the simple folk frequently, he had become sensitive to light. I entered knowing that I was welcome there and he surrounded me with darkness, leaving me paralyzed. I was reassured, for I knew he must have been guarding against disguises that Helios could use to reach him. "It's me, Lineo. Stop this nonsense." I had to say when I realized he was taking his time with his assessment. He appeared and even amidst the darkness, I could see his bright red eyes stare at me inquiringly. "You're in trouble and so am I." I went on to say as soon as he released me from the paralysis. "I already knew there would be consequences, when I broke the rules.... What was
I was a street girl. My mother was a prostitute and had no idea who my father was and no means to support me. So, she abandoned me as soon as I was born, I learned about these conditions about my mother and my origin from the women who hated her and made sure to tell me horrible stories about her every time they saw me. They only thought about getting revenge on the woman who took away their husbands' fidelity and didn't stop to think that they paid for my mother's work and that she was no respecter of persons as long as they had money to pay her. They had no pity for my young age. What they did have was the fear that I was the daughter of their precious husbands. Rejected, I was raised on the streets of the suburbs. I don't even know how I survived. Each season, some wanderer would take pity on me and stay with me for a few months. But my constant companions were hunger and loneliness. But I did not resign myself to that fate. With a lot of willpower (because when I entered some pla
In Search of Redemption I took a shower and went out to the balcony where I started to watch the stars. I felt like them. Always close to each other, but always alone. Turning my thoughts to Gabriel, I remembered our conversation. In truth, nothing I could say to him would change his mind. I had long ago planted the seed of hurt and revenge in his heart, and it was rooted in him. Even though it meant his own destruction, the seed germinated. The fruit was not good. And I didn't know how to change our reality. How to prove to him that I had changed. I could even imagine my arguments and theirs; "I won't be that person you knew anymore, even animals evolve, why would I remain the same? Look at these last few lifetimes when we haven't met. I've done nothing bad..." And he would rebut; "You didn't because I wasn't there! You are like the sand. It never changes." And maybe he was right. But we would only find that out if one day he came back and
The King's Children The room, furnished with all the luxury the times allowed, was full of women running around, carrying bowls of water and clean towels, while the queen sweated on the bed, feeling the pains of childbirth that would bring the longed-for heir into the world. Her face transfigured a mixture of pain and pride. She knew that her husband, after being thrown out of the room by the slave girls, was waiting outside. A louder groan and a deep cry that would trouble the soul of any human being, was followed by laughter and applause. They brought the little baby so that the queen could see him, already wrapped in a blue blanket. He was a beautiful boy. The new mother only had time to smile and look with great affection at the prince, who was crying disconsolately in the arms of Martha, the queen's trusted slave, before he began to feel dreadful pain again, much stronger than that of the first child. And to the amazement of everyone, even the queen herself, another child ca
Dartan approached the bed as soon as the priest had left and sat down in the chair by the bedside, previously occupied by Ale. He took her hand, feeling her coldness, and brought it to his lips. "Oh, my dear.... What is this misfortune that has befallen our family? I would give anything to take your place, for you are the foundation of this family and your life much more precious than mine.... If only we knew what disease this is, so that we could treat you properly... The priest said incoherent things... I believe that everyone is at a loss as to what to do..." He whined, thinking Lea was asleep, and was surprised when she answered him, staring him firmly in the eyes. Reminding Dartan of his beloved's healthy days. "This illness is the result of care, for the past eighteen years... The priest knew well what he was talking about." "What does Lea say? Has the care I have been giving you made you sick?" Lea smiled. Dartan was too good to associate his words with his child
On hearing the king's cry, his sons and the doctors rushed into the room. Ale, realizing what had happened, could not hold back his tears and threw himself on his mother's bed, kissing her between sobs. The body was inert, but still with a little warmth, and he absorbed that warmth like someone clinging to a last thread of hope. Luc didn't shed any tears. He just watched his brother's sobbing with hatred. He thought his mother was an idiot and her death was a choice. The treatment was within her reach and she refused to receive it, out of an unacceptable feeling of loyalty. She approached her father and, helping him to get up, left, taking him to his quarters. There, she called her personal servant and ordered him to bring one of the doctors, because they had all been called to give an opinion, but they arrived too late. The doctor who was accompanying her left to advise her at the last minute that she had little time. Luc imagined that he was told to act this way. "Give my f