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The street was at a halt, nobody even moving. All were watching the stage. Kalcius mutters to himself. Adenike and he were supposed to be having brunch today. But this crowd was making it more than difficult.
“Wait Kalcius,” Adenike tugged him back, “I want to listen.”
Kalcius let his grip slack, “It's just the new leader, you know…” Kal paused. He knew and Adenike knew. Knew a little too well.
“I know Kal, I know.” Adenike looked at him, some great pain, maybe it was pleading, maybe it was pity. Kal learned that Adenike would speak poems with eyes that couldn’t even see.
Kal’s hand drifted up to Adenike’s upper arm, “You don’t have to Adenike.” Kal spoke like it was a secret just for the both of them. In some ways it was.
“Just for a little while, we don’t have to stay long.” Kal didn’t really need the comfort. Kal wasn’t worrying about himself.
Kal closed the gap between them, standing side by side, “Just a while.”
Kal had never been too interested in politics, trying to find some life grander than this one was and had always been his goal. But that wasn’t Adenike. Adenike didn’t really have a choice either way. Kal bit his cheek and kicked a loose bit of the road, watching it skip and hop away.
It was hard to focus with all the whispers, voices becoming a swarm, an unwavering ocean. Adenike pushed through, dragging Kalcius alongside zir. The tug made him yelp. “Adenike a little warning!”
“You know that's not how this works,” Adenike smirked, “Excuse us!” Ze pushed through someone. They were about to say something but in spotting Kalcius, everyone's favorite folk hero, they closed their mouth turning back to the speaker. What a privilege Adenike has, ze almost chuckled to zirself.
A voice drifted above the others, It caught zir ears like a siren. “I’m trying my best to lead but I am being turned away at every door! I’ve got solutions but solutions no one will ever listen to!”
Adenike stopped, Kal barely even had time to react before he bumped into zir, causing Adenike to scowl at him, “Sorry,” he whispered. He looked up, he didn’t see the face of a leader, he saw the face of a child. The face of a child begging, pacing back and forth. The realization slipped out of his mouth, “That’s a child.”
Their hands dragged down their face, saying something he didn’t catch because Adenikes face looked back to him.
“It’s a what-” Adenike’s head was whirling who let a child-
“We don’t deserve to live like this!”
The words made Adenike run cold as ze turned back to where the stage was.
“We don't deserve to live like this!” Adenikes voice echoed off the cave walls. The war was exhausting. But here they all were, rebels gathered out of the sight of daw The Holy Monarch. Voices just like zir’s calling back to zir. “We’re paying the price for a war no one wanted!” Ze paced back and forth, cane clacking against the stone.
“Sigke have mercy! For what have we done to pay back such a price?!” Adenike couldn’t really tell if ze was cursing zir god or not.
Even with the flooding cheers, Adenike muttered a quiet prayer, “Oh Sigke keep him safe.” With everything, ze could muster, let Kalcius see another day.
“We don’t deserve to live like this!” Zir's fists clutched onto someone’s shoulders as ze shook apart.
“You don’t have to kai! No one knows!” Zir's head hit Kals shoulder as he rocked zir.
“You have to let go Kal!” Adenike pushed against Kal, “I’m not going to put you in danger!” Somehow ze managed to break out of Kal’s death grip, stumbling backward.
Kal caught zir’s wrist, “But I’m strong enough! I can do it!”
“Kalcius!” Adenike flicked him off, “Don’t make this harder than it has to be!”
“Well, I don’t want you to leave!” Kal stumbled after Adenike into the cool night.
“This isn’t about what you want Kal!” Adenike’s tears felt like hot fire rather than water.
“It's never been about what I want Adenike!” Kal caught zir wrists again, “Just let me have this one thing, I promise not to ask for anything else.”
Adenike drew a sharp breath in, “Good night Kalcius.” And with the exhale ze wrenched zir wrists out of Kal’s hands.
Adenike didn’t look back.
We don’t deserve to live like this, Adenike clutched to zir mother's dress, hiding behind nym.
The Holy Monarch strutted around, daw words slurring together as da gave some speech. It didn’t really matter in that small town. No revolution was going to brew here. But visions could. “Off with their head!” da commanded. The sick slice of metal cutting through meat and bone was not a sound that was going to leave zir ears for a while. “Now! Down with the village!” Then Adenike was roughly shoved by zir parent, “Adenike run!”
“Momma!” Adenike tried to reach back.
“Ellian, take zir.” Zir mother's voice was quiet as the roar of fire began.
Then the wind got knocked out of zir, picked up by zir waist, “Come on slowpoke! We gotta get out here!” Kalcius had already taken off running.
“Momma!” Adenike called out again, reaching, as zirs voice cracked.
“And bring me the head of Kalcius! I’ll make sure to squash any hope any of you ever had!” daw laughter rose through the air over the fire.
Kalcius stopped, twirling around, “Father? Dad!” Kalcius’ nails curled into fists, digging into Adenike’s skin and shirt.
“Kalcius go! I’ll be right behind!” Ellian’s voice rang.
“What about dad!?” Adenike felt a tear slip from Kal, ze covered zir mouth, trying to not to let out a sob. This was all zir fault.
Why do we have to live like this? Kal asked himself as he watch as Adenike was slumped over, gold leaking from zir eyes repeating the same phrase over and over.
The phrase “When the night consumes the sun, and all hope has vanished, the lost heir shall return” was the only thing that had left Adenikes mouth since yesterday. They had moved zir limp body to the church around two in the morning. At first it was just a fever, then it got bad, shaking, puking, then Adenike was barely breathing.
Everyone was just waiting for the fever to break.
“Is Adenike gonna be okay?” Kal tugged on his father's pant leg.
“I’m sure zir will be fine, go on now.” his father nudged him, “Its time you go get dinner.”
“But what if,” Kal tried to protest, he wanted to be there when Adenike woke up.
“It’s going to be a while. A long while. I doubt it in all honesty.” There was something his eyes that said Adenike wasn’t going to break zir fever. Maybe he didn’t want to stay.
“You talk so much shit for a man of god,” Jayvyn, Adenikes parent hissed, over nym shoulder.
“And yet your the one with a dying child in nym arms,” His voice felt like ice under kal’s skin. He took a few steps back as Jayvyn rose and grabbed Father by his collar and screamed, shaking him. Kal was already scrambling too far away to hear what ny was screaming about but he could probably make a few good guesses.
“Adenike?” Kals grip tightened on Adenike snapping zir awake. Ze blinked a couple of times. “You still here?”
Adenike snaked zir shaking hand into Kalcius’, “Yeah I’m here.”
Kal squeezed zir hand, “You look sick, kai.”
“Just a little while, Kal.” Adenike squeezed back.