“He was an enemy”, – Carina said quietly, – “And I couldn’t betray my people…”
“That’s fucking cold!” – Tol roared. – “Me likey! Waiting till he falls in love! Atta-girl! Now, that’s a revenge! And what’s going on with this “red” right now, any idea?
“Like I said, he survived, but his luck turned away from him, he started losing, defeat after defeat, total doom.
"Serves him right! I hate the 'reds'! All the pain they caused us!" – Tol went on and on.
"He wasn't a complete "red", he was a half-blood".
"Obviously, the "half-bloods" are even worse than the "reds", just like our Lis! By the way, he might have known him, what was that commander's name?"
"His name was Sigmer" – Carina said slowly, – "The 'blacks' used to call him Sigmer-Death."
Orel squeezed his temples within his palms, as if he suddenly got a headache.
"Shit, totally forgot, I've got something important to do…" – Enriki mumbled indistinctly, and without even finishing the sentence hurried towards the stairs to the second floor. Squint-Eye was right behind him, not even bothering to make up an excuse.
"We must go, too" – Orel said. "It's time we attend to business. Tol!" – he called, giving Tol a meaningful stare.
"What business, in the middle of the night" – Tol muttered grumpily, it didn't seem like he's about to go anywhere, even though he took Orel's hint.
"To-o-ol!"
"Yes, I'm coming, I'm coming, why do you have to yell?! I got it. Bye, Lis. Bye, Carina. Good luck…"
"T-o-o-l!"
Carina and Lis were left alone. Lis was sitting in front of her, he didn't change his stature. Didn't try to leave, oh no. Finally, he slowly lifted his dark head, hair parted right in the middle, and looked at her, and Carina thought that Arel has left her alone again.
Alone with Lis. She looked into his eyes and didn't recognize him, it's a different glance, completely different. A glance of a very mature person, of an old man. He really did get old, or maybe it's that dye made him look older, and the black hair. What does his face look like without this dye, are his cheeks and nose still covered in freckles, or maybe they're gone, just like the light from his eyes. So silly… And he was almost a king, a king of the "reds" in this world. But he lost everything. Became a slave. Because of her.