The next day, Yuki asked for her coffee to be served in her room. She could still hear the Host's words in her mind and felt that she needed to think, to reflect on her life. Of course, she agreed that the ideal would be for her and Sean to come to an agreement. Ideally, however, that was the hard way. Sean wouldn't let go of his pride and as much as she wanted to, she couldn't believe that he loved her. It was true that he had found out a few things about her and used that to please her, but that was all he could find out. She had taken care not to be found after her escape from the island.
She closed her eyes. Yuki understood that if she wanted her marriage to have a chance of going ahead, she needed to talk to Sean about Selytha. And she trusted that he was a decent man and that if he rejected the child, he would help her leave that place safely. And what would she do with her feelings for Attila?
Someone knocked on the door and entered without waiting for an answer. Yuki turned to look who had entered. It was her Simpática.
"What's up, Your Majesty?"
"Simpática, I don't want you to take time off again without telling me first. I hate surprises." She said sullenly.
"Yes, wife Ra. I'm sorry."
Yuki looked into her large, expressive green eyes.
"You're not one of the fire people."
She thought she got the impression that the Sympathetic One turned livid and snow-white.
"I... I... Why do you think that, Your Majesty?" She asked stammeringly.
"I didn't say I think so, did I?" Yuki began to pace around her. "You don't follow the standards of the women of these people. Even with your high heels disguised by your long dress, you don't reach the height of the Mahagahenses. And your hair is not naturally blonde. I recognize that you do a good job of dyeing it, but I'm a woman and I can recognize natural hair color from afar. And what you can't disguise... Your eyes. I've walked around this city and noticed that the shade of green in your eyes doesn't exist here or... anywhere else in the world."
"My Farida... I'm impressed that you've observed me so thoroughly, but not all women are..."
"Don't lie to me! Don't insult my intelligence with your false flattery! I didn't find it strange that you were different, because I thought you were an immigrant until... I didn't know that the Sympathetic are people carefully chosen by the palace officials and that they are definitely all people born and raised in Mahagah, until yesterday. In casual conversation..."
The Sympathetic was silent.
"If you don't tell me what you do in this palace, I'll send for Attila. Do you think he'll ask questions before or after he rips off every part of your body?"
"My Farida! You wouldn't do that, you're..."
"You've been killing the people of these parts with the utmost cruelty, so don't ask me to be merciful to you." Yuki said resolutely and walked over to the Intercom, which flew out of her hand with a bang and she saw her Sympathetic pointing a silenced gun at her.
"You dare fire that at your Farida?"
"It will be my life or yours, Your Majesty. And I don't want to die now."
"You should have thought of that before you led those attacks, Freya."
She and Yuki turned in surprise to the window. Attila was crouching on the balcony, wearing his armor.
"If you come any closer, I'll kill her." Freya said, holding the gun even tighter.
"I hope you do." Atila said and jumped into the room, approaching slowly. "Yuki has already lived beyond what she was meant to."
"It'll be touching to see the big party she prepared turned into Farida's farewell." Freya threatened.
"Yes. But you won't see that, Freya."
She fired at Yuki, who fell and then pointed the gun at her own head.
"You're not going to take me alive."
Atila bent down and touched the ground in one swift movement, and she became curious and waited. That was her mistake. Suddenly she felt the cold that penetrated her entire body through the floor and paralyzed her.
Atila reached down and took the gun from her hand and threw it away.
Some staff entered the room in despair.
"What happened here?" One of them asked, looking at Farida lying in a pool of blood.
"You're assholes! Call Mycon! Now! And send an employee with my medicine bag!"
"But what about Farida...?"
"Now!" Atila shouted impatiently and they ran off.
Atila turned around and approached Yuki. He bent down and touched his finger to her neck to feel her pulse and, letting go of her, turned to Freya.
"She's dead." He said and reaching up, touched the top of her head and she was freed from the paralysis.
"I'm sorry. We had plans for her." She said fearfully.
"Go away, Freya. Jump out the window."
"Are you going to let me go? Why?"
"We're from the same family. We have the same blood."
"That didn't matter to you when you were killing your family before."
"I didn't know they were my family." Attila said and when he faced Freya, his eyes were wet with tears.
Freya went to the window.
"I'll look for you soon." She promised and jumped up.
Atila approached the window and saw her running towards the gate, dodging everyone, passing through the bushes in the garden, unnoticed by the guards, and hurried back to her room. He picked Yuki up from the floor and laid her on the bed. He ran his hand through her hair as he looked at her with immense sadness and that's how Mycon found him.
"I've already arranged for a Simpática to come and change her clothes." He said, looking suspiciously at Attila. "Did Freya believe you?"
"Yes. After I cried like a little girl, she was moved."
"I wish I could have seen that."
"I bet you'd applaud my performance."
Mycon looked at Yuki.
"How long will it take for her to wake up?"
"I think it's best to apply a sedative. I need to extract the projectile from her body and it would be good if she believed it was just a dream."
"Do you think she won't notice a scar on her own body?"
"She won't get a scar."
"Are we going to tell the truth, or say that the shot didn't hit her body?" Mycon asked, looking indifferently at Yuki.
"If she asks, we'll tell the truth." Atila said and went to meet the official who arrived with his medical bag.
He took out some medical instruments and after applying an anesthetic to Yuki, began to extract the projectile.
"When Sean hears about this..."
"He doesn't need to know everything, Mycon." Atila said, pulling out the projectile with the tweezers and standing up. "The anesthetic I applied will make her sleep for a few hours. Make sure she eats something light here in her room." He said and left to meet his host.
...
The host sensed that something important had been broken inside the palace and was already on his way to Yuki's room when Atila met him in the corridor. They walked back to the meeting room.
"Host, I think the time has come for me to be what I was born to do."
The host looked sad.
"Why? I sensed a break in the family. You shouldn't have done that. Not yet."
"Do you want me to wait for them to kill my whole family from the fire?" Atila said and threw the glass with the drink he had just poured onto the floor, enjoying watching it crash with a thud. "They didn't hesitate to shoot Farida!"
"How did that happen? How did they get to Yuki's room? And most importantly... How did you know?"
"I don't understand how Freya wasn't detected by the staff while they were assessing whether she would be a good Sympathizer. But I detected the smell of my blood and by instinct, I imagined it was coming from Yuki's room, and I took a chance when I heard the deafening sound of gunfire coming from her room and alerted the staff as I climbed up here."
"You decided to protect the people from the fire by betraying Sean? I still don't think that's a good idea. Pharaoh trusts you with his life. You can still give up, Attila."
"I can't allow the fire people to keep dying, host."
The host took a defeated breath.
"When are you going, then?"
"After the Great Feast. Perhaps I'll take a fire wife with me."
"Whoever you want to take, it's Yuki."
"Yes. I don't deny that and if you take your time figuring out a way to rescue my soul, I'll probably come back in a few years and take her."
The host looked suspiciously at Attila.
"Did you use Selytha to look into the window of the future?"
Atila smiled sadly.
"It wasn't on purpose. We were training and when my ice dagger touched her fire dagger..." Atila smiled at the memory. "She felt she would lose and she's too proud to let it go unpunished. She tried to freeze me."
The host was stunned.
"You couldn't see past her age, which means that in less than four years..."
"I'll be back to take her mother."
"Do you know why Yuki isn't going with you?"
Atila looked mysteriously at the Host.
"I heard the advice some old fool gave her. I think that's why Yuki made the decision to stay and consolidate her marriage with Sean." Atila said and began to gather her medical equipment back into her suitcase.
"You know you can avoid what you've seen, right? We can only see what must be changed."
Atila closed the case and looked at his host.
"I'll restrain myself, old man. But that won't keep this future very far away. You're wrong. I can postpone it, but I can't stop it from happening. You, now that you know this, can surround her with care so that I never reach her and I hope you can, because I don't know if I can hold back for long." Attila said and left.