The World Went Silent

Chapter 5

Meanwhile, in a village on the outskirts of the Yellow Kingdom, the people were resuming their normal work day. The brunette maiden sighed as she carried her bucket of water back to her house. The village had no money, for all of it had been stripped away by the princess's vile taxes. All of the maiden's family was sick, most of them dead. The last ones left alive were the maiden and her twin brother, but even he was close to death. Once he was gone, she would have to stand alone with her lover.

She entered the small hut that her family had once lived in, but now it smelled of sickness and death. Inside the room already were two people, one laying on the bed while the other sat in the chair and looked over him. The one laying in the bed was sickly pale, with short brown hair that matched the exact shade of the maiden's. His chestnut-colored eyes were closed, and his ragged breathing seemed to be the only thing that let her know he was alive. The other man looked very similar to the prince of blue, except in reds. He had told her that he had fled from the kingdom of blue to join the small village in hoe of a normal life. Normal.

"How is he doing, Akaito?" the maiden asked shakily, putting the bucket down. She wet a rag in it and placed it on her sweating twin's head.

"He seems to be getting worse," the red-haired man told her solemnly.

"Meiko…" the sick man whispered, raising a hand up shakily. The maiden took it gently.

"Yes, brother?" she asked. Meiko squeezed his hand, and her brother smiled slightly. Ever since he had gotten sick he had gotten a lot slimmer than before, and you could see his ribs through his skin. They were all rather slender, but he was the worst.

"I'm going to… pass on… please… bring down…. the yellow princess…"

"You're not going to die!" Meiko interrupted, tears blurring her vision. "We're going to get you some bread, and… and… take you to the blue kingdom…"

"You know I won't survive a journey to the land of blue," her brother said weakly, squeezing her hand back. "I love you… Mei-chan." As he said those words, his breath ran out slowly, and then it stopped altogether. Meiko gasped as the tears ran down her face, and she held her brother's hand to her cheek, rocking softly as if to comfort herself.

"No… no…" she whispered, wishing that the hand she was holding would miraculously come back to life and wipe her tears away. Instead, Akaito wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his chest in comfort. They stayed there in quiet mourning when a shout came across the village.

"The yellow soldiers are coming!" a male voice shouted. Then screams of panic. The two lovers broke apart and looked into each other's eyes, looking for answers.

"They're going to pay for this," Akaito growled, unsheathing the sword that was at his waist. All of the men carried swords, for once a long time ago the village produced the best war generals. But not anymore since the princess came into power.

"Akaito! No!" Meiko shrieked. "If you're caught, they'll send you to the guillotine!" Her lover simply smiled.

"It's a small price to pay for freedom, isn't it? Besides, I need to protect you." And with that, he ran out of the hut leaving an absolutely broken Meiko. She rushed into the basement. She was the only one left.

Once the sounds of battle outside her hut stopped, Meiko gained enough courage to go out into the village. What she saw made her eyes widen in terror. The village was empty, except for the splatters of blood on the dusty ground. Scattered weapons lay about. The whole village had been taken hostage by the yellow princess, and they were going to be sent to the guillotine one by one. And in the dust, was Akaito's sword. Meiko gasped, and lifted the weapon out of the dirt. More tears flowed freely down her face, and she clenched her hand around the sword.

"Unforgiveable."