Chapter 27: Once Upon A Bird

A few days earlier, Livra found herself traveling in a levitating capsule towards the Earthlands. She didn’t care anymore. She was tired of her life. What had those two years of freedom been worth? The single time she tried to establish her life with someone, with the one she thought would be the love of her life, her past would always come back to haunt her at the slightest change.

No... she thought again. It had all been her fault. Karma had given her back exactly what she had sown. She had lied to Calen from the beginning, almost ruining his life and his career, with everything he had fought for to get out of the mud, all for her selfish desire to be free at the expense of others. She deserved it.

Moreover, in order to not involve him further and to keep him safe, and to reject his proposal to run away together, she had lied to him once again. She pretended to be offended by the book incident. The truth was, she didn’t care at all if Calen had seen Sienna. She didn’t care as long as he stayed by her side. She had been lying to him all along, and it was possible he was in danger. What right did she have to accuse him of anything? Yet, she had done it. To keep him from following her. Or was there some truth in her words? Something gnawed at her heart. What if he didn’t choose her? What if he forgot about her easily?

Just imagining Sienna in Calen’s warm embrace made her want to throw up. If only her hands weren’t tied, she would have pulled her hair out.

For the past couple of days, she had been captured by a burly man who didn’t speak much. He hadn’t introduced himself, but Livra knew exactly who he was, as Calen had warned her of his presence. He was Balthar Drik, the bounty hunter mercenary sent to find her by her father.

Her life was over. Calen might as well forget about her. She was going back to her life of obligations and classism, and she would marry the son of some other important figure in the Earthlands. She felt less than a prostitute, she felt like merchandise.

As a tear ran down her cheek, she could see Balthar watching her from the back of the levitating capsule.

With a quick movement, more like a cat than a human, Balthar brought a silk handkerchief closer and gently wiped her tears away.

“Don’t cry, girl,” the mercenary said. “It’s not personal, you know? These are just orders. I don’t know what kind of miserable life you have, and frankly, I don’t care. I don’t even have the guts to tell you that there are people with worse lives than yours. I don’t know. All I know is that if one day you really want to disappear and get rid of your current life, you’ll need a lot of wealth and hire me,” he said with a half-smile and a tone of complicity.

The truth was that despite his appearance, Balthar had treated Livra like a princess. He had never hit or mistreated her. He had never raised his voice or used foul words towards her. He had fed and hydrated her properly at all times. He had even given her the best seat in the levitating capsule, near the emergency exit. It didn’t matter, though. She knew that not in a million years would she escape from him.

“Balthar,” Livra said. “Are you really going to take me to my father?”

Balthar was surprised. He hadn’t remembered telling her his name. So, the girl wasn’t stupid, and she had more information than he thought, huh?

“Yes, girl. That’s why I’m being paid. I won’t apologize, and I don’t feel guilty, so spare me the sob stories you’re about to tell me.”

“No,” said Livra. “What if I tell you a story but not about myself? It’s about a bird who didn’t want to fly. What do you think?” she said with a smile as she moved closer to the mercenary to talk to him.

“I don’t know what you’re up to, girl,” Balthar said. “But alright, do whatever you want.” He finished saying resignedly, pulling out a flask from the inner pocket of his coat and taking a long swig.

“Fine,” Livra nodded. “Once upon a time, there was a bird that didn’t want to fly. The other birds, however, mocked him because they thought he couldn’t fly, but the truth was that the bird didn’t want to fly. So one day, tired of all the mockery, the bird decided to fly.”

“What did the bird do?” Balthar asked, curious.

“What did he do?” Livra replied. “He flew, of course. He flew and flew. He flew so much that he couldn’t go back, because he had gone so far that he didn’t remember where his home was. And that’s when he thought, maybe it would have been better not to have flown because on the way, he had made friends, you know? The sun and the stars. But he left them behind. And he couldn’t stop thinking about them and how maybe, by flying away from them, he might have hurt them.”

“And how does the story end?” Balthar asked again, with an expression that didn’t seem like his own. He was clearly moved. He took another long swig from the flask and said, “Go on, girl.”

“How does the story end?” Livra repeated. “Well, I don’t know, Balthar. Maybe the bird meets more stars, but he doesn’t know if he wants to meet another sun, because leaving it behind was the hardest thing that could have happened to him. Harder than realizing that he should never have flown.”

Balthar looked at Livra, moved. He let out a “Pfff” from his lips. “You didn’t have to go this far to talk about yourself, Livra. I get it now.” With a kind gesture, he brought the flask to Livra’s lips.

She accepted the offer and drank. It was a bitter, hot liquor, far too strong for her, so she coughed violently from the burn in her throat.

“Haha,” Balthar laughed. “You really are a kid with your stories.”

“Hahaha,” Livra laughed too. “You know, in these two days, it’s the first time you’ve called me Livra,” she said, smiling. “You might actually be a star,” she said with a kind smile on her lips. “You’re actually sentimental. I’ve known it from the beginning.”

Balthar couldn’t help but blush. “Damn it,” he thought. “Damn bird story.”