The Princess hesitated, but there wasn’t time to even think it through. There was no choice but to accept his plan, and the obligation that it imposed. The two looked at each other for one moment in complete understanding.
“……”
Isha couldn’t look away from her, and had to swallow saliva in the deep silence. There were a few words right at the tip of his tongue, but now was not the time to say them. There was no point in asking whether he would ever see her again. Their single point of intersection would vanish behind them as soon as this moment passed. There was no reason for the Princess of Estia to have anything to do with a Kurkan ex-slave.
But still, he felt a desire to make some promise to her, a strangely powerful impulse.
“Princess,” he said, unable to restrain himself. “My name is Isha.”
“Isha,” she repeated. It felt good to hear his name from her lips.
“I hope you remember.” That sounded a little desperate, and he added hastily, “I will return the favor. And…”
He paused a moment, and drew a deep breath.
“…your eyes are also beautiful.”
She laughed, a laugh as lovely as the song of a nightingale at daybreak. Her eyes curved.
“Thank you. I will remember it, Isha.”
He stared at her back as she darted away, and when he was sure she was gone, he ran as fast as he could down the other path. The baying of the hunting hounds was coming closer.
***
Isha frowned. His vision was wobbling.
But even so, he felt so light, his mind so filled with euphoria that he could ignore the pain of his body.
He was free.
He had longed for it for so long, but he had never thought he would have it. Gazing at the horizon, he smiled.
The sun was setting. Everything was scarlet under the fiery sky. If he continued forward, he would cross into the desert, and if he turned around, he could vanish into the depths of the continent.
He wondered which way the other Kurkan slaves had gone.
They had all wanted to return to their homeland, but right now, the desert only welcomed pure-blooded Kurkans. Their lives would be in danger if they tried to go home. The choice to flee into the continent seemed like it wasn’t any choice at all.
Isha ran his fingers through his hair, trying to guess which way his friends had gone. A gust of wind ruffled his ragged clothing. The time had come to choose.
He knew which way would be easiest. Away from the pureblood-obsessed Kurkans, he could live a quiet life in some corner of the continent.
But…he would not be content, that way.
He remembered how the half-breed Kurkans had been treated by the slavers, as mere objects for sale, that needed taming to fetch a good price. He thought of Mel’s death. Though he had been abandoned by his people and sold into slavery, Mel had always been proud to have been born a Kurkan.
But that hadn’t done him any good.
Isha remembered the sight of the boy’s corpse in the training center. And how all the other Kurkan children had rushed the tamers, sobbing.
And he thought of the Princess of Estia.
“……”
A faint smile appeared on his lips. He had thought it would be a difficult decision, but it was obvious. There was only one possible conclusion.
This would be his path.
Isha set his foot upon it.