Chapter 6

The nearest village had no name, and barely any people. Some kids ran through the streets and there was a smell of bread in the air.

Rob thought it was all too beautiful before passing out, at the entrance of the place.

He was expecting this. For the moment his body wouldn't handle anything anymore. Not another step, not another breath.

When falling into the darkness, he just hoped he wouldn't hit his head.

Rob rarely dreamed, especially when he was too tired, but this time all the possible dreams came to him. All the memories he'd rather forget. Everything that turned into dust on his life.

Sir Edward, a court noble, telling him he must get married, as a princess. Rob refusing it.

The King saying he should put his people before himself. Marriage would bring an alliance.

Sir Edward finding someone who was willing to marry him, despite the princess being, deep down, a prince.

It was hard to accept he would be a king who had the same roles as a queen. He was supposed to be simply the spouse of the King. A right hand. A pilar.

And he was none of that. The King ignored him, Rob was nothing more than a wall or a window. An old book thrown away in the middle of the library.

And it was at the library where he went to cry, cry because he was nothing. Cry because his life was just a big fraud. Cry because he would never look at the mirror and see himself.

"Wake up," said a distant voice, "wake up".

Rob opened his eyes slowly, feeling the light. A guard was looking at him.

The circle of fire was gone.

Rob knew it was a guard for the way the man was kneeling and talking, but his clothes were different from the ones in the palace. Simpler, older.

"Where did you get those clothes?"

The guard pointed to Rob. He tried to focus on his clothes. Dirty and sweaty, full of forest, with some blood on it.

But still the vest of a prince. Gold buttons and silver details. A single pearl on each shoe.

Rob could say anything. From "I'm an exiled king" to "I got them from a fairy", it would still sound fake. Besides, if he told people he was the king, the actual King could find out he wasn't in fact dead.

"I… I got them. From the Wizard," he realized it was a mistake at the moment he said it. His mind went to the Wizard because the man helped him many times, but it was clear the Wizard, on the palace, wouldn't have given a random citizen expensive clothes.

"So Sir Wizard got out of his enchanted house, bumped into you, and gave you clothes?"

"He was actually going to the palace. I… had my clothes stolen in the middle of the road. He helped me"

Which road? The one the carriage used to bring Rob to the forest? Why would anyone steal his clothes? Do real thieves steal clothes? Rob had never seen one. His lie was so full of holes he could fill it spill.

"Oh, I see," there was sarcasm on the guard's voice, "Sir Wizard sure is generous".

The guard got up and helped Rob to do the same. He was still dizzy.

The man gave a step forward and said:

"Follow me".

All of Rob's body screamed "Run", but he knew he could do nothing about it. His body was weak, his vision was still blurry. Running wouldn't last a second before passing out again.

He wished he had the circle of fire with him.

He started following the guard, slowly, because that was what his body allowed. His mind was racing. Would he be interrogated again? Would he be thrown in a dungeon, left to die? Do they feed prisoners in dungeons outside the castle? He didn't want to lose another tooth. He wasn't ready for this.

He didn't want this.

The guard turned left, and Rob saw a big open space. A man stood next to a bulletin board.

"Our Majesty, King Rob, was exiled"

People would gather around him, curious.

"He committed murder, with the help of Sea Magic. He was thrown on the forest yesterday"

People were murmuring and screaming and talking.

Rob turned to the guard the moment the guard turned to him. He stared at Rob with the eyes wide open, and Rob knew, just knew, that he was just recognized. Time seemed like it stopped.

The crowd talk sounded slower and slower. The guard's mouth, ready to say something, was half-opened. Rob wasn't breathing.

And there, in the middle of something inside his heart. In the middle of the middle of the heart, Rob heard a thing.

"Run"

He knew with his whole being running wasn't an option, but there was a voice this time.

A real voice, echoing on Rob's ears.

"I guarantee you will escape. Just run, Rob"

A man's voice. Inside his head. And people were staring at him and the guard began to scream something and

"Run!"

Rob turned around and began to run.

His legs wouldn't work properly. His heart wasn't beating in the right way. But he opened space between the crowd, bumping and stepping and excuse me.

He could hear the guard just behind him, but Rob was smaller. He could fit better in the crowd.

"Turn left"

There is a moment in life where we must decide if we follow the mysterious voice or not.

Rob had no time for that. He turned left. An alley showed itself before him. He could see the light on the other side of the houses. He went in.

"Stop right now!," screamed the guard.

"Don't stop," screamed the voice.

In front of him, less than a minute away, there was a house with an open door. Just that, a big open door in front of Rob.

"Get in"

Rob jumped inside the house and locked the door.

"there's an open window on the other side of the house"

Rob ran there. He jumped the window and fell on the ground with a bump.

"Now stay quiet"

Something started to happen.

A buzz filled Rob's ears.

First, his clothes gave place to simpler, cleaner ones. The shoes were now too big for his feet. The shirt had no buttons. There wasn't a coat.

Second, his small ponytail got undone. His hair started to fall, in pieces. Rob's hair was short in a way it wasn't in months.

And third, his smell of woods went away. His hands were clean, and he assumed so was his face.

A brand new Rob.

"Now go mix yourself in the crowd," the voice sounded confident.

That's what Rob did. He bumped into an old lady and apologized, then proceeded to the big open space full of people. He could hear the guard screaming.

"He won't recognize you," assured the voice. And Rob believed.

Without the guard being an issue no longer, Rob retreated to an alley. He sat on the floor, inhaling and exhaling. Inhaling and exhaling.

There was a voice in his head. A real voice.

Rob always the world would be too much for him someday. He thought, though, his body would collapse in different ways. A serious illness, maybe depression. A sudden artistic talent.

He wasn't expecting a voice.

He was probably too tired, or too hungry. Maybe both. His head was playing pranks on him.

Then again, how would he know there was a house with an open door next to him? How would he magically change his own clothes?

Rob had no magic.

He looked to his hands. Clean. His hair was cut as well.

He hid his head on his knees, feeling exhausted. Exhausted and scared.

"What is going on?," he asked quietly. It wasn't a rhetorical question, he really wanted to know.

Alone, sitting on an empty alley, with his body demanding sleep, he asked himself.

What was going on?

He tried to remember that day in the library. That same day he found Sir Edward dead.

A maid was talking behind his back, earlier that day.

"They could put a dog on King Rob's place, it would serve us the same".

This was enough to make Rob cry. To make he play the At Least game.

Rob left out a smile. Ridiculous.

"Poor Rob."

It was the voice again. Rob felt something filling his lungs and leaving his mouth before he could realize what it was.

"Who are you?," he shouted to the alley, "what do you want?"

"Now that's a good attitude, Rob. Scream, let it out. You're tired, aren't you?"

"Tired? Yes, I am tired. Tired and listening to a voice." He couldn't care less if someone would hear him. He wanted the whole world to know he was getting crazy and exhausted and everything was unfair, "Now tell me who you are!"

"I am someone who can help".

"Help", he echoed without really believing in it.

"Help".

"How?"

"Magic, Rob", there was a pause and Rob could feel the smile on the voice.

"Won't you like a little magic?"