XLIII
Midiro was reading a book. Dorania suddenly came in.
“Would you happen to know where Rowan is?” she demanded briskly.
“Oh? You’re worried about her now?”
“No games!” she hardened. “She
told me to expect her here at 12. That time has long past.”
“Curfew is there?”
“I might as well impose one!” she
snapped. “You have been dragging her into the Light Kingdom too
many times!”
Midiro stood up. “And for too many times, you
push her into a dark corner just so that she can follow your example,
so you have no reason to face what tortures you everyday: that you
can’t control fate!” Dorania looked shocked. He nodded with
pride. “Oh yes, it’s very clear. After your sister’s
death, the only thought that could console you was the fact people
could make their own destinies. I remember you trying to make
everything go your way. It became an obsession. No one was allowed to
contradict you, they had to do as you expected. You became very upset
when too many things became unpredictable. You had stayed out all night
that night, no doubt finding out that Dark Citizens either tried to
stay away from everybody else or claimed power for themselves-sometimes
even using magic to change fate. Is this what you hope to do? Well here
is some news: Manira verified that the use of magic to change fate was
only rumour and was banned by the Sorcerer’s Guild.”
… Dorania was shocked. … “Who is…Manira?”
“You know her as Manar.” Midiro sighed.
“Why can’t you come out of that bubble of fear you have
created? We used to help others create their destiny, we had helped
many charities and helped many students pay for their University
expenses… you had dropped severely from sociable to withdrawn,
dragging Rowani with you.”
“I did not force Rowan
to do anything she did not want. I realised she had talent and helped
enrich that talent. She will be a wonderful Lady of the Dark
Kingdom.”
“Oh I see you have it all planned out?”
mused her husband. “Then what do you need me for? For too long
I’ve let you drag me down with you. Well I’m tired of it! I
want to be free! I’m getting a divorce!”
“You can’t!”
“I can! I will! But because I still care about
you I will make the process as easy as possible. I’ll be moving
out tomorrow, while the Sun is up, so when you wake up I’ll be
gone.”
Midiro marched out of the room. He opened the door. He stopped.
… “When you are ready to heal Doriani,
just say so and I’ll be happy to help.” He walked out.
Fidor bumped the car in front again.
“Man this one’s hard to knock off!”
“Just keep trying,” told Sassaren.
The huge group of cars thundered along the streets
of the city centre. There was hardly anyone around, except for the
people in the middle of the road who had to jump out of the way. Dawn
started to crack the sky.
Fidor shook his head. “I’m trying something else.”
He cranked up the speed and swerved between the cars
ahead. He somehow squeezed through the smallest of spaces. Other cars
copied him and there was a sudden competition between lots of cars to
see who could speed-manoeuvre the best. The lines split in half and
followed the roads either left or right at the junction, which made the
roads curve out. The speed-manoeuvring made 2 cars crash into the point
between the splitting roads. All the other cars zoomed by.