Raquel took a deep breath, her gaze drifting towards the flickering oil lamp, its light casting long, dancing shadows on the rough walls of the shed. "It starts with my husband, Mateo," she began, her voice low and steady, a narrative woven from years of shared hardship. "He was born in these slums, just like so many others. He opened his eyes to a world of dirt and desperation, a world where survival was the only law."
She paused, her gaze hardening slightly. "He had nothing. No name, no parents, no history. Just the cold, hard reality of the streets. Lying, stealing… it wasn't a choice, it was a necessity. It was how he ate, how he lived. It was as normal as breathing."
"Whenever he questioned his existence, whenever he wondered why he was here, the same answer always came back to him: he was abandoned. He was unwanted. A mistake. And it wasn't a thought that came to him naturally. It was a seed planted by the people around him, the other forgotten souls of the slums. They had no future, no critical thinking, just the bitter acceptance of their fate. They told him he didn't belong, that he was someone's error, a burden on the world."
Her voice trembled slightly, a hint of the pain she had witnessed. "He believed them. How could he not? He didn't know any different. He didn't know what a normal life was. For him, tricking, lying, and scavenging were normal. What 'normal' even meant was a question he never dared to ask."
She took another shaky breath, her gaze shifting towards Areion, her eyes filled with a quiet desperation. "Then, one day, he saw her. A royal lady, riding in the king's carriage. It was a sight that was foreign to him, a glimpse of a world he could never touch. He was curious, of course. Curious about her, about her world, about the life that was so different from his own. He thought she was naive, that she didn't know the ways of the slums, the ways of survival."
"One day, he saw her again. She was in the forest, near the river, alone, or so he thought. The carriage was guarded by only two guards, who he knew he couldn't defeat in a fair fight. But Mateo, he was always resourceful. He understood that the guards were focused on protecting the lady, not the carriage itself. So, he used a lautham crystal."
A flicker of fear crossed her face. "You know, the crystal used to make sleep potions. But a raw crystal, it's… it's much stronger. Almost instantaneous. The guards fell asleep, just like that. And Mateo… he saw his chance. He stole a few jewels from the carriage, things that people like him could only dream of."
"He started to run, to disappear back into the forest, back into the shadows he knew so well. But then… a hand rested on his shoulder. It was light, almost ghostly. His heart pounded like a drum, like it was trying to escape his chest. He turned around, expecting to see a guard. But it wasn't a guard. It was the royal lady herself."
The scene shifted, the air In the shed thickening with the weight of Raquel's memories. The present faded, replaced by the vivid recollection of a moment frozen in time.
"She wasn't angry," Raquel continued, her voice a low murmur, her eyes fixed on some distant point. "There was just… confusion in her eyes. She looked at Mateo and asked, 'Do you really need that, child?'"
Mateo, his heart still pounding from the adrenaline, looked around, then back at the stolen jewels clutched in his hand. "Yes," he said, his voice rough, defensive. "More than you." He took a step back, wary of the strange calmness in her demeanor.
She looked at him, her gaze piercing, as if she could see the fear and desperation coiled within him. "It's only if you want to run away with those worthless gold and diamonds."
The word "worthless" struck him like a physical blow, a stone against raw flesh. He stopped in his tracks, his head tilting slightly, his expression unreadable. "Worthless?" he asked, his voice laced with bitterness. "You know this… this can buy me food for the next few years? For someone like me, it's worth more than a few lives." He didn't understand her perspective, couldn't comprehend the value she placed on things beyond mere survival.
"If you don't want them," he said, his voice hardening, "then let me go."
She waved a hand dismissively, almost as if saying, [Go, do whatever you want.]
Raquel returned to the present, her voice tinged with a weariness that spoke of years of shared burdens. "Well, that twelve-year-old boy ran away with those jewels. But his luck, it was always cursed. He got beaten in a dark alley before he could sell them, before he could even buy a loaf of bread."
"Unable to walk for days, his stomach empty, he… he tried to end it. He jumped into the nearby lake, hoping to drown. But even that failed. Some kids pulled him on the shores, gave him CPR, brought him back to a life he didn't want."
Her voice trembled slightly. "He looked around, tears streaming down his face, like the river he had tried to drown in. He was hungry, desperate, broken. Those kids, they gave him enough food to survive. He walked back to the slums, his head filled with a bitter understanding. He had been naïve. He had trusted the wrong people."
"As time passed, he grew into his late teens. He learned to steal with a group, to read people's intentions, to avoid getting scammed. He destroyed families, stealing everything they owned. Commoners, people who had even less than him. It always stung, no matter how many times he did it. The guilt, it was a constant companion."
Romona and Areion exchanged a look, their faces reflecting the grim reality of Mateo's life. It was a story of survival, but also a story of a soul slowly being eroded by the harshness of his circumstances.
Raquel smiled softly, a sad, knowing smile. "It's not easy to empathize with his early life," she said, her voice gentle. "But it's the only life he knew."
"Then, one day, five years later, he met her again. The same royal lady, now Queen Rowena of Sangrael, Valdemar's mother."
Areion's eyes light up at her words not by understanding but curiosity, "His group had planned to rob her, to take what they could when she was alone. But they were no match for her. Even her guards weren't needed. She moved like a phantom, her strength beyond anything they had ever seen. She grabbed Mateo by the throat, lifting him off his feet, while his companions lay unconscious at her feet."
"She looked into his eyes and… she smiled. Just a little. And then she said his name. 'Mateo.'"
"He asked her what she meant," Raquel continued, her voice heavy with the weight of the past, "and she smiled, a small, sad smile. 'A gift from God,' she said, looking directly into his eyes. He replied, 'Kill me if you want. I've already lost.' He wasn't afraid of dying at her hands. He had lived a life where death was a constant companion."
"But she said, 'No. I don't desire to take your life.' She paused, looking at the unconscious figures of his companions, then back at him. 'Do you want to end up like them? Half-dead, probably going to be fully dead soon.' Her humor was… beyond his understanding at that moment. He shouted, 'What do you want? End me if you want. You're the queen, aren't you? You own my life!' He said it with a bitterness that surprised even himself."
"Her eyes narrowed, her gaze piercing. 'What do you mean, I own your life?' she asked, her voice low and dangerous. He looked down at his feet, unable to meet her gaze. He spoke in a broken voice, 'Nobles… they always come to the slums. They take whoever they want, kill whoever they want, and say things like, 'Be grateful you're dying at the hands of God's chosen people.'"
"Her eyes darkened at his words. 'Is that so?' she asked, her voice tight with suppressed anger. She paused, cracking her back, a sound that sent a shiver down his spine. He just stood there, looking around, unsure of what to do."
"Before he could think of running, she asked him, 'Do you still want those gold and diamonds?' The same words she had spoken to him five years earlier. But this time, he saw a warmth in her eyes, a flicker of something he couldn't quite comprehend. He shook his head. He said… he said he wanted to live. He wanted to live like her, like the other nobles."
Raquel opened her eyes, her gaze meeting Areion's and Romona's. "He asked for a second chance. And she gave it to him. She took him in, gave him a name. Mateo. He embraced it, even though he hated studying. It was the first time anyone had ever taken the time to understand him. She was patient, always making time for him, teaching him. She even ordered a guard to provide him with food. Over time, he accepted her given name, Mateo, and learned many things."
"But his fate… it was never clean. It always led him into situations he couldn't handle. Then, war happened. She was a general, leading her army. She almost stopped teaching him, for obvious reasons. But he understood. He didn't argue. He spent a lot of time reflecting, trying to understand the circumstances. He wanted to fight beside her, to repay her kindness. But she had a task for him, a trial he needed to complete before he could join her. He had to earn the heart of a dragon."