Rain Drops

Chapter 21

"Really?" asked Mother. "But why? Why does he do it?"

"Because he has to keep his promise to his father, I suppose," said Grandpa. "He said that if he ever found someone who was able to make gold from diamonds, then he would give them half his inheritance."

"Half?" asked Mom.

"Yes," said Grandpa. "His father will never accept less. He'll be forced to accept less if that is what his son asks of him. And that's another reason why I'm staying here: I have no intention of being a part of whatever happens when your father leaves the village to settle somewhere outside the country."

Mother looked sad as she glanced at Dad. I noticed tears forming in my own eyes. We were getting ready to ask questions when Grandpa raised his hand to stop us.

"Now isn't the time for that," he said. "You need to be patient."

"But we've already waited so long!" cried Mother, looking very distressed.

Grandpa shook his head and sighed sadly. Then he cleared his throat and looked directly at my father.

"I must admit that I am happy to have your daughter by your side," he said softly. "But unfortunately, you can't stay here anymore. Your absence in the palace was noticed, and the king knows how much I love the princess and how hard she has worked to earn her place here. So it seems that the only thing for me to do is go back to the palace. I have to apologize for my selfishness."

He sighed deeply. Then he stood up abruptly.

"Well, let's get to work, boys!" he shouted. "This banquet's going to end sooner rather than later!"

"Wait," said Mother quickly as she ran towards him. "Please stay here. Don't go anywhere alone."

She grabbed Dad's shoulders tightly. I could feel her trembling. She seemed worried for Grandpa.

"I will remain here until my son comes home," Grandpa calmly assured her.

After saying goodbye to us, Grandpa walked slowly out of the room.

"That was a big disappointment," said Dad as we sat down for dinner. "I was afraid that he would decide to return and that our peaceful life at the village would come to an abrupt end. I don't know what I would do if he chose to remain away."

At last, we had to sit down and eat dinner.

"Oh yes, we're almost done eating," said Mom after finishing her soup. "Do you want dessert, Grandpa?"

"Thank you, no. Please enjoy yourselves," replied Grandpa.

"What about your daughter?" asked Mom.

I suddenly realized that I should also join them for dessert. When I tried moving, I discovered that I was unable to move at all. Looking around, I noticed that everyone had stopped eating and was waiting for Grandpa to give an order.

"I'll be returning to the palace as soon as I'm finished eating my dessert," said Grandpa, placing his fork carefully onto his plate. "You may proceed to finish eating your desserts and go ahead. Oh yes, there's one more thing I forgot to tell you. In your mother' s name, we will pay off your debts."

The servants were astonished and confused. They stared at each other, wondering if they had heard correctly. Nobody dared to speak for a whole minute. Everyone just sat and ate silently.

After that incident, I kept having this dream and waking up feeling terrified and confused every single night. I could always hear Grandpa's voice. My dreams usually started with him scolding my parents harshly for what they were doing and for ignoring my wishes. Then my dreams became darker and darker, until I finally woke up screaming in the middle of the night. I always ended up sobbing uncontrollably, and my mother never slept peacefully anymore. As time passed, however, I gradually managed to forget all about the dreams, and as the months passed, those dreams slowly faded.

In fact, I don't remember anything about them. However, when I close my eyes and see Grandpa's stern expression, everything seems so vivid and clear to me. That's why, every night during my sleep, I sometimes wake up crying. During those times, I'm sure that Grandpa, Grandma, and even Mum will always stand over me, telling me that I have nothing to worry about because everything will be okay soon. Then I would open my eyes and try my best to calm myself down. However, even after I calmed down, Grandpa's harsh words still lingered in my mind. Those nightmares have never really disappeared from my mind. Sometimes, I imagine that Grandpa and Mom are still standing over me and yelling at me to get up and start working. Every morning I'd wake up feeling depressed. After breakfast, I would rush downstairs to wash myself and brush my teeth as fast as possible. When I returned upstairs, I'd rush into my bedroom and spend most of the afternoon in silence and darkness, trying to force myself to sleep. If I couldn't fall asleep, I would listen for any sounds coming from Mom, Grandpa, and my siblings. I would wait anxiously for any sign of movement. I waited and waited until it seemed that there was nobody there anymore and I could finally relax and drift off to sleep.

The following day we arrived at Lomadia, the largest city on the continent. Lomadia was located approximately thirty kilometers south of Narnia. It has always been called "the City of Golden Hills" by locals, which meant that it was the first city created solely for the sole purpose of supporting the prosperity of the kingdom. Even the kings and emperors of Narnia visited the city during the annual festivals when they paid homage to their ancestors at the famous temple of Mairi. This temple consists of three huge towers made of white marble. From the windows of these tower there's a view of the entire valley. A lot of beautiful trees grow within the valley and there are flowers everywhere. The buildings are tall and grand. All of them were constructed entirely of golden marble. They look incredibly majestic.

We reached our destination just before sunset. Since it wasn't our wedding anniversary this year, Grandpa suggested that we went visit our great grandmother instead. I didn't mind since I didn't plan to celebrate this special day anyway.