Vows and Bullets
Chapter 153 - 1st week of September (Part 7)

Chapter 153: 1st week of September (Part 7)

Please DON’T READ this Chapter yet. I will update this first week of September!

Good news! My hands have healed now and I’m catching up on writing my missed Chapters. My apologies for all the delays. I will replace this Chapter with the real one soon, don’t worry, and upload a new one for the next day. I really apologize once again.

In the meantime, please enjoy the continuation of the story below titled "The King’s Beloved". This is the revised version I am planning to submit for paperback publication. Hopefully, I get a chance someday.

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(Part 16 - Continuation...)

Upon entering the library, Rania flinched, seeing how huge it was and the tons of books it contained. For the first time in a while, a tiny spark of interest kindled in her heart. If there was one thing that Rania loved, it was reading. For in every book her hand held was a portal to another world or dimension, another epic adventure waiting to unfold. It was her escape from reality, her sanctuary, and fortress.

Distracted by a tiny bit of joy in her heart, Rania slowly walked inside, touching the books on the shelves as she passed by. Before she knew it, she was already reading the titles of the books, deliberating if they were interesting enough for her to read. Since they were already taught of the Magi’s language and alphabet, she had no trouble reading the foreign texts. But then again, she hated their race, so she simply walked past them until she stumbled on a section containing books from the human race. It was easy to tell, with their not-so-otherworldly book covers and text, plus the familiar author names.

Finally, something worth reading.

Rushing straight to the books written by humans, she suddenly bumped into an invisible wall.

THUD!

"Aww!" she screeched. Her foot bumped first on the invisible barrier. "What the—Ugh!" Frustrated, she thumped her small fist into solid air. "Hah! It seems I’m not allowed to be happy in this place. The only thing that interests me is right in front of me, but I can’t reach it! How amazing! Ha-ha-ha."

Shaking her head, she turned to her side, checking if any other sections had human books. She saw a couple from her left and another to her right. She went to both of them, but like the first one, an invisible barrier blocked her way.

"This is stupid," she complained after going around the whole library only for her path to be blocked. "Why are our books even here if we’re not allowed to read them? Is this their way of mocking us? How very nice of them." Resentment began to cover her heart once again.

Tired from all the walking, Rania sat down on a nearby couch. There was a table in front of it, with opened and scattered books. It seemed that someone was reading them and just left them there without even returning to the shelves. Well, it wasn’t that much of a surprise given the kind of girls she lived with.

Since I can’t even touch the books I want to read, I should just go on with what I initially planned and research about this evil Magi race. I need to know their weaknesses, if there are any. And some info about that loathsome Nefastus. I noticed she liked their king. Oh! What if I seduce the king and use him to get their powers? Once I have their powers, I’ll kill them all—starting with the two of them. Hah! That’s right. The king is the strongest, so I will also have the strongest power. Ha-ha-ha. What a brilliant idea.

As she sank deeper into the darkness, a strong wind suddenly blew inside the library. And since she was seated just beside the large window which was left open despite the chilly air of mid-winter, a few snowflakes managed to get their way inside, wetting some of the opened books when they melted from the light’s warmth. The inner booklover within her kicked in and immediately stood up, dusting the snowflakes out of the books and gently wiping them with the sleeve of her dress. She blew gently on the pages wishing for it to dry and not damage the books. Unfortunately, a few snowflakes managed to land on the page of some of the books and wet the area it touched completely.

"Shoot! Ugh... this sucks," she groaned, pissed at what happened.

Lifting one of the books into her hands, unknowingly, she started to read the passage where the snowflake left its mark. On its white pages and black inked texts, it was written:

"Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by destroying itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

After reading that passage, a gentle prick stung Rania’s heart. Her hands trembled as she clenched the book tightly with her fingers. She gritted her teeth, wanting to lash out from what she read, but at the same time, she felt conflicted. Each word resounded in her ears as if someone was directly talking to her.

"W-what is this? Are books trying to talk to me now? Am I dreaming? Or am I going crazy?"

Putting the book down, she turned to her side and lifted the other one up. This time, the book had different pictures of nature, and quotes were written on top of the pictures. The quote on the wet page said:

"Remember who you are and whose you are."

Rania’s eyes widened. She suddenly remembered her beloved pastor and second mother, Lailee. Tears started to form in her eyes as she reminisced about her love and kindness. Along with that, was a precious memory from her childhood in the orphanage. She was seven at that time, just starting to think for herself and develop her own opinion in life. The other kids at school bullied her for not having parents. Because of that, when she went home, she ended up crying in her room.