Читать книгу Faraway Stars - Roger Hunter - Страница 5

Struggling to pluck the strings with the last of his strength, Felix scanned the stream of people to see if any of them would stop to listen and drop a few coins for some half-dead traveling minstrel who was hungry – but no. In front of him, in the shabby but still clean hat, there were only a few copper coins that a girl had kindly given in the morning lying in it, shining with a lonely luster, reflecting the golden and resplendent scene on the streets of the thousand year king’s capital, and even more desolate as a singer.

“If only I had known I wouldn’t make much money playing here……” Consoling himself with a bit of frustration, Felix scooped up the lyre, leaned half against the wall, and looked down at the famous street. Her pale amethyst eyes reflect the colors of the setting sun with an indescribable complexity.

After all these years of not visiting, this cursed city has not changed at all……

Fine carriages, richly decorated with gold, which could have sustained a hundred paupers for years, drove continually through the ruts of pure white marble, raising clouds of dust; Soldiers in fine and showy heavy armour marched in perfect step through the town, following the ancient law. In the distant ghetto, carefree children were chasing each other, enjoying the joys of childhood; More people, however, crossed the street with the usual indifference of the inhabitants of big cities. The indifferent eyes, in the occasional sweep of the roadside rags of the poor, were full of undisguised contempt and disdain.

’Is this, the thousand-year capital of the continent, the City of Clouds?

Shaking his head invisibly, Felix closed his eyes. No one noticed the wry, bitter smile on his lips.

“Livia, Clean up that table with the beer stains. It’s for tomorrow’s business.” Waving the glass, the fat boss wiped the foam from his mouth and shouted at Livia. His voice echoed through the empty tavern and seemed extra loud.

“En, I’ll do it right away.” Not daring to slack off for a moment, Livia hurried past the crowded minstrel and wiped the table. The boss is a bit old and has a bad temper. The sight of the last drunken guest being punched out of the shop by the boss still made her shudder at the thought of it. The old man wouldn’t have done that to herself, but if he had kicked her out, the livelihood of herself and his brother will be in jeopardy.

After polishing the table as brightly as a mirror, Livia added more water to the old wooden table and wiped it again. It was not until every grain of wood seemed to shine from within that she stopped, straightened up, and surveyed her work with satisfaction. No one asked her to do this, but when she did these little things seriously, an unspeakable warmth filled her heart, giving her a sense of a down-to-earth life. This feeling, in the past many years, has been forgotten by her own.

She looked up and the boss’s figure was gone. He’s supposed to be home. Wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, Livia smiled in satisfaction. She turned and headed for the bar, ready to get one last tidy up so she could go back to cooking. The vegetables that Yoshi had gone to buy would be delivered later, and if she didn’t hurry to boil the water, it would surely be too late to cook.

However, the afterglow caught from her eyes made her slightly stunned.

The way that person looks, so lonely…….

On the wall opposite the tavern was leaning against a young man with his eyes half closed. Although he wasn’t the kind of handsome male who would make a girl scream at the sight, his white, clean face gives an involuntary feeling of closeness. His long hair, dark as the night sky, was casually tied in a ponytail and draped loosely over his shoulders, adding a touch of spontaneity and desolation to him. He was dressed in a long blue robe of coarse cloth, shabby but neat, and did not show the sense of dejection which was so common among wanderers. And the lyre in his arms was an accurate description of his identity.

Judging from the way he looks, he’s been sitting there all day. She was so busy with her work that she never noticed him.

“But isn’t that person supposed to be the singer who brings joy to others? Why, then, did I feel that loneliness in him so strongly? Especially the moment of that glimpse just now, as if he was the only one left in heaven and earth. That boundless darkness and sadness that had completely overwhelmed her heart almost in an instant. What is it that makes a man so deeply sad?”

The man seemed to notice something as Livia stared at him. . He turned his head, opened his eyes and gave her a slight smile. There was no special action, but the sadness of that emotion, under the gaze of those lavender eyes, faded away in a flash of the vanishes. It was like a harsh winter’s day that turned into spring. It almost made her think that the feeling she had just had was nothing more than her own illusion. The transition between the two senses was so fast it’s hard to imagine it coming from the same person.

“What a man he really is!”

Just as her amazed gaze met, the mysterious minstrel had straightened up. He patted the dust off his body gracefully and picked up his hat and walked towards the tavern. Before Livia could react, he was already in the door of the shop and sat down at the table she had just wiped down.