Forever Jaded - Prologue

The soldiers marched by Richard, not paying him any attention. Richard frowned at them as they passed by, guns in their hands, knives on their belts. The sun was setting to the west, casting a strange orange glow upon their gray uniforms. Dogs, being led by a few soldiers, barked and snapped at him, causing him to jump back slightly. He stared at them in confusion, and then shrugged. Whatever they were doing, he knew it wasn't any of his business, so why should he worry about it? He turned on his heel, heading back to the small village of Armasaw, of which he resided in. Something gnawed at him, making him want to turn back to the soldiers, but he ignored it. Whatever the Empire was doing wasn't any of his business. He slowly entered the village, yawning slightly as he did so. It was nearly dinner time, and he knew his father hated it when he was late for dinner. Turning around a corner, he saw his house in the distance, and took the time it took to get there to look at the setting sun. Colors were racing across the sky, and he found that he had always enjoyed the setting of the sun. Sighing, he entered the house and kicked his shoes off, navigating to the dining room, where his family was already seated for dinner. He smiled in greeting and then took his seat, picking up his fork. A plate of bacon and eggs was placed in front of him, and he and his family said grace and then began to eat. Bacon and eggs. A common dinner in their household, but always delicious. It also served as breakfast. Once he was finished, he wiped his mouth and rinsed his plate in the sink before excusing himself from the room to answer the door when someone knocked on it. Normally they didn't get visitors, and especially not at dinner time, and Richard could sense his parents' concern and confusion. Opening the door, he murmured a quiet 'hello' to the person standing there. It was one of the soldiers, he realized with a cold chill of dread. The soldier merrily handed him an envelope and then turned and walked away, not once saying a word. Frowning, Richard glanced at the envelope. It had the Empire's seal on it, and he shivered in his socks. Taking a quiet breath, he turned and walked back to the kitchen, handing the envelope to his father.

"Um...that's for you..." he whispered quietly, and then took his seat again. Now everyone in the family was looking at his father, confused looks on their faces. He looked at the table, feeling a knot form in his stomach. At the age of twelve, he knew enough to fear what might be held in the contents of the envelope.

"Hmm..." his father murmured with a quiet sigh, and then tore the envelope open and pulled out a small piece of paper. Richard winced when he noticed it as the paper they used at the Empire, as he noticed the seal embedded on the back of it. His father read over it quickly, and then he saw him do it again, and then a third time. Whatever was in there, whatever it said, couldn't be good, and now he wished he had never answered the door, he wished he hadn't ignored the soldiers. R.J., his elder brother, seemed nervous of something, which made Richard even more worried. "R.J.," his father whispered, and R.J. looked at him. "It's for you..." he slowly handed it over, as if he didn't want to. R.J. stared at it for a minute and then slowly gripped it, beginning to read. Then he shook his head and slammed the letter down on the table, shaking the plates still on it. He rose to his feet and exited the room, a strange expression on his face.

"Oh Harold," his mother whispered, clutching her husband's arm, "what does it say? What's gotten him acting like this?" her voice, which was usually strong, held a certain fear.

"...Two things..." his father mumbled. Richard looked at him.

His mother looked at Richard. "Richard, honey, would you please leave me and your father alone? Just for a few minutes, pumpkin, and then you can come back in if you like." Richard slowly rose to his feet.

"Er...yeah, sure..." he turned on his heel and exited the room. Rounding the corner, he stood there, straining to hear. He knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but in this case, he was making an exception. He wanted to know.

"Harold, what's it say?" his mother asked in a whisper, making it hard to hear.

"Karen," his father said quietly, and in his mind he could picture him shaking his head the way he always did when he said something in that tone of voice, with the little sigh mixed within it. "It says everything..."

He heard his mother gasp. "No," she said in denial. "No Harold, please say you're lying."

"I'm not lying," he murmured. "Gale is dead..." Richard's eyes widened. Gale was dead? Gale was R.J.'s best friend; he couldn't be gone. Gale had just left three weeks ago to go fight in the war, how could he be dead? Richard forced his thoughts to silence as his mother spoke up.

"Gale? Dead? Oh no..."

"Yeah," his father responded. "Dead. It just had a little bit about it in the letter; said he was on a mission, disappeared for a day or two, and they found him dead with a bullet through the head." Richard felt sick to his stomach. "And..."

"There's more?" his mother asked, shocked.

"...Yes..." his father sighed. "They said they need R.J. to go to the war...he's of age..."

"No," his mother said immediately. "He's not going, there's no way." Richard agreed with his mother. He didn't want R.J. to go to the way; he might lose him, and just the thought of it made his stomach twist into knots and made him feel light-headed.

"He has to," his father said quietly. "The soldiers are here, Karen; he can't just not go. He has to..."

"No," his mother said again. "They're not taking my baby from me."

"Karen, honey, we don't have a choice. They'll take him no matter what we say. We don't have any say in it, and even if we did, it wouldn't matter."

"Harold, don't say that...please, he can't go...there has to be a way to keep him here..."

"It's either him or Richard," his father said quietly. Richard's eyes widened tremendously, and he found himself taking a step back.

"Richard?" his mother gasped. "He's only twelve!"

"They don't care; they'll take him anyway. If R.J. doesn't go, they'll make Richard go..."

"But he's so young! They can't!"

"They can't; they work for the Empire."

"They can't have my boys!" his mother said, seemingly near hysterics. "They can't have any of them! They can't take them from me; who do they think they are?"

"The Empire doesn't care..."

"I don't care! They can't have my babies!"

Richard swallowed thickly, leaning against the wall for support, feeling light-headed and sick to his stomach. He didn't want to go to war, but he didn't want his brother to go either...there was no way out of this. He closed his eyes tightly as his father began to speak.

"Karen...I'm sorry, but I just don't see a way out of this one. R.J. has to go; if he doesn't, Richard will have to. They're taking one of our boys, and R.J. has a better chance of surviving...but I want him to stay just as much as you do..."

He heard his mother sigh shakily. "But...but..."

"There's nothing we can do, honey..."

Richard shook his head; he'd heard enough, he didn't want to hear any more. Pushing off of the wall, and hurriedly made his way to the stairs, making sure his footsteps were light and didn't make any sound as the stairs creaked beneath him. He made it to the top, his mind racing.

Why was this happening?