Chapter 8

• Lyre was on guard as he watched the family. He kept on thinking of how to escape before they take him to wherever it was they want to take him.
• "What a poor lad." The wife sighed, "don't worry, you are safe with us. We won't allow anyone to harm you."
• Hurt me?
• Lyre thought as he stared at the family.
• The drive to their house in the city took five long hours.
• And in those hours, Lyre kept on speculating about how to escape from this place.
• He only needed them to open the door of this strange thing they were driving with, and then he will make a mad dash for any forest close by.
• However, he didn't see any of those trees he saw when he escaped. All around him were houses which were bigger or of the same size as their palace back in the Kingdom.
• The man drove into his compound and packed the car before he killed the engine.
• "We are home." The mom announced with a smile.
• She exited the car and went straight to open Lyre's door for him.
• And just at the same time, the door to her house opened, and her youngest daughter ran out of the house.
• "Mummy!" She hugged her mom as she opened the door for Lyre.
• "Wow." The daughter exclaimed when she saw Lyre. She left the mother and ran towards Lyre, who was seeking a means of escape.
• Before any of them can stop the bubbly girl, she had already hugged Lyre.
• Lyre froze at her touch.
• He didn't know how to respond.
• First, he felt fear, before the fear turned to alarm.
• "Clar!" the mom shouted at her youngest daughter. "Let him go."
• "No, mom. I love him. I want him to be my new brother! He looks like a doll!"
• And that was what he is, a cute doll who came from a world different from theirs.
• "Now, will you leave him?" The mom turned to face Lyre, who was still frozen in indecision. "I'm sorry. She likes to cling to people."
• Lyre frowned at the mom who was apologizing to him before he turned to Clar.
• "Don't you like me?" Clar blinked at him with cute green eyes.
• The green of her eyes reminded him so much of his immediate elder brother. However, hers were clear. It has so much warmth in them that wasn't in his brother's eyes.
• "Come on, brother. I will show you to my room! We can play there all day!"
• "Clar—"
• Before the mom can say a word, Clar was already dragging a reluctant Lyre towards the door.
• "Let her be." The husband stopped his wife from going after them. "Can't you see the boy is more comfortable with her than he was with us? Maybe he feels Clar isn't a threat."
• "Oh." The mother watched them as they entered the house. And she had to agree that what the husband said was true.
• Compared to the expression Lyre had when he was with them in the car, he seemed less suspicious.
• "Leaving him with Clar also gives me ample opportunity to prepare the guest chamber for him."
• "I got a new brother!" Clar shouted in glee as she led Lyre past the parlour and up the stairs to her room.
• "You know, when I asked my mom to give me a new brother, I never imagined they will bring you back after their holiday! Today, I'm going to show Rain I've got a new brother. He won't bully me any more!"
• Lyre watched as the girl babbled, and he wondered if this was how the strange people with two legs speak.
• First, it was the mother speaking non-stop as they travelled. And now, the daughter has picked up from where the mom stopped.
• She's speaking so loudly, it feels as if she was about to bite his ears off!
• "Tada!"
• Clar opened the door to her room and dramatically clapped. "Welcome to my room. This is my secret world, and you are the only one I've invited in! I don't allow Rain and Jewel in here. They two are meanies."
• Lyre watched her as she chattered her heart out. He didn't say a word as he glanced around the place.
• Clar's room was unlike his. Her room was filled with so many bright colours, it made Lyre ache to touch them.
• He has always been a sucker for beautiful things and always tried to get them for himself.
• However, when his mom discovered his love for pretty things, she destroyed everything pretty he had, and replaced them with the boring seaweed things that made him want to vomit whenever he sees them.
• Before, his bed was made of coral shells, but the mother replaced it with woven seaweeds. It was her way of training him like she always says.
• Clar tilted her head to the side. "don't you speak?"
• She furrowed her brows at him.
• Since they came into her room, she has been talking non-stop, but the beautiful boy who looked like a doll hasn't uttered a word since they came in.
• He kept on glancing around the place, but haven't said a word.
• "Hmm."
• Clar left him standing there and rushed downstairs to meet her mom.
• "Mom!" she shouted as she flew down the stairs as if all hell were after her.
• "What's wrong?" The mother was alarmed at the expression on her daughter's face. "What happened? Did he—"
• "Mom, is he mute?" Clar frowned.
• "Yes—" The father started to say.
• Her mom levelled a glare at her husband, and that shut him up.
• "You see, darling." She took a squat in front of her eight-year-old daughter. "most of us are not lucky to be created like the others.
• There are exceptional people in this world. And they are not like us. In your new brother's case, he's special. And you must treat him like the special person he is."
• "Really?"
• Clar asked with widened eyes.
• "Mm." The mother nodded.
• "What's his name, mother?"