Still, I kept hope that my nightly human form might be the key to freedom. Nobody could love a gargoyle, but plenty of people fell in love with humans.
And there was the problem. I was not a human. As much as I looked like one and talked like one, there was something fundamentally wrong with me. My eyes were not human eyes. They were cold, hard gemstones, incapable of warmth. I thought of Florian's tender gaze and realized with sickness in my stomach that I could never return that expression.
It did not matter what shape I took—my inhuman eyes remained the same. I was a monster, just like Argon said.
And humans did not fall in love with monsters.
The uneventful day dragged on until two familiar figures entered my vision. With a dull sense of irritation, I recognized them as the young men who tried to steal my eyes the other day.
But then my irritation shifted into vague hope. What if theydidsteal my eyes? If the sapphires were gone, I would be left with nothing—and nothing was better than the inhuman gemstones parading on my face as eyes.
My hope blossomed the more I thought about it.Please!I wanted to cry out.Please steal my eyes!
I did not care if I lost my vision if it brought me one step closer to being human. Florian had already mentioned a dear friend of his who only had vision in one eye. What was the difference in one versus two? Anything was better than being a living monstrosity. If my sapphire eyes were stolen, I could pass as a true human!
The two well-dressed young men were ignored among the usual crowd visiting the courtyard. I watched excitedly as they sauntered towards the fountain carrying more rocks in their arms. They were coming to finish what they started and I could not be happier.
To avoid drawing attention to themselves, they wasted no time in conversation. Acting casual, they took aim and fired.
Pain exploded like a starburst in my vision. It was such a jarring sensation. I wanted to cry out in a mix of agony and joy. They were really doing it—they were removing my disgusting eyes for me.
Another rock came. And another. Arrows of pain stabbed my skull. These sensitive gemstone eyes were a liability anyway. It was good that they were finally being removed.
I felt something wet on my face, which was odd because my stone skin could not feel sensations. Were my sapphire eyes shifting out of place? When they fell out, would I feel them crashing against the cobblestones and being carried away?
And then like a nightmare, my salvation was stopped.
Through my blurry vision I saw guards, normally only stationed at the front gate, storming into the courtyard. In stern but calm voices, they ordered everyone to leave. Horrified, I wondered if this abrupt interruption had anything to do with me. But the guards did not look in my direction. They did not even seem to notice that the two young men had been throwing rocks at me. On the contrary, the guards took great care to speak to the men respectfully, as if their social status gave them immunity from the guards' strictness.
People filed out of the courtyard until it was empty. What was going on?
As my joy ebbed away, only the pain remained. It was all I could focus on. It was awful, making me want to grind my face into the ground. If only they could have finished what they started and removed my eyes, this pain would have all been worth it—but that did not happen. The accursed sapphires remained.
For a stretch of time, nothing happened, but an uneasiness filled the late afternoon air. I was not used to the courtyard being empty and I had never seen the guards move so swiftly to remove visitors.
My focus soon shifted from the pain wracking my eyes to the sound of wheels on the cobblestones. A carriage drawn by two chestnut-colored horses rolled into view. Why was it here?
A burly man hopped out of the compartment and made low conversation with the carriage driver. I could not hear them clearly. A moment later, the burly man yelled into the compartment and another man, skinnier, slipped out.
"Stop wasting time and get the cargo," the burly man snapped.
The second, skinny man muttered in reply. He hauled out a heavy clinking sack from the carriage seat and hurried for the front gate, disappearing from my view.
The sun was setting. Soon I would be in the facade of my human form. Would these strange men notice? Would they even care? They seemed busy.
I wished Argon was here. Perhaps he could explain what was going on.
"Want a smoke?" the burly man asked the carriage driver loudly.
The carriage driver agreed and hopped off his post. He ordered the horses to stay put before the two men wandered away from the carriage.
They left just in time for my nightly shift. One moment I was a gargoyle above the fountain, and the next I was in my false-human shape on the ground. I was glad they did not see me. I was too monstrous to be beheld by any humans.
Wanting to hide myself away, I stayed close to the fountain, but I was curious about the carriage and why the guards had emptied out the courtyard for its appearance. Did it have anything to do with the royals? I had never met any personally, but these new men did not have a royal air about them. Their clothes were also different than any I had seen before. I wondered if they came from a different land.
Even if I wanted to know more, I dared not ask. I was determined to hide myself from humans until my sapphire eyes were gone for good. They made me unlovable. They were proof I was a monster.
Then something strange happened.
