Episode 8 - The Sword

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What was I hoping to achieve? I really don't know. Maybe it was the idea of delivering the (bad) news to his family that convinced me, even though the seller hadn't gone into detail. Or maybe I was just a curious man, intrigued by the story that a simple sword could hold.

I went to communal house number three, a rather elongated structure with walls made of a single layer of wooden planks and a thatched roof. It was quite precarious compared to the standards of the central plaza.

As I entered, passing through a torn curtain and seeing a broken hinge on the frame of the place as if the door had been broken, my eyes turned towards the darkness inside.

I'm not sure if you can call them beds, but there were two cloths laid out on the ground, and the place was full of them on both sides of the long cabin.

I saw that the place was mostly empty because it was noon, except for some elderly men and women who could only sit or lie on the floor, with a few pieces of furniture near some of the cloths. I even saw some wax candles, which surprised me after seeing that many people used extremely bright lanterns.

I went from person to person, speaking in a very low voice, asking if they knew anyone who used a sword. Most of them changed their facial expression upon hearing my question, which was understandable since it was apparently illegal.

"Excuse me, ma'am, do you know anyone who carries a sword?"

The face of that particular woman changed, but it was different, not discomfort, but understanding. She knew what I was talking about, so she answered, "Her brother is in the bathroom, when he comes out, he'll go back to lying down."

"And how long might that take?"

"Sometimes he spends hours, if you're in a hurry, go find him."

"Is there anything wrong?"

"Sadness."

"How so?"

"If you think it's something physical, it's not about that, it's about his...family, that's what he calls it. I don't talk to him much, he always beats around the bush with everything."

"Okay, thanks." I stood up and decided to muster the courage to ask him. "Aren't you going to ask me why I came?"

"No, to be honest, I'm not interested. I guess you want revenge or something, at most, talk to someone about something, I don't know."

I headed to the bathrooms, which were reached by going down a few stairs. As I passed by, I saw a peculiar place. The floor had a particular stone, the place had showers, but no water came out, as they used a bucket that they had at hand, and in the center there was a huge, rectangular, and uniform hole with an abundant amount of water, added to the fact that it was moderately clean, to be honest.

In that same place, there was a man sitting with his bare feet submerged and his gaze lost in the reflection.

I approached him, sat down slowly, and he looked at me out of the corner of his eye, trembling for some strange reason.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Broken Forever, just passing by."

"What do you want from me?"

"Just to talk, is that too much to ask?"

"Why do you want that?" He asked me with a shaky voice.

"Your way of acting is the same answer to your question."

"What?"

"That I'm here to help you. What are you doing here?"

"I live here, I don't work anymore, some people share food, and that's enough."

This man was thinner than Abidemi and probably younger too, there was no way he was okay.

"What did you do before?" I asked.

"Something they called 'farmer's helper.' I watered the crops and removed the small insects that fed on them, nothing else."

"And why did you leave your job?"

"That doesn't matter anymore. Still, as we say here, it's not food that's lacking, but people for the labor, we... We're the ones who don't do anything for various reasons. Since I realized I would never stop sleeping in this place and that I lost contact with the little family I had left, well, let's just say I lost the few desires to live."

He seemed like he wanted to smile, but he couldn't. His eyes seemed shiny, but not a single tear fell.

"Oh, then... I'll leave."

Before I could get up, something unexpected happened, something that, although it was the reason I came in the first place, I thought it was better not to tell him.

As I put my hand on the ground and stood up...

"Wait, where did you get that sword?" He asked as he leaned to one side and grabbed the sheath, which I had seen regardless of my tunic covering it, as sitting down made it stand out more than standing up.

"I got it at the entrance to the city."

"It's Anuar's sword?! Why do you have it?! Tell me right now or I'll call the guards!" He said, his voice trembling and his eyes wide as he pointed at me demanding an answer.

"Look, there's no need to call the guards, I can explain."

"Are you sure?!"

"I found him dead."

"I don't believe you, I mean, it can't be... Tell me how you found him!" He asked me with several emotions at once, I didn't know if he was relieved, scared, worried, excited, shocked, or whatever was going on in that seemingly disturbed head of his.

"Yeah, I don't really know how, all I could notice was that he had several fresh wounds when I found him at the entrance to the city, next to his sword."

"He couldn't have gone so far..."

"But what did he do to get badly injured and die on the other side of the city?"

"Do you know something, Broken Forever? There are things that don't matter anymore."

"Listen to me, I don't know what he was to you, if you want, I can give you the sword back-"

"He was my brother! But he became a thief, he was reported to the guards and... Well, let's just say he chose his fate, except I expected something else, even if it was impossible." I looked back to see if anyone was spying on us and added, "I thought he could still be alive, no matter how insignificant that was. When I saw you, for a second I thought you were either a guard or somehow my prayers had been heard and you were him."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disappoint you."

"It's okay." He replied. "As I said, that's what happens to criminals."

"But what about the Merciful's dungeon? I hear the king saying something about that recently."

"That's for people the king wants to see die of starvation. If it's not personal, what it never is the case, he execute you on the spot and call it mercy."

"That doesn't sound very merciful at all."

"Because for him, 'killing is a light sentence'. He's deranged, a heartless monster, and even the oldest among us knows that."

"He still doesn't sound like someone who has mercy."

He sighed and replied, "The truth is... No, he doesn't."

"Things will get better, I promise."

"And what will you do to make that happen?"

I took a deep breath. I had to be careful with what I said to the man who had nearly sent me to the guards if I didn't do something to calm him down.

"You're not the only one who has been through something like this. I'll just... make them see reason. Tomorrow is another day."

"There's no way! Things will always be like this. Every day now and forever, I'll know that my brother was hunted like an animal, like a rat running along the walls, looking for a hole to hide in."

I suppose it was useless to convince him that I could do something for him, given that he was going to refuse to leave the position he had taken. But for some reason, I felt empathy for him, as if I saw myself in him, despite not being anything like him.

Before leaving, I asked him one thing that he simply ignored, continuing to look at the reflection of the water below his feet in the same way I had found him when I descended the stairs and saw him before starting this conversation.

What I said was;

"Take care, okay?"


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