The Fall of Dewan

Chapter 11 Black and White

Genevieve had always been a very black and white person. There was good and there was bad. If you made bad choices, then you were a bad person. If you made good choices, then you were a good person. Assisting Cassius as he sat on the throne had made her begin to question this train of thought, but nothing made her question it more than the stories she heard sitting around that fire.

I won't go into great detail, as I don't feel entirely comfortable sharing such intamate details of such scary peoples lives (some of them could still come and get me, you know), so I'll just give you a synopsis.

Alice went first, well she and Leona because apparently they were sisters, both serving time for the same crime. They had been found guilty of murdering a noble giant. It was hardly a fair trial, both being human they faced much bias. They had been traveling, hoping to see the entire realm. This was something that was typically frowned upon due to strict rules about crossing kingdoms' borders, but neither sister had ever been one to follow rules. When traveling in the Obisdian Reach they came across a gruff, crude giant who was wailing on two young children, both with blackened eyes and bloody noses. Leona and Alice tried to step in, a fight ensued, and the sister won the fight. The issue was the fight ended in the giant's death. They were quickly discovered by Obsidian Reach authorities, as the fight had caused quite the commotion and they had lingered following its conclusion to check on the children. No matter what they said, what reasons they gave for the fight, none of it was ever truly heard. The giant had been high born, and the sisters were of a different race. The children were too young and frightened to say anything of what happened. The sisters were thrown into a jail cell with no promise of release.

Agnes had the most interesting story of all, which didn't really surprise Genevieve considering her odd introduction. She had been arrested two years prior for attempting to set all the lifestock free at a market that had opened on the border of Obsidian Reach and Etherian. This likely would have been a minor charge with little jail time, had it not incited a riot in which multiple Dewanian guards were killed. Authorities claimed she was a traitor to the crown, attempting to destroy the peace they had fought so hard to create. Agnes claimed she was just trying to allow the animals to roam freely and naturally, the riot that began was coincidental and unrelated to her actions- which was in fact true. When Agnes was given the chance to defend herself in court she instead went into a rant on the freedom all animals should be given. The judge deemed she was attempting to make a joke of the matter and vindictively sentenced her to fifteen years in jail, to "make an example of her".

Achibald had 'accidentally' created an explosion that killed nine people. He had no real excuse for his actions, simply claiming his curiosity got the better of him and he combined substances that should never have been combined. He felt great remorse for his actions and accepted his prison sentence willingly.

Ohamed's tale was the one that worried her the most, prehaps not because she didn't believe it but because she truly understood it. Ohamed was a prophet, he would occasionally have visions of things that had yet to come, but eventually would. He kept his tale short. He was a human, living in Caba when he had a vision of a great tragedy occurring in an elven town. He saw that an elf would become sick, a sickness that would spread to many in the village, killing nearly all of them. He traveled to the town, in hopes of preventing the tragedy. However, when he got there the elf was not yet sick. No one in the town believed his tale, telling him to return to his own kingdom and bring his lies with him. Left with no other solution, Ohamed killed the elf that he had seen would infect all the others, before he could ever become sick in the first place. At the end of his tale, Ohamed looked at Genevieve and said in the most simple of tones, "Sometimes to prevent something terrible, you must do something equally as terrible. That is just the way of life; unfair and unforgiving". She could not help but to think of all the things she would have done to prevent the bloodshed that she saw in her dreams when the war first began had she known the dreams were going to come true.

Bartholomew shared his story last, looking hesitant when it finally became his turn to speak. Eventually he explained that his family had been opposed to the crown and the creation of Dewan; they believed all races should remain separate. While he did not share their beliefs in the slightest, Bartholomew would often get wrapped into their plans and forced to participate in acts of rebellion against the crown. Eventually his whole family was arrested, his mother, father and older brother sentenced to death and he was sentenced to a life in prison with his younger sister. His younger sister died of illness in her prison cell, never given proper medical attention so he was left on his own.

Bartholomew's tale made her nervous. She knew the hatred that she felt towards Artemis for the death of her family, did Bartholomew feel the same about her family? She didn't dare ask, simply avoided eye contact for the remainder of the night.

There wasn't much to be said at the end of all of their stories. Genevieve even found that she believed most of them, but her pride wasn't willing to admit that aloud yet. Once everyone had told their tales and she had finished her dinner, she excused herself and returned to her tent. She knew it was rude and probably awkward to just leave after hearing all of these deeply personal stories, but she needed time to process them- and she did not wish that processing to be done under six sets of eyes.