The Tales of Greenfar - The Legend of Quel

#7 - Ramira

As expected, the sparkle returned to Quel's eyes when she received the gift from Ramira. The girl looked like lightning as she rushed to hang the calendar on her bedside table and then fell asleep exhausted.

Everything seemed peaceful as the day ended, but Zer was restless. How had he never heard of an apprentice called Ghraul? It was probably a subject banned by the Council. Asking Rhano to continue the story seemed unfeasible, since the old master had disappeared after the cafeteria.

All the monks who were old enough to have known this apprentice were already part of the Council, so any questioning of a banned topic would be promptly reprimanded. It was better to go to sleep and wait for Rhano to tell the story.

Zer's restless sleep took him through turbulent dreams, in which Quel became a rude, crude and ungrateful young woman. The sight of Quel rebelling and leaving on the day of the initiation was enough to make Zer give up on sleep and go to the cafeteria to get some tea.

Trying to dispel the images of horror in his dreams, Zer was slowly sipping a chamomile tea at one of the few lighted tables in the cafeteria when a figure sat down next to him.

"I thought that after a day like today, you might need a good night's sleep, Master Zer."

"I'm always impressed by your disposition, Ramira. Don't you ever sleep?"

"I sleep little, but I sleep well." - and raised her cup in subtle greeting before taking a sip of tea. The monk returned the gesture.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Zer asked:

"You never wanted children, Ramira?"

The woman gave a short, shrugging laugh and replied: "Don't you think all the children I help raise in this place aren't enough? I don't think having just one or two children would fulfill me as much as what I do here."

The woman looked suspiciously at the monk.

"It's about Quel, isn't it?"

With a regretful expression, Zer nodded.

"She's only 6 years old, Ramira. She hasn't even started her training, and I find myself in this deplorable state. After so many years of teaching, I feel that this moment is taking me backwards in my concentration and my ability to separate things. And to make things worse, Master Rhano has told me a half story and my imagination is taking me to the worst possible scenarios."

Ramira laughed out loud when she heard that.

"And what was that story that took so much of your peace away?"

"It was something about an old and arrogant apprentice. It seems Rhano was very fond of him, but he didn't finish telling me what happened after he decided to leave before the end of the training."

Ramira's expression changed completely. Any remnants of joy left her face when she said, hesitantly:

"Ghraul."

Zer looked startled at the Head of the village administration. Maybe the subject hadn't been banned.

"Yes, that's the one! Do you know what happened?"

Ramira let out a long sigh, seemingly searching for words to say. Looking down, she said:

"That subject has been banned by the Council."

"I imagined it." - replied Zer, without any hope of knowing the end of the story.

"But if Rhano started telling you about it, and he's from the Council, I imagine he has good reasons. And if there's anyone who can finish it, it's me."

The monk looked at her intrigued as Ramira put her hand to her face and asked how far Rhano had told. He recounted the events up until the arrival of the mysterious invitation to an army from the North.

"I'll be honest, Zer. Ghraul was an obnoxious boy who thought he was better than everyone, including the masters. He didn't accept when Rhano said he wouldn't leave until he'd finished his training, and started saying the master couldn't stand the fact that his apprentice was more skilled than him - utter nonsense, of course. Everyone knew Rhano was one of the most skilled swordsmen in the village and loved him as if he were his father.

And I believe that it was in this impetus to lose a son that Rhano, as a last resort, drew his sword. Not to prove anything, but to stop him from leaving.

It was a painful scene to watch. It was a fight that would never end, they were both very good. Rhano was better, of course, but it was clear that Ghraul's anger hurt his master more than any blow. The boy realized he couldn't win, so he decided to end the conversation in the worst possible way."

Zer felt a huge weight in his stomach, imagining what was to come.

"By this time, the two were dueling in the courtyard and many people were arriving to find out what was going on, so Ghraul ran up and grabbed one of the kitchen helpers, putting his sword to her neck. Rhano couldn't believe that the young man was so cruel and went for him, but he landed a merciless blow on the girl's face and said that if anyone else tried to stop him leaving, the next one would be fatal.

With all of Ghraul's wickedness exposed, Rhano broke down inside. He fell to his knees and begged the young man to reconsider his actions, let go of the girl and come back, but it was to no avail."

Ramira paused, looked into Zer's eyes and said with her hand to her face:

"He carried me, with his sword around my neck and my face bleeding, far into the forest. I was sure he was going to kill me at some point, but when we were far enough away, he let go of me and ran off, without even looking back."

The monk didn't seem to be breathing when he heard the end of the story, but he tried to say it in bewilderment:

"Ramira...I didn't know about that, your scar...if I had known I would never have brought this up...forgive me..."

The smile returned to the woman's face. With a gentle look, she interrupted him:

"I haven't talked about this for so long that I'd almost forgotten. But it was one of my great motivations for staying in the village and help to ensure that other apprentices didn't follow that path. Rhano took a long time to recover from it, and I think he still carries that pain to this day. Perhaps as a form of compensation and healing, he worked for a few years to reformulate the entire self-knowledge curriculum for the older apprentices, so that no one puts their abilities before their character."

Zer was in shock. If the story hadn't been confirmed by two such trustworthy people, he could easily say that it was fake. An apprentice turning against his master was unimaginable within the precepts of the swordsman monks.

"Now you have your outcome, and your heart can be at peace, because I can guarantee you one thing: this story won't be repeated with Quel. She's a sweet girl, and she'll be a kind and sweet swordswoman. All she needs is training."

The monk used the few words he could manage to stammer out to thank Ramira for her generosity in telling her story. He would have a lot to process in the few hours that remained before dawn.

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I must confess: I love Ramira! And you?

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