Cursed

Chapter 9

Days went by, turning into weeks, then months. I was in this prison for about six months when I experienced my first battle.

It wasn't a valiant, fighting for a princess battle or anything like that. It was a fight to kill. Some of the townsfolk who knew how to make weapons and wield them correctly had started a rebellion. The knights were brought in to settle things, but their attacks were more brutal than you would think. Dreamir shoved me out the door, handed me my spear, and told me to follow him. I obeyed. I found myself doing that a lot more than I previously had been.

Dreamir held up his hands and everyone froze. He moved the knights away from the people and forced the villagers in a line. He let go of the knights and waved one hand slightly to tell me to come up. I came.

"Finally, a crime worth the death penalty," he said with a devilish grin. One of the many things that made him look insane. He turned his head back to the men on their knees in front of us. "My people," he said, still forcing them to their knees. "I give you food, water, clothing, the right to marry whom you chose, shelter, wine, everything that you need, and this is how you repay me? With death threats?"

Not one man said a word.

Dreamir smirked. "So I thought. As you know, I am the ruler of the country. You are my subjects. But when my subjects revolt, it pains me. The penalty of plotting against your king is banishment. The penelty of acting upon it is certain death. But have no fear, my son will make it quick and painless."

I wanted the earth to swallow me up right now and save me the pain of killing another human. Dreamir didn't know how much it hurt me to kill someone else, but he wouldn't care even if I told him.

Dreamir lifted an eyebrow. "Go on, Asher. Show them the consequence of an attempted murder."

I swallowed again. I put down my spear and slowly walked up to the first man. He was shaking slightly, but no fear showed on his face. "I did the right thing," he said through gritted teeth.

He was so defiant, it made me feel even worse when I took off the shaded spectacles and he gave a horrible scream before he died. There were about fifteen men and one was enough to make my stomach churn. I closed my eyes and stepped in front of the second man. He repeated the words of the first man. "I did the right thing." I killed him too. Tears brimmed my eyes.

"I did the right thing," said the third man, who couldn't have been older than eighteen. He died without a sound, which freaked me out beyond belief. As I went down the row, all of the men said the same thing as the first. "I did the right thing." When I got to the ninth one, I collapsed and couldn't hold it in anymore. I started to sob. "Please!" I begged. "Stop it!"

Dreamir marched over and yanked me to my feet. "Of stop that, boy," he said. "Get on with it!"

I did so, killed three more, and vomited because of the sick feeling in my stomach. "I...I can't!" I said through a hoarse voice. Tears ran down my cheeks. The haunting words, "I did the right thing" rang in my head with every voice of the men I killed. "Make it stop!"

Something forced me up and I looked into the eyes of the thirteenth man. He had gotten through, "I did the right-" before it turned into a scream and he collapsed. My gut twisted again. I was forced in front of the next one, killed him before the words made it past his lips. And finally, I killed the last one, who looked my age. He looked me right in the eye and said those haunting words, one last time before screaming in agony and falling stone dead.

"I did the right thing."

~

After that, I was put to bed. I felt feverish and hot. I was also tired, but I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, the faces of the men were there, as if they were branded on the inside of my eyes. I couldn't sleep, or eat, or move for days.

When I finally recovered, Dreamir acted like nothing had happened. Like he was used to seeing his son kill off fifteen men like it was nothing. I wasn't in the mood to see him and walked right out the front door.

I was about to walk to my usual spot on the garden wall, when something stopped me. The gate was open and unguarded. "Dreamir won't mind if I just go on a little walk," I mumbled to myself. "And I won't go far." I glanced around to make sure no one was looking and walked through the gate.

All around me, the world was going on like nothing had happened. I pulled the hood of my cloak over me so no one would recognize my spectacles. The smells of food was everywhere and everyone seemed so happy. The familiar heartache started like every time I thought of my old village.

I lost track of time walking through the streets. Just a boy in a sea of shopkeepers and entertainers. I glanced over my spectacles once or twice to see the world how it truly is. Color was everywhere. There must be a festival, I thought.

Everything was going great, until I heard the knights making their way through the village. I wasn't ready to go back, so I quickly walked away, trying not to look suspicious. No one seemed to notice a kid making his way through the crowds.

I made it out of the crowds and into a more deserted part of town. I took a deep breath and leaned against a stone wall of a shop. Safe, I thought.

Of course, I wasn't. Someone grabbed my by the sleeve. I assumed it was a knight and groaned softly. I looked up, but saw a man I'd never seen before in my life. He was dressed in rags and his hair hung in oily strings falling into his eyes.

"H-hey!" I said. "Let go!"

"I'm sorry," the man said softly. "Boss' orders." Then he pressed a cloth to my nose and mouth and that was the last thing I remember.

~

I woke up in a soft bed and light filtering into the room from a large, glass window.

There was a girl in the room. She was dressed like a servant and was washing clothes that looked like mine. Then I glanced down and realized they were mine. I pulled up the covers a little higher and felt my face heating up.

The girl noticed my movement, smiled and walked out of the room. When she was gone, I shot up and tried to get out of the bed, but couldn't. It was like there was a glass box surrounding me, keeping me prisoner. I sighed, layed back down and closed my eyes, wishing to wake up and figure out this was all a dream of some sort and I'd wake up to Bretta shaking me awake for work.

The door opened and I opened my eyes. There was a man who was guarded by two soldiers on either side of him. The servant girl was trailing him.

"Ah, Asher," the man said with a smile. "You're up."

"Where am I?" I asked. "And how do you know who I am?"

The man's smile widened. "That's for me to know and your father to tell you about."

The door opened again and in came an odd looking man. He had darker skin but piercing blue eyes. He was bald and wore an odd assortment of clothing.

"About time you showed up, Zackarias," the man said to the strange figure. "Take the barrier down, won't you?"

The man nodded and waved his hand. Everyone shielded their eyes but Zackarias, who calmly picked up my spectacles and handed them to me. I took them and put them on, confused why the man didn't die. Maybe a little relieved, but still confused.

The man looked up at me again. "Here," he said, throwing me a bundle of new clothes. I didn't put them on right away. I didn't know who these people were and I wasn't going to accept this clothing from them.

The man sighed. "Put them on, boy!" He said.

I jumped a little and got dressed, under the blankets since the girl was still in here. When I was done. Zackarias grabbed me by the arm and pulled me out of the bed. I quickly laced up my boots and followed the strangers out the door.

After a few moments of silence, I couldn't keep my curiosity in. "Where am I and what am I doing here?"

"Why," the man said, turning towards me. "You're in Drett, my kingdom, and you're going to help me overthrow your father."