Broken Crown

Golden Rat

The red ooze dripped from Casper's hair onto the cobblestone street, the cold liquid running down his cheek. He could feel the tiny seeds already sticking to his scalp as the scorching hot sun cooked them onto his head, the stench ripping through his nostrils and tearing at his senses. Slowly he reached up and scooped the remainder of the rotten tomato off of his head, dropping it on the ground with trembling hands. This always happened at the worst times: his hands trembling. Does it make me look scared? Me... scared? The corner of his mouth twitched up at the thought.

As his mind started to crawl back into reality, the surrounding laughter rang in his ears. They were laughing at him. Laughing and chuckling and giggling and chortling and guffawing and... and... and it was at him. His eyes snapped to the tomato-wielding pig of a man just in time for another orb of gut-wrenching mush to splatter across the side of his face. The acid stung his eye, the tomato skin dropping to the ground with a dull squelch. After a moment his eyes flicked around to the surrounding crowd. Being in the town square meant all different types of classes were watching him, their variants of dark hair creating a rug of blacks and browns. Except, of course, the blonde man who stood in the front row, his brown eyes studying Casper and waiting for him to react. Casper took a deep, slow breath as he straightened his back. You can take your Mint blondness and shove it where the sun never shines, you beady-eyed, good for nothing killer! Killer... a title used so often and loosely that it no longer meant anything. The Mints were killers, murderers, slayers, a fact everyone knew yet didn't care about. Casper knew that if he acted out, if he showed any retaliation in any way to the man who shamed him in public, he would be taken away by the blonde man. The Mint. The devil.

Oh how he wanted to hit the tomato vendor. How he wanted to walk right up to him and scream into his puffy face, "How dare you treat me in such a disgusting way, you rat!" But then again, what good would come from calling the man a rat when that's exactly what Casper's class was: a Rat. He blocked out the thoughts and made his way out of the shaming circle and through the crowd with forced politeness. He had to get out of there before more people joined in, a fact he had learned the hard way. It was a mistake to come to town so late in the afternoon when the crowds start to file in, but his bike had broken down a bit more than halfway from his house and he decided to walk. I should've just gone back home. Stupid, stupid, stupid... His bike was only a few feet away as the sound of boots against the pavement clicked behind him. He was being followed. The only people who could afford metal-tipped boots, let alone be stupid enough to wear them in the middle of the summer, were Mints. He could feel the sweat dripping down his neck turn ice cold as if death herself was breathing on it. Just pretend you don't notice. They can't hold anything against me if they don't think I notice them. Good, you're almost to your bike. Almost there...

"Stop, boy." The man's voice was deep and strong, making Casper stop in his tracks before slowly turning to face the Mint from before. "Now, would you like to tell me just how you caused the ruckus in the square today?"

Just act stupid. That's what they want. No need to make this any harder than it already is. Casper thought of his words for a moment before smiling and replying, "Would you like to tell me how a man can look so much like a toad?" He kept his smile plastered as he mentally screams at himself. The words had just slipped out like sand falling through cupped hands, spilling all over and making a complete disaster over something that could've been a simple warning.

Hatred. It was something Casper had come to know well enough he could sense its presence. Through the words of passing people, the stance of guards, the unwillingness of vendors, he could feel the animosity like a snake slowly coiling around his mind as its grip tightens, making sure he never got too comfortable; it made sure he never forgot how unwanted he was. It was here now. He knew it in the flash of the man's eyes, the tightening of his gloved hands, the flare of his nostrils. Casper was definitely done for now. There was no doubt about it.

The man grabbed Casper's arm and tugged him back into the town square. Casper knew better than to fight back since if he did somehow manage to run away, it would ensure a bullet through the back of his head which was highly undesirable. Thrown to the ground in the direct center of the town square, the Mint pulled out a thin whip as the crowd starts to gather around. Casper closed his eyes. He had been through this punishment himself only a couple times before and had never seen it happen to anyone else. 

"I have witnessed this arrogant Rat disrespect not only a Mint, but also kind vendors," boomed the Mint. A crowd was definitely forming now, a few onlookers trying to push to the front to get a better view of the public disgrace that had ruined their peaceful day. "Shall we let him go unscathed for his crime?" The crowd booed and shouted.

The Mint let the crowd have a good long while to shout and go wild before he raised a gloved hand to quiet them. A dark grin slowly stretched the corners of his mouth as he spoke slowly, wanting to increase the drama of the whole situation. These simple-minded townspeople were wrapped around his gloved finger like an orchestra watching their conductor. "Now..." He started, his eyes glinting with pleasure. "We all know how this goes. If one, only one, person steps out from this boy's social class and simply tells me to stop, I will let him go without a scratch."

Casper let out a deep breath. They could whip him a thousand times and he wouldn't plead for anything less. They could pull out all of his teeth one by one, burn his hands, tear his skin, and he would go home the same night without a single worry on his mind. It was the humiliation that got to him. The way they always found a way to shove his loneliness straight into his mind and rip out all feeling, leaving him numb. Even now as he heard no footsteps, no saving voices, he lay on the warm cobblestone. What else could he expect? He was the only Rat; his blonde hair only having a place with the Mints, yet the symbol under his eye classifying him as the lowest class. The curse of the combination guarantees rejection from both groups.

He heard the Mint laugh darkly, his boots clicking as he gets in position. "Seems you're all alone, Rat. Why don't you just learn to stay out of everyone's sight, hm? Make it better for all of us?" He pulled back his hand before letting the whip crack against Casper's back.