The Only One Left to Blame

Told By: Malia Bearbrook

"As I looked back on the raging fire, I wondered why he had set my home aflame. Now that I see him I understand. In his darkness all that he wanted was to burn bright, but I was- I am here to set things right," I told the council of elders as they sat before me weighing my fate in their hands. The chairman frowned. He had a hard decision to make, one that could end me and any chance of hope this  country has. He let out his breath in a huff.

"Your freedom is granted, but if The Council hears of anymore slip ups from you we will act swiftly." he gestured to the door and I marched out. The horizon was stained red, in the traditional mourning colors of our country. I pressed on barely making it to the blacksmiths before Amos shut down the forge for the night. I knocked on the door and Amos stuck out his head. His scarred face would draw in curious glances from outsiders, but it was a sight that I welcomed.

"Malia! I thought you would never make it," he said in gravely tones. He gave me a harsh pat on the back. I smiled at him warmly. I walked  into the shop behind him. I let out a gasp as I surveyed his progress.
    "And what is this?," I exclaimed. He turned and met me with a warm smile. I sat down in a chair as he lifted the sword off the wall. It was and exact replica of my father's, but this time it had my own insignia on it.

"Your father commissioned years before his accident. I thought that it was time for you to have your own sword instead of his. I took the sword from his hands and bid him farewell. It was getting late and I chose to wander home through the many passages and alleyways that lead to my home.

Three days later a guard stopped me on my way home from training. He claimed I had stolen the sword from Amos. Carissa Mayberry had seen me leaving the forge after hours with a new sword in hand. She had once been my best friend,until she blamed for the fires the wretched dragon had caused.  She claimed I had committed the high crime of theft. The knight told me my right hand was to be cut off. I pleaded with the knight to have mercy and to listen to my side of the story. I asked him if he would be willing to let me explain.

"No," was his only reply. So, I ran and decided to ask Carissa about what she saw. She  said that it was out of her hands.

She stated, "If you didn't want to be brought to justice, Malia, you shouldn't have stolen from poor Amos in the first place." At this point the guard had caught up to me.

"You have eluded justice twice, Miss Bearbrook, when you could have gotten along without a hand, you may not fair as well without your head!", he crowed in the middle of the square. Despite Amos being asked if this happened, despite many people asserting that I was innocent, despite my case not going before a jury, I was locked in the dungeons for three days without food or water.

I walked out of my prison in shackles. I was brought up on stage before a crowd of the people I had sworn to defend. The air smelled of desperation while  I looked down at my home. The boards creaked with every tentative step that I took. Bile rose in my throat as I looked down at Amos. I wondered why they wouldn't listen to him. Tears burned in me as I sank to my knees. I laid my head on the block. I noticed a butterfly trying its hardest to escape from a bird. The executioner's ax whistled as it came down. The bird always catches the butterfly in the end.