The King of Saminu

Chapter 6

Vaindari nodded, no longer phased by the fact that Maeri had quickly been taken over by Spenn. He looked towards me, trying to hide his smile when he realized that this was my loss. Vaindari offered a hand for me to grab, trying to help me to stand up from my seated position. I rolled my eyes, standing up by myself with my hands tied behind my back. For the presumed leader of this army, the man before me was rather dumb. Vaindari chuckled at my behavior, grabbing onto the rope that held me captive.
"Let's get you back to the others now. Sorry, but you're not special enough to warrant a personal guard," At his later comment, I was barely able to hold back my laughter. However, I smiled at the older guard, playing my part.
"Thank you,"

Vaindari walked with his new group of soldiers to where I had been with my family earlier. Once my parents saw me, relatively unharmed, relief flooded through them and I could see them relax even from my position far away from them. I was guided towards the edge of the mass of prisoners and Vaindari let go of my rope, allowing me to move freely.
"Find your family," He muttered, trying not to appear nice to the masses. I rolled my eyes, heading towards Ellsk instead of my parents. Throughout the other people of Maeri being captured, Ellsk and Haldauko had been further separated from our parents and Gamm. While I longed to check on him, I knew that he was in safe hands with our parents, and Ellsk was the one who actually needed the supervision.

Once I was seated, Vaindari cleared his throat.
"Attention people of Slifni! The battle has ended. For the precaution of my army and the safety of your town, we will be relocating all of the surrendered to Spenn. However, before this takes place, we need to take care of the tragedies," Vaindari looked away from the group of us, who were now starting up a nervous chatter. I looked towards Haldauko, who was himself looking around us to try and find any member of his family.
"Thank you, Vaindari, for the help. Now, I am going to be in charge of the Slifni operation from henceforth. In a moment, my fellow soldiers will be coming around and helping to group you with your families. Please be patient," Heimuda called, and I watched as Vaindari's entire expression changed. However, he left before he could react too drastically. I chuckled to myself as soldiers started approaching. It was almost entertaining to see the soldier angered.

"Why are you laughing, Rensker?" Ellsk asked, his voice soft.
"None of this feels real, Ellsk," I couldn't stop laughing as the people around me began to stand up and rush towards the family they had been separated from. Once the guards reached us, Ellsk had to help me stand and compose myself. It was a quick walk to where the rest of my family was, but I remained hysterical throughout the entire jaunt.
"What's going on? Ellsk, what happened to him?" Pappy asked, rushing over to me and trying to console me. We literally all had our hands tied, however, and nothing Pappy or Mams could do would help my random mood.
"Nothing happened. That's the point of this whole thing, right? Like, this can't really be happening, you know that. It's all a sick joke Ellsk's gods decided to play on my dreams,"

A familiar cry broke me out of my laughter, and I turned to see Haldauko fighting against a singular soldier.
"What could that kid be crying about now?" Mams asked, and I looked around with her. My heart dropped when I realized that the majority of us were already 'reunited' with the family we had temporarily lost, and Haldauko was still unable to find them. I rushed over, against my family's pleas.
"What's going on?" I asked, and the soldier holding a struggling Haldauko cocked a brow at me.
"Are you his family? Please tell me you're family," The soldier hissed, and I sighed, shaking my head.

"Kid, you need to go with the others. You have to check the bodies," I scoffed in surprise when the soldier made Haldauko's cries worsen.
"He's nine. You can't possibly ask him to check the bodies of the deceased," The soldier shrugged his shoulders and tossed Haldauko to the ground, promptly shutting him up.
"Then you check them. Or go with him. You know what his parents look like?" The soldier asked, and I shook my head, turning towards the sobbing pile on the ground.
"Do you want me to go with you?" I asked the young boy, and he nodded. I sighed, waiting for the boy to stand up again before the soldier led us towards a smaller group of people.