"Come on. Let's go" he said and raced his horse towards the arch. We followed. Eva seemed a little bit relaxed as we were racing to the city from where she is. We reached the archway and we went in. Literally the place was awful. There was no greenery. The only thing that stood majestic was the castle. There were rubble everywhere and the people were living among the rubble. Many men and women were only half-dressed. The houses were small, not even enough for two people. There were flogging stands and they were not empty. Actually the stands were over-flowing. The people's hands were tied to and iron pole and they were being flogged. I didn't want to imagine how it would be to stand there in the noon. Then we found a small stream that was flowing very thin. We left our horses there and searched for Adam and his friends. We went through streets. Al the places were the same as we saw at first.
"There they are" George said and we started following them. After a while they stopped nearby a fruit stall. Suddenly two soldiers went in and came out with hand full of fruits and started walking away like the shopkeeper never existed. The main thing was the shopkeeper did not say anything. But I could see him crying. Adam didn't stand still. He stopped those soldiers and asked
"You have to pay money for the fruits, right?" the soldiers said furiously
"What did you say? We are the soldiers of the king. We don't have to pay the money. And who are you to ask all these?" the soldiers said furiously. Before Adam could answer the leader of the red rebellion said
"Sorry sirs, He's my brother. His name is Carlo and he is new to the town. Forgive him."
"How many brothers you've got Martin?" they mocked him and went away.
"Your name is Martin?" the past George asked
"Yes, sir" Martin replied plainly.
"Are you getting something, Oliver? Any idea about what is happening?" George asked me.
"No. Definitely not" I said.
"I think I'm getting something" Eva said "but I'm not sure what it is. George can we stay somewhere? Because I feel like I'm getting a headache" she said
"Sure we can stay somewhere. I know an abandoned building. But that will not be so great like the house we got in Hinckly. But for now we need to follow them. So eat this" he said and gave some leaves to her. They were dark green and they had some pointed ends. They did not look like ordinary leaves.
"These leaves will help you control your headache" he said. Then Adam started talking to the shopkeeper.
"Why didn't you demand money for your fruits?" he asked.
"I am not supposed to, son" the shopkeeper said plainly.
"You are not supposed to?" Adam asked.
"You don't understand the state of this kingdom, son. If I had demanded money to those soldiers, I would have been standing in one of those flogging stands by now. They'll flog me for a week and not just it. They'll demolish my whole shop and leave me with nothing. This is not just for me. This happens to any of those who talk to the soldiers without respect. Thank the Christ that you are lucky as you are new to the town. Try and adapt to the city's condition as soon as you can. Take this as a father's advice" the shopkeeper said and went back to his work. Adam stared at him in grief.
"It is okay, Adam. Let's go" Martin said and they moved deeper into the city. As we moved into the city, I saw many cruel activities. The men, who called themselves as soldiers, went into some shops which they liked the most and came out with handful of things. All the shopkeepers were silent and did not say anything. In one shop a young man protested to the soldiers. Actually he did not protest. He just said
"Hey." The soldiers turned furiously and grabbed his shirt and pulled him out of the shop. An old man came running from inside the shop and fell to the soldiers' legs and begged
"Please, leave my son. It won't happen hereafter. Please."
"How dare you touch me?" the soldier growled and waved him off and pulled the young man away. The old man sat there crying.
"George can't we do anything? This place is disgusting. Eva? Are you sure you're from this place?" I asked.
"I'm not sure, Oliver. I mean I've never been to this part of the city. Actually I've never been outside the castle. I just heard information that people are safe and they live in peace" she replied.
"Well, I don't think so" I said. The rest of the day we followed them. The soldiers' atrocities were very frequent. If you turn to a direction you'll definitely see an atrocity. There were flogging stands in every street and they were full. It was noon. We stopped by a small building which looked like a restaurant and we had some food there. But when we came out we found that we missed Adam and his friends. We went through streets searching for them. When we were about to turn into a street I said
"I bet we'll find them in this street" and turned into that street. To my luck I found Adam in that street but the bad news was I crashed into him as soon as I turned into that street.
"Hey, watch out" he said. My pulse increased. I started to walk but he called me and said
"Wait. You're the..." he thought. Before he could remember who I was I said
"I'm no one" and went into the next turning. I stood there for a while, breathing heavily. I peeped out and saw him turn and go away. Then I went back and joined with George and Eva.
"That was close, Oliver" George said furiously.
"Sorry, I didn't see him coming" I apologized. And after that we followed them more carefully. After a while five soldiers stopped them and asked
"What's in there, in the bag?"
"Nothing, um...a little amount of money" Adam replied politely.
"Well, we like money. I'll have it" one of the soldiers said and tried to pluck it from him. But Adam did not give the bag. He had a firm grip.
"Give it" the soldier said again. This time Adam did not speak. He punched the soldier so hard that he left the bag and fainted. At once all the soldiers raised their spears and pointed them straight at Adam. But he was so cool and did not show any panic or fear.
"Want some help?" the past George asked him.
"Won't be needed George" Adam said in a cool way.
"I didn't ask you. I asked them" George said and pointed the soldiers.
"Very funny of you, George" Adam said. The soldiers seemed confused. Then Adam pulled two of the spears towards him. The soldiers who caught those spears dashed each other and fell. For the other two, Adam used the handle of the spear, which he had plucked just now, to hit them hard in the face. He acted so fast that before the soldiers knew what was happening they were on the floor. Adam pointed to one of the soldiers and said
"This is not going to last long. Tell your king that we will end it" and went away. I was staring at him, my mind processing the whole scene.
"This is the worst mistake he has ever done" George said to me
"Why?" I asked and saw Eva. She was standing there resting one hand on the wall and another on her forehead.
"Eva? Are you okay?" I asked.
"No. I don't think so. My head, it's burning. It is like I am searching for something that is lost and I could not find" she said. As usual it did not make any sense to me. But George took the same leaves that he gave it to her a few hours ago and said
"This will control the pain. Eat it"
"Again?" she asked. By her tone I understood that the leaves did not taste good at all. But she forcefully ate them.
"Better?" George asked.
"Loads" she replied.
"Okay. Now let us go to this building that I told about" he said. It was almost dark and the time was about six.
"But what about them, George?" I asked.
"Don't worry Oliver. They'll be staying near us" he said. Then we went to the house. It was not much of a house. It didn't have any door. Two places were cut off from the wall and they acted as windows. It was made of stones. We went in. it definitely was not a house.
