"I see the gates. get ready. we are closing in," said Sebastian. They have spent a day hitting the road. The horses were jogging steadily under the ultimate dominating white light of the moon.
Maria was sleeping, Alfred was talking with Sebastian. While Diana was busy thinking of a way to approach this woman...
Vivian.
How she would introduce herself to the woman? If her father was there... What would be his reaction after a whole year away from him? Would he still remember her face? Does he still love her as before? and the question which is more demanding than all the previous. Who is she? A rich woman. A princess? Maybe a woman who has an empire of her own founded upon the lashed back of slaves. Alots of possibilities but one thing was sure. Vivian won't let Richard without a hostile confrontation.
Diana eyed gunnora's stable body that was wrapped by white clothes like a worm resting safely inside her cocoon.
She frowned a little, her head tilted to her uncle and Sebastian. "Do you think citizens of Ontoga knew about what happened in the castle?" she asked.
"I doubt it" Alfred began, "But eventually, the news will spread all over the two kingdoms in a matter of a week or so. We don't know how King Marcus or King Wain would speak about the incident. Remember, this castle had been a subject of dispute between the two kingdoms for a very long time, and with its fall, nothing would prevent the temper from escalating between the two lands. That's why we should keep our heads low. it won't be safe to just wander between towns and villages anymore"
Diana nodded understanding but feeling nervous. How big is this world that she got herself into?
The world of politics and Kingdoms...
Now she could have drawn the attention of another king. She hoped that the coming days sway peacefully, till she reached the town 'Nale' in the opposite kingdom. Her once called home country.
The carriage marched towards the gate, still broken since the soldiers came last time. The despairing atmosphere still looming, sad faces everywhere. It was strange for a carriage to enter a village just like that, some even thought that the slavers came early than expected and panicked. But after the notice of the two girls and the body in the back, they realized that their guests were no slavers.
The carriage stopped in the middle of the square of the town. Alfred confronted the people and inquired them about the tomb places.
Strangely, They didn't recognize the name of Gunnora and the citizens suddenly turned the man down with hostility. They refused for another body- not a citizen of the town- to be buried at their tombs. Even after Diana begged them to fulfill Gunnora's last wish before death. Neither their hearts nor their mind wanted to believe them.
The whole group exchanged looks. They were furious, now what? Should they bury her in the forest nearby instead? How would Gunnora feel that even after her death, her fellow people still rejected her?!
She felt fury and outrageous emotions boiling within her blood. Diana couldn't take it anymore, she was on the verge of outcrying at those despicable townfolks that they dare call themselves humans...till one particular figure showed himself...
"Leave them be, they speak the truth" an old man advanced.
"My elder!" Someone gasped before kneeling, and the other citizens soon followed his example, kneeling and lowering their heads.
The group did the same.
"Raise your Head, young warriors, and speak high," The elder said. Raising his own hand upwardly.
Before Alfred could speak. Diana rushed ahead. "Old chieftain, we came to fulfill the last wish of a young woman who wanted to be buried next to her mother here, despite the citizen's anger we request that you allow us to make her last wish come true"
The man smiled, oddly. He walked steadily towards the body bypassing Diana.
Something is wrong with that man. Diana thought.
Sebastian noticed and stood in the man's path.
"I don't care if you are an elder or a chief or even a king. I won't let you see a woman's dead body" Sebastian said firmly and decisively.
Diana blinked. The tip of her eyes caught the attention of tension growing between the Citizens. Sharing whispers...
This is going to get ugly soon.
However, The reaction of the elder was quite controversial. The old man blinked at the sight of Sebastian challenging him. Intimated by his undeterred character.
He looked at the body behind Sebastian. Emotions flowed through his body and tears gathered within his poor wrinkled eyes. He fell on Sebastian's legs. Begging...
"Please! Have mercy. Give me one last chance to see her!" He said with shouting vinegar cries. "I know I don't deserve it, and she spent all her life despising me, but please let me see her one last time!"
The crowd just gasped in complete disbelief at what their eyes were witnessing. How the only leading figure of their home is crying and begging, offering his precious dignity as an exchange...
"D-Did you know her?" Asked Diana with a sympathetic voice.
The old man was barely managed to be heard through his loud cry and sobs. "I am the fool who abandoned her! I am her father!"
When Sebastian heard the sound of the word 'father' echoing through his ear. He didn't think about his next move, and his body lost control. His leg kicked the elder's face like a ball, with blood splashing from his mouth. He landed on his back grabbing his bleeding mouth with his left hand, leading him to cry even more.
"YOU, OLD SCUM. DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR DAUGHTER AT THAT CASTLE?!" YOU ARE RIGHT, YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE CALLED A FATHER, AND CERTAINLY YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE LONGER THAN YOU DO NOW!" Sebastian shouted at the man with flaming eyes. And the next thing Diana saw, was Sebastian drawing out his sword pointing his tip at the downed old man.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Alfred quickly jumped to action and caught Sebastian's arms during his rampage. He could have killed the old guy, right here and right now. Without a speck of remorse.
Maria woke up at that horrific sight, clutching her mouth in surprise.
Diana was standing there watching, she didn't know if she should join in beating the man or stop the furious protector from beating the man's soul out of him.
He sobbed more, crying Helplessly. He didn't defend himself nor did he even care about it. He was just sitting there... crying...and bleeding.
His tears touched Diana's heart. She couldn't stand away any longer and she paced towards the downed crying man.
She patted her hand on the Father's shoulder. He shifted his head to the right so as to not meet her gaze. "If you loved her that much, why did you kick her o_?"
"I DIDN'T !" he shouted, mobbing some of his falling tears. "My wife..No, ex-wife that I married after my former wife died, was a monster. A woman who cannot be fitted to be a mother in all manners you can interpret!
I married her because she was also the daughter of the former elder. However, She was far from pretty. A creature too harsh and gross to be even be considered a wife. Her father knew that, So In his last attempt, to get his daughter married before he died. He declared that the man who would marry her would be the next elder after him, and will be given half his fortune..."
The elder paused for a moment, his mouth was still bleeding. His lips were swollen. So he gave them some rest from moving them again; to continue his story...
"My ambition drove me away from the girl I spent my whole life raising her". He sobbed. "I married that woman. Afterwards, I noticed almost instantly how she treated my daughter with inferior behaviors.
They both hated each other's guts as far as I know it. I thought it was normal for my daughter to behave like this. To rejected her stepmother at first period. A stage she should pass before she accept her as a reality. I hoped that they would get along one day.
For that, I talked to my Gunnora many times about it but she never planted a seed for love towards her step-mom ever. She always blamed me for her mother's death. And now that she saw me marrying another, I...I confirmed her accusations towards me"
He continued. "Still clinging to my false hope and as a responsible elder of Ontoga, I left for a far town about two weeks away for a diplomatic problem. I trusted that woman with my girl but when I returned..."
"...She was already gone " Diana finished his words, with a frown. Concluding what happened next.
He nodded sadly. He ran out of tears, but the old man was still shattered.
"The Citizens told me about what happened, how the Town was attacked by those slavers for the first time at that point. That's when their leader took my daughter into their custody. But I also knew one last piece of information...
"That before the attack...that WHORE tossed my girl out of her house!"
"I didn't believe the citizens, and I searched..."
"Every house..."
"Every orphanage..."
"I-I even looked at the brothels..."
I kept searching the streets for 3 days and nights. That's when I was certain that...that ...I have lost my daughter forever....and was told afterwards that that strange man took her away with him."
Suddenly the elder's tone got darkened and spoke out seriously once again.
"I made that woman pay! I killed her with my own hands. I choked her to death, I Burned her body and tossed her ashes outside the town like a pile of shit. I did what I did so she is not buried. Why should I give mercy to a semi-animal who didn't show it anyway?!!!"
After confessing his revenge, he managed to calm down a bit, and the sad tone returned, raising his head to meet Sebastian with puppy eyes.
"Are you that man?" The elder asked Sebastian. Whose anger was long gone, replaced by regrets about his cruel actions.
"No, that man was the commander of the Red Castle," Sebastian said quietly. He took her to his castle as...a prisoner". He hid the truth. He knew that that the elder's soul won't withstand another blow that his daughter was someone's else favorite toy.
The elder nodded. "Forgive me then, I thought you were him, That explains how she was never found by me in any nearby town or forest". He turned around to face Diana.
He held her hands. Kneeling. The girl blushed...
"Tell me how was her last moments, my child," He asked her. "Did she hate me to the end? Or did she get the slightest mercy to forgive me?"
She stared at him. Trying to recall the past.
The revolt, the battle, the sacrifices, and the deed.
She finally talked: "She died a hero... A hero of the dead! A hero for all those people who died under the commander's domaining killing hand. Her action avenged them and inspired the living to seek glory in an epic battle that she led by herself. She castes fear to the heart of the enemy, as she led men to freedom" She gasped proudly.
The elder's eyes widen. So every citizen in the square. "Does that mean..." Someone said with questionable thought.
Diana looked at her uncle, giving him the signal.
The Pioneer nodded and went for the cart again, grabbing a circle-shaped object wrapped in a Bloody sheet.
"You never told me what's that?". Maria asked with a heavy gulp seeing the foreign object soaked in red swinging in Alfred's hands.
"You really don't want to know". He said before joining the group once more.
He took some steps before throwing what was inside the sheets. It retracted from the ground as it rolled down in front of all eyes.
The head of the commander
Women gasped in shock, men's eyes widened in confusion, and children cried at this forbidding sight.
Alfred began. "Hear me, All, That is the man who killed and blackened that town's heart for some many years. I say let his head rot! So may the souls of those who died by his hands torture him for eternity!"
"Rejoice! for Ontoga is free again!"
Upon seeing this announcement, the citizens shouted in joy and cried happy cheers. The woman shrieked and hugged their children.
Men cheered and tears of joy filled the streets. No more humiliation, No more living in fear. No more poverty and despair.
In the middle of those celebrations, the Elder smiled weakly. He no longer has to pay tributes for those tyrannies. The Citizens can now sleep peacefully again
He, however, must live in eternal condemnation of himself. To lament for the daughter he lost.
"What were her last words?" He raised his head towards Diana.
"Her last wish was her mother. The good one." She looked at Sebastian. She saw tears gathering in his eyes again. He probably remembered his own long-passed family members.
"Please..." the old elder walked on his knees, bowing again at Sebastian's feet. "One last look"
The man couldn't help but move aside opening a way for the old man.
The elder's walked till he reached the body. His hands shook as he slowly uncovered the blanket to reveal his daughter's face only while she was eternally sleeping. He sat staring at her closed eyes. Speaking and pleading inside...
"Forgive me, my dear. I know you hear me now. I know I am a truly wicked one. Who worshipped his dreams more than caring for you. I know you hated me for the last moment of your precious life. But I assure you, I loved you to the very end. I just want you to forgive me, for not being the father you desired by your side"
When he finished, he brushed her cheeks with his right hand. She was cold and still. But he somehow was sure that she heard all his telepathic talking, He kissed her forehead. He took his time. Feeling his heart crying with bitterness. He would have loved for his daughter to just wake up, even for just an hour, and tell him that she had forgiven him.
The group backed away. They allowed him to spend half the day with her. Talking to her as if she was alive.
While the man was grieving, the celebrations everywhere couldn't be hidden anymore. People were dancing and singing. Happiness finally found its way to this cursed misery filled place.
During those celebrations, Alfred went into a inn and rented two rooms. One for the girls and one for him and Sebastian for 2 nights. He was planning to buy some food for the travelling road ahead just in case.
The day ended with a victory.
And the next day arrived.
Happiness flooded the Town even more when the captives -protectors and servants- came back. Families ran crying toward their loved ones returning to their homes. Girls found their parents waiting for them. And That wasn't all. A carriage that was carrying an immersed amount of gold money approached the city. Their hard-working money that has been used by those tyrannies for so many months now was returned to where it truly belonged...
Gunnora was buried, the night before. Right next to her mother just like how she asked. Leaving reputation and happiness. Her legacy lived on in the hearts of grateful Citizens as THE HERO OF THE DEAD.
~~~~~
End of Diana's Arc