Chapter 7 Memento

Eznho just sat there while tears also started to form from his eyes. He always wanted to know about his origins but he knew that his aunt was just trying to find an appropriate time. He once tried to ask but both his aunt Minchin and his big brother Martin dodged the question.

After wiping her tears, Minchin calmed herself down.

“Wait here,” she told Eznho and stood up.

She went inside her bedroom and when she walked out, she was holding a small wooden jewelry box. The box was plain with no design but it was polished, it was well maintained.

She sat back on her chair and put the box on the table. She opened it and took out a necklace. A small crude jade rock with rough edges the size of a thumbnail was being held by a thick thread. The thread was knotted to function as a net to hold the jade inside and a long part of it was left to be hung on the neck.

“This necklace was your mother’s, she said she found it on a riverbank. It may not be worth that much but she treasured it greatly so she made it as a necklace. She told me to give you this at the right time for you to remember her by. I guess this would be the right time, may it serve as your lucky charm and help you through tough times. Your mother was a gentle soul, she would have been a good mother to you.” She took Eznho’s hand and put the necklace on his palm.

“Mother...” Eznho said while overwhelmed with sadness.

How nice it would be to have an actual mother taking care of you, he thought. Then he held the necklace tightly, afraid that the necklace might disappear.

“There’s another one,” Minchin interrupted.

She then took out a dark golden ring, it was a lady’s ring. Just a few centimeters thick and would fit into a lady’s ring finger. If you observe closely on the inside, indiscernible letters were engraved, they looked like runes of some kind.

“According to your mother, this was a gift from your father. I don’t know anything about him so don’t ask me.” Minchin said with a stern voice.

She did not have a good impression on Eznho’s father because she felt that he abandoned his family.

“Take it, it belongs to you now. If you wanna wear it, I suggest you wear it as a necklace alongside with your mother’s. It’s easier to hide it that way, people might get greedy when they see it.” She warned Eznho.

She personally did not want to give the ring as it might invite trouble but Eznho was now the owner of it. He will be the one who will decide what to do with it.

“I’ll take it, thank you aunt Minchin,” Eznho said gratefully while taking the ring.

He had mixed feelings towards his father. He had no information regarding him, the only thing connecting him with his father was this ring so he wanted to keep it. He wanted to ask where was he during the attack and why did he not try to find him after all these years.

After a bit of thinking, he tossed all these questions at the back of his mind. He would think about it when the time comes. His focus now should be the problem at hand.

“I know you have a lot of questions right now, but I advise you to worry about it later on. The important thing for you to do right now is to survive this predicament.” Minchin reminded him.

“Little Ez, listen to me, there are many things that could happen in a man’s life that could change his destiny. There are evil lurking in every corner of this world. I don’t ask you to become a malevolent saint, what I want is that if you can do good deeds, then do it. It doesn’t hurt to help others when you can. I know that fate has not been good to you, but there is still goodness in this world. Once you get out of this walls and start your journey you will experience many things. I don’t know what those experiences would be but I hope whatever decisions you make, think carefully and consider the consequences.” Minchin advised.

“Well, my mouth is starting to get dry from all this talking. You are not a baby anymore so you can make decisions on your own.” Minchin said jokingly and stood up then went in front of Eznho.

“I have held you long enough, let’s call it a night shall we?” then she bent down and kissed his forehead.

“Good night my dear little Ez, close the door when you go out,” Minchin instructed and started to walk towards her bedroom.

“Oww, and one more thing little Ez, try to talk to other people and improve your communication skills. Knowing and befriending other people might prove useful to you.” Minchin added and continued on her way to her bedroom.

“Okay, I’ll try,” Eznho responded.

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He continued looking at both the necklace and the golden ring while trying to digest all the information he just received. After a while, he calmed down, organized his thoughts and started to formulate his own plans.

He did what Minchin suggested and made the ring become a part of the jade necklace. He hung the necklace on his neck and covered it with his shirt. The necklace felt cold but at the same time, it gave him warmth, the warmth of having his parents by his side.

He stood up then bowed respectfully towards Minchin’s bedroom and walked out the door going back to his own room.

.....

Six days has already passed since the decree was issued. It was already past noon, four people were inside the pavilion discussing something. They were Eznho, Minchin, Martin and manager Tang.

“I have tried my best to gather information as best as I could regarding the mines and the border.” Manager Tang said as an introduction.

“The gold mine is being supervised by the vice captain of the city guard, Randolph. He is a sworn brother of the city guard captain so the city lord cannot directly interfere regarding the mines, but he has still influence he can use to find trouble for you Eznho if he wants to. Be careful out there, there are two main reasons why people die inside the mines. The first one is being buried alive due to the collapse of the cave mines. The second one is having bad luck and accidentally digging nests of wild beasts such as snakes, centipedes, spiders and the like. That is why mercenaries are being hired to kill those beasts and they also hunt down miners who try to escape or steal gold.” Manager Tang spoke solemnly as he looked at Eznho.

“Regarding you Martin, did you already register your name at the military branch office?” manager Tang asked Martin.

“Yes manager, I already did,” Martin replied.

“That’s good, I believe you were already briefed. Your equipment will be provided by the military. So far, no deaths have been reported from the border. Both parties are just watching over each other but who knows if this will continue especially if the gold inside the mine will be more valuable than expected. The city guard captain is also there along with other city guards and military soldiers. As you know the kingdom does not care much about the city and the gold mine, it does not warrant their attention so the army will not be deployed. In short, we are on our own.”

“A large scale war is unlikely to happen but our city might get dragged into the chaos because we are near the border. As long as the enemy does not go beyond our city, the military will only send a small number of troops.”

Cities are valued according to their size and location, the nearer it is to the royal capital the more valuable it is. The kingdom has many cities, so a small backwater city does not catch their attention. Sin city is small and located near the border so it does not hold much value, but for the citizens of the city, the allure of the gold mine drives them crazy. They are in the same situation with the opposing for the Black Stone city.

“Minchin and I already bought the necessary tools for you to use Eznho.”

Manager Tang pointed to one of the tables, a small and a big pick axe were on top of it. The larger one was a meter and a half long, while the smaller one is just a foot long. They had the same design, just different sizes. The handle was made of wood while the head was made of metal, one side of the head was flat while the other was pointed.

“We also bought you a coat and a hat made of rabbit fur and a pair of leather boots and gloves. You can get it from Minchin later on.”

“Thank you,” Eznho bowed politely.

Manager Tang nodded in response.

“Hey manager Tang, ahem ahem, what about me?” Martin asked shamelessly.

Manager Tang was taken aback, this guy truly has a thick face.

“Hmph! Do I look like your piggy bank that holds your money, huh?” the manager glared at Martin.

“Just kidding, just kidding no need to be mad.” Martin chuckled while holding his palms outward in front of his chest.

“Hmph! Let’s see if your shamelessness doesn’t get you in trouble.” The manager harrumphed.

“One last thing Martin, if you are lucky enough you can become a five man commander in the army. That is the highest position you can achieve as a citizen that does not practice any martial arts. I hope you can achieve that and elevate your status a little.” The manager hoped that Martin would somehow get lucky and become one.

“Both of you will depart at sunrise, the gathering point will be at the eastern gate. I will not be there to see you off, good luck. May the heavens watch over you during this troubled times. Ai, I have to find new replacements.” Manager Tang sighed and started to walk outside. Nobody knows what he was thinking.

“Thank you,” both Eznho and Martin said at the same time.

They were both thankful, they were touched by the actions of their manager.

“Both of you, make your final preparations,” Minchin spoke after just standing there the whole time.

“I’ll go buy some other miscellaneous things, what about you little Ez?” Martin inquired.

“I’ll go the cemetery and say my goodbye,” Eznho answered.

“That’s good too. I’ll also go there later, maybe I’ll catch up with you there. See yah!” Martin said in return and started to head outside.

.....

The cemetery was covered in white, snow was falling while occasional howl of winds could be heard. Winter has already set sail, footprints could be seen heading up on top of the hill. The Kayo tree lost all its leaves and snow has settled on its branches. Eznho was standing in front of the grave.

“Mother, I will not be able to visit you for a long time but I promise you I will be back. For the first time in my life, I have set a goal to achieve and one of them is to look for father and ask him where was he when you needed him.” Eznho swore while clenching his fist.

He did not have a good impression of his father. Aside from his revenge against the people who wronged them, he also wanted to find him and ask him face to face why he abandoned them.

The sun has started to set, it was darker than usual. The color was a combination of red, orange and yellow which was being reflected by the snow covered hills. It was a magnificent sight, but despite the beauty, a hint of sadness can be felt.

After a while, it started to get dark. Eznho kneeled on both knees and kowtowed three times.

“I have to go now mother,” Eznho said with reluctance and stood up.

He was heading halfway down the hill when he met Martin who was holding a gourd of wine.

“Hey little Ez, sorry I got held up by something.” Martin greeted him.

“No worries,” Eznho smiled and replied.

“I’ll also go and say my goodbyes, you can go ahead,” Martin said with a sad tone.

“Okay,” Eznho could feel Martin’s sadness and started to head back to the city.

Looking from afar, a lonely silhouette could be seen chugging down a gourd of wine on top of the hill.