At least he was alive, he thought… and in his old cell.
He had spent many months of his youth in that cell, however, never chained the right side up, as he was now. There was an old man beside him who kept staring at him. At first, he thought the old guy was one of those weirdoes you read about, you know, some kind of pervert. He was about to swear at the old man when the old guy began to whisper to him…
“You are the chosen one! I can feel it… you will free us from our burden…as it has been prophesised! You will bee called Dexthor!”
Obviously Felix saw the man as insane, a result of being isolated in a cell. The old man repeated these same words over and over and over again.
Luckily, before Felix himself became insane, he found a pin he had hidden in his long sleeve. He was about to try and free himself when he heard footsteps approach his cell.
Immediately he played dead.
His cell door was unlocked and two armoured guards walked in.
‘Is this the famous thief Felix’ said one of the burly guards laughing and discarding his spear. ‘He looks weak and frail to me.
‘He has been in this cell for over a week, you know’ said the other guard also discarding his spear and withdrawing the keys to the yoke and chains.
‘Over a week, unconscious?’ he said in disbelief.
‘Yeah, he was brought in unconscious by this chap who looks half dead’ he said fondling the keys in his hand
‘Ahh, I see you have met Salamanca’. He said in a delighted tone
‘Salamanca? It has a name?’ the guard said mockingly.
‘Brovik, don’t let the King hear you say that. After he captured Felix he treats him as one of his family.’
‘Boy this guy must have done something really bad’
‘Yes he-’
‘Strev, Brovik! The King is waiting for the criminal…if he doesn’t get it, your heads will make up for it!’
‘Alright, alright we are ready…’ he said unchaining the prisoner. ‘Open the cell door.’
As the guard opened the cell door Felix pushed the two burly guards out of the way and, as he had done many times before in his youth, made a run for the exit. Unfortunately, the palace complex had changed since his youth and after a few minutes of running and dogging palace guards; he was lost in one of the palace’s identical marble hallways.
He rushed through the hallway trying to loose the guards behind him, but as he turned the corner, he saw another group of soldiers searching for him. He quickly hid in one of the rooms so not to be seen and it worked. To Felix’s relief both squads clinked past. His heart beat was about to become stable again when he heard a similar voice. He quickly tried to hide but no use. There was no place to hide in the king’s throne room. In no time he was apprehended and chained, in front of the king’s throne.
‘If it isn’t the famous crook Felix.’ said the King in an arrogant tone.
‘What the hell do you want?’ said Felix between clenched teeth while trying to set himself free.
‘Revenge! Revenge, for making me look like a moron in front of my subjects…’ he said as he spat on Felix’s face.
‘Well to be honest they already knew that. They do have eyes you know…’
‘Be silent when your King speaks!’ said the one who so far had been silent, as he slapped Felix. He had seen the cloaked person before but from where; at the moment he could not remember…
Felix felt he was being watched by someone behind him…he glanced at the far end of the glamorous throne room and saw that both the queen and the princess were eying him sensually.
‘What was going on? Is it a new form of interrogation…to seduce your victim? If so they are doing a good job of it…’ he thought.
‘Well Felix now that you are mine, I can’t quite decide what to do with you…at first I contemplated hanging you… but that would have been to easy… then I thought of the guillotine…bloody and spectacular, …however, then Clarisse suggested keeping you as my court clown-’
‘Damn I knew her name began with “C”!’ he muttered to himself.
‘I beg your pardon!’ said the cloaked man as he slapped Felix again.
‘Oh sorry, I was just saying that your friend here has an ugly face…’
Unlike the other times, as he went to hit Felix his hand was stopped, and not by the King, but by Felix’s fist on his face. As the cloaked man fell his face was uncovered, to his surprise it was that same insane face he had seen before he blacked out at the palace. He was about to kick the unconscious Karion when a dozen novice guards rushed to apprehend him. He tried to push them off using the shackles but there were just too many off them.
Karion had got up by the time the guards had fully apprehended him.
‘Thought you could escape Felix? So sad.’ said the King with a grin. He moved face to face with Felix and said in a soft tone: ‘Unfortunately for you, it’s the guillotine. Guards! Take this scum to the execution square!’
As they were dragging Felix out of his cell and down the corridor, he turned back and shouted to the King: ‘Are you sure you want to kill me with the guillotine? Its quick and painless you know…prison is best suited for you as my death is more painful…you can even stop by and see me die minute by minute…’ in a convincing tone.
The King stood there analysing all the details and comparing them to death by guillotine. “Wait a minute…Stop!” He ordered the guards, as he contemplated Felix’s suggestion.
“The guillotine is quick and painless, Felix you are right…death is not the answer.”
“At last you understand my point my Lord…” Felix sighed in relief.
“Nor is life imprisonment…’the dumpy King said quickly. Felix’s jaw dropped as the king said this “…Instead of death and imprisonment I think I will make you a worker in one of my camps till the end of your days…like I did to your Uncle before you!” the fat King said smirking.
The King contemplated the new scenario in his mind and finally said “Yep, life in slavery it is it is. Take this slave away from my presence!”
As he was being dragged away Felix remembered Ravius’ words about the woman which he spent that night during the coup, he could not remember any more detail than her name beginning with the letter ‘C’, however, Ravius said he had told him it began with ‘S’. Felix had no recollection of the conversation as he was so drunk at the time… quickly turned and shouted a plea at the King…
‘My King, before I am dragged away to life enslavement, will you be as kind as to tell if there is any female in your court whose name begins with ‘S’, as a last request?’
“Very well you toe rag…yes there is, however there is only one, her name is… Sarita.” the king said in a pompous tone.
“Sarita?” Felix said to himself, trying to jog his mind. “A servant girl my Lord?”
“How dare you! Sarita is your Queen you imbecile!” the King bellowed at the chained Felix… “Since your last request is now fulfilled, have a slow painful death, oh, and thank you for your visit.’ said the King with a smile.
“Queen Sarita?” Felix murmured to himself. “Damn, what the hell happened that night?”
The over weight King turned to Karion and said laughing ‘Ha…Well done my friend, you have completed your task, here…’ handing him a sac full of coins ‘…that’s your reward’
He shook the bag and felt something wrong; he opened it ‘Twelve bronze coins? Damn! I knew I should have killed him and you with him! You Bas-’
‘Thank you for your help, you are dismissed. See you never.’ he said interrupting the traitor, and pulling a lever, which released a trap door underneath Karion.
* * * *
The beautiful town of Veja, capital city of the lands of the Sundry race was suffering from way above normal temperatures the day of the execution.
This excessive heat was a rare occurrence in the town since it was a costal settlement, but heat waves happen and anyway at least they had caught Felix the master criminal.
At that moment in time, three burly executors all hooded and dressed in black robes were dragging the tied young man down the boiling hot, narrow, dirty streets, which, led to the town square.
The young man was badly bruised and bleeding from horrible gashes on his chest and back. Clearly he had been tortured, cruelly.
The whole population of this huge settlement were out on the streets trying to catch a glimpse of the King of Thieves who for so long had helped the poor live a better existence. These people were at either side of the streets Felix had passed or was about to pass and were marking his trajectory to the town square, where many more awaited. Most on lookers had expressions of pity and helplessness as they looked upon their battered hero, but none dared to interfere lest they be cut down by the burly guards marching simultaneously alongside Felix pushing the crowd to the sides to open a path for the prisoner.
Those of rich upbringing looking down at Felix from their marble balconies had expressions of satisfaction and thoughts of a better future to come of this. They felt no pity for the poor bleeding man being dragged through the square; he was just another nuisance, something the city will never have any use for.
Those who were easily convinced by the King’s propaganda against this criminal shouted horrible oaths or just spat, threw rocks (or anything else they had at hand) at him humiliating the pitiful thief even further.
Finally Felix arrived at the town square where silently and mockingly the block awaited him.
“Excellent, just the way I wanted to die! How did you guess my wish?” murmured the bleeding man.
“SILENCE YOU THIEF!” barked one of the executors, as he hit him.
On the square the sea of people made way as the guards dragged the chained and bleeding man onto the execution stage where the eager crowd awaited. Strangely, the King was part of that crowd eagerly awaiting the execution of Felix. The stout King sat on his thrown twiddling his thumbs his eyes glinting at the pleasure the execution was going to bring him.
“I make it a full house today, eight thousand at least” said one of the executioners.
“Yep we are surely going to make a hefty profit out of this one Strev,” said another executioner grinning. “But tell me Strev, what in the name of God did that supposed King of Thieves do to piss off the whole of the population?” he said looking at the awaiting mob outside and at the grinning King who sat at the middle of the crowd.
“What he didn’t do is what you should really ask Brovik…you know the coup to overthrow the king that occurred last year, you know, the one with the mercenary army?”
“Yeah? What does that have to do with this guy?” Said Brovik baffled.
“He organized it” said Strev in an offhand manner.
“What! He organized the coup?” Said Brovik amazed.
“Yep, he is also responsible for multiple charges of looting; pick pocketing, pub brawls, drug selling and a few street stabbings. Oh, did I mention that it’s been estimated that he has been hired and successfully completed over ten thousand murders?” said Strev casually.
“So I take it that this man’s no saint, and he’s probably going straight to Hell?” said Brovik with a straight face.
“Well ‘probably’ is not the word I would use…. the word I would use is ‘undoubtedly’….what, what’s so funny?”
The town square was packed; Felix could see no empty spaces as he ran his eyes across the crowd.0000000000000000000000000000000
When the execution was scheduled to begin no priest came to forgive the sins caused by the thief, not because of fear of loosing their valuables to this pickpocket but because they no real point in the cleansing of his soul since they were so certain that this man was going to Hell. Well, to tell you the truth loosing their valuables was the biggest reason (out of all their reasons) for their absence. Ok fine! It was the only reason why the priests did not show up. Are you happy now?
They dragged the thief onto the head block; at that point, the crowd was going wild, except for a group of men at the back. Some got so over enthusiastic that they started to take their clothes off and throw it at him! The sane ones only spat at him or threw rotten fruit.
During all this, Felix put on a brave face, and promised the executioner that he was going to COME BACK AS A HELL DEVIL haunt his dreams AND MAKE HIS LIFE A LIVING HELL. This comment made the guards around him back away a little, WHICH PLEASED FELIX.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
The crowd was cheering and there were some at the front who were mounting a crescendo. By the time, the sharp blade had cut through his neck the crowd had already gone into frenzy.
STRANGELY, The sun was blotted by the dark clouds, which had formed so suddenly after Felix’s death. The sky turned black, the winds stopped dead.
The crowd afraid by this sudden change in climate quieted down. Out of nowhere came a cataclysmic hammer of sound, one, which shook the earth of Tellüs from Veja to Lameiga.
All the townspeople fled the square as many of the buildings surrounding began to collapse
The ground underneath Felix’s limp body rumbled, and then without warning, split apart. Felix’s body fell into the bottomless abyss and the tremors stopped.
As the earth swallowed him, the fissure closed up again, leaving no trace of a split, for any human eyes to uncover.
THEY BLINDFOLDED HIS EYES….HE ONLY FELT THE RUSH OF WING ON HIS NECK…
© 2012 H Williams. All rights reserved