The Lost Sword
The kingdom was in chaos. War tore town and village, and even the neighbouring regions were not spared. After the king’s death, his chancellor claimed the castle, changed the way of things for the worse, and ousted the royal family. His boundless greed drove the king’s two sons, an adopted pair of Siaos, to a hovel by a lake in the countryside.
"Here, brother,” one of the two princes, Ityura, said as he came home. He had a sword in his paws. “Look at this. Its edge gleams like no other blade I have seen, and these inscriptions! This blade is nothing less than a blessing unto our house!”
The other prince, Verna, was sceptical. “If we are blessed, it is to have this retreat and a chance still to pluck at the heartstrings of our homeland. Brother, where did you find this?”
“The lake,” Ityura gestured at the window overlooking the clear blue water outside. “It must’ve come from within, and there it was among the gravel.”
“Lakes do not offer swords freely, brother.” Ityura’s voice was low and worrisome. “If it is not some cursed artifact, then should we not at least make sure that some seafaring inhabitant has not lost it?”
“Why do that?” Verna protested, raising his voice. “It is ours now, and it may yet win us back our kingdom!”
“The kingdom is not ours as it is not the chancellor’s,” Ityura remained calm, “and neither is this sword. Brother, you must return it.”
“I will not! Know that now and resolutely, Ityura!” Verna declared, and he stormed off with the blade.
Later, swallowing his guilt, Ityura padded near his brother’s bed, head ducked low, and crawled across the floor. Then he snatched the blade from the mantlepiece and left through the front.
As the brilliant full moon reflected luminously upon the water, Ityura’s pupils constricted and he held the blade, feeling its weight. To do this would be to nakedly betray his brother. Yet, he had to: that was the honest choice. With a toss the blade splashed audibly back into the water whence it came, and Ityura ran, leaving the hovel and his brother behind for good.
And while Ityura one day led a group of loyal forces to reclaim the castle where he had been born, Verna died alone by a demon’s treachery.