“Asfar spent time in DC and came to tell about it..? that idiot was demanding that I talk to him about my experience there..” I was elated, but I tried to appear angry.

               “I thought he told you.” She sat down as the cat was out of the hat, “when he came out of there, he never stopped talking about it.. how horrible it was, and how heroic he endured all kinds of unspeakable punishments.. he was bragging.. that dummy.” She was angry.. at him somehow.

I took my time to enjoy the moment, then I asked,

               “And Schank that lousy rat, he went along with him that day.. Oh, but why would a diligent soldier like Asfar end up in DC?” I was  admittedly sneaky.

               “He made a horrible mistake while he was in UKC.. he was sent there with a message from Bryane to the chief .. and during his stay he strayed out to a restricted area.. tried to get into a cottage or a building of sorts where he was not supposed to go.. so he was caught, and sent directly to DC.. he spent almost two months there.”

I was intrigued.. I knew exactly what area he went to and what ‘cottage’ was the one he entered.. he obviously was stupid enough to fall for the trap of the half open door..

Naturally I kept my mouth shut.. and just smiled with a deceptive sad face,

               “Oh poor guy… that was harsh.”

The next time I saw him, I couldn’t help but giggle myself silly..and he glared at me.. obviously she had already told him what transpired.

Almost a week later, I was in the prison food hall, when Wyee unexpectedly showed up,

               “What is the problem with the prison guards?” She asked and sat across from me.

               “Good afternoon to you too.” I answered sarcastically

               “Oh.. yeah.. that too.. but tell me what happened?”

               “Nothing serious, they tried to stop me from entering in here.. I gave them a quick lesson about how to talk to me.” I tried to be as charming as I could be.

               “Why did they try to stop you? You are one of the troops here..”

               “They said Trapp ordered them to open the door to no one while there were prisoners inside.” I continued to eat my food.

               “This is a strange order, but .. but they were carrying orders.. they were not trying to be obstructive or insulting.” She was trying as usual to take the side opposing me.

I stopped eating.. pushed my food away and got real angry,

               “How did you know about all this? And how did you manage to show up so suddenly? Why do you interfere in every little incident .. in every castle.. all the time like this?”

She was taken aback by the sudden change in my attitude.. so, she remained silent for a while thinking.. then she smiled and tried to relieve the tension,

               “You don’t have to get so riled up..I was just trying to help.. I came on my usual weekly tour to give the list to Asfar., the list of those going to the red spot for relaxation.. you know.” And as I was going to answer, she hurried to add, “I just came through the gateway.. so I heard the ruckus when I arrived.”

               “The gateway?” I asked casually.

               “Yeah.. you know there are three ways to come here from the BKC.. the regular route, which everyone must use, through the DC district.. it is a long and arduous way skirting the mountain.. you had been through that once.. right? then the route through the canyon in the mountain.. a much shorter and faster route, but a little hard to navigate, and lastly the gateway.. but this last route is only available to leaders and high ranking personnel.” She paused after the elaborate explanation intended to quench my anger, and then added, “I am sure Pruste .. or .. or..Bryane had explained all these things to you during your illicit conversations in DC.”

               “Illicit?.. what do you mean Illicit?” I played the part carefully, “this is outrageous.. I didn’t create the circumstance for my encounter with Bryane.. and he didn’t tell me anything about these matters..or any other matters forbidden to me..  he is much too smart to expose himself to the wrath of his master.”

               “He may be smart, but you.. you are too sneaky” She giggled, “I know you.. Deemeon knows you  and you, know you well”    

               “You give me way too much credit to outsmart your greatest scientist.” I pretended to calm down, “He was just bragging about his new innovations and inventions..he never strayed into any .. what you may call.. secrets, protocols or whatever.. come to think of it.. Geetieh, should have had explained some of these things you mentioned to me now .. after all, I was supposed to have known it all before my injuries..right?”

She stood up and came closer to me,

               “Listen Hort, forget about all this now.. let me tell you about the real reason I came here today” She touched my hair gently saying, “Things are going to change here soon.”

I didn’t look at her.. trying to hide my curiosity.. she waited for me to comment or ask.. and when she saw my apparent indifference.. she sat down next to me,

               “new decisions are being finalized about the situation here.. the personnel and strategy.. I shall not be able to tell you the details.. but I want you to know, you have a strong ally in the BKC.” She stood up again. “I shall try to help you achieve the status and ranking I believe you deserve.”

I looked at her suspiciously and shook my head,

               “It sounds like you are the one who is looking for an ally?”

               “You.. you bastard.” She exploded, “you ungrateful bastard.. you must always ruin all your chances to get ahead and up high.. I cannot believe you.. you cannot be so stupid.”

               “You were just telling me I outsmarted the most intelligent Bryane,” I laughed heartily, “And now you tell me I am stupid..so which one is it.. you are confusing me..it seems I just  hit the mark Wyee.” I continued to laugh.  

               “OK Hort, go on laugh.. I am going to remind you of this conversation, when you come to me begging for my help.” She was obviously annoyed, but she tried to hide it and she walked steadily out.

I was alone again.. and I stopped laughing.. I even forgot what I was laughing about.. I felt like I was walking in a the middle of a foggy swamp.. I didn’t know where I was going, or even where I was.. I walked to the window and saw a few soldiers seemingly exchanging some whispers and pointing at the building.. naturally I expected them to be talking about me.. I desperately wanted to clear my head, yet the echoes of my conversation with Wyee kept nagging me like a ghost in the middle of the fog.. at last I decided to ride..So, I went out fetched one of the horses and rode as far as I could go.. and spent some time in the open meadow laying on my back .. gradually, the loudest thought came out of my foggy mind.. “you have a strong ally” .. my own answer was shocking even to me.. I don’t understand why I said that.. but it certainly touched a raw area which she never wanted exposed..

A few days later, I woke up early at dawn in Bunker Hill, where soldiers have their sleeping quarters. The few ones who were not on assignment were still asleep, I got out to watch the daybreak.. I wanted to escape the nonstop nightmares chasing me and driving me crazy.. so I sat down near the hill top in the chilly breeze and kept staring at the fascinating sun rise at the horizon, until the silhouette of a rider began to materialize at the distance and kept coming closer and closer.. and Lo and behold, it was Alore..

               “Hi there, stranger.” He said cheerfully still mounted.

I got up and approached him.. somehow I was elated to see him,

               “Hello to you.. how did you come here? How did you find me? Didn’t you___”

               “I don’t have much time for explanations. I am pleased to see you safe and strong, but I have to warn you..” He was cheerful and friendly.

He dismounted and grabbed my shoulders,

               “Harts, The Major sent me to warn you.. I was spying in Abysnos until the battle of Primore.. later when I was assigned to assist Oldefol, I was discovered, so I had to run.. I had my eyes on you to protect you.. as long as I could, but then things went out of hand.” 

               “Alore, wait..this is too much to process so fast..”

               “You shall understand in due time.. but they are coming for you.. they know how valuable you are, play along.. don’t be stubborn, for we are keeping an eye on you and you are protected.. Have no fear my friend.” He held me close and then rushed to ride his spotted horse and galloped away.

I sat down on the grass in disbelief .. what has just happened? Did I really see Alore, or was it all just my imagination.. am I still dreaming? spy? Major? Am I losing my mind?

Soldiers started to wake up and come out, and some of them seeing me laying on the grass had some choice words for me, which I ignored.. and as the hours of the day dragged on,  I went to my favorite place by the well in the prison courtyard and sat down smoking .. somehow this spot had some sentimental attraction to me..

They were expecting Trapp to come for inspection at midday, but as the evening was upon us and it was getting dark, he had yet to show up.. however, just when everyone was about to relax, a soldier came in a hurry telling me that I was wanted at HQ.. so, I took my time to get there, and as soon as I descended the few steps into  the underground room, I was really surprised..

There they were.. Trapp, Blake, Asfar, Amy and several others whom I never saw before.. I looked around at the hush place where all eyes were fixed on me.. the silence didn’t last long, for Trapp cleared his throat and spoke in his hoarse growling voice,

               “Well, Hort.. there will be some changes around here.. this may come as a surprise for you, but it was decided that there will be.. a change.. a change of command..”

I stood there near the door and waited.. leveling my look at the ugly face, who then continued,

               “Blake will take command of this Castle.. while I shall go back to command the Malaab castle.” He said shaking his head towards the new commander, “I think this will be welcome news for you.”

I was about to speak, when Blake waved his hand to me saying,

               “You know that Trapp has kept his word as he promised in the document you both signed at DC.. he never tried to harass you as long as you never disobeyed orders., actually the chief is very pleased for the progress achieved here.. so we shall all move on..”

I walked slowly towards an empty chair and sat down.. they seemed to expect me to say something, so I put on a bland smile on my face and spoke casually,

               “Very well.. but what does that have to do with me? One of you is leaving, another is taking his place.. fine by me”

They exchanged some quick looks, and then Blake spoke,

               “When the commander is changed, so will his deputies as well.”

Suddenly a nervous air of unsettling went through the room.. Blake walked to stand next to my chair, and simply announced,

               “My new deputy will be here.. Flousty Hort.”

Murmuring started to get louder, then Trapp interfered,

               “Quiet please.. Ok.. all right.. usually you appoint two deputies, one for the east and one for the north camp…so __”

               “No, I shall have just one deputy, and he can assign two assistants or more if he wants.”

Amy couldn’t control herself so she blurted,

               “But this is like making him.. this ignorant coward like a.. like an .. alternate  commander or .. something.”

Glaring eyes shot angry looks at her, but didn’t deter her,

               “It’s true.. tell me if I am wrong.”

A sneaky smile crept to the ugly face of Trapp, while Blake boomed,

               “These are the decisions of the Chief himself. I guess this means he doesn’t agree with your assessment ..Master Hort here, was a war hero.. he lost his memory in battle..and struggled to get it back in shape to fight with all of us.. He deserves our respect and appreciation.”

Dead silence followed.. then Blake turned to me.

               “Would you like to tell us, who shall be your assistants, or you prefer to take some time to decide? No rush.”

I hesitated for a while, then I truthfully answered,

               “Frankly I don’t know if it is smart of me to accept the position in the first place,” I noticed Blake was going to rebut, so I quickly added,

               “Everyone in this room hates me virulently and this does not lend itself to cooperation and  success in the future.”

               “you read the book written by Deemeon on ‘The philosophy of hate’ , besides__”

               “No I did not..” I interrupted, “Nobody told me about such book.. only Deemeon mentioned something about his idea in passing .. back then in Primore.”

               “Anyway.. when they see you in battle like we saw you before, everyone will have to admit how you are a very good asset to this castle.”

I remembered the words spoken to me by Alore, whether real or imagined, I felt I should heed it and not be stubborn.. so the evening ended when I promised to assign the new assistants later on.

Some people claw their way out of the bottom, all the way to the top, while others are catapulted up there suddenly without much effort on their own. The ensuing results are invariably   different, and even confusing to those subjects themselves.. because a lot of people prefer to remain lolling in the bottom, wallowing in whatever they perceive as pleasure or pain .. or any other misery they choose.. don’t get me wrong, for I know that even those who reach the top, regardless of the way they got there, they also vary in their expectations.. some never realize they have arrived.. others regret making the effort leading them to more strife and struggle.. while many.. actually the majority, reach the top only to discover that it was not what they imagined, and the downfall of such people is devastating.. because as we know, at the top the winds blow harder in every direction..  

I was aware of these possible consternation, but I was also mindful of the fact that Deemeon was desperately trying to prove himself to be right .. I don’t know where he got this idea that I would be instrumental in the process of achieving his goals.. and that fact in itself, should be reason enough for me to squeeze every ounce of leverage I could muster for my own advantage.