Chapter 5

I spent many hours exercising my sword skills with Alore as well as a couple of other recruits. Oldefol crossed my way several times without incident, but Pryade was avoiding me completely. A few days after Deemeon’s visit, I was really bored so I decided to take a ride that afternoon. I didn’t have any particular direction in mind.. so I found myself going out of Primore, and trotting slowly towards UKC grounds.. I started to think about those cottages Alore talked about where he thought there was fun and pleasure .. the weather was fine and encouraging in the beginning, yet as soon as I approached the greens, it changed rapidly.. the wind picked up and it started to rain.. going back never crossed my mind.. it would have been the logical thing to do.. but for some reason I kept going, even as visibility became a little tricky..

I don’t know how long it had been before I realized I might have strayed from the main road.. then, I heard the first scream. It was far away, yet it was clearly an agonized scream.. it pricked my curiosity, so instinctively I turned my horse towards the source as it had been repeated several times. A while later as I was approaching slowly I noticed the sign.. it was so big and prominent even through the torrential rain.. “Do not proceed in this road. If you go beyond this sign you shall be caught and punished severely” I just hesitated for a few moments.. then pushed the horse forward..

The road became muddy, and I was getting drenched.. but the screams were now much louder.. I was close.. I don’t know what spooked the horse.. it neighed, reared and jumped and then it tripped, I lost control and  it fell throwing me to the ground.. a profuse stream of unsavory curses flowed out of my mouth as I was covered in mud.. but as I struggled to stand up, I could see the silhouette of the cottage ahead of me.. I walked carefully towards it.. the door was half open.. and just as I approached it, I realized something was not right .. how come the strong wind didn’t slam it closed or throw it wide open… someone or something  must be keeping it open.. I turned around to the back.. there was no fence or any barrier .. then, I saw the window.. I got as close as I could ..

The inside was dimly lit.. it was a large room with no furniture.. except for what appeared to be a mesh wire bed suspended in mid air.. with somebody .. oh.. there was a human being lying in there .. he screamed again.. a piercing loud  agonized scream followed by inaudible murmuring.. my heart almost stopped.. then a couple of people in white coats entered the room,

               “I got it, I got it..” the first one said.

               “Give him the larger dose.. he seems to be resistant.”  Answered the second.

They lowered the wired bed and started to inject the tortured man.. he let out a muffled cry and twitched.. then they raised the bed again and left the room.. I stood there stunned at what I saw. My knees were buckling, and I slid down to sit on the ground next to the wall in the mud.. only now I noticed the rain stopped.. my mind was reeling uncontrollably in my head.. I cannot say anything to anyone or ask questions about this.. but, what is this? Who is this? Who are these people? What is this place? Oh, is this the “enticing methods” Deemeon was talking about?

It took me a while before I could pull myself together, find the horse, and trot away from this sick place.. it felt like a whole weight off my chest when I reached my room that night without being caught.. I was relieved but the shock of what I saw lingered in my mind for quite a long time.. until I had to visit that same cottage again.

I kept a low profile for a few days, expecting to hear from anybody who might have seen me go to that forbidden cottage, but it seemed that the whole thing went unnoticed, after all it was a stormy night ..

 A Few days later, I was looking for Alore, and was told he was at the council building. I had been to that place several times. It was supposed to be used for meetings by the contenders, and the chosen ones among the longest resident members of the castle with the commander, shortly before the commencement of the games. However, the same place was also used on a daily basis as a dance hall with liquor and crazy fun for all. When I arrived, I stood looking for my assistant, until he found me..,

               “Hi master Hort,  I was going to come fetch you.”

               “Well, I need to check out some records Alore,”

               “Sure Master, but I have to deliver a message to you.. the supreme chief wants you to go see him at the Palace first thing tomorrow morning.” The young man said offhandedly.

               “He does?” my mind jumped to the fateful night, “about what?” I asked trying to show no emotion.

               “I don’t know.”

               “How did you get this message?” I asked again.

               “The commander gave it to me..”

I had a lot of trepidations about this meeting, but I didn’t betray any feelings.. I just pretended to be grateful to receive such honor and returned to my cocoon. The following morning I kept thinking on my way to the palace how I might respond if Deemeon confronts me about my daring excursion into the forbidden area. Should I be audacious, pretending to be a brave explorer to whom the rules are made to be broken, or a submissive and apologetic vassal who strayed during the storm where he was not supposed to go? Endless scenarios were playing in my mind until the moment I dismounted in front of the palace stairs. I was escorted into a new office and sat waiting for him.. he kept me waiting for a long time.. deliberately?

               “You are here Hort.” He started as he entered the room.

               “Yes, I am.. anxious to see me again?” I spoke with a smile on  my face pretending to be care free.

               “Of course.. I want to see what progress you made since our last meeting.”

               “Progress?”

               “Did you meet the commander?.. did you make any alliances? Have you thought about any plans for your part in the games.. yes, progress?” He beckoned me to join him into a much bigger hall adjoining the office.

               “This is the official hall of announcements.” He began to explain, “after the games everyone involved gather here and the results are announced.. who would be promoted, who would be demoted, who would be punished.. etcetera ..”

It was a fairly large Hall.. plain with no seats or decorations.. but it had a very long and high platform with several chairs behind it atop a small flight of stairs.. on the far end.. I couldn’t think of an appropriate response right away.. but as the silence became heavy and his eyes leveled on me were expecting me to say something, I finally had to speak,

               “Well, so .. you mean to tell me that this where you shall announce me to be the commander of Primore?” He let out an uproarious laugh.

               “Clever.. very clever.. I like that.” He said and pointed to the door, back to the office, “So, tell me how you plan to achieve that.. I was a little worried about our conversation last time when you did not seem to understand the significance of hatred in my scheme.”

               “I still cannot believe that soldiers who hate each other can fight side by side against the enemy.. it just does not make sense?” I was now relaxed.. he seemed to know nothing about my misadventure during the stormy night.

               “I assure you it had been working for a long time. you shall see.” He was so confident.

               “if it were so, how come Geetieh spent three long month ignoring all his duties to re-educate me after my injury.. the man must have hated me so much___”

               “No.. No, you got this wrong.. that is why you cannot believe me.. first Geetieh wouldn’t dare ignore his responsibility, he knows very well what would be the punishment.. second, the doctors agree with him and Wyee.. don’t forget.. you were injured badly during battle.. it is a great wonder you are even alive now.. this is why you are treated with such adoration.” He was completely convinced. Which gave me some insight about the machination of his logic. This helped me so much in our later confrontations. He sat down with a broad smile saying,

               “What Geetieh might have suffered was something else.. it is jealousy.. quite different from hatred. He was jealous of your feistiness, your tenacity and your intelligence.. I like that too.. it is a motivational tool I use sometimes .. my dear Hort, I have many tools at my disposal and the greatest of all tools is the one you shall learn one day.. I wrote books about these exceptional ways to win my battles..” He was so obviously proud of himself.

               “Books? I never saw any books in BSC or even here__” I complained.

               “You shall have access in due time.” He seemed ready to end the meeting, “For now, I want to see your plan for the coming games, I know you are training and Pryade is already worried about his position.. I am only interested in results. So .. you got a map of the expected place of the next games.. let me see how you would carry out the battle to victory.”

               “you already know about___” I was a little surprised.

               “I know everything that happens around here.. nothing .. absolutely nothing escapes me.” He interrupted, yet I knew first hand that his affirmation is not quite right.. at least there is one significant incident he is not aware of.. or was he toying with me?

A week went by and we didn’t hear of any impending games .. I tried to study the map they gave me and found it quite useless.. another trick? However, I had actually devised some plan for myself.. since everyone hates everyone else.. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t hate any of them? Well, to be honest, I hated Pryade, and.. Oldefol and Pruste, and.. Ah, well I hated many people.. basically the expected competition.. I tried to justify it for myself that I am only reacting to their feelings towards me.. it actually took a turn to the worst one evening when all these people were drinking in the “council building” and seemed to have fun.. that is until they got drunk.. I was sitting in a corner eating my dinner, when the woman Pruste approached me unsteadily saying,

               “You think you should win?” she was reeking.

               “would you like to sit down and have something to eat?” I replied nonchalantly .

               “You are a real bastard.” She said, “you come out of nowhere and expect to win.. fat chance.. it is my turn.. I have been here for a long time and each time they give it to somebody else.. it is not fair..” she fell down into a chair nearby.

Oldefol laughed at the far corner.. and shouted,

               “Be careful Hort.. she bites.”

Everyone hearing this laughed.. but I was more amused by the exchange.. I just smiled and continued to eat my food.. then unexpectedly the tall frame of Pryade landed into a chair across from me silently and leveled a scorching gaze on me.. I looked at his long face and disheveled attire, my smile still lingering and betraying no feeling or reaction. It was the first time we meet face to face after our encounter at the lake.. somehow I could sense a struggle in his look.. as if he couldn’t figure me out.. it was also obvious he harbors a great degree of vanity.. or call it an air of superiority.. I thought that ignoring him would relay a blow to his ego and bring him down to earth.. as the silence lingered, I noticed that the whole place became very quiet, heavy with expectation .. then he got out a long pipe, stuffed it with tobacco, lit it.. and started to smoke pretending to be ecstatic and blowing the offensive fumes across the table.. I coughed and shifted my seat to avoid the smoke, then I said cheerfully,

               “Well commander, what brings you here if you do not intend to eat?”

He didn’t answer immediately.. raised his ugly head to look towards the ceiling, then said,

               “I just wanted to see the menial creature they brought to challenge me.”

               “Challenge .. you?” I chuckled, “Whoa.. my poor fellow, you think too highly of yourself, for anyone to challenge you, is to give you too much credit than you really deserve.”

His eyes glowed as with fire.. but he kept calm.. then he burst into a nervous laugh,

               “At least you can talk like a human being.”

               “My sword speaks more eloquently..” I said calmly, “if you care to speak that language.”

               “Too early to put you out of your misery.” He glared at me, “we shall meet again..”

               “Don’t stop exercising.. your life depends on it.” I yelled as he was leaving. Soon after, the crowd burst into low humming and murmuring. I finished my meal and left leisurely.