The Prince and His Slave

Arius - [Die]

When I entered the throne room, everyone was there, except for Tabia and Lord Khafirin. My father was in the middle of a discussion with some tall man when I walked up to them. The man bowed at me and I nodded. My father didn’t say a word, he just looked at Lord Asim, who bowed. Lord Asim made his way towards me and then bowed at me, “My Prince, please come along with me to the main gate, our carriage waits there.” He said.

       “Might I know where we are going?” I asked.

       “There has been a massacre in the east by a group of men. The men have been caught but it is my duty to judge them, your father has requested that I take you along as well.” He said.

       I nodded my head. This couldn’t take too long.

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       The carriage ride was much longer than I thought it would be. The moon was high in the sky when I looked out the small window, I sighed, maybe this was going to take long. I turned to look at Lord Asim, “How long exactly is this going to take?” I asked.

       Lord Asim thought for a second, “We should be arriving soon, and we will be spending maybe four days there, my Prince.” He said.

       I nodded and then turned around. Maybe I should have asked earlier. I thought.

       After another while the carriage stopped. The door was opened by the driver and I jumped out, shocked by what I saw.

       The homes were burnt down and the smell of ashes filled the air. Blood stained many areas in the village and bodies were everywhere. “Oh… god…”

       Lord Asim walked up to me and sighed.

       I looked at him and he didn’t seem surprised. I guessed he was used to it. “My Prince.” He said as he pointed in the direction of the ruins.

       He guided me through the village and into an area that once must have been a field of some sort of crops. This place made me feel terrible, I couldn’t even breathe properly. It felt as if something was tearing my heart out, I looked at the bodies in the ruins and assumed the souls were angry at me, the son of the king who couldn’t protect them. Many soldiers wandered around as they cleared the village of the bodies they seemed to be at ease, unlike me.

       A large cage sat in the middle of the field and there were seven men sat inside, guards stood around it with knives and swords in their hands. As we walked closer I saw the men inside the cage scowl at me. All of them were fairly large with a lot of scars all over their bodies. They wore only skirts and had cruel looks on their faces.

       “Hey look, it’s his royal highness!” The smallest man said.

       “I guess the king was to coward to face us, so he sent his son!” They all burst into loud laughter.

       I wanted to agree with them but I just glared.

       “Silence!” Lord Asim shouted.

       All the men stopped laughing as soon as Lord Asim closed his mouth.

       “You fools! Did you think you would get away with something like this?” He gestured at the destroyed village.

       None of the men said anything.

       “Hmm, they seem to be frightened, Lord Asim.” A guard said. “I thought you destroyed this village to show your power?” The guards all laughed and stopped as soon as Lord Asim looked at them.