Collection TSV - One Shots

Prompt 1 - Mask(s)

This is my Addition to the Arttober 2021.
Some are happy ones, some are not.  You have been warned.
Dont like? Dont read!

Otherwise, have fun with it. Every Day a new short Story. All between 500-1500 words. Update: Daily of course.

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Mask(s):

But looking into the eyes, widened with fear, trembling because of his uncertain fate and the horrors he had just witnessed, Eddy saw something. Something flickered underneath the fear, the dread of what was to come, and Eddy paused. He held up a hand and the knight stopped.
"What is your name, small one?"
"Brett, Sire, my name is Brett Yang from the House of Yang."
They were wizard with money and so they had been rewarded with the title of 'Duke'.

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If you like to read more, look down :3

1 Masks

Eddy was never the big ball goer. He simply didn't like it. Too many people, too many useless and meaningless conversations, too many shallow compliments; all that annoyed and bored him immensely. The same was it with trials.

Aristocrats couldn't be honest, even in the face of death. The young man looked at the kneeling family in front of him, them crying and begging for mercy, insisting on being set up, even though the books and the ledgers clearly stated how much they embezzled. The man was the worst. His face was snot covered and he pointed his finger at his wife, accusing her of witchcraft and he 'didn't have a choice, she made me do it!' – all that bullcrap.

Eddy rolled his eyes as he looked to his right side, where a knight with a black mask stood. He nodded to that knight; giving him the signal to stop the whining. Quick and easy, as well as merciless, the man was beheaded and as his corpse fell to the ground, the woman met the same fate. The son, the trembling, young son was now an orphan. Eddy thought of killing him too, would it be merciful? Or was he then a child murderer In the end, it didn't matter what the people thought, right?

But looking into the eyes, widened with fear, trembling because of his uncertain fate and the horrors he had just witnessed, Eddy saw something. Something flickered underneath the fear, the dread of what was to come, and Eddy paused. He held up a hand and the knight stopped.

"What is your name, small one?"

"Brett, Sire, my name is Brett Yang from the House of Yang."

Ah yes, those were the Yang's he killed off. The man on the throne almost forgot they once were a truly loyal family, bringing his kingdom the riches it needed. They were wizard with money and so they had been rewarded with the title of 'Duke'. Well, that was now down the drain; the family drowned in blood, their reputation in shambles.

"Brett, I see, well, what do you plead?"

The boy looked confused for the second, and then it dawned on him. He had to make a stand; if he pleads guilty, he would die - if he pleads innocent he... would probably die too.

So the boy snorted. He was almost twelve years old but he knew he was doomed from the start. He wiped his face and looked up at the cruel man who killed off his family, "How I plead, Your Majesty? Does it even matter? Didn't you already decide my fate, regardless of what I think?"

Eddy's eyebrow twitched. He hated that the most: Defiance. He asked a simple question, so why couldn't he get an answer? For that alone, he should... Eddy's thoughts stopped as he looked upon the boy once more. The tiny thing stood on his feet now, without any regards of the strict protocol that had to be followed to the dot!

"How dare you..."

"Yeah, how dare I, indeed. Let's get it over, Your Majesty," the boy said mockingly, "Just kill me like you planned all along. So you can get your greedy hands on our fortune and get fatter and fatter with riches. You deserve it; you are the King after all, right?"

The boy stood and dared to look in his eyes! Eddy's face was burning red; he was so angry right now! He pointed at the daring little boy and sneered, "Plead your case, Brett Yang from the House of Yang!"

"Fuck you. Fuck you and your greed. You will never be a real king. Fuck you!"

And with that, the sword went through the soft flesh and muscles. The head rolled off the tiny body as Eddy sprang to his feet and looked flabbergasted at the scene in front of him. Even in death the boy had the defiant look in his eyes and harsh lines around his mouth.

With a jerk Eddy was wide awake, plastered in sweat as he jolted up into a sitting position. He put his head in his hands and tried to suppress the tremor wrecking his body as well as his pathetic sobbing.

He remembered the incident eight years ago as clear as day. Every night, the boy haunts his dreams, torments him. And that was the day his life turned upside down. Seeing the great and magnificent house fall, the king ordering an innocent boy, not a young adult, but a boy, to be killed alongside his family, enraged the aristocrats.

Eddy was never the most liked king, but after that, everything turned to the worst. People defied him, tried to usurp his position and in the end, after a long fight, he was now where he was: in the dungeon of the Archduke; his most bitter enemy. The Yang family was his cousin and little Brett was his most beloved great-nephew. And with killing him, he signed his death sentence.

He was now over a year in the dark dungeon, chained to the wall, provided with a lumpy bed and thin blanket which had more holes than not. And here he would find his end.

Words: 868