Alemandra

1. The twins

Alemandra, Kingdom of New Meen.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, Let's welcome the first fighters on the three-minute battle arena in this blossoming spring!" Shouted the drunken man, commenting as he glanced at the fighters and the roaring crowd with all their might as if they were created for this very purpose.

"Sir..." murmured my servant, Thorn, while extending a glass of wine, which I declined with a slight shake of my head and my uncle snatched it instead, snickering and saying:

"You don't know how to entertain yourself Mauv, do you?"

I ignored him and went back to staring at the crowd, investgating their expressions, laughter, their body movements and the gleam in their eyes.

A vast arena with thousands of seats and a golden gallows in the center, its ropes are worn-out, dried blood stains allover it. How many lives had ended here just to paint this gallows with red? How many times did the audience laugh at the bodies hanging, mere sacrifices just for their own amusement? I wondered as a very loud uproar demanding death stricked the air of the auditorium.

They watched this for their own pleasure, Just for pleasure.

"And now, let's not hold back our fighters any longer!" The commentor shouted,  raising his hand high and announcing the start.

"Now!"

The chaos then began, people shouting the fighters' names as the two lunged at each other. An eccentric old man sat next to the commentator turning an hourglass in his hand, its duration is only three minutes.

The fighters exchanged brutal, mindless blows. I watched with boredom, almost certain that neither of them would win.

"I heard from the citizens this morning that they have been friends since childhood." My uncle said casually, sipping his drink, to which my father calmly replied: "Breaks my heart."

It was an obvious sarcasm, and my uncle's laughter erupted as usual.

My eyes fixated on the fight, and now half the time had passed and not much remained. The crowd's screams grew louder, the demande for a kill is intensified. Instead of that, an astonishing reaction grew on their faces as they watched one of the fighters throw his weapon to the ground.

"How could I kill my childhood friend, for God's sake—"

He screamed in furious rage, staring into his friend's determined eyes, wishing for it all to stop..but it won't. The other had already thrusted his spear right into his crying friend's brain.

A moment of silence passed before the crowd resumed cheering for the winner. I stood up quietly, leaving, and followed by Thorn nervously asking : "Did something bother you, Master Mauv?"

"No, I've just seen enough." I replied.

——— ( this sign indicates changing of pov)

Alemandra, kingdom of Sowrd .

"So, What are you two whispering about?"

"None of your business, you hungry one!" The boy threw his mockery, making the rest of the boys laugh as if it were the funniest joke in the world.

"It's true that I'm from the Land of Hunger, but that doesn't mean I'm hungry, it's just a name. And what are you laughing at, George? Aren't you also from the Land of Hunge too?"

George fell silent with embarrassment as the mockery suddenly shifted to him instead of Sebastian. I continued eating quietly, avoiding all this nonsense.

Whether they are from the kingdom of Sword or the Land of Hunger is unimportant, in the end, they are all locked up here like some pathetic cattle. Yet here they are, wasting their short minutes of life in useless quarrels.