Surrender

Carlton Walter's POV

Carlton Walter's POV:

I sat down in my study waiting for my pedagogue to come. My eyes landed on a small metal box.

I got up and opened it. It was one of the things that I took with me when we moved. It contained my medical kit. That I used when I was a medical assistant when I was 13. I remembered that sometimes, when the slaves got hurt or whipped, they would wait at midnight, then come to my room where I would treat their wounds. My mother also used to help with the slaves too, but she would have to wait until my father fell asleep or he would notice she was gone. That is when I first started thinking of becoming a doctor, but when I told my father, he just laughed and said that I was going to be taking care of the company when he retired, not become a doctor.

Instead of the dull, rounded man walking in, a little boy who looked 9 or 10 years of age walked in. He looked nervous and lowered his eyes when he saw me.

"Sorry to disturb you Master, but Professor Ingots wasn't able to come today due to the war. He said you may choose a date to reschedule and apologizes for any inconvenience." He stood there waiting for me to dismiss him.

"You are dismissed," I said. Then I looked at him, so small and fragile. "Were you sent alone?" I asked.

He nodded. I told him to take a guard with him so he may arrive safely.

As I sat at my desk reading a book, I heard shouts out my door.

"Master has arrived..."

"A banquet must be prepared..."

"He has brought some prisoners and..."

Prisoners? I looked at the big looking glass that took up half of my wall and quickly brushed my short blonde hair. My Father liked neatness and civility, so it might not be the wisest choice to greet him with raunchy hair.

As I walked up to him, he saw me and nodded.

"I see you have taken care of the household very well while I was gone," he said.

"Yes, I have. So what is this talk about prisoners?" I asked as he sat down at the large table at the dining room. I sat across from him and waited for his reply.

"They are Confederate soldiers that have been captured from the First Battle of Bull Run. I was chosen to take these prisoners for the reason that I have a dungeon."

Father knew how much I disliked the dungeon and people being imprisoned, but he pretends to not notice and continue this anyway.

He then looked me directly in my eyes. " This is not the only battle I'm going to be fighting. I will be fighting this war until I somehow get injured - or worse. So I'm asking you to look over the house and more importantly- if I ... you know, pass away, vow to me you will take my place in the war."

" I'll do it." I said, "but tell me, you have freed all the slaves, but you still bring prisoners."

He nodded. "The matter of capturing slaves and capturing enemies in war is very different." Then he said, " I may have never shown it, but I have always loved you dearly and knew you would become a strong man one day."

I fell asleep that night thinking that those words were the best present I have ever received.