Throne of Blood

NEW PLANS

Even if I was not yet ready to give up, every failure did break me a little more than before, and if it kept going like this I would have no option left but to give up. It will call for a celebration on part of Vincent though.

Now that my last beacon of hope had burned out with Harold's letter, my mind was clouding with the fog of anger and despair. I needed to clear my mind, needed desperately something to hang on to, or, I would go out of my mind thinking about my uselessness. I had to do something, I could not stay still. Restlessness coursed through my veins.

Once again slipping into Alden's clothes, this time wrinkled cotton pants, an equally wrinkled shirt accompanied by cheap worn out boots, robe and turban, I found my way out of the house as the night began to descend. I needed fresh air to clear my mind. I planned on walking to the docks at the opposite end of the market than my house, and sit near the sea. It may sound weird, but seas and oceans or any water bodies in general calmed me. It was perhaps the freedom and the strength of water that washed over me and caused my worries seep away.

The night air was cold, and slightly stung my hands as I stepped out of Castle Black's boundary into the open. I twisted one end of the turban cloth around my face such that only my eyes showed, and blew out air on my hands as I rubbed them to generate some heat while I walked on to the road that would take me to the heart of the market area. Closer to home the road was completely deserted, but nearer to the market place it was still crowded despite being night time.

In the guidance of the light from moon I placed one step after another and another and another until I could hear the rushing sea in the distance amongst the sounds of the human world.

The area nearer the docks was humming with activity. People moved around in groups; mostly men returning from work to have a night of fun, and rarely people like me just passing through. Bits of music wafted out of the bars and brothels as the doors opened frequently to let in and out customers. Laughter and flirty words from men and whores; trying to lure the men into their beds and empty their pockets, floated on the air. The scent of rain, dust, sweat and food met my nostrils, but faintly, as the stench of freely flowing liquor from the abundantly found brothels in the area over powered rest of the smells. Not wanting to stay in the area any longer than necessary, on account of the area being not the safest in the empire, and by the looks of it the creep to respectable men ratio had gone down to hundred to one, or could even be down to a hundred to zero keeping up with my luck currently, I quickened my pace of walking.

The moment I escaped the enclosure of the city and stepped on the lands of the dock, the sea breeze calmed a bit my raging nerves. As compared to day time or even night time in other areas of Beygul the commotion here was less, but still far from nonexistent. I could trace out the silhouettes of at least fifty plus ships against the moonlit horizon; most were devoid of activity for the night, but some still were full of commotion. Sounds of feet shuffling, heavy objects being moved, and bargaining punctuated with the orders of ship captains and much frequent cursing by laborers, greeted me.

Careful to not fend any attention towards myself, I walked away from the men hurrying around to load and unload ships and finish their work for the day. I slipped behind a boulder devoid of activity around and laid down on the cool sand. The boulder formed a canopy of sorts, and protected me from the eyes of any rare passerby. Closing my eyes, I took deep calming breaths and allowed the tranquility from nature to wash over me.

It had not been that long since I had delving into the seas of peace when I heard two voices quite near to my hiding spot. I could not help but eavesdrop on to their conversation.

"God damn! Leonardo, you have been hiding here all day. I had to look through the entire city to find you, friend," said a deep, gruff and quite masculine voice.