The Tales of Miriela: Shadowborn

Chapter 38: Thomas Siln

"He'll send for your head if the Grounds don't increase exports. The quotas are to be raised again," Lord Siln said.

"Ha! Raised? We can barely sustain the current quota! This King of yours is going to have a lot of young blood on his hands. We've been losing quite a few of the poor lads as is," said Geoff Leyvlind.

Thomas looked out amongst the field behind the Overseer. Some of the slaves were only young children. Sweat dripped down their foreheads and fell to meet the dirt. Some had collapsed, laying against the ground, unconscious, exhausted, slowly dying. One child stopped working, and ran to offer help to another who had fallen in the heat. He pounced towards the ground, and lifted the boy's head, as he shouted for water.

"Who in the Nine Hells said you could have a break boy? He looks dead to me. Unless you wish to join him, quite your cryin' and get back to work. Thanks to Lord Siln and the Great King Wullmont, you won't be takin' dinner breaks no more either. Quotas are raised!" Shouted Geoff Leyvlind.

The sarcastic remarks towards Lord Siln and King Wullmont would usually not go unpunished. Yet, Thomas knew what he was asking for was wrong, he knew the entire concept of the Grounds was absolutely evil. Therefore, he himself was in essence evil, and he knew it. But war was evil and Thomas couldn't change that. Perhaps their only chance at survival was found within that evil, the evil which he so easily discovered within himself. He turned away from the horrifying scene and began to lead his horse onward.

"You know, Lord Siln, I killed a man once," Geoff said. Thomas stopped his horse and looked back over his shoulder to see the Overseer slowly approaching. "Twenty years back. I placed my dry, tired hands around his neck and stole the air from his lungs. Caught him rapin' a young peasant girl one night. Figured I'd help the girl, I was a good man and that was the right thing to do. Turns out, the bastard I killed was noble blood. And, King Devos gave me the choice, an Overseer of the Grounds or death at the gallows. Condemned for a lifetime for killin' a single man, who was deservin' of death. This place has changed me, hollowed me and took out every bit of good I had left in my heart. Can't see the line between right and wrong no more. Don't feel nothin'. That's been my true punishment for takin' a life. I'm no man, now I'm just the monster that my innocence used to suppress." The Overseer stepped forward towards Lord Siln, and handed him a flask of whiskey. Lord Siln took it from him, and peered back at the old man's face.

Geoff squinted his eyes and turned his head back towards the fields, his long gray hair swung over his black eyes, and his rotting breath crawled out from his mouth. He leaned in even further and softly asked Thomas a question.

"I cannot help but to wonder, Lord Siln of The Mighty Realm, if my punishment is just for killin' a single deservin' man, what punishment awaits a man who kills the innocent?"

Lord Siln put the flask to his lips and took a long drink. As the sharp whiskey hit his lips, Thomas tossed the flask to the ground and called to his horse. With a click of his heels, the beasts continued through the morning's darkness. He rode as fast as his horse would carry him, to separate himself from the farmlands. Lord Siln delivered his message to the other Overseers and left the Grounds, still unable to forget Geoff Leyvlind's words.

It was early afternoon when Thomas finally returned to his home. Tired from the ride, he sat at the table, with a warm cup of coffee in hand. His hand shook, as the words of the Overseer still haunted his thoughts.

He enjoyed to sit alone. Thomas had never married, nor had any children. Lord Siln understood people to be selfish creatures, only interested in a personal agenda. Himself, no exception. He saw no need to bring more of that into his home. For his home was his place of rest, an escape from the need to interact. Alone at his table, was the only place he ever truly desired to be, the only place he ever felt at peace.