"ACHOOO!"
"Bless you!" Einar called from outside. "There's still dust on the altar "
Arent you abusing your sick privileges, old man?
River grudgingly dusted the alter , inhaling another mouthful of dust.
The Whitlock ancestral hall was located on a more rural side of Wesown, a good few miles away from the city. It was nestled at the foot of a towering mountain ,and remained shrouded in the secrecy of a dense forest.
"How long had it been ? Two years ?" Einar wandered, biting in to an apple .
He sat on a stone bench in shade ,the two hounds at his feet, inhaling food at a blinding rate. He only stopped chewing to swallow or to point out a spot River had missed while cleaning.
"Probably longer" River called out from inside "It seems that dust has claimed sovereignty over this place "
Einar laughed so hard that he started coughing "Im so glad I have a deciple "
"You should ask His Majesty to send someone over to fix this place " River wiped beads of sweat off his forehead as he took in the condition of the hall.
Some of the wooden floor boards were rotten ,there were about tweleve,not so tiny holes on the roof,and two of six wooden pillars looked awefully close to collapsing.
"Nah" Einar peeled an orange. It seemed to be one of his hungry days, today. "I cant bother him with mundane tasks like this. He has a kingdom to rule"
After dusting , River fetched water from a nearby creek and washed the floor while Einar took each tablet off the walls and wiped them sqeaky clean.
River stopped vigorously wiping down the floor boards to take a breather and something odd caught his eye. It was the wall to his right and somehow it felt different from other three walls.
He stared harder,trying to find what made it stand out him. River looked at the wall to his left and again at this wall a couple times before he realized that these memorial tablets were much less worn out .
He walked up to the wall ,which held about sixty ebony tablets and read the top one.
In memory of Kaya Whitlock
May the West God guide her soul in after life.
1028 ,second full moon
He read the next one...the next one..and the next...all the way to the bottom row.
A shiver ran down his spine as he realized about sixty two members of West Whitlock clan had died on the same day, 22 years ago.
"What are you staring at ?" Einar called next to him ,making him jump out of his skin.
"They all died ..on the same day?"
Einar's dark brown eyes scanned the wall. It was hard to say what kind of feeling was behind them . " Mmh..they were killed "
River felt his eyes going wide . Killed ? Why ? By whom ?
22 years ago..how old was Einar back then ?fifteen ? Younger ?River thought back on how worried Einar was about Whitlock craftsmanship dying with him ..
"You..are the last Whitlock .."
Einar gave him a small smile. He reminded River of Ayla Yearwood. How she would smile when she talked about her dead sisters .
"They were good people " he sighed "They did not deserve this "
River's eyes fell on the memorial tablet at the very bottom. That one particular tablet was empty, with no engravings on it.
"Is this here by a mistake ?" River wandered.
"That's my aunt's"
River furrowed his brows in profound confusion "I thought you said that she was a legendary warrior "
"I cant remember her that well" Einar coughed "I was very young ..I remember that she had the prettiest blue eyes.."
Einar giggled "Like yours ..but perhaps a little lighter? She had my grandma's eyes "
"My mother forged her a sword ..she was really young ..barely twenty ...but not even three grown men could restrain her on the battlefield "
"You admired her ?"
"Everyone did " Einar laughed dryly "She was the pride and joy of the clan . A prodigy. "
"What happened ?"
"One day," Einar sighed "She turned the sword we forged for her on us "
River stared at Einar , mouth slightly hanging open . How is this man talking about the massacre of his clan like he is talking about the weather?
"It's weird " He turned away and went to sit in a corner,like he could not stand the sight of the wall anymore " When I woke up that day I had a big ,happy family of grandparents,cousins ..parents..when I went to sleep that same day.."
Einer stared at a hole in the roof , like it was the most interesting thing in the world . " Life is a funny little thing"
"What happened to her ? Why would she do something like that?"
"That's what I would like to know " Einar shook his head . "She ran away? She could still be alive and well somewhere "
" Dont you want to find her ?" River asked in disbelief .
"And what?"
"Dont you have questions you want to ask her ? Dont you want revenge ?"
Einar laughed again, the sound echoing through the wooden hall like hundred silver bells ringing in harmony . He laughed like life has been kind to him . He laughed like he has never been wronged and he knew no suffering .
"You younglings are so dramat- " He coughed violently and had to pause to catch his breath.
"There was a time when I wanted to hunt her down and take her life. There was a time when that thought consumed my every waking moment "
Einar smiled at him ,his sunken eyes sparkling under sun light. "Then I found I might not live to see another day "
River gazed at his hollowed cheeks and protruding collarbones. He could probably count every single bone on his body. He swallowed down a lump in his throat .
"But then again , isnt it so for everyone ?" He fidgeted with his walking stick . It was thicker than his forearm.
"I found peace in that thought. No matter how you look at it, life is way too short to waste on revenge "
" what if .." River gulped thick " what if you had the chance ? "
" I will not take it " Einar shook his head. "I trust god , I trust that he is fair. I believe that it is not my job to deliver justice "
Master , enligten me on your noble ways of living !!!
"She will pay her debt ,wheather I see it or not . Thats the way of gods . That's the way of world "
Einar struggled to his feet ,all smiles and coughs "If I get another day, I can forge another sword . If I get another year ..I'll get to see Emby growing up. If I get few more years Ill get to see Emby wielding the sword I made for him. "
He shrugged like he was talking about a minor inconvenience " So its all good"
He pulled his robe up his shoulder " Consider this my greatest words of wisdom ,River. Never waste your life on revenge. Its never worth it.Trust in god.God is kind. god is fair.."
River repeated with him.
"Gods make no flaws"
Author has something to say
Thank you allll for reading my story ! I appreciate it more than you can imagine !!
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Author has plans tomorrow .She is going to touch some grass . So no update tomorrow !!!
Einar - Hey Kai,can you get me a drink?
Kai -* looking up from his work * what do you want?
Einar - something as dark as my unforgiving soul
Kai-* brings in a glass of milk *
Einar - I feel insulted
Kai -you should
(Prompt from pinterest)
Narin
Einar Ashford
Kaizer Schulz
Wolfram Schulz
Ember Schulz