Jester tumbled against cold bars of a weathered cage, cursing as corroded iron tore into his flesh. His beaten frame was covered in yesterday's blood, and an angry storm of purple and black stained his skin. The brutality of the prison guards mattered little to Jester, no amount of beatings would uncover his true identity.
'Jester...you bastard!'
Glancing through sticky, tired eyes, Jester focused on the prisoners opposite. They were lined up on a wooden platform, a thick noose around each neck. As they fought desperately to release bleeding wrists, their feet shuffled precariously on empty ale barrels.
Angry citizens emerged from homes beneath the castle when news of the execution spread, and quickly surrounded the gallows like a besieging army. The Governor read out a list of charges committed by the three, finishing his speech by waving a feathery hand in the air. The horned hangman understood his signal and stepped forwards.
Jester limped away from the bars he'd clung to, aware that his own neck would be stretched someday soon. His bones groaned with resistance as he lowered himself to meditate. The smell of fear and terror enveloping him in the cool breeze.
Shallow memories reverberated inside his calmed mind, like miniature tokens of a previous life. A gentle sigh drifted from cracked lips, as a vision resurfaced of the mother to his murdered children. A sudden blood-curdled scream dragged him from his reverie, as the hangman's boot forced over the barrels.
He knew his time on Eridanus was approaching an end, had there been room on the platform for a fourth, he'd be swinging in unison. Jester was a smart man, but even he knew if his plan failed he'd die as a father who'd never meet his remaining child. He shuddered at the thought, as liquid dread slithered down his spine.
Where are you child?