Welcome to my seemingly endless journey.
A trip that will take you to places I might have visited many moons ago.
It´s a tale that came back to me when I meditated on one of my past lives. A life I told you about in my unbelievable true story.
As promised in that story I will now share this story with you.
Chapter 66
The Sikh, so it is true.
“Lord, believe me, we have never even heard about your leader, his name is completely unknown to us. We have not been sent, nor do we intend to offend, let alone hurt him."
"In all honesty, I must tell you that I cursed whoever was responsible for the massacres I witnessed during our journey. As I say, I now appeal to your understanding that when child corpses lie burned and mutilated scattered throughout a village, I curse whoever is responsible for these atrocities.”
“You may punish me for this act, but I cannot deny that.”
It is necessary for me to take this gamble; if I read the man correctly, he will show understanding. Then my story becomes even stronger. The other side of the coin is one I prefer not to think about, but my entire being relies on this final move.
The man's gaze wanders for the second time. He looks at the gray mass of stone at his feet, and I sense a certain tension rising in him again.
"You're right; I can't blame you for this. My village was one of the first to fall prey to the lashing clutches of this force. I was a boy of six summers old. The village was burned down, and everyone was murdered. They killed my parents right before my eyes."
"My sister must have died in the sea of flames or was killed trying to escape. But I stood there silently, stained with the blood of many. One of the men on horseback stopped. Judging by his uniform, he was one of the captains. He dismounted, hand on the hilt of his sword, and walked towards me. I closed my eyes and thanked the gods for allowing me to die with my family. I felt an arm around my waist, and a few seconds later, I was put on the back of a horse. That's how I left my village. It took hours before I dared to open my eyes. We were in an encampment, the slaughterers of my village and I."
I see that emotion takes over the man, but his reason wins the fight.
"Well, to make a long story short, the man had lost a son to an illness, and I reminded him of his son, so he decided to spare my life. To this day, there are times when I wish he hadn't. So I understand your disgust at the massacres. Now there is little left in me of my own disgust. My father raised me to be a worthy warrior in the general guard."
"Death and destruction equate to expanding power and gaining fame and honor—values that are held in very high regard in our society. We will accept the fact that you cursed the person responsible, as cursing the direct perpetrators and not 'His Highness' in whose name this expansion takes place. Taking this into account, after paying the evaded tax and the associated fine, you should be allowed to leave to continue your journey."
"Were it not that you are still under suspicion of plotting an attack on our highly respected monarch." Reiko sighs deeply; he is in a dilemma and apparently is unable, or possibly not authorized, to make the decision.
"As it stands now, you will remain our guest for the time being. A messenger will be sent to the location of the source, where the authorities will put so much pressure on this source that it will have to discharge. The messenger will bring a full report of the statement you just made, and it will be up to my superiors there to decide where the truth lies."
"Until then, you will travel with my men. It may take a month or even longer before I hear back. It would be idiotic to camp in this desolate place for so long. We travel north. Something that is to your advantage if you tell the truth because it brings you closer to the city you dream of. But whoever subverts my orders or tries to flee will die."
"Something inside me tells me to respect you, possibly even trust you. Yet I remain in His Highness's service, and my men are loyal to me, as they know the rules that apply under my command. I can never break or bend those rules. They are binding my troops and me. So you have been warned: the hospitality that will be extended to you until this matter is cleared up is my hospitality."
"But don't misinterpret it, because it is not a free pass. I can convince my men that you may be innocent. That, until it turns out otherwise, they will keep their paws to themselves and respect my word. But if something happens that simply smells like an abuse of my hospitality, my kindness will become very painful."
"My men are animals, and clarity is very important to them if they do not want to rebel. Their brains work simply: you are a friend or an enemy, I am strong or weak. A weak leader should not be a leader. He will have to pay for showing weakness in any given situation with death. I hope I'm clear, I hope you are warned."
He pauses, shakes his head as if he can´t believe the situation he´s in, and continues; "There will be some rules. You may take care of the boy, as he may not be able to care for himself. The rest of the group will be split up, and you will all travel separately. This means that you and the boy cannot have contact with the forest giant or the woman. This is to keep your statements clean and to undermine plans for a possible escape or something worse."
