by Sam Sea
“We cannot fight that. We need to just accept it. I wished there were more years I could have spend preparing you for what is coming, but I guess god has decided that you are ready, so who am I to judge that." With pain, the king exhaled his breath, and fought for breathing another one.
"Be true to each other. Honor the peace that I have signed with other four kings, honor it as I would, honor it as it may last thousands of years, yet, be prepared and smart as if it was to be broken tomorrow. For you cannot know the future, and cannot gamble what has been given to you as your right..." Then the sweat overcome his forehead, his eyes lost its shine and his mind drifted somewhere else.
The medicine men dressed in thin black robe doubted he had more than a day in him.
Straight from the market, Ronnich hurried to a little shop that sold medicine. After he finished purchasing everything that was on the list, he realized that a very few coins of gold remained in his pocket.
It does not matter, at least my boy will live… he thought as his thoughts have already turned to how many bags of flour and rice he could buy with what was left. Putting meat on his dining table he never had to worry about. There was enough game in the forest and fish in the rivers to feed his family all year around. He still had three swords taken from the muggers on the road he could sell. That should buy him enough supply to fill his cart.
As he left the store, occupied in his own worries, hoping that the medicine would be good enough to cure the boy, blinds to the back room swung open. Nobody came in, but the figure in the back could be seen, standing and watching the shopkeeper.
"The medicine you sold that man, it would not cure him... So why did you sell it to him?" the voice of an old man asked.
"Yes, it should, based on how he described the boy's sickness…” But the old man’s gaze made him feel very uncertain. “I know it will."
"Of course it won’t. You should be ashamed of yourself."
“It will prolong his life…”
“Yes, but not for too long.”
"It will help him live for another two months, maybe even three... allow the man to make his peace, to say good-by..."
"So, you know all of that and still you took all his gold for nothing?"
"No... I would not say so...it still-"
The man behind the curtain raised his hand, and the store keeper became silent.
"And you are sure you know where he lives?"
"Oh, yes... Ronnich, he, he is famous. He was in the King's army during the last Valtiz wars, and a few years ago he even won the Championship in Three Rivers… beat the Crown Prince himself. Everybody knows him." Hearing that, the figure of an old man disappeared silently out of the store.
The man in white cloak did not go after Ronnich but walked to the two-story tall castle’s gate. Before he could raise his hand to knock, the spy hole opened, and the guard on the other side tried to seize him in one look. "What do you want?" He asked grudgingly as the other man said nothing, and the guard was quite unable to determine who the man was, the priest he was not for no religious seal were visible, the emissary from another kingdom... not again.
"I am the medicine man your king has called for. It would be wise for you to let me though as I think that the time cannot be spared."
It did not take more than those words to open the gate swiftly and rush the old man to the chamber where the king was dying.
"Is there anything that can be done for our king?"
“Sure. A lot. He is suffering from number of ailment, and I am sure to give him medicine to make him feel better. It is good that you have called for me. He only had a few days left in him if I did not find my way here. Now this is what I need you to do… I need you to go to the well and get some clean water, then boil it over the fireplace there, If you do everything I ask from you, maybe I can save your king…
On the evening of the same day Ronnich came back to his home, a loud knock on his front door made him jump from the fireplace and ran to it. He wished it was one of his friends or neighbors stopping in to see about his boy and whether or not the medicine was helping him. He needed assurances more than ever before.. But it was a figure of an old man he could not recognize.
"Who are you?" Ronnich could hardly see the man standing outside in the dark.
"You helped me out in the forest with three muggers who attacked me. I would like to offer you a help. Return a favor."
"What do you mean?"
"I went to the pharmacy where you bought the medicine, and heard by accident about your problems... I think I can help you. Let me inside your home,.. and let me see your boy.”
Ronnich made room for the man to enter. “That is my wife Gina, and my boy Sol is there laying in bed…”
“Good evening to you, my lady," the old man greeted his wife with a nodding head. “Let me see your boy… I think he may be suffering from the same ailment as the king Klin,
“Ser, if you can do that, and you can make my boy healthy again, I will be in your debt forever.
"Don't say that, don't ever say that." The old man hit him on the head with his long staff, but then as he saw him being all confused tried to explain. “It’s just something that my grandmother used to say, that forever is a very, very long time…”
Long hours had passed since the old man moved around the boy, lifting his hands, listening to his heart, looking inside his mouth, constantly observing him even after he made him drink a whitish powder with a glass of water. He even pinched Sol with a needle, long and shiny, the type of which Ronnich never saw before. That part Ronnich liked the least, but he protested only in towering silently over the old man.
“You know, I will be honest with you… the disease your son has, I do not have medicine need for it. And the one you have, will not help him either… It will only sooth his pain.”
The words made Ronnich’s solemn face even darker, desperate.
“But there is something else you can do for him…”
The hope was lighted on
“Tell me what, I will do anything, tell me what?”
“You can take him to the city of Three Rivers… Go there to the Green Temple and see the man called Gorin… If anyone it will be him that could help you. But curing of your boy will take a long time. Be ready to stay there for at least few months. He might live if you go there at once. I can give him medicine that can keep him alive for that long, but no matter how good he feels, it will not cure him, understand?”
“Yes, I do. I will do anything like I said before. and how much would it all cost?”
“It will not be cheap. But you will tell the man that I sent you, and he will let you stay there for free. The medicine will not be cheap, but at least you will have a roof over your head.”
“We need to do this,” his wife said from behind. “Whatever it takes…”
“Do I go alone?” he asked her unsure of what to do.
“No, I will come with you… he is our only son. We have to do everything we can for him.”
“Yes, you are right.”
“I will do anything for him…whatever it takes. Whatever it takes.”
“No, you do not need to do anything but take care of him.. I will go out and make the money we need. It is big city, there must be jobs out there.”
The old man looked at them for a long while before he said “I cannot come with you since I have other tidings to do further west. But here is some gold coins for you to buy yourself a decent horse. Use it to take your boy to the pyramid that I told you about. Don’t forget… find the man called Gorin and tell him everything I told you. He will know what to do.”
“Dear ser, but I still do not even know your name?”
The old man looked at him in surprise. “But the Grand Master of Ra of course.”
They left their home the very next morning and in three weeks they arrived in Three Rivers. Surprisingly, little Sol seemed to have been doing much better, although they did not doubt that he was not cured and that the disease woul
d return yet again.
Ronnich went to the green pyramid as instructed and found the young man with balding head called Gorin. But as he finished informing him of what the old grand master said, Gorin started to shake his head.
“Unfortunately, all our guest rooms are full… And even if they were not, it would not have been good for you to stay here as the boy is still very weak and those that we are accommodating right now are all sick… unfortunately, we are treating an outbreak of a Yellowskin fever. It is a disease that is easily passed on around, and I am afraid that if your sick boy would stay here with us, he would get sicker and die. I would not allow risking that. So…”
“But what do we do then?”
“There is a tavern outside the city, only ten minutes walk from here. It’s called The Three White Roses. The rooms are clean, and it is not expensive. If you stay there, I can come and see your boy every day and treat his disease. That is the best thing to do…”
“Good…” Ronnich felt relieved that some kind of solution could be found. He exchanged the look of hope with his wife before he continued.
“We will do that.”
“If you have a problem with paying for the room, you will let me know, and I will get our Grand Master to cover your expenses there.”
Ronnich nodded his head down. “I will find a job… We should be able to pay for our way.”
But doubt suddenly sipped into Ronnich mind. “If I rent a room and stay in the city, would you be able to help my boy?”
“Yes, I think I would…your boy will never be completely cured, you understand, but he will be able to walk and play and live for many years to come,” the priest answered with as much compassion as he could muster.
“Then we will stay…” Ronnich decided.
On a way to the inn of Three White Roses, Gina pulled Ronnich sleeve and asked him. “What do we do? We only have money for one month…IT will not be enough… I can go from house to house, asking if they need help…”
“No! Even if you get that kind of work, it will not be enough. You know it would not do.”
“But what do we do?”
“I’ll go and look around the city…I have one month to find a decent job and pay for my boy. I’ll do it, and you just stay home and take care of him.” Ronnich seemed very certain of himself.
Three Rivers was as great city as Ronnich remembered it from the time he won the tournament there. But finding work was not an easy task. Without knowing anyone, the best he could get was rolling barrels of ale in and out of the taverns, or work on the docks unloading bales of wool. Coins those jobs were paying were hardly enough to buy food for a single meal. It was not long enough until he got desperate and scared to the point that he took things he held the most dear to him and decided to see how much he could get for them. They were his sword, shield and armor he kept ever since he served in the army eight years ago.
His thoughts often went to the proposal he heard from Crown Prince so many years ago. But if he went to see him, would he remember? And if he did, and he did get a job as a guard, would he be able to see his child and wife as often as he liked?
Other ideas popped into his head, but he pushed them out. Except pushing them out of his became harder and harder as the first month was coming to a close and their gold purse was all but empty. Ronnich suddenly became more worried than ever before in his life, almost desperate.
Ch
apter 9 - Silent
The room Ronnich family was staying in was very decent. It had two large beds and a small fireplace of its own. The whole tavern seemed to be kept decently, thanks to two servant girls that slept in the barn.
Sol’s recuperation was very slow. Some days he felt no strength to get up from the bed, while sometimes he ventured outside his bedroom to a little patio on the second floor.
That is where he med a skinny girl with a long blond hair., about a head taller than him.
“Who are you?” he asked her first time he looked at her, unsure if he ever saw anyone with such a beautiful hair.
“They call me Silent. We just moved here yesterday.”
“You talk funny.”
“Yeah, and you look funny,” she answered him harshly. But as she saw his eyes turn down, she seemed to regret it. “Are you sick or something?”
“Yes…”
“That’s why you look so white?”
“Yes..”
The girl decided not to say anything for a while, and just stood next to him, looking in the distance, basking in the afternoon sun.
“Where do you come from?”
“Far away…”
“That makes sense…”
“Since I talk funny?”
“Yes…”
“I’ve seen you walk outside with your mother… she looks very pretty, and she seems very worried about you.”
“Yes, I know. They say that I may be cured. But I do not believe so. Sometimes, I wish I was not such a burden on them, that I would just-“
“Don’t be stupid. It is good to be loved and cared for. You have to fight to get better.”
Sol nodded his head, grateful to hear such brave encouragement.
“You are staying in the room opposite mine… I heard you talk this morning with your mother. She sounded like a true lady.”
“No, she is not my mother, and she is not a lady. But she is the one that takes care of me. She has been very good to me.”
“That’s nice. It’s good when you have people who are good to you. But what happened with your mother?”
Silent decided not to answer. “Your mother looks very pretty...” she ended saying.
“Yes, thank you… my father says that a long time ago she won a ribbon for being the prettiest girl in the whole district, and that she could have had any man around.”
Silent giggled. “But she chose your father.”
“Yes, my father always says that he is the luckiest man in all five kingdoms.”
“They seem like a beautiful parents to have. I wish…” the girl let the words not be said although the meaning floated in the air for a long while.
“My mother, she is worried, worried too much about me being sick, about not having enough money to pay for medicine.”
“The man in black who came to your door this morning?”
“Yes… he is a medicine man. He comes every morning and brings me medicine to drink.”
“He takes all your money, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“Does that liquid you drink make you feel any better?”
“Yes… If I do not drink it for a day, I feel weaker. I cannot even get out of the bed. They say it might not cure me, but it can make me live longer.”
“They told you that?”
“Yes. I know what you said, but still… sometimes I wish I was dead. That way my parents would not need to worry about me.”
“Don’t say that, don’t even ever think like that! They fight hard for you! And you owe them to fight hard as well. Do you understand that?” Silent harsh words seemed to have worked well on Sol as his mood instantly brightened.
“How did you get sick?”
The little boy suddenly became silent.
“It just happen one day, or were you born like this?”
“No, I was born normal. It all happened…”
“It’s okay, you do not need to tell me if you don’t want to. You don’t need to say anything to me you do not want to.”
Their conversation ended abruptly as Gina’s frantic calling of her son made him almost run back inside the tavern to answer his mother.
Standing on patio, Silent could hear his exciting words telling his mother how he met someone very special and was talking to her, and that his mother didn’t need to worry.
A moment later, he popped his head back
“I have to go and have dinner…And my mom was wondering if you would come and eat with us.”
Silent smiled before she gladly accept his invitation.
“That is my father,” Sol announced Ronnich proudly who greeting Silent with a smile.
“Oh, that looks delicious, but I am not hungry, thank you…” Ronnich told his wife as she asked him to sit at the table and have a bowl with them. “Besides I’ve already eaten at work… actually, they gave me so much food that I could not finish, and brought some leftover for you.”
Half loaf of bread soon appeared in his huge hands and placed on the table in front of the children.
With a looks of it, Silent doubted he even had a bite a whole day, yet she accepted it gracefully. “Thank you, you are very kind…” she said only a second before a hard knock interrupted her.
Ronnich opened the door, nonchalantly, but then got confused as he saw a tall, red-haired young woman stare him straight in the eyes. For a second he stiffened, feeling like a little mouse being prayed on by a dragon. Something about the woman made him very uneasy, and for a second he was sorry he sold his sword.
“That is Mikka… She is…” Ronnich heard Silent’s behind her and found it hard to take his eyes from Mikka’s locking stare to look at the little blond girl smiling from behind. “She is like my mother. She takes care of me.”
“Well, thank you… ‘like your mother’ sounds very decent of you…” Mikka said with a smile creeping on her face. “I heard your voice returning to our room, so just wanted to see if everything is okay with you…”
In one glance, Mikka saw the table and suddenly a load of smoked pork sausages felt very heavy in her hand.
“Well, if you are going to eat here, might as well share this with your guest. I can’t eat all these by myself,” she said as she shoved the sausages in front of her toward Silent.