“Spirits? I’m sick of hearing such nonsense. Frankly I’m astounded that you have risked punishment to let this witch doctor see your son.”
“Sir, I would risk death to save my son,” David said. Sir Thomas stamped his foot in fury at the man’s words. He turned from the fire and walked a few paces into the darkness, trying to gather his thoughts. Finally he turned back to the gathered men, his face red with anger.
“Very well. If that is what you wish, then I will give you a choice. I will send your son to the local doctor, for as long as it takes for him to get well. Or you can choose to have him treated here by Doctor Venables.”
David looked up at Sir Thomas, trying to see if his master were playing with him. The English man smiled back down at him and David realised that his hopes were nothing to this man.
“If you choose to have your son treated here, I will instruct my men to administer twenty lashes as your punishment for running. If you choose to send the boy to your magic man, I will have you put to death.”
There was a round of muttering and one or two of the men laughed at the proposition. Their employer had been clever, giving this slave an impossible choice. They looked at David, his dark skin looking darker against the flames.
David raised his head and smiled at the master, “Send my son to the village.”
The men around the fire gasped in unison as David said the words. They turned as one toward the Sir Thomas, to see what he would do next. The estate owner shook his head in wonder at the man in front of him. He was so sure of his beliefs, in the face of the Christian God, that he was willing to lay down his own life in order to have his son seen by this savage doctor.
“Very well, fetch a branding iron and prepare this man to be executed. Have a rope thrown over the tree,” Sir Thomas said. He waited while men ran to the stables for an iron and others ran to the house for the rope.
One of the men placed the brand in the fire. It had the symbol of the estate on it and Sir Thomas waited while the iron glowed first dull orange and then red. He nodded to the man who lifted the glowing metal out of the flames with a heavy blacksmith’s gauntlet. David began to struggle as the man approached his son with the iron.
“Sir, what are you doing?” he almost shouted.
“Well I can’t let the child out into the village without my proof of ownership, can I?” Sir Thomas asked, smiling.
David began to struggle in the grip of the men who held him. He thrashed about, trying to free himself. Then when he had been forced onto his knees, he watched in mute horror as the iron was pressed into the flesh of his son’s chest.
There was a sizzling sound as the boy’s sweat and blood quenched the heat of the fire. An instant later the boy woke from his fevered dreams and began to scream. The man holding him was forced to tighten his grip and the boy tried to wriggle away from his tormentors. Livid and raw the crest of the Richmond family stood out on his skin.
“Take him to the village, make sure he is seen by this heathen doctor, much good it will do him,” Sir Thomas said to the man who held the boy.
David watched his son carried into the darkness, impotence and rage burning inside him. He could hear him crying out as the men took him by the shoulders and shoved him to his feet. They did not let him walk to the rope that waited for him. They dragged him, cutting his feet and knees. He did not feel the pain, his son would be safe, if this man kept his word.
As the rope was dropped around his neck he turned to Sir Thomas and smiled. As his hands were tied, David prayed to the spirits to keep his son safe. As the men pulled on the rope and the breath was torn from his lungs, David’s last thought was of his son.
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By this author
Legion of the Undead
Legion of the Undead – Book Two – Rise and Fall
Legion of the undead – Book Three – Ruin and Rebirth
Also
Seas of Blood
Mersey Dark – The Templeton Novels – Book One
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