" How many years will you serve your punishment? Boye asked.
" Five years." Rajah answered.
" As long as you're here, I will be your big brother. Whatever you need, don't hesitate to ask. It is the little I can do for your brother."
" Thank you, Boye. It really means a lot to me." Rajah replied with a smile on his face.
" What about you, Patmos? You don't look like the kind of kid who would commit a crime" Rajah giggled.
" You are right. I didn't commit any crime. Someone framed me for stealing my Master daughter's jewelry box. I tried to explain, but my master was too angry to listen."
" Where they able to catch the thief?" Ham asked.
" I don't know, after the incident I was brought here. I don't know if the thief was caught or not." Patmos replied, shaking his head.
" I see. You're to serve your punishment for five years. The punishment for thief is five years improvement." Boye said.
" What about you, Boye? What was your crime?" Rajah asked.
" I was framed for killing a guard. I didn't do it, it was Derek, my Master's son. He killed the guard because he went against his orders. He framed me for the death, and everyone believed him, because I was a black." Boye spoke
with tears in his eyes. " They took one look at me, and concluded that I was the culprit. No one listened to my explanation. No one cared. Why is the world so cruel to our kind?" He asked, everyone at the table sobbed silently.
" They don't consider us as human being, they treat us like a piece of trash they could get rid off anytime they're done with it." Patmos added.
" Is it our fault that we were born blacks? Why can't they accept us? We bleed like they do, we love, hurt, and die like they do. The only difference is our skin color." Rajah sighed.
" Our kinds are considered devils. They believe our ansestor, Shamgar, son of emperor shusimita was convinced from the affair between the queen and a demon. That's why, Shamgar was born with a dark skin." Ham spoked.
" History has it that, King Shamgar was kicked out of the palace after emperor shusimita's death. His four step brothers teamed up together to get rid of him. King Shamgar ought to be the next emperor after emperor shusimita, because he is the only legitimate child of emperor shusimita. The others were sons from emperor shusimita's mistresses. Patmos added.
" We have suffered injustices form the very beginning. Our rights were taken away from us, our home, our freedom, they were all taken away from us." Ham spoke in a sorrowful voice.
" Our home? what do you mean by that? Patmos asked.
" Shhhh!" Ham whispered a yell, ushering him to talk softly. " No one is permitted to take about the story of the dark day." Ham whispered. " If anyone is caught talking about the dark day, his or her head will be shopped off. No one has ever talked about the dark day in centuries. Those who do, do it with caution."
" I've never heard about the dark day. Tell us Ham, what happened that day." Boye asked, while the others nod in agreement.
" Over two centuries ago, The five tribes of Alak, which makes up the western kingdom, lived independently. Untill the king of Sheba, King Shaka, decided to team up with the others Kings of the, islanders, mideans, and Savagian tribe, to kill every male from age ten and above of the forest tribe. King Shamgar was the father of the forest tribe."
" Meaning we were a tribe. What happened, how did we separate?" Rajah asked.