The king left the throne and headed to the back room, with his two maidservants following him.
Sottic looked at the departed figure. 'Akran Army is right.' He thought. 'There is truly no justice in this world.'
He heard the screams of his assistants from behind. And rushed toward them. What were those guards doing, hurting those small children? The two assistants were both 12 and 15. The grin didn't leave the councilmen as they looked at the sight of the children getting kicked and punched by those guards.
"They are even more evil than those things." The instant he said that. Sottic was knocked out by the back end of a stick toward his head.
Miguel and Kha'zix both looked at each other in deep confusion. They were standing just near the trio. The scholars and peasants were just near them. They heard everything except what happened during the speeding up of time. They could see the subtle change in the scholar's face as his expectation and belief were both crushed in that instant.
The scene blurred in waves, moving further in time with the flow.
"What are those things?" Kha'zix had held his curiosity till now. But with the scene changing again, it gave them both the liberty to speak again.
Miguel didn't know if their talk inside the bubble could be heard outside or not. It was better to stay silent than try his assumption. Though he knew for better that the scene in front of him was probably a story or a play of some kind. But it all felt real.
"They are more people like me." Miguel said in short.
"I can't understand you people at all. Is it necessary to wear those huge shiny things? What is their use in battle other than to slow a person." Kha'zix said with a smirk. And continued, "They won't survive a second in my world."
For the next few minutes, where the scene still flowed. Miguel kept explaining things over and over to Kha'zix. It was truly a difficult task. Because Kha'zix would ask every little thing, and sometimes even relate it with Kha'zix's own folks. It was even hard to understand those folks.
Finally the scene settled again. The scholar was laid inside a prison. Fully made of stone, with the only source of light from the small ventilation that provided gasses to pass. The two assistants were tending to him with water. Despite the injuries, they didn't make a fuss.
The scholar woke up, with a piercing headache. He hurt him more than he could imagine. He looked toward both of his assistants. One of them had his lips bleeding while the other had red marks all over his arms and face. Seeing them in such a condition hurted him more.
"I have failed you and myself." Sottic avoided their eyes. He was ashamed of his failure. And how he had landed in the prison along with both his assistants. They were innocent, he shouldn't have made them involved in this mess.
The two assistants looked at him with a complex expression.
"If it wasn't for my selfishness. You two could have lived a better life." With a saddened expression. Sottic looked at the only light source. The light was his only comfort at the moment.
Guards would patrol their cell every 10 minutes or so. But neither the prison guards said anything, neither Sottic tried asking them.
One of his assistants, the one who looked slightly older than the other. Asked the Scholar.
"When will they let us go?" There was a yearning to return home. His name was Herden.
"Right, Scholar. Do you think we can return home?" The other one asked after that. His hair looked similar to the scholar's. But it was his eyes, they reminded scholars of someone. But it was because of those eyes, he avoided the younger assistant more. His name was Sunang.
"I don't think they will let us anytime soon? You might need to get used to this prison." Scholar said. He didn't know if there was any home left for him. The king had already given his judgment to burn his home and all his belongings.
"And you don't need to call me Scholar anymore. I am just like you from now on. A peasant." His eyes looked between the two of them. They both looked sad.
"From now on, you don't need to be my assistants anymore. Find something suitable. Before I didn't want to admit it, but you are good." Both the assistants looked shocked by his announcement and wanted to refute him, but before they could say anything. Sottic held his hands, to stop them from speaking.
"You can easily get a job at a noble's house accountant. I have made use of you. I think you might find a better life afterwards." Sottic finished speaking. He turned around, laying still on the ground. With an act, he wanted to show them that he was tired and wanted to sleep.
"We haven't been anywhere else. And we know how those noble's behave to our folks." Herden said. WIth indignation. He continued, "How could you just ask to work at their house?"
"Scholar, even if they take away your title, you are still a scholar in our eyes. And even if you don't want it, we will continue to be your assistants. You raised us, when we were eating dirt on the roads. You taught us and gave us a home. We can't just forget everything just because of being here." Sunang's voice came out very slowly at the end. Even if he didn't admit it. Being in this dark and lonely environment made him afraid.
Herden was very angry at the moment. "I had always wanted to leave you before. But now when you are making us go away. It just doesn't sit right in my eyes. What about everything we were to you. Weren't we more than assistants in your eyes…" Herden stopped abruptly. His eyes red as he continued, "Did you never consider us your family."
"You can't say that, It isn't true. Scholar have always taken good care of us. Why wouldn't he consider us his family? You can't bad-mouth our scholar" Sunang was very angry at Herden right now.
"Is it not true? Sunang, you can ask yourself. You are very young and don't understand many things." Herden spoke with an indignant expression. He continued, "Do you think he doesn't meet you often because he is busy with things. I have seen his real self. Half of the time, he wallops in self sorrow. How many times had he asked me to tell you things? When he himself couldn't gather the courage to talk to you."
Sunang was stunned and silent at the moment. Sottic just listened to both his assistants arguing with each other. But he didn't have the face to say anything.
"Scholar, is it true? Please tell me." Sunang said. Sottic body trembled at that. But he didn't say anything, nor did he turn to face Sunang. "Please tell me." Sunang's voice came out desperate, but still Sottic couldn't help himself to say anything.
Both assistants sat silent after that. Even Scholar didn't turn his body to face them. It wasn't before long, a huge commotion rang out outside the prison cell. Out in the open among the normal folks.
Herden lifted his toes to look through the small window, at the top of the cell. But even with his height, he didn't reach it. He asked Sunang to help him. Herden stood on Sunang's back, while Sunang protested about his heaviness.
"Just a bit more." Herden said.
"I can't wait!" And with that Sunang crashed on the floor. Herden came along with him. The noise in the cell alerted the guards. One of them came with a spear, to smash it at the bar of the cell.
The guard looked fiercely at both of them. And warned them not to do anything, otherwise they might face severe punishment. But as they were engaged in their conversation. Sottic heard something else. The commotion from outside the cell, didn't just come out as just noises, but more like screams. There were many people talking at once, the commotion was attracted to the cell itself.
Every prison guard was forced to silence the inmates. The guards were brutal in their approach and it didn't take long before the commotion died inside the prison cells. But even as that happened, Sottic could still hear screams outside the cell. Something deep awakened within his old memories, that were painful and similar to those screams.
The same guard came again to look at their cell, and this time Sottic stood up and approached the guard. His assistants were surprised by his sudden response.
"Guard Sir. What is the commotion outside?" Sottic asked with a proper mannerism.
"Why do you ask? This has nothing to do with any of you. Go back to sleep." Despite the guard saying that, he didn't move from their prison cell after that.
Sottic understood something and replied to no one. "A pity sir."