'Honey! Wake up.'
The gentle and warm voice of a woman rings through his ears. He knows that it was just a dream and he's just hearing things, but it felt real for him, like someone was whispering close to his ears.
Einar slowly opened his eyes, but there was no one or light. It was pitch black. It was so quiet; although he couldn't scan the room, he could distinguish that he was back in his cell through the smell of blood, iron, and human waste. He passed out during the torture.
'How long was I out? '
He was held in one of the cells in the underground prison (dungeon), a prison chamber for the criminals with heinous crimes. It was built underground to isolate the criminals from the outside world, not just to isolate them but also to eliminate the sound of screams from being tortured.
He can only scan the four corners of his cell when the guards bring torches to illuminate the chamber to start beating him and take him to the torture room.
"Urgh! Please stop… I didn't do it!"
"Why? As he said, the tormentor grinned, "We're just having fun here."
Einar's voice was trembling due to the excruciating pain from being tortured. He begged every single day; however, the torture never ceases. He described them as madmen, enjoying themselves as they slowly tortured him.
They cut his body with a smoldering knife again and again every day. Pull his nails, break his finger, and pull his teeth one by one. It was a pleasure, an amusement for these people to observe Einar crying, screaming, and squirming from pain till he passed out. They use every kind of method to torment his body.
It has been his everyday routine ever since he was imprisoned. For him, every day was hell. All he can do is just cry and scream for help, even though he knows that no one will come.
"Hey peasant!"
"Here's your food."
"Fuck! Why am I always the one to do this? It smells like shit in here."
The guard simply tossed the food and walked away. But today, the meal has no use for him because even the slightest movement causes pain in every part of his body. His throat swells and hurts from screaming every day, and he is unable to swallow or chew food anymore.
'I never thought that I would end up in a place like these. I had always lived my life in accordance with the law of this Empire, but here I am waiting for my death to come. I am innocent of the charges they are bringing against me.'
'I was accused of murdering the Holy Sword, Anna Blackwater. One of the Four War Heroes of the Empire during the second great war.
Blue eyes and pale yellow hair, kind, gorgeous, and attractive. She always smiles so gorgeously. Every man wants to catch a peek of her beauty, and she is adored by all.
'Why would I kill her?'
Einar runs his thoughts as he closes and falls asleep again due to extreme exhaustion.
"The next day..."
'Clop, clop! '
A footsteps was heard in the hallway; it was the prison guards.
'Ting, ting, ting! '
One of the guards was hitting the railing of the cell multiple times with a club stick to create noise.
"Wake up, peasant!"
Einar did not make a sound nor move; although he was awake, he couldn't respond from the guards. He had no strength to do so. The guards got annoyed, seeing no response from Einar. They opened the prison cell and walked close to where he was lying.
One of the guards stepped on Einar's head while cursing him.
"This mother f*cker! Do you think you're something special, huh?
"You're just f*cking peasant, you mother f*cker! "
'Urgh!!!!
Einar groaned in pain.
'F*ck! Why, why, why? I did nothing wrong. Why, why?'
'They say that justice is unbiased and does not bow to anyone. That's bullshit! Justice only benefits those who have a higher status, and wealth is the driving force behind this world's ruling. This world is corrupted; justice is elusive for people like me.'
The guards beat him with the club stick; all he could do was cry in pain and receive the beating. The wounds caused by the torture start to bleed again. It was a horrifying scene as the blood started to splatter every single time the club stick hit. His trembling voice caused by pain echoed in the chamber; his vision started to fade, but before that happened, a person standing at the entrance of the cell spoke.
"That's enough! "
A deep intimidating voice stopped the guards from beating him more. Trying to remain conscious, Einar's eyes slowly gazed at the man who just spoke. His eyes were quite blurry from what just happened, but he was able to recognize the person by looking at his silhouette. He was the Captain of the Empire's Royal Knights, Edward Montfort, one of the Four War Heroes like Anna.
'Why is he here? Is he going to kill me now or mock me from the state I'm in? ' Einar was puzzled by the captain's appearance.
"Leave us."
The captain's commands had an overwhelming pressure that made the guards leave in a hurry; they were terrified from the presence of the captain and the atmosphere he displayed.
The captain scanned Einar's naked body; from the captain's point of view, Einar is a living corps already, skinny, with every inch of his body full of scars, wounds, old and fresh ones, broken fingers, and the tendons on his Achilles were cut; a sign of extreme torture can be seen all over his body, but Einar endured it for months.
The captain can't help but feel amazed at Einar for enduring it; he was puzzled by Einar's tenacity.
'A normal being could not last this long for being tortured. What could have driven this man to endure it this far?'
The tormentor who tortured Einar already told him that he will not confess no matter what kind of torture methods they used; he always denies the charges against him, but he still wants to hear them from Einar directly while looking him in the eye.
"Did you do it?"
Einar gazed at the Captain with a hard expression and dull-looking eyes. Although it was quite painful for him to speak with the condition of his body, he endured it. It was the first time that someone had asked and listened to what he would say from the day he got in prison without tormenting him. It may be absurd from the view of others, but for Einar, he was glad that someone would want to hear the words he would like to say, even though the captain might not believe him.
"No, I did not kill her."
"Why would I kill my wife? She's everything that I have."
'....' Hearing this, the captain felt pity for the state he was in; Anna was his best friend, and the man in front of him was her husband. Looking into Einar's eyes as he says those words, the captain can feel the sincerity of the words he just spoke. He recalls the day that Anna left them and chose to live a normal life.
"Are you really sure about this, Anna? You're just going to give up your status?
"Yes! I already made up my mind."
"You're a noble, and above all, you're a hero, the Holy Sword of this Empire. Are you just going to throw everything away? "
"I know that you will be against my decision, but I hope you understand it, Ed. The war is already over; I want to have a normal life, a life away from the battlefield and death." Anna spoke softly.
Seeing Anna say those words with a bright smile and lively eyes, he realized that Anna was quite happy; she had never seen Anna like this before since the war took place. Her gloomy expression caused by countless deaths on the battlefield was gone. It was an expression that he had never seen for a long time.
'Right! That was the expression you used to have when we were kids. I'm glad that you're back from what you were before.'
The captain scratched his head while speaking to Anna.
"Tsk! Ok then, if that's what you want, I will respect your decision, but don't forget to visit us; you know my wife and kids always like it every time you visit."
"Don't worry, I will still be around. Einar is a farmer; we will be trading crops here in the city, occasionally." Anna replied with a smile.
***
"It has been decided; you will be executed today."
Einar didn't have any reaction to what the captain had said; he already knew he would be executed; it just mattered time before it happened. But he was grateful to the captain for hearing his words before he got executed.
The captain turns his back and commands the guards to take him, but before he gives his command, he gazes back at Einar once again and asks him one last time.
"Was she happy with the life she chose?"
Hearing those words triggered Einar's memories, memories of how happy Anna was when they were together.
Einar smiled, looking at the captain.
"Yes! She was."
"I see." The captain then walked out of the cell and gave his command.
***
"Kill him!!"
"Kill that peasant!!"
The sound of a crowd of people shouting and cursing burst into Einar's ears, and there he was, kneeling at the execution platform with hands tied to his back and the executioner on his side. It was a public execution held in the central (plaza) part of the city. Citizens gathered to watch the execution of the man who killed the hero, Anna Blackwater.
Einar's eyes were still adapting to the light of the outside world; he was imprisoned in that chamber for months without seeing the light of the day.
As his visions got clear, he scanned the vicinity. He saw a familiar face in the crowd; it was Anna's father.
His father-in-law looked at him with mad eyes; he looked away from Anna's father and faced the bright blue sky. He had no words to say to his father-in-law, he felt ashamed for not being able to protect her daughter.
Einar just blankly stared at the sky, trying to remember his wife's smile, her lovely eyes, her touch, and her warm voice, but his thought was disturbed by someone.
"The sky was quite clear today. A pleasant day for harvesting crops, don't you think? "
He gazed at the man who just spoke; it was the Prince of the Arkon Empire, and next to him were the other Heroes except Edward, his wife's former colleagues. The prince looked at him with a mad face, Einar just looked at the prince nonchalantly. The prince didn't like him from the moment they met
"Indeed!" Einar answered the prince while looking at him nonchalantly.
The prince was annoyed by Einar's response. However, the prince remained composed while speaking to the crowd.
"Einar, you are charged with murder and found guilty for killing Anna Blackwater, the holy sword of the Arkon Empire. You are hereby sentenced to death."
"Any last words? "
Rage can be seen on Einar's face; although he had no more energy to speak clearly due to starvation and torture, he gathered all the strength he had left; he clinched his teeth hard and cried as loudly as he could so that the hall crowd could hear him.
"I did not kill her; I did kill Anna Blackwater!"
"I did not kill my…"
'Thud, thud! '
Einar's head rolled on the platform before he could finish his words. The prince sent a signal to the executioner to strike down his neck. With just one swing of the sword, Einar's head separated from his body and a fountain of blood sprayed from his severe neck.
"Pathetic! Still trying to act innocent till the end." The prince whispered and turned his back and was followed by the other heroes.
Later on a man approaches where his head drops, standing directly in front of Einar so that he can see him as his vision begins to deteriorate. His brain is still functioning even though his head has already been chopped.
Einar was unable to understand what the stranger was saying in his whispers. Other thoughts were racing through Einar's mind.
'F*ck! I never got the chance to take revenge for my wife or find out who killed her.'...
Einar's vision went black...