Lord Matau, lord of Dryrock, anything could have been expected except such a betrayal from a man he had always considered loyal. Their properties were neighboring and they had never had any major problems, solving some small damage caused by livestock every now and then, as two good friends know how to do.
Since there was no longer a true king to rule over Souldor everything had changed for the worse, old friendships, signed pacts and blood itself had lost all sorts of value. For men of old lineage like him, who still believed in honor, it was increasingly difficult to survive in that adrift world.Saitron had all the family members in the large room captured, tied and placed along the wall, he sat comfortably at the head of the table with his back to his prisoners, without saying or doing anything, waiting for their destiny to fulfill itself . His nephew paced back and forth in front of the prisoners, General stood caressing the handle of the dagger he held on his right side, scowling at those poor people who were trembling with fear, only old Matau with his son managed to keep their nerve , at least in appearance. A couple of soldiers were standing by the door, the others were outside busy taking care of the servants and the various workers they found in the castle and in the houses around it, bringing everyone into the courtyard."If you're interested in property, take it all, but leave my family alone," old Matau implored him. In addition to him, now a widower for years, there was his eldest son with his wife and three children, two boys not even twenty years old and the thirteen-year-old girl. Then there was his niece, his sister's daughter who had arrived there on a visit a few days ago and finally, a cousin of his who was in charge of managing the family mining business, who came by for the bimonthly report.«What's the point of all this? Our families have always been allies" the young Matau told him.Saitron got up and went to one of the tall windows, opened it, welcoming the fresh air of that morning and looked all around. The castle was not very large, but well kept, beyond the walls there were cultivated fields, beyond them the forest that ended at the slopes of the mountains where there were the marble quarries and the mine. Then his gaze focused on the people gathered in the court, they looked at each other full of fear and questions, unable to understand what was happening, no one should have been missing, men, women, children, even the old. The people who had tried to resist had been killed, at that moment two soldiers were attacking a man who had only asked for explanations about their behavior, a woman a little further away, most likely his wife, was shouting and swearing at the soldiers, to be violently beaten in turn.Edda entered, the woman slowly passed in front of the prisoners, stopping with her gaze on each one, finally stopping in front of the old Matau.«It's been a while, hasn't it Adrian?». Matau raised his gaze more, scrutinizing her and his eyes widened, how could it be her? More than thirty years had passed since he last saw her and she was dying, he himself had plunged the sword into her heart, pushing until he felt the blade scratch the floor.«So you managed to escape me, now I have the knife on the handle» she went straight to one of the soldiers with very light hair and took the sword out of its sheath, pointing it at the man's throat «Or maybe it's better say the sword.""You, you're a damn demon," he spat at her.«And many other things my dear Adrian, I will ask you the same question as then and this time you will have to answer me» he placed the blade more against his throat and then removed it smiling. Carelessly she began to swing the wool and then point it at her son, who at first narrowed his eyes, then growled at her with all his contempt: "Bastard, as soon as I free myself I will kill you with my own hands" Edda ignored him , as one does with a dog barking from behind the bars of his cage."Where is old Ekaraoni?"Lord Matau remained silent, he swallowed a couple of times, if he continued to keep the secret, they would kill everyone, however telling her what he wanted to know did not guarantee their survival, but at least that secret would die with him, no one else he knew it. He would only pass that burden on to his son when his time came, it was too dangerous for anyone to find out. Edda turned towards General, who immediately understood what he had to do, looked out of one of the windows and with a wave of his hand, started the execution of the poor people trapped in the courtyard. Hearing those screams of terror, their pleas, the two women who were standing side by side started crying, leaning against each other, the young people were trembling with fear and Matau's cousin had pissed himself off, realizing that soon it would have been his turn to die that way. Old Matau remained impassive, determined to keep that secret to himself at any cost. Edda, seeing that he didn't give in, went to point the sword against her daughter-in-law's throat, looked at him, but he continued to remain silent, holding his chin high to challenge her, so he moved on to his nephew, then to the other until he reached the girl. Nothing, he didn't give up.«I must say that you are really good at keeping a secret, but I will bend you don't be afraid» he threw the sword: «You soldier» he called to him the young man from whom he had taken the sword: «What do you think of her, isn't she really pretty?» he took a lock of the little girl's hair and let it slip out of his fingers. The soldier looked first at her, at the young woman who was sobbing and finally at her commander who laughed amusedly. «It's Bella yes».«Take it and enjoy yourself, our hosts will have nothing to say, am I right Adrian?»."Please leave her alone, she's little more than a child," her mother begged her. The young Matau, not knowing the truth, turned to his father "I beg you, tell her what she wants to know, she's my little girl" The old lord looked at his son full of pain and shame, then lowered his gaze and continued to maintain silence. His niece's screams made him jump, he squeezed his eyes shut, turning away and biting his lips until he tasted her blood. The curses, the desperate cries, the screams mixed in his mind, becoming confused sounds, repeating to himself that he was doing the right thing.Sakna knew well that thinking too much would bring back to her mind what would have been better to erase completely and there wasn't even half a bottle of wine with her. To free himself from those thoughts he began to pester Elidor who ignored all his teasing. Thus began a song that denigrated the elves, spoke of the fact that their beauty was the result of an enchantment, once it vanished it would reveal them for what they really were, dirty jokes of nature full of arrogance and smelly pustules. All sung at the top of one's throat, out of tune worse than a bell, but in perfect Elvish. He once helped a singer friend of his translate it, after a young elf had rudely dumped him. Once they reached the top of the hill, they stopped, a few kilometers further on the first houses began and further down, beyond a wheat field, there was the castle of Rocciasecca. A question popped into his mind. Why had one of the many lords of those lands had her captured instead of simply sending for her? Yes, I'm hard to find but forcing an elf with a kita to hunt me down is a little excessive. Was old Zaria right and is Sould really behind all this? Maybe I'll find him at the castle waiting for me, with open arms trembling like a lover. She liked that business less and less.When they passed in front of one of the first houses, an old man was standing in the doorway sitting on a stool, twisting a stick in his hands. As soon as he saw her he went towards her as fast as he could. "Criminals" Sakna stopped the horse, Elidor turned to see what he was up to, he was staring at the ground, but he couldn't see anything."Butchers, murderers, that's what they are, their screams could be heard up to here, they took everyone even the children" Sakna dismounted from the saddle and headed quickly to the house in front of her."Stop, where do you think you're going?" He ordered, running after her. He found her standing just inside the doorway, leaning against the wall watching the macabre spectacle. An old man lay dead in his bed with his throat cut, a woman's body was half in the other room. Elidor went to check, cursed, then dragged the woman into the room, went out, closed the door and remained staring at the floor covered in dried blood. Next to Sakna there was the ghost of the woman holding a child who couldn't have been more than two years old."They arrived before dawn, why did they do this to us?"."They will get what they deserve" was his sentence said in a whisper."Come on, I have a job to finish," he ordered, passing her. Now Sakna knew that it wasn't the owner of those lands who was looking for her and they set off at a gallop towards the castle."They're coming," the soldier who was on the walkway above the entrance shouted to those below. The soldiers hurried to open the gate. Having stopped the horse Sakna, he looked around. There were four men on the walls, another ten in the courtyard, some were busy piling the tortured bodies of those poor people in a corner. He tried not to count how many innocent people they had killed. There was only one entrance difficult to escape from there with his own strength.Once we dismounted, the General went to meet him: «Follow me, Lord Saitron is waiting for you upstairs». Up the stairs two young men were trying to stop a little girl, who was holding her head on her knees, from crying. One of the two boys looked up, realizing that she could have done something and went after her. "Please help us" Sakna continued to walk while always looking straight ahead "My sister is desperate, you saw what they did to us, we want justice" When they reached the door that led to the large room she turned to look at him, nodded yes, clenching her fists tightly. For that reason she hid herself by concealing her true identity, she was tired of what men were able to do just to satisfy their infinite thirst for power, they slaughtered each other, fathers against sons, brother against sister, all for something so ephemeral, that if seen with his eyes it would last the short time of a breath.