The Glass Oath

02

I trudge with my father leading the path through the forest. His posture remains straight even though he in his late fifties. I look back and see girls wearing pretty clothes and standing in the never ending lines ready to be traded and sold.

'What happens when King Croesus finds out about me?' I ask dad who cuts a loose branch off the tree. 'I'm supposed to be with those girls.'

'You want to be sold? Like your sister?' Father proposes another question. His voice turns bitter when he says my sister. He never loved her enough for she played by the world's rules.

In the four kingdoms, children are brought up with specific talents and they are traded among the kingdoms to keep things in balance. Only their balance destroys when the children cannot pursue enough talent, they are executed. The child with the best talent, is sold for the most coins. The four kingdoms are famous for the four traits they exhibit: Courage, hard work, honesty and intelligence.

The most respected is the Croesus' Kingdom, the courageous one. Known for producing the best soldiers. Next is the Dorian Kingdom, the hardworking one. Known mostly for producing metals and minerals. The gold, silver, iron, every metal came from there and so, they gave us the most weapons too. Their is a good alliance between Kingdom Croesus and Kingdom Dorian.

The other one, Kingdom Homer, best known for producing the Lawyers and judges and the last, Kingdom Ciel, the only kingdom ruled by a Queen, best known for amazing curers, teachers and the advancement in the technology.

The people exhibiting these talents were like gold to the kingdom. They were rewarded with most coins and a good house with a life time payment. The other ones, without these talents, are traded to other kingdoms and are mostly paid the lowest.

Because our kingdom deals with soldiers, our boys are the most precious to this kingdom and girls are most sold out to either the Kingdom Homer or Kingdom Ceil.

Once you are traded into another kingdom, you cannot come back to your home. A rule they believed had kept us all alive only my father thought against.

'No, I don't want to be like one.' I reply to my father who nods. 'What happens if I die?'

'Then you'll die.' He answers.

'Do you think King Croesus will forgive you?'

'I did not train you to lose, Flame.'

'But father, what if I can't win? I will have strong opponents and then the princes ...'

He turns round boring his brown eyes into mine. 'If you are so afraid of what is to come, go back to your house then.'

I lower my head. 'I didn't mean it that way.' The Tournament has not begun yet and I am already scared. I know he does not like it whenever I talk about failure but I am the only girl or maybe I will be. I have already broken a rule and if I get in the Tournament and don't win, King Croesus won't spare our family. Maybe he'll execute me in front of the people, as a lesson to be learned that my gender is nothing but weakness.

Father comes forth, placing his hand on my shoulder, he says 'Just know one thing, remembering failure is not inadequate but being afraid of failure is what makes us weak. If anything happens, trust yourself before you trust anyone else.' His eyes softens. 'This is the only way to survive. Do you understand?'

'What if they find about me? About who I am?'

He takes a deep breath, focusing on something behind me. 'That should not happen at any cost.' He warns, simultaneously ending the discussion.

I stay quiet as we walk from the forest. Specks of lights enter the forest and I can see the ships, the people standing in queues, the guards but most importantly, the office for the Administration for Trading and Ingress (ATI).

How ironic it is? You register your own self to be sold.

We wait as the queue of the boys, in front of ATI moves. Father holds up his finger telling me to wait. Then he lowers it and I follow him to the queue. I slip behind the most recent boy. He looks behind at me and I cannot help but notice his thin posture. His eyes gaze down at my figure but then father gives him a scowl and he faces in front of him.

Father leaves me as I take a step forward in the queue. That's it.

I won't see him again as I go fight the world. I give him a longed look. He isn't the type of hugging and kissing. The scars on his face and on his body speak for themselves. He raises his middle and ring finger, kisses these two fingers and touches them on his head and on his heart. Telling me that mind and heart stays together. Reminding me that if I have to survive, I have to use all that I have but mind comes first. It was our symbol, the Cannons, the forbidden group I belonged to.

I nod and then he nods and stands back, hiding in the shadows. I cannot see him but he watches me. I look ahead of me. The queue gets shorter and shorter and when it comes for my turn to enter ATI. I take a breath.

From inside, ATI holds nothing but a chair, a table and a finger scanner. A man, about the age of my dad, sits on the chair and types something on his device. 'Name.' He says without even looking at me. He wears a a yellow coloured suit. A badge of a bird flying from its cage, pins against his chest, representing the Kingdom Ceil.

'Flame Makatza.' I answer, gathering as much courage as I can.

'State.'

'Village Croesus.'

'Business?'

'To compete in The Tournament.' On my answer, his eyes shoots up at me. He narrows them at me.

'Take your mask off.' He orders can I do as told. 'You cannot apply.'

'A reason?'

'You are a girl. You cannot compete. Leave.' He says briefly before his eyes dart back to the device.

'I want to. I can fight.' I argue. I knew this was to come but something tells me it would not be as easy as it seemed. 'I want to fight in the Tournament.'

'You can't. Now don't waste my time and leave. Let others come.' He doesn't even look up this time. 'Next!' He yells.

I look behind to make sure no one enters. 'It's wrong. I want to fight and I can. I can show you if you want me to. Just enter my name.'

'I cannot.' He answers briefly. 'Nex—' just as he begins to yell, I grab his throat and push him on his chair hard. Placing my foot on the seat of the chair, I glare deadly in his bloodshot eyes.

'I can fight and I won't bother tearing you in pieces. That was all sweet I could be. Now enter my name before I,' I take his arm and place it over my knee. I then bend it hard that he grimaces, 'won't bother making you a one armed man. Do it now.'

'Are you free? Should I enter?' Someone from outside yells.

'Tell him not now.' I glare darkly in his eyes. The man swallows.

'Just wait!' He yells back.

'Good, now, enter my name.'

'I c-can't.' His face begins to redden as I increase my grip. 'You are a girl.' I grit my teeth and press harder.

'I am aware of my own gender. Now if you please do me an honour?' I press down his arm further. He tries to cry out for help but fails.

Finally, giving up, he types my name down. I give a finger print on the scanner and get a code over my wrist that I can't particularly see. 'Thank you sir.' I let go of his throat and his arm. 'I wonder if you'll speak a word?' I blinked repeatedly, trying to pretend innocent. He shakes his head no. A smile stretches on my lips as I step out of the office from the other side and directly land on the ship.

A few members eye me but I have already pull my mask up. A boy, almost of my age, comes forth and guides me in a room. I thank him and enter the room where two long benches by the wall are placed and are almost occupied by brawny, muscular boys. They all stare at me as if I just killed their families as I try to find a seat.

A thin boy, the one who looked behind in the queue, scoots over giving me space more than I needed. The boy from right side, scoots to the other side again giving me further space. I throw my bag down and sit on the bench.

They all continue eyeing me. When it starts bothering me, I ask. 'What?'

'You are a girl.' A tall, muscular of all, boy asks me. Muscles bulge from his shirt he wears and his shaved head adds an aura of "Bad Boy".

'I know.'

'You can't compete.' He says. 'How did they even let you in?'

I scowl. I am tired of hearing the restrictions. 'They just did. Why is it your problem?'

'Are you on a wrong boat?' Someone else asks. He was a rather leaned boy compared to all the ones sitting around him. I knew he was only eighteen because the legal age to compete is eighteen, but some how, he looked younger.

'No. I am on the right one.'

'Are you sure?' The muscular one asks again. 'We can tell them about the wrong boat or else you'll cry.' A few other boys snicker.

'I'm on the right one.' I say again. 'And I won't cry. Your motherly ass don't have to worry.' This time, I earned a few snickers. I blinked as a knife cut my ear and stuck in the wood. More boys laughed so loudly that the string of peace was lost.

'See right there? And here she says she can fight.' The muscular boy teased. 'I wonder how loud would you cry when I'd break your nail.' He laughs so loudly that whole group joins in just for the sake of their reputation.

'Oh she's going to run to her momma.' Someone said. 'Weeping like a child.'

'Or maybe, she'll pass out when she'll hold the sword!'

'Oh, I bet she won't be able to even see it. Her soft little hands might get ruined. Right puny?' That's what they say to a desperately weak child and it is a very good insult.

I take the knife out that just cut my ear and throw it right at side of the boy with muscular body sitting in front of me. He flinched and so the knife cut the ear more than I aimed for. 'We'll see who'll cry or who'll run to their mummy.' I say.

That was the silence that I needed as I leant back and closed my eyes. A smirk grew on my face as I heard someone saying, 'She seems good.'

oOo

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Love , huz