The Pen 🖊 and the Sword
The wind whipped across the Free State plains, carrying dust and the scent of winter fires. Pieter van der Merwe sat at the rough wooden table in his homestead, the newspapers spread before him like a battlefield of words. Koen leaned against the wall, arms crossed, while Jan Botha stood near the hearth, fists clenched in quiet fury. “These words,” Pieter said, voice tight, “they grow bolder, more venomous. They no longer merely mock—they seek to shape the world’s view of us as incapable, brutish, unworthy of governance.” Koen picked up a newspaper, scanning the jagged print. “Look at this one. They describe the Free State as a ‘wild land ruled by stubborn peasants,’ the ZAR as a ‘republic of folly and chaos.’ They claim our councils are ‘inept’ and our courts ‘childish.’ And every word
- Writer
