A Warrior's Dance

XIII – Solitude

Nobody saw it coming.

The cold dark prison located inside the valkan ship was built to punish enemies or servers, a place to drive anyone crazy. There were no candles to light, no windows to let the moonshine through.

Sanne had never thought she would find herself inside the valkan’s prison. Honestly speaking, she didn’t know how she ended up in that situation.

The little red-head girl could feel the burn in her throat, too tired to even scream another pleading. She’s innocent. She didn’t know valkans could imprison innocent people. They didn’t even hear her out when she tried to explain herself.

I want my father… Where are you? Help me, please.

“Sanne.”

She lifted her head to see who it was. Though her eyes felt heavy because of darkened bruises, she focused her eyes on her visitor. The metal chains clanked as she tried to move, remembering both her hands were restrained.

“Nar Burkhan!” he exclaimed seeing her bruised face, unexpectedly calling out to the Sun God. She was slumped on the cold ground, her limp body looked frail enough that he began to feel the fright, thinking she might break. Vera trailed behind him, tears in her eyes. One of the guards unlocked the prison gate and let them through.

“A- Azaiah?” Sanne whispered, tears started to fill her eyes once again.

With a wave of Azaiah’s hand, he dismissed the guards to leave them be and they obeyed without question.

Vera ran toward her, softly embracing her friend. Azaiah watched them for a moment before kneeling in front of Sanne, carefull lifting her head.

“I didn’t do it, Vera,” she said with broken sobs, shaking her head. “It wasn’t me! Please! I didn’t poison your uncle.” Tears broke out from her like a dam, her body shook with helplessness.

“I know, San,” she replied, mirroring her fright. Clearly, she didn’t know how to help her.

“Can we really trust you, Sanne?” Azaiah asked almost in a whisper, his eyes pleading to get the truth from her. He knew deep in his mind that the girl in front of her wouldn’t be able to do such crime. But they had caught her in the act.

Two nights ago, they all gathered for the celebration of Avery’s pregnancy. According to the master healer of the Barren tribe, the lady had missed her blood and the symptoms were clear. She has a baby inside her. Sanne helped serve the foods, making herself useful and also to kill the boredom. The tea she brought to Nari killed him in an instant.

“How can I make them see that you can’t do something evil like that?” he continued, wiping her tears away.

“Y-you believe me, Aza?”

He nodded his head. “I do.”

Sanne sobbed again, letting herself succumbed to terror. The valkan elders had beaten her, forcing her to own the crime she didn’t commit.

Someone approached them, holding a torch, bringing light to the darkened room. Azaiah turned to see who it was.

“Did she now admit her crimes to you?” Bo asked, one of the Valkan elders. He looked a bit scarier than the others, his left eye had a patch, covering his scars and wounds.

Azaiah shook his head and stood up, pulling his sister Vera with him.

More men walked to them, one of them had a metal rod, its other end had a ‘V’ stamp, currently heated from fire. Bo gestured for his men to hold Sanne in place as he tore off her dress, exposing her back.

“Don’t hurt me, please!” Sanne began to beg, her voice hoarse and tired. “I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it, please!” She tried to get away, to move but she couldn’t. Fear crawled up her neck seeing what they were about to do.

Bo snatched the metal rod from one of his men and angled it to Sanne’s back. Azaiah and Vera was pushed behind, his hands balled into fist, as he struggled hard to shut his mouth from stopping them. Vera cried in his chest, murmuring to stop their men.

“Azaiah, stop them!” Sanne screamed, slowly feeling the heat from the metal rod. “Please! I didn’t do it! Help me! Help me!”

Azaiah turned his head, his gaze away from her torture. Bo stamped the heated metal rod directly to her skin, the sizzling sound of the burn made Sanne scream some more, the excruciating pain too much to handle.

The moment Bo lifted the rod, Sanne tried to gasp for air before falling unconscious to the ground. At her back, just inches below her left shoulder, a ‘V’ had been imprinted on her skin, burning her.

She had been branded as an enemy of the Valkan tribe.

****

Captain Raq was forced to leave Port City the instant he heard the news about the death of his brother, Nari. Now as he made his way to Nari’s cabin, he tried his best to contain the anger and grief brewing inside his chest.

“What happened?” he asked with his usual deep voice.

Bo stood next to him, silently mourning the second-in-command captain. “Poison, my captain.”

Raq took a lungful of air as he turned to look at the valkan elder. He spoke in their own language, asking the old man to tell the whole story.

Bo told him about the celebration for Avery’s pregnancy. It was a fine day and everyone seemed happy and elated to hear the news. People of Barren tribe volunteered to prepare the foods and serve the valkans. Sanne, the blacksmith’s daughter, was one of the volunteers. They heard she was good in making teas, as she learned it from Lady Avery. She prepared the tea and served it to the married couple.

The poison in the tea killed Nari right away. All of them were shocked. The blame went to the little girl.

“She has to die,” Bo said after a while. “Eye for an eye.”

Captain Raq threw him a hard look. “Summon the elders. We’ll discuss this.”

“At once, my captain.” Bo excused himself and walked away to call all the elders.

Nari wasn’t just his brother by blood, not just a second-in-command captain. He was his best mate, the only man who could see through him. He was his most faithful follower. And now he felt all alone.

Raq’s eyes had no tears but grief lingered on the surface. He could feel the thick air swirling around the room. He kissed his brother’s forehead before pulling the black blanket over his body.

The captain turned to the guard at the door. “Prepare for his funeral. Bring me Hilmer.”