Arius

Lucius, can I come with you today? Arius asked pulling Lucius by his garment.. He had beautiful brown eyes...

No you can't come with me because you will only be a nuisance to me.. Lucius told him angrily..

He wasn't exactly angry at the boy, he was angry at his masters, that made him do all kind of work.. He had to make baskets, work the fields, and still feed some horses and clean up their dumps..it was all just exhausting for an eight year old.., And he could not pour out his anger on them so unconsciously he poured it all out on the little boy....

And besides, someone has to weave the baskets.., I can't do everything on my own.. And if the masters find you not doing anything, they would take you and whip you... Do you want that?

"no.. And that's why I want to come with you.. I promise I will not disturb you, I will help you work the fields... Please don't make me weave baskets, the wood pierces my skin and it is very painful.. Please... Arius begs again.. But his plea was falling on deaf ears because Lucius had already made up his mind...

"you are not coming with me and that is final.. You will sit inside the hut. If you don't want to weave baskets, then that is fine, but you are not coming with me period... He yelled at the poor boy....

The boy kept on pleading, but Lucius didn't listen.. Instead, as he stepped outside, he locked the boy in the hut...

"Lucius please, I'm scared., don't leave me., please don't lock me inside.. Lucius please... Please don't go.., please don't lock me up... Please... Lucius.. Lucius.. Lucius... The boy kept calling out for him, but he was already gone...

After the death of their parents, it had been just the two of them.. Lucius had to take care of Arius., sometimes Lucius went hungry so Arius could eat.. The food the masters gave them were very little.. And that was when they even remembered to give you food at all.. He sometimes stole bread from his masters kitchen so they could both eat and survive...

He usually got away with it, but one time he was caught, and they were going to cut off his hands, but the lady of the house was merciful to him and told them to let him go.. But the lord said if he was set free just like that, then he would definitely do it again. So he wanted to do something to Lucius so he would never try that again.. He took a hot iron, and was about to burn his face, but the Lady interceded for him once again and told the master...

"instead of his face, make it his back"... The master really wanted to destroy the young boys face, but he couldn't refuse her plea, so he burnt him in his back instead... The boy screamed for mercy, but he knew he already received enough mercy from the Lady...

He caused the day he was brought to this wicked world., he caused at the fact that he was from Gortha.

So leaving Arius all alone was very hard for Lucius to do., hearing him pleading and crying was even harder to endure, and it broke his heart but he knew he had to leave him or else if Arius was found in the fields playing or not working, they would take him and whip him...

Lucius knew how tedious working the field was, so even though the boy had offered to help, he knew that eventually Arius would get tired... and want to rest.. And if he was caught resting, he would be punished... So it was better he stayed at home..

Yes weaving baskets would tear your palms but it was definitely the easiest job they had...

Just after Lucius left the house., A merchant came to the Land of the slaves, and was ransacking the whole place, looking for a girl who had ran away from him...

"where is she., where is the girl"... He kept on yelling at the top of his voice., ordering his men to go into every hut and bring out every single person they could find... While doing this, the men had missed the hut Arius was in.. Every other person alive in that place was dragged out of their hut...

"bring me the girl, or I will burn this place to the ground... He kept on yelling at the people... Unfortunately, non of them seemed to have seen the girl, or know where she was... So all they could do was beg for mercy..

" Mercy Milord, we have not seen the girl you seek.. We assure you, if we knew where she was, we would definitely have told you... Have mercy Milord...

" Mercy?? You want mercy?... I will show you mercy.. Burn down everything... I want nothing but ashes in this place...

They were all begging and crying for mercy, for him to not burn down the little things they had ... But the merchant obviously had no ounce of mercy in him...

His men did as he ordered, and set every huts ablaze..

Arius who had accepted his fate and stopped crying, was already weaving a basket.. He actually heard the commotion, but it didn't really bother him.. Every day in this place brought a different kind of drama..

Now he was actually grateful to his brother for locking him in, because the crazy people outside could not come in.. At least so he thought..

It was only when he started smelling something like smoke, that he noticed that the whole place was on fire...

Then he started screaming, but no one heard his cry, he screamed and screamed as high as his little voice could go, but it was hopeless. The wailing and screams of people overshadowed his cry for help...

Lucius who was not comfortable with leaving the boy alone, he was suddenly feeling guilty. He wondered if the boy would have stopped crying yet, so he decided to go back for him.. He could only imagine the joy the boy would have when he saw him.. He would happily jump around and say words of thanks... The thought of the seeing Arius' happiness, made Lucius even happier, so he ran back home, smiling...

As he got closer to the land of the slaves, he could see heavy smoke., his eye widened, fear and terror gripped him.., he could suddenly feel his heart beating faster than normal.. He ran towards the place, and could feel the heat of the fire..

He saw houses burning, people wailing, but among the crowd, he could not find his brother...

What he was feeling at this point could not be measured down to one word...

"Arius.., Arius.. Where are you?? He screamed at the top of his voice...

" sir please, my brother is still in there.. Please sir"... He cried out to one of the men that burnt the huts...

The merchant heard this and was shocked.. He was sure that his men brought everyone out... He ordered them to put out the fire...

They broke the door down, and when they entered, they found Arius lying on the floor... The fire hadn't gotten to him yet...

Lucius was thankful that he was safe...he let out a sigh of relief He ran to where he was lying on the floor...

"Hey Arius, wake up., I'm back.... He taps the boy on the shoulder but he got no response.., Arius, wake up I came back for you, I'll let you come with me to the farm.. Arius.. Arius.. He taps his face this time but the boy just wasn't waking up...

He shakes the child frantically calling out his name.., but the boy still did not answer...

"somebody help me.., help me please... Somebody do something, my brother is not talking... Arius.. Arius... He called out, but no one answered.. No one came to help... They all knew he was gone...

Even though the fire had not gotten to where he was, the heavy smoke was too much for a five year old... He couldn't possibly breathe in that much smoke...

Arius.. Arius.. Please I'm sorry, I promise I'll let you come with me everyday, so just wake up.., wake up please..... The boy pleaded and cried, hot tears rolling down his little cheeks..

But there was nothing anyone could do...

Arius was gone...