Bad news

Splash!!!

Sounded the splatter of water from Zelta's washroom, as she climbed out of the round well, breathing heavily, and all soaked in water. Today marked the fortieth day since she started trying to open the luck underneath the water in the well. And today, just like the other days, was unsuccessful, she didn't look like she had given up. She had a strong feeling that something very important was inside the lock, or perhaps, a secret way out of the block chamber in which she had been locked ever since the death of her mother. She went to the wall and took her bathrobe that was hung up on a rail. After putting it on, she bent and picked up from the floor, a small stone with a sharp edge. There was a calendar grafted on the wall, showing the number of days she had spent in the block chamber. It started from the day she was locked up in the chamber. Memories of her late mother flashed through her mind. She so much missed her, there wasn't a night she skipped dreaming about her. It still seemed impossible for her to get over the passing of her mother.

"Mother, I've been here for quite a very long time, it really sucks being in this boring place all day long. I wish to be set free mother, I wish to go home, and... and I wish you were here with me," she muttered.

Zelta had been marking on the wall, every one of her trials to open the lock under the well. She took the stone in her hand, and with it, she grooved a cross sign on the column representing that day, signifying that the trial for the day was unsuccessful, yet she was still positive that she would open it one day.

Clang! Bang! Came a loud sound from outside. Zelta covered herself properly with her robe and rushed out of the washroom to find out the cause of the sounds she heard. The sounds she heard were a result of the opening of the main door to the block chamber. As the daylight shone into the room through the steps, she saw the shadow of someone, descending the steps. She figured out already, that it was a messenger guard. The one that came wasn't the one she had been expecting. For some days now, Gideon had ceased coming to her cell to deliver food and to deliver messages from Simon. She was starting to worry about him.

"Hay prisoner!" called the messenger guard, "Come take this food from my hands".

"Excuse me, what did you just call me?" asked Zelta, with open-mouthed disbelief.

"Oh, I called you prisoner, because that's what you are, prisoner," said the man, with an annoying smile.

"You shouldn't have called me that you know," answered Zelta, calm as a dove.

"Why not?" asked the man, "Isn't that what you are, or is it wrong being honest?".

Zelta came close to the railed door, looking at him straight in the eyes.

"Don't you dare try calling me that again, or else..." she said with a whisper.

"Whoa ho ho..., Or else what?" he sounded, banging the cage-like door.

"Answer me you stupid girl, or else what?" he said, "Let me guess, or else the already decomposed priestess would rise up and order my arrest?" he said, laughing uncontrollably.

"That's a good one," he added.

A drop of tears had already rolled down Zelta's cheek, due to the words he said.

"I dare you to open this door," she said, fuming in anger.

"Open this door if have the balls, and you're dead meat," she added, with intensity in her eyes.

"I'm not stupid," he said to her, "You want me to open up the door, so you can escape being a prisoner, but that's not gonna happen".

"Quit it with the excuses, you're nothing but a punny ass-hole with large biceps, but no balls," she said to him.

"I've taken enough of the insults girl, now I'll have to leave with the food I brought, as a punishment for your stupid utterances," he said.

"Then I dare you to do that too," said Zelta.

"Are you crazy?" he said, baffled by her courage.

"I'm going to starve you," he added.

"And I'm daring you to try it," replied Zelta curtly.

"What are you?!" he yelled.

He was enraged.

"Go ahead, leave here without passing me my breakfast," said Zelta.

"We both know that you'll be severely punished, maybe executed, by your heartless master, for disobeying orders, if you fail to do yourself a favor, by simply passing me my food," she said.

The messenger guard stood silent now, reflecting on the words of Zelta.

"You are bounded to your leader, like an ox to the yoke, having no power at all to make your own decisions, not even a single authority to reason for yourself, then come here calling me a prisoner. So tell me, between the both of us, who is the bigger prisoner?" she asked him.

"Between the man with an imprisoned soul and another with an imprisoned body, who is the bigger prisoner?" asked Zelta, "De voe have imprisoned your soul, deep down you know it, you can't try to hide it. You wake up each day, wallowing in self-pity, tortured by the same truth, that you're not in control of your life. And it hurts you so badly, that you can't stand the look of yourself in the mirror," said Zelta.

She knew very well, that that was the point she needed to punish him emotionally, talking him to the soul. He was quiet now. Reluctantly, he opened the small lock on the door, provided for passing in food, and served Zelta her food.

"Smart choice," said Zelta, "I guess it's now left for you to figure out how big a prisoner you are," she added with a chuckle.

"By the way, why are you the one serving me, instead of Gideon?" asked Zelta.

As the messenger guard heard Zelta's question, he started a loud and noisy scream of laughter.

"Ha ha ha!!!..." he laughed, flinging himself from side to side, like a psychopath.

Zelta watched in confusion, as she wondered what had instantly come over him.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

He kept on laughing annoyingly.

"I asked you a simple question, then you decided to go crazy, huh? Where the hell is Gideon?" she asked again, but there was no answer from him. Instead, he increased the intensity of his laughter.

"Ha ha ha...!!!" he laughed.

"Where is he?" shouted Zelta in anger.

"He's close to you, isn't he?" asked the messenger guard, laughing wildly.

"He's my brother," replied Zelta.

The messenger guard laughed the more, infuriating Zelta more and more.

"Even better," he said to her, "Your bastard brother was caught having some silly friendly discussions with an enemy of the realm, so... so he was charged for being a traitor, and ended up getting his head chopped off by my almighty master," explained the messenger guard.

"What do you mean, what... what are you talking about?" stuttered Zelta in disbelief.

"I mean, what enemy of the realm?" she asked.

"The werewolf one," answered the messenger guard.

"Oh no," she muttered to himself, "So that means he was caught talking with Simon".

"But where is Gideon, where did they take him?" she asked, under tension.

"Ha ha ha... You weren't listening to me. He's dead!" exclaimed the messenger guard to her.

"De voe hewed off his skull with great pleasure, leading by example," he added.

"No no no, that can't be true, Gideon can't be dead. You're lying to me aren't you?" asked Zelta.

"Why would I want to lie to you now?" asked the messenger guard, "I'm telling you the plain truth. He's dead. I was present during the execution, I can tell you in details...".

"Stop it! Stop lying to me okay!" screamed Zelta in agony.

"I get it, the truth hurts so much, that no matter how you try to deny it, it's still there staring deep into your eyes," he said.

"Oh my god," muttered Zelta, as she fell on her knees, weeping uncontrollably.

The messenger guard seemed pleased, seeing her cry.

"Ha ha ha... Yeah, that's how it feels young Arorah, that's how it feels when the truth chases you down and smacks on the face," he said, "Now I get to be the one that laughs last," he added, as her proceeded up the stairs.

Zelta was left on the floor, weeping uncontrollably. She was still trying to get over the demise of her mother, and now another person in her life was gone. She felt like her world had ended. She remembered that she was the one who kept on sending Gideon on the suicide mission, just to communicate with a foreigner. She blamed herself for his death.

"Oh no I killed him," she muttered, "I sent my brother out to his death," she said, as she cried.