Bitter Wine

With the crowing of roosters, the rays of sun kissed the land of the Moro Kingdom. Two men riding horses galloped their way to the capital from the city of Dali, a distance of three days and nights on a horse.

Soon, the duo arrived at a small remote city called Buttul. "Cap', let the horses take some rest, we still have a long way to go." Maron told Tufail who yawned. "Yeah... danm, I need some rest too."

Maron looked at Tufail again before clarifying. "And by rest, I meant fetching them water, so don't even think of taking a nap."

"By rest, I meant fetching some booze for myself, who the hell would think about napping." Tufail retorted while old man Maron sighed as they get closer to the city walls, which were smaller than Dali city. The gates were already open and anyone could enter and exit at their leisure, or at least it seemed that way.

They entered as such and everything looked normal at first glance and before long, a stable came into view and not far from it was a bar. "Maron, take the horses to the stable and then join me in the bar." Said Tufail before jumping off of his horse.

"Hey, cap', wait for me..." But the drunkard was already well on his way before Maron could change his mind. He sighed, accepted his fate and moved towards the stable. When he got in front of it, he saw an old, fragile man with a bent back cleaning the stables.

"Excuse me, good sir. I would like to get my horse some rest, for an hour or two. And could you please give them some water and hay... if possible." Requested Maron. In turn, the old man raised his head to see the well-built newcomer on a horse, holding the reigns of a second one.

"30 sika for each. Hitch them around the pole. Be on time, else I won't be responsible." The hunched-back old man answered directly and succinctly.

Maron was taken aback for a while, he hadn't dealt with someone that direct and somewhat rude in years, but he smiled and responded politely nonetheless. "Sure thing, good sir."

He climbed off the horse, hitched them and handed the guy 60 sika before heading off towards the bar whilst inspecting the people along the way. Surprisingly, there wasn't a spark of life in any of them. No joy, no laughter, nothing. As if they were mere husks on borrowed time. All of which hinted at something being wrong here, Maron assumed.

Whilst amidst his thoughts, he bumped into someone, although he was not the one that budged. In front of him was a handsome young boy, lost in play as he slammed against Maron and fell.

Shortly after, a woman came along before getting down on her knees before him. "Ahh! Sir, I apologise. Sir, I beg of you, please don't kill my son, please. He is the only one I have left, he's just a child." She pleaded like an accused woman sentenced to death.

Maron bent his knees and helped her up. "Young lady, why would I do something like that? Please, stand."

The lady was lost, not knowing what to say. She rejected the helping hand of Maron and stood on her own before bowing and scurrying away with her child in a rush. As he witnessed this whole scene, Maron's suspicions only strengthened

Regardless, He quickly resumed and reached the bar and opened the door. However, he was surprised to see no one inside except for Tufail. The latter was drinking wine to his heart's content, surrounded by a myriad of bottles at his table.

"Enjoying the booze, cap'?" Maron spoke up as he came in, prompting Tufail to look in his direction. "Hell yeah! But... I must say, all of these taste like horse piss compared to yours."

Maron smiled faintly and replied. "Mm, I see you've acquired quite the unique taste palate then, to still want to drink such…delicacies."

Tufail violently shook his head whilst ignoring the accusation before Maron came to his real point. "Cap', where do you think are the bartender and the other workers?" He questioned as he looked around the empty bar.

Tufail didn't answer immediately as he first looked around. "Don't know, don't care." He retorted before filling another cup.

"Get up, cap'. Let's go for a stroll." Said the old man as he tapped the other's shoulder. "Nah, I'm fine." Refused the latter. Hearing that, Maron insisted whilst giving Tufail's shoulder an extra squeeze. "I'm not asking cap'. Get up and let's go."

Tufail flinched, before mumbling with a sad face. "Quite the slave driver, aint'cha..."

As they came out, Tufail was carrying many bottles. He had stolen as many as he could whilst Maron gave no comment, already used to his antics. They then continued to wander around. Apart from the children, who seemed oblivious to everything, no adults seemed to have a smile or a pep in their step. Not even the teens who were a rare sight.

"You feel something, cap'?"

"Yeah, this booze is more bitter than the previous one." Tufail replied while Maron squinted his eyes, saying "Mhm, and the hangover. "

Tufail hiccuped. "That too is much weaker than *hick* the previous one."

"Normally, a bitter wine would cause a stronger one though. But this one is the opposite, what could be the reason, cap'?" Maron inquired further with a faint smirk.

Tufail then stopped before gazing at the bottle of wine and slowly uttering. "Winemaker..." As the realization came to him, he quickly threw the bottle to the ground, shattering it. He then took the lead from Maron and continued. "Wasting time on inspecting the wine is the way of an oaf, a shrewd man would just ask the winemaker."

Maron kept a faint smile on his face and questioned. "What if the winemaker hides his blunder behind this failure of a wine?"

After staying silent for a few seconds, Tufail responded. "Then, the caretakers of soused have the right to use force." If a third person listened to their chatter, they would believe that they were merely talking about some bad wine. However, the reality was different. They were speaking in code, one known only to the two of them, thanks to the decades they'd spent with each other.

His faint smile stretched into a big bright one as he exclaimed in his heart. "Welcome back, captain!"