Two years........Two years......The words rang through his head repeatedly as he sat silently.
These words had ushered in the next phase of his life...
He had expected some punishment for his actions.....but two years! Two years! He felt the anger rise in him as he sat in the darkness mouthing the same two words repeatedly.
The loud jangling of keys accompanied by the sounds of doors slamming echoed around the building....It’s one of the ironies of life that prisons have the acoustics of theatres. Every sound magnified A hundredfold within the walls of both structures.
Voices bounced off the walls with the echo in close pursuit.....but these were no actors...this was no play; this was his life unfolding before him.
The key thrust into his door as loudly as any smithy hammer against the anvil, the key turned in the well oiled lock rotating the cogs deep inside the mechanism....
No longer restrained by the oversized cast lock the door swung open, connecting the two worlds once again...freedom and despair were united.
The jailor appeared in the doorway and beckoned his prisoner forward....”Come on Lad, I don’t have all day now”, the voice seemed out of place....It was A surreal experience to hear his father’s voice talking to him as the jailor spoke. As always when he heard his father he obeyed his instructions without hesitation...now was no exception as he stood and walked forward with stooped shoulders, the usual self assurance and confidence he had become accustomed to have left him long ago.
The chains on his legs were short to prevent prisoners running...forcing him to shuffle quickly keeping his feet on the floor...his ankles had learned quickly to avoid the pain of A normal walk.
The bright sunlight he had longed for bore down on him as he entered the courtyard...his wishes forgotten as he cursed the pain it brought to his eyes. He squinted against the glare at the three figures sat before him.
He stood naked before them; it was their way to remove all dignity as they began their indoctrination.......
“Mugendo!”...”Thief”.....He felt the whole vale could hear the words...further adding to his shame...
He had devised A plan to survive this...he was incognito...he was wrongly accused.....he...he...he knew he was guilty, yet every fibre of his being fought to reject this fact.
He nodded in response as his mind continued to rebel against his own realisation that this was who he had become.
As his eyes struggled to ad detail to his surroundings he focused on the white feather.....
The feather of the prince of Morthond.....yes....that is where he is...Morthondost...the home of the Prince.....
“You are here because you are A thief.....you will serve your Prince for the period of two years...or until your death, whichever arrives first”....
The arrogance of nobility he thought as the voice droned on in his head....the clipped words and perfect dictation cut into him as deep as any blade....His thoughts stirred in him the boy that had grown beyond recognition...The words of his father drowned out the chirping of this bloated repulsive creature that had the audacity to call him Thief.....
His rising anger pushed aside any feelings of shame as he stood upright with his shoulders back, his modesty insignificant to him as he struggled to regain dignity.
“Mugendo!! .......Pecheur!!”....He paused to let all in the courtyard savour the name before continuing....”I accept the judgement and will atone my actions through my service to the prince!”
“Next man!!” were the only words spoken as he was taken away to begin his service in the army of Morthond.
