A Coward?

"Over here," I shouted towards Raya who was making her way down the stairs.

The usual merry chatter in the inn had returned by then, but there seemed to be an unspoken consensus to not be louder than a certain pitch. That pitch was defined by the rowdy group shouting while throwing uneaten trash to the ground—much to the owners vexation.

Raya had been looking around, searching for me with her eyes, but when I enthusiastically shouted for her, she gave me an annoyed look. Why was that?

She took a seat in front of me.

"Would you like some food," I asked her and pointed at the soup.

"Water is fine." She grumbled as she took my drink.

I ate a mouthful of soup, and as I saw her dark expression, I reached out to pat her head.

"Don't you dare touch me," she sighed out. Alright then. I resumed eating.

"So," Raya said, "how long are we staying in this god-forsaken place?"

I answered with a spoon in my mouth, "well, I am not quite sure. The king only told me to be there in a forth-night. That meant in two weeks, right?" I counted with my fingers, "so there are about 4 days left? I am not sure why he chose that day in the first place."

She drank her water, "it is probably because that is 'The Day of The Lord'," she answered me. "I guess you do not know much about it, since his highness, the prince, was to ashamed to bring you out of the house, but every 3 months, when the sun is the brightest, his majesty holds a gathering for all noblemen to attend."

"Oh, really?" I tried shoving a spoon-full of soup in her mouth while talking, but she crooked her head in disgust.

"Yes, I seldomly attend that ball myself. He might have planned to give you that title on that day."

"But why?"

"You really know nothing do you? Why his majesty gave you the title is beyond me," she rolled her eyes, "the morning after the ball, all Archdukes are personally assembled by his majesty to discuss ongoing affairs. How will you talk international politics, when you don't even know about the happenings in your own?"

"Eh," I stopped eating, "you are joking, right?"

"Not at all," she shook her head, "these meetings are held privately, but there must be great importance in them, since there are always major changes after one. What? Did you think you Archdukes just get to laze around while those below them work? A title with no guts, all glory?"

"Isn't this bad," I blinked repeatedly, "no this is really bad, right?"

"Well, you can try talking yourself out of it like always," Raya said and then giggled gleefully.

I jumped into her arms and pretended to cry, "Raya, my dearest, you have to help me! I know, how about we switch places? Maybe if they don't pay too much attention, they won't realize the difference between you and me," I then grabbed the place her heart laid, "first, we have to get rid of your unnaturally big breasts-"

"Yuck, get away from me," her face reddened and she fought me off by cruelly pushing against my cheeks, "deal with your problems by yourself!"

I continued, "also, maybe skim down on your plump butt, too. Say, what do you eat for such unrealistic body standards? Any female would feel shameful standing next to you."

"What is with you and your crude speech," she screamed while fending me off, "surely you should have learned proper etiquette, no?" She began fighting more violently, yanking my fingers off her waist.

"Excuse me, ladies. May I help you solve your disagreements," suddenly a voice echoed from afar.

We concurrently turned our head, and only when we did, did we realize the eyes around us. Most of them were just glances, as they hid their heads within their food and drinks.

The person who called out to us—naturally—was the very person that had turned the mood sour the moment he entered. With his oversized body, he sat on a chair, which looked like a child's toy compared to him, and I even saw the illusion of its wooden legs bending. "If you are fighting about me, do not worry, I have enough stamina for the both of you," he joked, and his group cackled like hyenas.

I tilted my head. There was a peculiar feeling that came from being catcalled by another guy, one that was hard to describe; it was like an itch that was important enough to take notice of, but not important enough to scratch.

Raya stopped shoving me away. "Who is this clown," she asked me.

"People call him Chase, I think," I answered her, "the bells in the morning, it is his fault."

"What, you are saying he was holding a Judgement Table?"

"Not one. I heard he's a regular patron. He used to be a knight, now he is a thug, going around making peoples life's a tad bit worse."

"sᴏ ʜᴇ ʜᴀsɴ'ᴛ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇᴅ," Agnes chimed in with her usual cynicism.

"Chase, ya into kids naw," his friend asked him.

"'Course not, dumbass," he slapped his head, "but have you seen that other girls dairy? Damn, got me all in the mood," he wiped the saliva of his mouth, causing Raya to shudder.

"What a vile human," she squinted her eyes, "such trash should be dealt with swiftly to not ruin this country's reputation," she said and rose from her seat.

However, as she was about to approach, I grabbed her wrist to stop her from moving. "Remember, I told you not to make a fuss," I reminded her in a low voice.

"But—" She turned to me, eyebrows raised high, and stared at me in shock, which slowly devolved into exasperation, "do you honestly believe us to take ridicule from such lowlife trash?"

"It doesn't matter what you think. You listen to me," I warned her.

She closed her mouth and her lips turned narrow from the pressure applied. With great difficulty, she squeezed out: "Fine."

"What'sze matter," Chase's friend shouted at us, and as he parted his lips, I saw how he had lost two teeth in the front row, making his mouth look like it had a leak- "don't cha know what'z good for ya?" -thus slurring his words; or maybe it was only the abundant alcohol around them that made him speak like that.

The group—no more than six people—once again laughed, but the womens siren-like giggling was overshadowed by the the men's loud shouts.

"Enough, Daven. This is unbecoming," Chase stopped his friend, "we all know broads like those wish for only one thing. You girls, how much does it cost for a night?"

He got off his tiny chair, pressing against his knees and shoving himself up. He grabbed a bottle and waved it around. He looked down at the people around him from his six or more feet, his round eyeballs ping-ponging around like the eyes of a gecko.

"Ah, he's atzit again." His friend, Daven, grinned and slumped into his seat.

With the bottle, he pointed towards a chubby man peacefully sitting together with his company. "You, won't you lend me some money?" He asked in a polite tone, even added a wink, but the strong grip on the bottle indicated no hospitality. The man immediately tensed up.

"See I told'cha," Daven pretended to slap his head, "can't lay still for 'n ounce a second!"

The man shouted furiously, "what kind of nonsense is this? This is daylight robbery!"

In reaction to the mans words, Chase simply stuck his fingers into his ears and rolled his eyes, "every single one of y'all. Always gotta complain, just hand it over reasonably." He then smashed the bottle on the table, causing it to break into shards, "that's the wrong answer!" Chase yelled and he jumped up and down. There was a fiercely burning fire in his eyes, in his eyes, the chubby man was already set aflame.

The man was stumped by his violent reaction, and when he saw the shattered bottle, he subconsciously shrank away, as he was certain that the breaking would not end with object when it came to the guy named Chase. "You can't do that," the man muttered bravely.

"Huh," Chase paced back and forth and he slowly picked the shards up, "then do you want to hold a Jugdement Table against me?"

There was a spectacular silence the moment he uttered the fated words.

Chase continued talking, "do you know why I am here right now, gracing you with my presence, instead of spending my time with fair maidens on each of my side? It is because I was kicked out! Me! His majesty told us knights, 'from now on we serve the country, the people', even peasants like you. I told him I cannot do that! I only fight for his majesty, I cannot—in good faith—place my loyalty on drecks like you who never held a sword in his damned life! So he ripped me out my status? Because of what—because I was too loyal?" He jumped at the man, and with flung the food of the table, "so at the very least I will have my fun with the rules he set. If he can't respect me, how can I give him mine? Now tell me: do you want to hold a Jugdement Table?" Like a whip, he slung his fist across the mans face. The chubby man flopped of his chair and fell to the dirtied floor. As Chase looked at the man, I could see the flames in his eyes, sowed by timber, the brightness already blinding him with rage—like he saw a cruel injustice, not directed to the person before- but all that was around him.

"Hey," a person watching this bellowed and hit the walls, "you can't hold a Judgement Table, it is only reserved for when the results cannot be proven! Clearly, the witnesses here can attest for that man!"

"That is right, don't think your deeds will go unpunished," a frail woman said while biting her lips in indiginance, small tears were welling up in her eyes, "we all saw what you did." She helped the man on the ground. His clothes were smudged with food and mud.

"Yes, you thug, get the hell outta here!" People joined.

"Really, dis a town just the right size for everyone to know each other. Where ancestry turnz to incestry. Such bond, how admirable," Daven suddenly said, "but the witness rule's only applied when its unanimous, right?" He faced his companions and asked them, "did'cha'll see anything happen?"

His all shook their heads and feigned ignorance. "Not at all," one of the woman said while barely containing her smirk, "from what I see, this was purely self defense."

Chase thus said, "then if there is no clear, would that not be a valid reason to hold a Judgment Table?" And he cracked his heavy fists in anticipation.

"You," the frail woman seethed with rage, she was about to say something, but was stopped by the victim on the ground.

"Enough. Just take the dang money," the chubby man said, and he reached for his bag. He took a few silvery coins and handed them to Chase.

"That's more like it," Chase laughed and immediately threw the money on the ground (they bounced once, before landing next to a half-eaten bone), "so ladies, how about it, you up for tonight?"

Raya who had been watching the entire time, was completely silent. Her gaze was cold enough to freeze hell.

"I see, quite expensive, this lady." Chase nodded. He was planning to extort more money, but was ultimately thrown out by the owner-lady:.

She entered the fray while waving a broom, "get out, never come back," she screamed.

"You say that everyday," he joked, but ultimately left. His companions followed right behind him, leaving th disorderly room and broken mood to only the affected.

After a while, Raya began to move, but I tightened my hand that was sill around her wrist. "Let go," she said to me in a low, guttural tone, "let me teach these bandits a lesson."

"I thought you didn't care about those below you."

"I don't. But leaving such a band of thugs in the open would sully my reputation." She forcefully yanked her arm from my grip.

"Raya. Stop it." I commanded, and she was forced to obey.

The girl screamed at me, "are you still insisting on doing nothing? Where has your spine gone these past few years? That is not the Agnes I know! Are you scared to carry out justice only because of his size?" Her face was red, but this time out of anger.

I didn't give her an answer.

"Coward," she called me and her eyes jittered, "looks like you are only words. I am disappointed." She then walked off.