Moving forward

Keith stretched. He meticulously moved every of his articulations after his nine hour long sleep. He felt sour pain all over his body, yet it was a relieving pain. His skin stretched properly and with no flaws he could do every normal movements.

His breakfast with Jaggar wasn't copious as the man was used to his wife's cooking. The man spoke.

"Today, I'll meet my commander again, he has already heard about what happened yesterday, but I need to clarify the situation with him. He's the one who'll administer punishments to every gambler. I'll be absent for an hour or so, make yourself at home."

Keith answered with a slight bowing.

The captain came back to the slaughterhouse which continued functioning despite the ongoing investigation.

The commandant, a man in his late thirties had broad shoulders and a low ponytail. His buckle had difficulties to make ends meet. His almond shaped eyes and thick eyebrows made him look calm.

Talking with him, four arguing flimsy men. They had a dark orange robe with white lines embroidered vertically.

Four more were dispatched around the room, they asked questions about the kid, but they understood rapidly that the butchers weren't intellectuals.

"So you are telling me you don't remember putting a kid inside your well? And you've let him go without questioning him?"

"Well... Yes it seems. Oh! Here! The captain! He took the kid away. You shouldn't yell at us, he's the one under your orders while we are under the court's!" The butcher answered, crossing his arms in disapproval.

Jaggar politely saluted his superior. He then proceeded to explain the situation to the priests, who maddened with each passing minute. Their leader, one wearing gold earrings and a protuberant hat decided to accelerate the pace of their investigation, by raising his voice and pointing his finger at the military.

"Here! In this very house! We've buried the remnants of the calamity, the pure evil that corroded our beloved city! And yesterday, what did I hear of it? Something exited this sacred place? Never in my life had I seen such incompetent fools! Where is he? Where's the kid?"

"He's my house, having breakfast. Are you not worried this is all a misunderstanding? He's too young to witness human nature to its worse. I'd gladly allow you to visit him if you calm your nerves a little." Jaggar said, he soon got his commandant's approval and all of them departed.

When they all entered the house, Keith sipped his tea while observing them. 'Who are they?' He wondered. And Show, who knew, answered. 'I can recall most of them, they are the one who conducted you to the slaughterhouse, and beheaded you.' Keith stared at the bottom of his cup. 'So they are the one who threw me in the hole.' He pondered, circling the rim of the cup with the sensitive tip of his finger.

"Disclose your identity, kid." The leader ordered.

"I'm Greenie." He said firmly. He then added, with Show's advice. "I'm a foreigner." Even though he had no idea what it meant.

He was soon assaulted with questions from all directions, the priests surrounded him.

"Where are you from?"

"Eastern Jin."

"Where are your parents?"

"They died long ago."

"Why did you came to Varanasi?"

"I was sold by a slave trader. And freed."

"How did you get that wound?"

"I was too young to remember." He answered. But his slave alibi made him a possible culprit of fleeing from his household.

"Who put you in the well?"

"The butcher with nine fingers." He said, accordingly to Show's word, the man had as well a lazy eye, and untreated hands that fed many nail fungus.

Keith kept his two forearms against the table. Under his left wrist, the curio's carved stones were visible. Three dark spots were easy to see, even though they looked alike bruises, he wouldn't take the chance to get recognised.

Jaggar had not forgotten Seven, only the kid's hoarse voice disappeared from his mind. He knew the kid was killed soon after the calamity, he was not able to reconnect every dot and realize who he had just found.

Plus he had seen Seven's face, everybody knew scars never faded away. Keith had been forgotten, nobody was able to identify him properly. Yet the spilled facts were off with the one he previously had, but his will to protect the 'traumatised' child helped him not contradict Keith. He spoke.

"I don't understand what do you want from him, don't you see you're scaring him? He's been through a lot, it's probably been the worst time in his entire life and you keep persecuting him!"

But one of the priest reddened and, after slamming his fist against the table, furiously said.

"Silence! The calamity's very remnants are buried in the well! This boy is the sole thing that managed to get out of it. This is no courtesy visit, it is a royal investigation! Now tell me soldier, aside from his name, have you noticed any other oddity?"

Jaggar being disrespected by someone with no knowledge concerning army grades was irritating. But because the man was rude as well it got on his nerves.

"It's 'captain' for you." He said, tapping on his silvery badge. He took out a deep breath, to not accentuate his statement out of anger and said. "Other than his breathe that could wake up the dead? Nothing."

The priests sniffed the so called bad breath, only to cough in disgust altogether. 'Is is that bad?' Thought Keith.

With not enough proofs to link the calamity and the kid, the priests left the place rapidly. It was one of their sole missions in a year and it didn't suffice to keep them busy for more than a day. The ridiculous atmosphere they left evaporated when Jaggar was alone with the kid.

"Greenie, you've got sixty-seven guptas left. I used only three for the few purchases you're wearing. You don't want to stay here? I suggest you buy a cart and stockfood if you plan on travelling further than next city. But I'm afraid you'll be at adult's mercy alone. What's more, you said you had business in the city, can I help you with something?"

'Better not expose ourselves too much kid.' Said Show.

"I know someone who'll protect me outside. I just need to know if the king is still in the city."

He saw Jaggar raising his eyebrows. The king's activities were every day's headlines. Everybody knew what the leader was doing. After the calamity, the population's interest rose toward the king who protected them as best as he could. With a late speech as an apology for all the casualties his city suffered.

And so.

"No, he departed two seasons ago to conquer northern territories. Why?"

"I was locked in a dark place for a long time before encountering you Jagger, I can't know everything."

During the next days, Keith became bored thanks to the outnumbered times Jaggar apologised over his burnt meals. Having no sense of taste on most food, Keith never minded. On the contrary he could discover with how much ease he could chew rock hard bread and neglected bone fragments.

There was this day were he chew on his wide spoon. It was made out of old wood and was renewed to be a hard material. Yet the instant it exited Keith's mouth, only half of its tip remained. The kid was encouraged to fake an accident, Jaggar rushed to hit the kid's back but nothing exited his throat.

The neat cut on the object did not raise any suspicions as the man was worried sick. He never had a child under his care and chose to take this short period as a trial, maybe he could reconquer his lover's heart more easily.

The woman came back a week later. She accepted Jaggar's explanations on behalf of his dignity. The man told her the kid was one of his not-on-paper missions.

She still blamed his masculine traits for her first miscomprehended understanding of the situation.

The two boys visited the market place, not the one where Keith had gruesome lasting memories. They were near the west gate, and most of the marketplace had travelling goods. Saddles, reins, camp beds and tents, everything was made out of cotton or leather. Lots of artisan lived on this side of Varanasi.

Show wanted to go back to Kodra, only to get the chance to kill Picco for good. But Keith decided otherwise and insisted on continuing his journey to Eastern Jin.

He questioned himself on his hunger. It had been so many days without the need of dead meat that he became anxious. The idea of him being out of food during his stay with Jaggar or during his trip made him nervous.

'Haven't you noticed? The more you eat, the more there's time until your hunger pushes you to eat anything at hand.' Show said. 'Down the well, I couldn't count how many things passed through your throat. Most of them missed limbs anyway, I'd never call that a body count. But for sure! You managed to lower the level of the mass grave of a whole floor at most.'

Keith sighed. His mind discussion always passed as timid personality trait. 'I can't believe I was here for so long.'

Show continued. 'You usually feed once every three to seven days. Small animals give you peace of mind for the shortest amount of time. Given that you've eaten over a hundred bodies... Maybe we're at peace with this for roughly a year!' He said, very optimistic. 'Wouldn't it be heavens if I never had to eat those things again?'

Keith bought five saddlebags that would go around his ride, and a long-eared horse. A grey one that had not much muscles. It costed him in total thirty guptas. The merchant had a slim smile after the transaction, selling a donkey to a kid wasn't an achievement, but it was good money. The animal gave Jaggar a good laugh, but the soldier underlined donkey's personality, they were better than horses at avoiding dangerous routes and one of the bravest cart animals.

He spent five more guptas in dried meat and water purses. And finally he bought a long coat, a little too oversized for him, but still good quality, the kid hoped to gain few centimeters with time even though he noticed his slow growth.

With thirty guptas left, he was ready to start his next journey.