The Black Band

Nothing has changed, except for the stench of my mother's body decomposing on the dirty mattress. Ten more dreams have passed, now I can see with perfect clarity everything in the room, which looks like it hasn't been used for more than twenty years. Cracked and moldy walls as well as being a nest of dust, a full-fledged prison.

Lately, I've heard servants passing by. I guess my sense of smell wasn't the only thing that improved in the dark, as now picking up sounds is also easier than before. I imagine it is due to the survival instincts of human beings, as well as those of animals, which we do not cease to be although many deny it.

It was about time for the bread ration, as I could hear someone bringing it. But it was strange, since normally the footsteps were light and only one person came. Today, on the other hand, they were heavier and louder, and there were four people coming, one of them small.

The steps did not take long to reach the door, which instead of opening the minimum to pass the plate of food opened wide. The light hurt my eyes, which burned as if they were being scorched in a bonfire. I couldn't help but let go of the cries forming in my throat, to which small arms responded, reaching out with concern, he recognized that voice even though we had only spent a little time in each other's company, it was Alden again, caring for others as he always did.

I could hear his sobs and the concern in his voice, which the other three individuals who came in with him did not have. My eyes burned too hot to see what they were doing, though the tears slipping down my dirty, bony cheeks brought minimal relief. Suddenly, I felt a thin cloth cover my eyes and trembling hands tie it at the back of my neck. The dark cloth dulled the sunlight, which made it less painful to try to open my eyes. Thanks to that I was able to minimally open my right eye, with which I could see the worried face of Alden, who was kneeling next to me shaking like a pudding as he tried to hold back the tears from coming out of his eyes. The band was thin enough to allow me to see what was around. Even though it was thin, it strangely enough effectively dulled the sunlight, shielding my eyes from the bright rays coming through the door.

Now that seeing wasn't so unbearable I lifted my head and looked at Alden, who let out a sigh he had been holding in for a while when he saw me move. Yet I could still see anguish on his face, anguish and weariness in those empty eyes that were once full of life.

"Let's get out of here, young master. You can both leave now, the master of the house gave the order."

Alden's voice was much more muffled than usual. It was like a whisper of the wind, almost impossible to hear. You could see the weariness in his words, plus his hands held my arm tightly, as if he was afraid I was going to disappear.

The two of us. There was no more "the two of us", now there was only me. I turned to see what the other three men who came in, who I could tell by their shining armor were knights of the house, were doing.

"What a nuisance, now this has to be taken out. It's in such bad shape that even the wolves in the vicinity won't want it."

"I don't plan to carry it, who knows what diseases it may carry, what's more a dead one this one is from the slums."

The men laughed among themselves, making jokes about my mother's body or our place of origin. Alden, who didn't seem to understand the situation, turned his head, looking at the guards and me making sure I was in one piece. Finally, one of them grabbed the corpse like it was a sack of potatoes and headed for the exit.

"No!"

A choked cry came from my throat, which was not used to speaking after not having dialogue with anyone in a while. One of the men turned to look at me, his face showing clear irritation.

"What do you want, kid? Can't you see we're busy?" the man mumbled, implying that he didn't want to talk to me in the slightest, much less dialogue.

"Don't take her," I could barely say between the coughs that came out every time I wanted to utter a word.

"I don't give a damn about your requests, kid. If you have any complaints go make them to the master of the house, though if you want to keep your life I wouldn't if I were you," he said letting out a laugh at last, which the other two gentlemen joined in.

Ignoring my request they left the room, taking my mother with them, that's when Alden realized what was happening. His face paled to the point of looking like a block of marble.

I looked back at Alden, who had already stood up and was holding out his hand to me. I accepted his hand, that warm hand reaching out to me. We both walked towards the door determined to leave, but not before leaving without looking again at what had been that prison, that hell that will remain engraved in my mind for the rest of my existence as if it had been engraved with a hot iron on my skin.

Together we went out into the deserted hallway, which was illuminated by the light coming from the large windows, whose white curtains were open, letting in the light in its entirety.

Following Alden, we went down to the annex of the mansion, where the lords of the house were gathered.

"Baroness, we have brought you what you asked for" said one of the guards throwing my mother's body on the floor.

The baroness covered her mouth with a blue fan, which matched the dress she was wearing that day. Her eyes looked down with contempt, hiding a grimace of disgust behind that open fan.

Noticing my presence she turned to me, showing a face of astonishment that was quickly changed to one of disgust and anger.

"I see the little pest is still alive. Well, let him keep the butler's son company. Guards, you know where to take them." With a fanning motion she turned to look at her husband, who was showing a face of indifference.

Before either of us could react, the huge armed guards that once carried my mother's body were now carrying Alden and me as if we were just a sack of potatoes. They went to a secluded door in one of the back parts of the mansion, where not many people passed and which was currently completely deserted.

That door led to a small garden which was connected to a lush forest, which covered a large part of the grounds of that mansion.

They crossed that small garden, where behind it there was an old cart carrying piles of hay covered by an old white cloth. It was awaiting our arrival to take us somewhere, one that would definitely not be to our liking.

A few meters away from that forgotten place there was a body under an old and dirty sheet. A scream was what caught my attention. As I turned around I could see Alden shaking as he screamed uncontrollably.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy, you have to wake up!"

Tears were falling from his eyes, which were flooded with enormous sadness. His cries were breaking followed by his sobs.

My mind went blank for a few moments, trying to process what my eyes were seeing. How much had happened in that time I was locked up? Where were they taking us? No matter how hard I struggled, the muscular guard didn't seem to flinch in the slightest. Now I could understand the immense sadness that lay in Alden's eyes, I could understand perfectly how he felt, how it feels to have the thing you cherish most in the world taken away from you.

As soon as we reached the old wagon, an old man with an eye patch looked at us from the driver's seat. He nodded to the guards, who began to tie our hands and feet were tied and our eyes and mouths covered so that we could neither speak nor see. Mine, which were already covered with that black cloth Alden gave me a few minutes before were covered with a battered sackcloth, while our mouths were covered with old dish towels.

As soon as they made sure we were securely bound, our bodies were covered by hay, leaving our faces to the outside to allow us to breathe. When they were done they covered everything again with that tattered white cloth and tied the ropes to the cart so that the contents would not fall out.

"You know what Mrs. Albert wants. Take the children and come back with whatever they give you, the lady just wants to make sure they are as far away and in the worst possible conditions."

"Tell the lady that she already knows there is no problem, I have never lost a piece of merchandise in all the years I have been working, which are not few."

As soon as they finished speaking, the wagon began to move. The place was silent except for the noise the wheels made when they came in contact with the earth on the road and Alden's silent sobs near me. It was several hours of walking, in which my head roamed the same thoughts over and over again, promising myself never to forget what happened in that place, what the filthy rich nobles, who treated the lives of others as mere insects, dared to do.

After a few hours we came to a busy street. I tried to move or make any noise, which was completely useless. I could not move because of the restraints and the straw over my body and the handkerchief in my mouth added to the noise of the busy street made it impossible for anyone to hear me.

A few minutes later we moved to a less crowded street, until we stopped. I could hear a door open, followed by a male voice talking to the coachman.

"Here's the goods, give me the money for the two slaves."

"Of course, there's a total of 40 silver coins."

I could hear the sound of a bag full of coins being passed from hand to hand. Soon after, someone removed the cloth from the cart, grabbed Alden and me by the arms and led us inside a place which I was unable to see. The man walked fast, which made us stumble from time to time, forcing us to adjust to his pace.

We walked down some descending stone stairs that seemed to lead to some sort of dark, but wide dungeon, where apparently there were more people besides us, as I could hear voices of more people, women and children, men and very few old people.

Suddenly the man stopped, opened a cell and threw us inside. There he removed the blindfold from our eyes and mouth, but kept the one on our hands. Seeing the black cloth covering my eyes, he tried to grab it, which instinctively made me bite his hand. The man, looking puzzled, slapped my face and walked away cursing.

I looked first at Alden, who looked just as bewildered as I did, and then around the cell, which was empty. It was a cell with stone walls and metal bars, quite wide, where about 10 people could fit.

I removed the cloth that covered my eyes, since that place was dimly lit, its light consisting of a few torches. I turned again to Alden, determined to ask him about what happened in my absence.

"What happened while I was locked up Alden?"

Alden, who seemed to be flooded back with unwanted memories, took several minutes to answer my question.

"You were locked up for more or less 2 months" began Alden "At first the mansion was in chaos due to the anger of the baroness. The manor returned to its peace again two weeks after the incident, but..." Alden paused, mentally preparing himself for the words he was about to articulate "A week ago my father was charged as an accessory to theft..."

My eyes widened. I could feel my blood boiling again. I squeezed the bandage between my hands. Apparently my mother had not been the only victim in that mansion, neither my mother nor Alden's father would be the first or the last to die at the hands of those vicious nobles.

"He was executed 5 days ago...", Alden continued 'he really did nothing wrong...' he said as his eyes filled with tears again.

I moved closer to where he was, covering his body with my arms in a hug, just like he did before when we met again and he pulled me out of that dark room. Her pain, I could feel it. Right now the person who could understand Alden the most was me, and the person who could understand me the most was Alden.

A short time later, masked people began to walk around the cells. It seemed that for some reason the baroness had decided to sell us illegally to an underground slave market.

No one seemed to have any interest in two undernourished children, but to my surprise two hooded men approached. One of them must have been about six feet tall and the other not much taller than us. Both wore bird masks.

The shorter hooded one crouched slightly, fixing his eyes on my eyes, which at that moment were glaring angrily and distastefully at the strangers

"I like the look this one has, master," that young hooded man said with a slight chuckle. "These two seem to have a good spirit even though they are still young," he added with enthusiasm.

The hooded man I called master also bent down, inspecting the look in my eyes "Mmmmm well, you're right, his look is quite interesting. Go find one of the vendors, tell him we want these two from here. Here, here's 70 silver coins, haggle over the price if you see them trying to rip you off, I doubt they're worth more than 45 silver coins the two of them together." The man tossed a bag full of coins to the young man, who as soon as he told him, the young man ran off in search of one of the vendors. As I watched him walk away, I turned my gaze to that hooded man who remained in front of me.

"And who are you?", I asked curtly, not caring about angering that individual, not caring about the repercussions of talking like that to the person who was about to buy from me.

"You will know that soon enough, child. I see your eyes acclaim vengeance for someone, don't you seek to satisfy that feeling inside you?"

I'm sure that man could see the surprise in my eyes. Just then the young man arrived, waving his arms and announcing to his master that the purchase had been made. The man turned to me again, opening the cell and extending his hand toward me.

"Come on boy, if you come with me, I can assure you that that revenge you so crave will be assured."

I turned to look at Alden, his eyes also showed assurance at those words. I took Alden's hand to then shake the hooded man's, who let out a laugh.

"I like your attitude, boy."

Both hooded men began to walk, followed a few meters away by us, getting closer and closer to the door to the outside, the door to that new opportunity that had presented itself to me.