Blade and Poetry

"Son, boy," he called to me, "is your name Vicente?"

When he saw me nodding, he was so excited that he couldn't restrain himself, as if he wanted to dance: "I've seen you many times. When you were young, I often went to your father's house... It's normal that you don't remember me. The last time I saw you You were only eight years old, and I hadn't fallen into this look at that time. My name is Shadon Imani, and I'm really happy to see you grow up one day..."

He also shed two lines of tears, and those teardrops stuck to his beard and hair comically.He spoke in a low voice for a long time, speaking quickly and urgently.He told me what a great man my father was, and reassured me not to be afraid, the guards above couldn't hear us; unless we yelled like he did at first.Then, as if he suddenly thought of something, all the gratitude and joy overflowing from his words stopped abruptly at that moment.

"You said you were arrested for theft," he exhaled more heavily, "did you receive some order from Toscaia—what did he force you to do?"

"No," I said, "I joined the Vanguard . . . this was my first assignment."

"What? What do they want you to steal?" He followed up.

"A box," I said.I just can't bear to see his expression anymore.

"The vanguard is also under his control." Shatton said dully, "There must be something he wants in there. It must be something like that."

He buried his head in his palm and pulled his hair painfully, "How dare he!... How dare he!"

He suddenly raised his head again, looking around ferociously, as if trying to catch someone's face: "Do you still have a heart... Toscaia! But if you think about your old relationship with him for a moment, you will I will not send his child to the execution ground with my own hands!"

I could hardly breathe.I had to interrupt his mournful indictment: "Tuscaya is dead, sir. The king now in office is his son Durin."

It seemed as if all his rage was overwhelmed by my words.He sat down blankly, looked at me with rather empty eyes, and said after a long time:

"died!"

"Dead." I said again.

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to laugh, but he didn't make any sound for a long time.His shoulders heaved and he looked like he was breathing deeply.

"All the same, all the same," he said.He approached the cell door and looked at me anxiously, "The heir of Toscaia must have inherited his father's things intact. Listen to me, what you are doing, whether it is work or tasks, is not It should have been received at this time. You still don't know much about them, and you don't have enough experience-he either wants to test what you inherited from your father: clues, information, or some key items; or I want to cut off your hidden danger here!"

I imagine that if the King was really expecting the former, he would be very disappointed.I got nothing from my father, whose belongings had been stolen from the study.The only thing I found out was the letter, which someone had put in a library, from his friend Toscaia.

"You can't be loyal to him," I heard Sutton say, "'you can't be like your father. He was responsible for your father's death, and he betrayed his trust like that. The royal family has a hard look." Heart, they always only care about their own interests, they are afraid of falling from the top and stumble themselves. Although I don't understand what they are doing, but - stealing things from other countries - do you think that is a teacher of justice ? He has a lot of people who are willing to die for him, but they are blinded by his promise!"

I think of what was written in the yellowed letter: "There is no need to question the correctness of the goal... because we are going to the most magnificent era-and it will become a division of an era".

Will the "it" in it be related to the "password string" mentioned by Shatton?

"You should run far away," Shatton was still saying to me, "stay away from all that, and get out of them. Whatever fights are going on in Columdunam, it has nothing to do with a child. If you get the box , and don’t hand it over to them; after escaping, find a place to hide and avoid the king’s eyes and ears—”

"But I can't escape." I shook my head, picked up Charon from behind, and stretched out the gap between the iron bars to show him in the distance, "Look, I only have this. They didn't take my left hand The magic is completely sealed, and I can still use the knife, but it's not enough - the chain between the manacles is too short, I can't use my strength when chopping, and there is a double lock on the prison door. I can't think of it yet But if they want to take me and humiliate me, as they did my father, I'll end them with this knife; stab them first, and then myself."

"No," he cut me off hastily, as if wanting to scold me for this nonsense, and tears welled up in his eyes. "I know Redmonton's son must be just like him. But you're not going to die here. Listen to me, you've got another chance."

I held my breath and couldn't help clenching Charon in my hand.Its handle has become as hot as my palm, but the weak but overly passionate light on Sharton's face has frozen my heart.After my repeated persuasion, he finally agreed to drink two sips of water, close his eyes and take a nap.Then he opened his eyes almost impatiently, and told me his new secret.

"There are nine underground floors here, and we are at the bottom one." Shatton said, "There is a guard standing on each floor above, probably doing food and maintaining discipline - only the underground floor The floor is the smallest, with only two cells. There used to be a guard here too, but that man withdrew on my seventh day. I thought they were going to abandon this floor, but a new guard was added; only worth it Half-day shift, every time I come over at about noon, deliver two meals, and leave in the evening.

"That's a little devil, about the same size as you—well, he seems to have dark hair too. Wearing that uniform, he seemed uncomfortable all over, and one day I saw two swollen eyeballs. He kept his eyes on Dementia, I suspect that there is something wrong with his brain. He looks terribly afraid of me, unexpectedly, I was actually accosted by this person one day.

"He brought me dinner that day, and when it was time for him to leave, he dawdled in the corridor. I ignored him, and after eating, I saw him coming, and suddenly knelt down in front of my cell door He slammed his forehead against the iron fence. He choked up in a low voice and said to me: "Please help me!"

"I thought to myself that I was a prisoner and he was a free man, but he begged on me, and I was angry and funny, so I wanted to hear what he had to say.

"'Please save my sister,' said he, 'my sister has been carried away by a coachman. The coachman is the coachman of a great man of the Rites, and women have already had countless women! My sister doesn't want it. .My family has been begging that coachman for a long time. We passed on news to him, hoping to reach his ears—no matter how hot and powerful he is, if he is not related to the church, he will always fall short; As for us civilians, we can’t even compare to those people’s exclusive coachmen! We can only empty our savings and add a few precious small items to store up and down. Among them is a box bottom that my mother has never been willing to sell. her dowry, a pair of gemstone earrings—she was willing to put them on only during festivals, and turned them around in front of the mirror with joy, took them off, wiped them with a cloth, and then hid them in the bottom of the dressing box. We Begging to fill that person's desire a little bit, my parents love their only daughter so much... Our meager family fortune was quickly exhausted. But in a blink of an eye, my sister was exiled from home by a group of people. She was dragged out, and no matter what three of us tried to stop her, she was still sent to the driver's house, and wept all the time when she left.'

"'Is it the driver of the Liyi Society?' I asked the young guard, 'not someone from the Liyi Society?'

"I thought to myself, in the past ten years or so, the Ninth City of Pu Country has turned into this. But their king is stupid and their bishop is cruel, and they deserve it!

"He wiped his tears and said: 'That's it. Our family was originally ordinary, and our life plummeted after those twists and turns. My parents' medicine money was already unsustainable; my mother was too hurt that day. She died, and my father followed her within two days. I angrily went to the door of the driver’s house yesterday, and informed the person at the door of my identity—maybe I restrained my attitude, and the doorman really led me. I met the coachman, who was sitting in a satin-covered armchair, drinking gleefully, and interrupted me as soon as I had the courage to identify myself.

"'You're that bitch's brother!' He hiccupped and smiled at me. 'Well, I'll help you. I've got a job as a prison guard, free and well paid. My souvenir will be sent to your home the next day. But don’t come here again, I hate this kind of person the most!'

"'After saying this, the coachman made a disgusted face and asked me to be sent away. No matter how much I begged, cried, and swore, he didn't listen to a word. I have no way , the judicial officer refused to accept my complaint, so I came here to work in a daze... I was going crazy." The kid looked at me and said very frantically, "I thought later, maybe I can beg you—you are very Strong, not like me - you can break into his gate and get my sister out. Aren't you a criminal in the bottom? I don't expect you to kill the gang of robbers, I just ask you to save My sister's life—my sister is a plant, a flower, locked up in that smoky room, she's sure to die soon. I've heard some women have died there. '

"I just said to him: 'Are you helping a felon escape?'

"He gave a low wail, as if praying in despair, and murmured: 'Is there anyone worse than them?'

"But I had to interrupt his fantasy. I told him: My legs and feet are no longer flexible due to the torture of the old punishment. I probably have a lung disease, I can't stop coughing, and my health is getting worse—— 15 years of prison life is the end of me. In the past, no matter whether the person who made this request to me was a hateful Puguo person or not, I would always have to take a knife to kill those evildoers for him, but now I can’t even draw the knife Out.

"He promised intermittently that he would find the cell key for me. He knew how to find it, steal it, and rob it. It has nothing to do with me-even if it is the key to the shackles, he promised me that he could get it. It took longer though, and he said he could go get the license and the money and go get a high price on the black market and resell it. He knew the possible consequences for him; he said he never regretted it.

"However, I am very tired... My heart is different from the past. I no longer want to hide and hide to earn this damaged life. I still have to maintain a little bit of dignity before death. I want to run to the Two steps, maybe he will fall down on a certain gravel road, his face is down, and his body is dirty-it is too late to fulfill his wish. I told him so much, and he gave up trying to persuade me, quite disappointed away.

"As for me, I am doomed to disappoint this chance of escape, but you can still have it. The young guard will be here at noon today, and you can talk to him."

Sutton's eyes made him look almost bright.He hadn't said so many words for a long time, and now he coughed several times under his throat.He looked at me and said, "What's the matter, boy, shouldn't you be happy?"

"Don't you," I said with great difficulty, "are you not going to escape with me?"

"I don't intend to," he said. "You've heard the reasons above. I do feel that my time is numbered, and I have no desire to compete with death for a few days. age..."

I know there must be another reason behind this: he is afraid that he will drag me down on the way to escape from prison.But I couldn't say anything out of concern for his dignity.

"At least—" I felt sore in my heart, "At least you can breathe free air again. After you leave this place, at least you can go back to your hometown to sleep forever—"

"On the way I was brought in ten days ago, I had enough air of freedom." He looked into my eyes and smiled very freely, "And my friend, didn't he become here too? A lonely ghost?"