Ad'non sighs. He looks saddened, as though he doesn't want to speak about it.
"Come on," the boy wheedles, "I won't tell."
Ad'non looks at the trees. We pull back, for fear he will see us. His eyes scan the trees, then look back at the boy. "I will tell you," he says. "It begins when I was accused of worshipping the light."
The boy breaks in, "'Accused?' Don't ya worship the light?"
"No, I do not. I worship the dark, like all my kind. I was a priest of the dark, in fact. Worshipping the light is the worst crime we have. It was made worse by my being a priest.
Well, I was sleeping one night, when I was waked by screams. I ran to the front room, only to see my wife and baby son put to eternal sleep by sword. The killer turned to me, my wife's blood still bathing his weapon. I couldn't see very much of him, only the gold crown on his chest. The gold crown showed that he was sent by the queen herself.
I ran, jumping out the window and climbing to the top of my roof. From there, I could leap from roof to roof, and that is how I made it from the city. But now I am hiding, more or less. I know that the killer of my family will want my blood as well, and if he does not catch me, then, by law, the queen will kill him."
"Whoa," the boy says, taking a slurp of his drink. "That's hard, man."
"Yes."
"I sure hopes that nothin' like thats happens ta me." The boy says, leaning foward to pat Ad'non's shoulder.
Quick as sound, Ad'non ducks away, turning to punch the boy in the face.
The boy reels, blood seeping from his mouth. A tooth falls to the ground before Ad'non hits him again, this time knocking him out.
Stooping over, Ad'non lifts the boy's hand. There is a knife there, ready for the 'boy' to plunge into Ad'non's neck.
Ad'non pulls back the patched jacket from the boy's chest.
There, gleaming, is the golden crown.
09-Dec-2006 21:00:23
