Chapter 5 – A Running History
(Goddess that last chapter was brutal... I didn't realize how many mistakes I had until after I had posted it, and then I was too tired and lazy to fix them. Very sorry about that... Hope this one is better, maybe you'll be able to read it... (Who knows?!) Like I've said for all these chapters, please review, be harsh, because... though your remarks are brutal, I want to improve my writing, and that will never happen if you all just lie about my mistakes. So review, and be harsh, because it makes me happy in a distorted odd way... Now for the next chapter in this never ending Fic... (Don't worry... it will have an end) Sorry this one took a while to get up, I thought it would be fast, but I'll be damned, writers block likes to eat my brains. Enjoy. )
Liam had a fitful night. His body was physically exhausted, and his mind was mentally dead. Tossing and turning Liam kept thinking about his family. Every time he managed to fall asleep the face of the Town Advisor appeared in his thoughts saying hurtful things about his ability, his looks, and his family.
At Midnight Liam gave up the idea of sleep. He was tired, but not tired enough to hide the face of the man who declared him worthless. Closing his eyes, he tried to think what he could do. Leaving his room would only get him in trouble, and because at present this was the only family he had, Liam felt no need to have them dismiss him as his town and parents had. Liam stood up and walked the perimeter of his room.
The walls were stone, and seemed bound together by mud and some other substance. The floor was uneven, as if water had been spilt allowing the floor to curl, just like a piece of parchment after falling in a puddle. Liam lit a candle, fearing he would burn himself; it took a while, but in the end there was flickering light for him to get a closer look.
The rocks appeared to be all different pigments. Most being an assortment of grays, but scattered here and there Liam found some reds and a few with greenish hues. Scanning the room Liam realized how empty it was. There was a bed, a desk, that lone shelf, which Liam noted sadly that would never be filled, as he had nothing to fill it with. His trunk lay at the end of his bed. Looking out of place, in the empty room, making things look... crowded.
Laying down Liam wondered if he would ever find this place a home, not just walls and a roof keeping him dry. Closing his eyes, it was this thought that carried him off to sleep, and it wasn't until morning that the memory of his parents awoke him. Dressing before the bell, Liam left for breakfast early, with hopes of eating without the other bothering him.
To his dismay, however, the doors to the dining hall were closed. As a wave of exhaustion swept over Liam, the only thing that kept him awake was the smell of food, and later the talk of the other boys.
"You're Liam right?" asked one of the older boys, whom Liam didn't share classes with. "I'm Colm, my parents live in Corus, near the king. Did you know him and Queen Thy-Thayet," he said struggling with the pronunciation "had a son. They named him Jonathan, and one day he's going to be a king too."
"Princes always become kings, that's how it works." Liam retorted, feeling very irritated at this boys friendly attitude.
"I know, isn't that amazing! I wish I was a prince, then I could be king, and my kids could be kings, and because we would be noble they could be knights, and fight in wars, and protect my country!"
"Don't let people hear you say that. Back home they would call it treason." Liam said looking the boy right in the eye.
"Treason, for saying I'd like to be king?" Liam met his quizzical gaze and said nothing. "Where are you from?" asked the boy "How old are you? Do you like it here? Have they let you fight each other yet? Who's your Shang?" Liam, tried to edge away, knowing that maybe he could find a group of people and pretend to be interested, looking for a familiar face, horrifying words shattered his concentration. "Why did you join?" With that Liam gave out an irritated scream, and ran to his room, not caring if he made it to class, or if they ate breakfast without him.
Looking out his single window, Liam could see the older boys begin practice, and if he squinted he could see Cheetah with the other boys, as they entered the brook. Liam turned around and lay on his pallet. While he was exhausted before breakfast, now only a bell later he found himself restless. He couldn't show up at class, because Cheetah would ask him where he was. Lunch was out of the question, because then he would have to meet everyone's stares. Even afternoon practice wouldn't be worth while. Liam knew he couldn't go for a run, because practice was held all over the academy grounds. Liam decided that he would try some of the body strengthening exercise Cheetah showed them the previous day.
Liam likes working at his own pace; he would do a few pushups, two really as that was all he could force himself to manage. Then take a break, sitting on the floor flailing his legs back and forth, take a breath, then do eight or so of the sit-ups, take a break, then start again. Liam had done 9 or so of these cycles when he heard the Mid-day bell ring.
He didn't really feel like confronting everyone yet, so he opened his pack and pulled out one of the sweets his parents had packed for him. Liam decided that he would run while all the boys were eating, so stuffing the candy into his mouth, Liam opened his door and walked as quietly as he knew how, towards the exit.
Outside Liam felt completely free. While before it seemed that he was restricted by everyone else, now Liam could run where he wanted, and do what he wanted. Looking around Liam decided he would start with the trail that Cheetah had taken them on before.
Jogging along the edge of the forest, Liam was careful to keep an ear for the bell that would tell everyone to return to their practice area. He kept his feet moving, as soon as he felt the pain begin inside his chest, he decided to try something new. With every step Liam said part of a story to himself.
"Once upon a - time there was – a countess – her name was – Cashlin – and she – was of – noble birth – two generations." Running out of breath Liam decided to tell the rest of the story in his head.
'She would frequently have fainting spell, and sometimes fits of uncontrollable rage with other family members. As a young girl Cashlin was smart, and well educated. She could speak, Catharki, Scanran, and Yamaini. This was at a time when ruling nobles could barley read. She was brought up in the family palace on the boarder of Tusaine and Tyra, though at that time it was all part of Tortall. At the age of 7 she witnessed the rape and murder of her sister by a local peasant. He parents, taught her then, that peasants were little more than dirt.
As is custom her marriage was and arranged for reasons of benefit to the parents of those to be wed. She was betrothed the same year her cousin, Fausto was declared Prince, of Transterya (at that time each portion of the country had their proper King and Queen, this portion later divided from Tortall and became Tyra). She married four years later at the age of 15. Her husband was Brac of Gorivan, a twenty-one year- old noble man.
A civil war had broken out, one which would result in the division of Tortall, and Brac was always away fighting the war. His ruthlessness earned him the title of 'The Black Knight', while Cashlin grew board at the family estate, she began to torture serving women. She considered this an act of "entertainment", though it later grew into an obsession. With the help of her maids Dorinda and Anitra, (who was also Cashlin's lover) she would beat and stuck pins into servants to "discipline" them" worse though in the winter she would get them to lie naked in the snow covered court yard, and douse them with cold water until they froze to death. Brac balked at this upon his return home, though he himself enjoyed the torture of servants. So it was not until after his death, when Cashlin was nine and forty that she began to kill without limit.
Her victims were always women, or girls, and – most importantly – were always peasants. Killing peasants could be done without chastisement, and poor women could always be brought into service, and if word of these deaths should reach the ears of the king and queen they would hardly believe the accusations of peasants against the word of the countess. On occasions her acts of killing could result to the countess biting chunks of flesh from the breasts and necks of servants. It was with this act that the rumor that Countess Cashlin bathed in the blood of virgins to keep her own white skin, flawless and young.
In this method Countess Cashlin killed over six hundred peasants, she might have continued if not for the death of Dorinda. In her grief the Countess attached herself to Eyota, a local widow, who encouraged Countess Cashlin to use noble women as her victims. Their young women's families questions could not be so easily ignored by the crown, though they already had need to investigate Countess Cashlin, as before Brac's death he lent the crown some money, of which the Countess wished returned. The crow was compelled to investigate as if they found Countess Cashlin guilty of a crime, would then have no need to return the money in question. Many gather information, most of which was against Countess Cashlin.
On Mid-Winters Eve, the crown invaded the castle, and upon entry almost tripped over the body of a serving woman whom Countess Cashlin had just beheaded for stealing a pear. The crown's soldiers imprisoned the Countess, in her own castle so that, and this has been told in every adaptation of this tale "the families which have won such high honors on the battlefield shall not be disgraced... by the murky shadow of this bestial female."
Countess Cashlin was imprisoned until death four years later, she was buried in he family burial site, though once the locals got wind of this, they demand she be moved to Traitors Hill. With no objection, as this left the family vault open to the crown, she was moved. Though her crimes were horrendous, the records of her trial were burned, as it was considered that one of her sex was incapable of such deeds.
What is forgotten is that the Countess had a son, one whom to spite her went into hiding. Upon news of her death, he began forming a group of mages, an army it is said, one that would take the crown, and return it to those whom saw the true difference between peasant and noble. It is said that his army, would, after generations of training, regain the crown.'
Finishing the story Liam found himself deep within the forest. The tale he had said had been one of his favorites as a child. His mother used to tell it to him, to help him sleep at night. She used to end it with "One day you'll have to leave us Liam. Maybe you will become one of those mages, that would make us proud, but if not, do not fret, you will find other ways to be great." That is what happened; Liam was brought to the Shang academy because he had failed to show the skill to be one of the great mages, in the tale. He was just Liam and a traitor to his history.
Disclaimer: The tale in the above story is not mine. It is an adaptation of a tale of a Woman who lived in Austria, as the Castle Lockenhaus. I changed the character names, to either maintain the same meaning a the originals or to give description to the characters personality. The real story features a countess named Elizabeth and her husband Franz. All the information is true to the story except the last paragraph speaking about her son, she had a son, but he left her due to disgrace. Elizabeth was born in 1560 and died imprisoned on December 29th 1610.
(I hope you enjoyed this one – sorry again that it took to long. I needed sadly enough a space filler so I decided to add a tale, and upon cleaning my room (which looks as if a bomb went off) I came across a story "The Blood Countess" which was on an information packet from my trip last Spring Break to Austria. I figured I could use it and decided to help tell some of Liam's history (some of you were asking for it) So here is the final piece. Please review, be harsh – you know how I like it, and feel free to verbally attack me for some mistake I made with Tortillian history... It was all intentional... I SWEAR!)