Broken Tower Saga: The First Swordsman

The story continued, and so did the sorrowful lute.

Vani woke up coughing the next day. She had not caught the same disease as everyone else, but it was a normal cold, but normal as it was, it was still hard for a frail girl like her who had to do all things in the house. 

She went to work every day with the cold. And came back carrying water and a high fever. She had not rested her a day. Woke up early, made food, ate it herself and fed her paralyzed mother, who vomited all she tried to fill in. Then she went to work and on the way, she always kept her eyes and ears open in the camp where people were still crowded. 

She worked all day, throgh the work was not heavy, but on the way back carrying the water back was far tough for her. Especially with her fever. 

She continued to work with the fever for a week. She did take medicine from the gardener. The old man was the only person who took care of her in those days, but her fever did not seem like it would go away normally. On that evening, she had dropped her earthen pot and passed out. 

Supposedly, some kindly passerby was there. If not, she would have died in the cold. When Vani woke up, she found she was inside a guest house, and it was more luxurious than the lord's house she was working in. The stupid girl thought she had died and now was in Maha's kingdom. She cried, thinking of she died leaving her mother to only suffer alone.

Her misconception lasted until she met the lord and lady of the house she was in. It was a man in the last phase of his prime. His lordship's name was Ducuitin Salvatore, while the woman was beautiful in her prime, called Lady Heathen. They were not married. Lady Heathen was the mistress of Lord Salvatore, though she was just as kind as the lord. Both of them were scholars and healers—which gives a certain reason why they were so kind.

Vani delighted knowing she had not died and delighted only to be raised knowing the two who had brought her here were the healers who were researching the disease. 

Without thinking straight, she lunged onto the legs of Lord Salvatore, crying and asking to cure her mother. Telling him, she would do anything for it. She was not ready to let go of the legs of the lordship until he agreed. Her mother had never taught her to beg, even though she had gone through many nights hungry only feeding her daughter. For such a mother, Vani was ready to do anything as far as selling herself. 

Even though she was not old. She knew she was prettier than most of the girls in her village. She wanted to buy the cure for her mother, selling herself. But she feared she was not good enough. After all, the lady Heathen before her was the prettiest woman she ever met.

Though Lord Salvatore was a kind man, he was a scholar. He did not have much experience in those sorts of matters and, more importantly; he was not certain he could help this poor girl or not. 

Lady Heathen consoled the poor girl, saying she would try to help her in the ways they can and explained the cure had not been found yet. Though the research was appearing promising, it would still need months of testing.

Vani calmed down, though she did not stop crying. Then she recalled she had to reach home, her mother was waiting for her. She was ready to go home alone in the pitch dark, but the lordship sent a guard with her. That was not all, Lord Salvatore even used his mahasaying on her to cure her fever.

Vani reached home and told her mother the good news. Her mother did not respond, and Vani slept that night, hugging her mother like any other day. Her fever had calmed down after the treatment at the guesthouse of Lord Salvatore, but it was far from curing. She had slept that cold night with a fuzzy mind that everything will be alright. 

Vani went to work that morning, completing her usual job. But at work, there was something unexpected waiting for her. She had a bad feeling about it and, as she had felt, she got bad news on that day. It turned out the noble lord she had been working for had died. And the cause of death was the same as her mother was suffering from. 

That morning, the gardener told her to leave as soon as possible and try to hide her face from anyone in the house. Vani did not understand or could not. The gardener elaborated that if the people in the house saw her, then something bad would happen to her. 

The poor girl did not even know that she would be beaten to death if she stayed there, just because she was the daughter of someone who had the same disease. 

Vani left the lord's household and went to the guest house where Lord Salvatore and Lady Heathen were staying. Even if she had nowhere to work now, she could cure her mother and when her mother gets well, everything will be alright. With that thought, she reached the guest house. But it did not go like she thought it would be. She didn't even get to see Lord Salvatore. The guards had stopped her. 

Even though she said she knew the lord of the house and Lady Heathen, they did not let her in. Vani still stayed there, in the hope she will get to see the lord or lady in some time, and she was right. She did see the lord and lady in the evening on their way back to the guest house after work. And they recognised her instantly the moment they had seen her.

They soon found out the little girl was waiting for them in the cold outside. Lady Heathen caught the girl and heard her story about what happened to her work. After hearing everything out, Lord Salvatore announced that he would go with Vani instantly to see her mother. Though Lady Heathen protested, saying the lord should rest after the extensive work, the lord still went with Vani along, completing his promise.

If it was any regular lord, they would not even care for a girl like her, but Lord Salvatore was a healer and went on with his whim most of the time. And more importantly, Lady Heathen—who may appear kind, but she seemed to care about nothing but the lord Salvatore. 

The bard rested his mouth and finger for a moment. The sorrowful music of the lute stopped, and he drank the water quietly among the stair of many. He did not appear in any hurry to continue his tale. 

"What happened? Did the lord cure Vani's mother or not?" a kid asked with teary eyes. Many were the same and not just the children who were emotional. Even the adults found themselves in such a situation.

Wrik had not cried, but his inside was shaking. He found a wall inside his mind that was shaking, wailing, and screaming. He did not know what it was, but his instinct told him to calm down. If the wall breaks, something will happen. Something that he could not handle. 

"The carriage holding Lord Salvatore, Vani, and Lady Heathen reached Vani's home when it was pitch dark," the bard continued, telling the tale and his fingers worked, creating a soulful melody with the lute. "Vani ran off the carriage first with a bolt, but when she reached inside, her legs stopped and mind blacked as if thunder blanked her. 

"Inside, she found her mother, but she was not alone. There were a few neighbours who were trying to carry out the paralyzed body of her as if they were carrying a dead body, covering her mother's body head to toe with clothes.

"Vani bellowed instantly when her mind figured out the situation, 'what are you doing with my mother? Leave her. I brought the healer. The Lord will cure my mother. Leave her, please." The melody fastened, though it was still sorrowful. "The folks did not listen to her, carried the bound body out. They called her, poor girl, unfortunate and everything, but Vani did not listen to them, threw herself at them. 

"She jumped at them madly, trying to free her mother. The folk got off-balanced and threw away the body. The reeking stench that was leaking considerately before buzzed out like the flow of Tej'Shaher. Vani did not care. She hugged the body of her mother and called the lordship to come and cure her mother.

"An arm caught Vani. It was Lady Heathen. She hugged the poor girl and brought her outside, though Vani never stopped struggling. Lady Heathen said softly in her ears, 'She is dead, poor girl. She is in a better place now." 

The lute stopped playing, then it played again in the slowest tune of the tale.

"Vani's mind blanked, and she struggled further, but Lady Heathen was far stronger than she looked. Vani could not take anymore and passed out. Lady Heathen brought the poor unconscious girl to the carriage again. 

"Lord Salvatore was still sitting there. He did not even have to leave the carriage. He looked at the unconscious girl and sighed. Even without getting out of the carriage, he could tell the patient he came to see was dead. And the reeking stench told him, it was not today that Vani's mother died. 

"It had been a few days at least since the poor girl was taking care of her dead mother thinking she was alive."

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Next Chapter: Interlude to the Tragic Tale.