Greeks and Romans: A Medieval Journey

Chapter 4 ~ Questions

“Now that we are alone, Sethon, there is something I have to ask you. Do you by any chance have a parchment letter explaining your capture on you?”
He looked down at the floor. When he finally looked up again, he seemed shaken. “H-how did you know?”
“So you do have one. Well, I must say I’m impressed. Normally no one dares to do anything to try to escape.”
“I wasn’t trying to escape.”
“You have guts, Sethon, I admire that about you. Sadly, you are a prisoner, and that means I will have to take the letter from you, even if you were not trying to escape. Do you understand?”
“But how will I contact my family? If they don’t hear from me, they might think I am dead. I do not want to worry them.” Sethon stuttered.
“I know that, Sethon, but I can’t let you keep it. See, if I let you have the letter, you could easily slip it out the window or underneath your cell door. You could have already done so. In fact, I would not be surprised if the Roman army was on their way here right now to rescue you and your companions.”
“I-I swear. They’re not on their way here. I only have one letter, alright? They couldn’t possibly have seen it before the merchant picked it up.”
“What merchant?”
“The one that found the letter from the Commander. Apparently he dropped the letter just before he went to retrieve your mother in case he got captured.”
“Well, even if they didn’t see the Commander’s note, you still need to give it to me. Hand it over now, Sethon. Or I just might want to punish your commander for misbehaving.”
Sethon knew it was fruitless to argue with her, especially if he wanted Heru to survive. Sighing he replied, “Very well. I see that you will not give up. I will give you the letter if you tell me what you will do with me and my companions once I do so. Agreed?”
“Yes. I agree with telling you what I will do with you and your companions, but I when I say I don’t want to talk about it anymore, you will have to listen. Alright?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Hand over the letter and I will explain what I will do with you and your companions.”
“I guess,” sighed Sethon as he handed her a rectangular sheet of parchment with loopy writing all over it.
“Well, you will come with me and my mother to a place where we will be safe from any Roman soldier that is out to harm us. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for you and your companions.”
“Why is that?”
“The people in the faraway city are not found of Romans.”
“Do you mean to say you are not Roman?!”
“I didn’t say anything of the kind. I do not wish to talk about this anymore. Understood?”
“But you’re not, right?”
“Of course I am.”
“Not?”
“Ugh. Just shut up, will you? I seriously don’t want to talk about this right now. Understand?”
“Y-yes. I just don’t understand why you won’t talk about it. Its not like I have the letter any more. I can’t contact the army without it. I understand if you don’t want to trust me, but if you’re not Roman, that would explain why you want to keep us captive.”
“Why do you want to know so badly?”
“I want to know because it is my duty to keep my commander and general safe. As one of their soldiers, I seek to protect them from anything or anyone that means to harm him. Since both Heru and his beloved general are here in your custody, my colleague and I want to make sure you do not mean any harm to them in any way.”
“Believe me, I do not wish to harm any prisoner under my control. Especially those of the status and caliber of a general or commander. You needn't worry about them, they are safe in my hands, if you believe that.”
“I’m not really sure what to believe, but I know it in my heart not to trust the person who is holding me captive from my family. I just want to know, why would you do this to us? What did we do to you that would cause such open hostility?”
“Let’s see. Your commander threatens my mother, you and the companions you arrived with tried to kill her right in front of me, your comrades took my father from me when I was very young, and you ask why I’m so hostile?”
Sethon seemed to shrink a few inches. “I-I didn’t know about your father. I joined the army five years ago, but I haven’t been around long enough to remember that. And... I didn’t try to kill your mother, I just wanted you to submit so I didn’t have to hurt anyone. You understand that, don’t you? It’s the way you feel too, isn’t it?”
“What would you know about the feeling of mercy? You people don't know the meaning of the word. Anyway, even if you did actually feel mercy and not want to kill, I still can't overlook my father's capture. You understand that.”
“Yes, I do. I feel the same way towards the Greeks.” Sethon took a long, slow breath. He was trying to think about how much to say and how much to leave out. “They took my grandfather prisoner when I was a new recruit. I was fifteen at the time. So... yeah. I know how you feel.”
“Was your grandfather of a high rank?”
“Yes, he was a commander. After his capture, Heru took his place. At first, I despised him, but over time I grew to respect his courage and bravery.”
Kendra took a chance. “Well, maybe we're not so different.”
“There is one major difference between us, though.”
“And what is that?”
“You are my captor. I am at your mercy, and I am your prisoner.”
“True, but I mean our personality differences, not our physical differences.”
“I guess.” Sethon sighed.
“Yeah,” Kendra agreed. Changing the subject, she added, “We should get going now, shouldn't we?”
“Whatever you say.” Sethon sighed again as Kendra rapped three times on the humungous metal door that separated the room they were in from the rest of the hideout. He followed her through the door to just outside the room where the others were waiting. Jason and Laura both nodded and opened the door when they approached. Sethon then followed Kendra into the room where his comrades were waiting.
As Kendra walked into the room and the door clanged shut and locked, the mood of the prisoners shifted. Galloran, Octavius, and Heru's cheerful conversation withered and died. Sethon felt a little uneasy, but he took his place on the floor with the other prisoners.
“Who's next?” Kendra asked. No one volunteered. “Come on, I'm not that bad! Alright, of none of you want to go, I'll pick somebody. I'll give you one more opportunity to volunteer.” Kendra waited around thirty seconds before continuing, “Well, seeing as no one volunteered, I will speak with Galloran next.” Having said this, Kendra promptly left the room.
“Wish me luck,” Galloran sighed.
“Good luck, soldier,” Heru said.
“Luck,” said Octavius.
“You won't need it, she isn't as bad as you might think,” said Sethon. Everyone stared at him in disbelief. Thankfully, Sethon was spared from having to say anything by Kendra walking in and ushering a still-shocked Galloran out of the room.
There was a minute of complete silence before Octavius regained his ability to speak. “How could you possibly defend her? She took everything away from us. We earned great pay, and even the foot soldiers got three silver drachmas if they captured any enemy soldiers! What does she give us? An inspection, shackles, and an interrogation. Seriously? And we're just supposed to sit quiet, tell her our deepest, darkest secrets, and go along with whatever she says our fate is?”
“I know you feel that way, Octavius, but let Sethon explain himself. You might begin to think a little differently,” said Heru gently. “Before you and your men showed up and tried to rescue me, I began to see the compassionate side of our captor. She was about to tell me the location of some 'Special Way' that apparently only she and a few others knew about. I could tell she was also hiding a huge secret. Maybe Sethon unearthed this secret, and got to the same compassionate side of Kendra that I got to.”
“I will never be cheerful towards Kendra, nor will I be able to forgive what she did to us, but I will listen to what Sethon says and try to understand,” replied Octavius.
“Thank you both for giving me the chance to speak my mind. Kendra, our captor, is indeed hiding a big secret. I can guess that it has something to do with where she is from, and what her heritage is. She seems to get tense whenever you mention her not being Roman or what faraway land she is taking us to.”
“So you don't think she's Roman?” Asked a shocked Octavius.
“I don't know exactly. Anyway, she kept finding some way to connect with me, as if somehow she cared. It was weird, almost as if she knew how to make me open up to her. You know my grandfather? Well, apparently her father was taken into slavery when she was young, but I wasn't around then. She was almost in tears, and it ripped out my heart. You know me, the small one with the big heart,” Sethon smiled.
“I was around when her father was taken,” replied Octavius. “It was all such a big deal at the time, 'we finally conquered the city!' and 'the leaders were taken prisoner as a show of our great strength!' were a few of the popular sayings among the soldiers. However, over time I began to see that the townspeople were using the capture of their leaders as an excuse for rebellion. We didn't hear from the slave ship's captain for awhile and we thought the captain was merely covering up the escape of one or a few slaves. However, a little while later we found out that the slave ship didn't arrive in Rome and was missing. It was never found and the emperor didn't blame us, (thankfully) for the captain's failure. The emperor got out the word that if the captain ever came back he was to be hanged for not delivering the goods safely.” Octavius sighed. “As if we can call people goods.”
“Wow, what a story,” said Sethon. “Should we tell Kendra—“
“Should we tell Kendra what?” Interrupted the captor herself as she walked into the room once again.
As Sethon tried to think of a witty response, Octavius beat him to it. “We were debating amongst ourselves on whether or not to tell you that the army is going to come looking for us soon, and we had better get going if you want to take us to some faraway land.”
“I wouldn't ask too many questions about that faraway land if I were you. You'll know soon enough.”
“Ever so mysterious, aren't you Kendra?” Noted Heru.
“And why's that?” Asked Kendra with a smile.
“Oh, a smile! That's a first.”
“Hopefully you'll be able to see a lot more where that came from, Heru,” replied Kendra with yet another smile. “I'm not just all cloak and dagger if you know what I mean. And shouldn't we be getting going right about now? As you general said earlier, the army is bound to come looking sooner or later.” Yelling now, she spoke so Jason could hear her. “Jason, the fox is getting too short to reach the bush if you get my drift.”
The door opened to reveal Jason's solemn face. “It's time then? Are you finally going to put it behind you? Are you sure?”
“I am, Jason. It has been too long already, and you know it has.”
“Alright, if you're sure...” Jason trailed off at the look on Kendra's face. “I'll just go now,” and he left.
“Um... sorry, but are we still going to go to... you know... a cell?” Inquired Heru.
“No, Heru. Your general reminded me of our real mission, even though he himself didn’t know it. We are going to journey to that faraway land I mentioned earlier. That also means that you will be coming with me and my mother, as you obviously can’t stay here if the army’s looking for you.”
“Yes, Kendra,” replied Heru.
“Good.” Now directing her attention to Sethon, she said, “Sethon. We are going to leave in a few minutes, so if you would like to get your men ready... that would really be helpful.” She then left, her point made.
“I wonder what that was all about,” said Octavius. Usually she's all... you know... cold." Galloran shivered at this, but Sethon just shook his head.
A few minutes later, Kendra and her mother walked in. “Are you ready to leave?” She asked.
“Yes we are, although its not like we had much to pack,” said Heru.
“Sorry about that, but I had to make sure that none of you had anything that might help you escape. Think about it, if I were one of your precious Roman slave traders, do you think you would be treated even this well?” The silence that followed was all the answer Kendra needed. “I didn’t think so. So when you think or talk amongst yourselves about rebellion or escape, remind yourselves how nice you really have been treated. If you knew who I really am, you wouldn’t even think for an instant that I have been mistreating you. In reality, it would be within my right to starve you, beat you, burn you, terrorise you, or treat you like you were less than a slave. I am restraining myself from those actions, however because I don’t think of you like slaves or goods, instead I think of you as men with brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, daughters, and sons. It isn’t hard for me to restrain myself from those actions, for I know you four are honorable men. Honorable men are not criminals or people deserving of mistreatment, so I don’t mistreat you. Do you understand?”
Sethon was the first to regain his ability to speak. “So, if you really think we are honorable men, why haven’t you told us who you really are?”
Kendra replied, “I have not told you who I am because I do not want you to go back to hating and fearing me again. That is not the way I want to earn you and your companions’ respect.” Speaking now to the commander, she said, “You get that, don’t you Heru? Isn’t that the reason you didn’t tell me you were a commander when I first captured you?”
Heru said, “Yes, that is the reason I didn’t want you to know I was a commander, but I seriously doubt your true identity is as big of a secret as mine was. I mean, who could you possibly be that would make us hate you? A Greek?”
“Yes, I am Greek.” Seeing the disgusted look on Sethon’s face, she hung her head. “Sethon, I know my people took your grandfather away from you a long time ago, but I didn’t! Why do you have to hate me just because of who I am and where I’m from?”
“Because you are the only Greek I know.”
“Well you are the only Romans I know, but I am not mistreating you or treating you badly in any way. If you want me to start mistreating you, I would keep acting the way you are and being hostile, rude, and irrespectful. If you don’t want me to mistreat you, however, I’d stop what you’re doing this instant.”
“Um... sorry? I didn’t mean... you know.”
“Yes, I do know that you are trying to apologize. However, I cannot accept it. You will follow me, and you will obey me, and I hope I won’t have to force you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Kendra could hear the defeat in Heru’s voice as he spoke. She stalked out of the room, but was still in earshot when she heard Heru add under his breath, “I hope so too because I want to see my family again.”
“Come on lazybones! We need to get moving or we’ll never get to where we are going,” Kendra yelled from the hallway. The prisoners followed reluctantly after her.
“Are you going to tell us where we are actually headed, or are you going to keep us guessing forever like you did before when you wouldn’t tell us who you really were?” Asked Sethon sarcastically.
“I don’t need to tell you anything. But, I think you may have a right to know, seeing as you might have to experience the worst moments of your life there.”
“Nevermind, I don’t—”
“Don’t what? Don’t want to know anymore? Well, seeing as you wanted me to tell you soooo badly, I guess I’ll just have to tell you. You will be going to the place of your nightmares. You will be going to Sparta.”
“What?!” Exclaimed a shocked Heru. The others still hadn’t gotten over the fact that they weren’t dreaming.
“I may be able to persuade my uncle not to sell you into slavery, but I can’t be sure that he’ll get around the fact that you aren’t cruel, terrible people. It might help if you each tell him a little about your family and background.”
“Wait a second! Who is your uncle exactly, and how can he possibly hold so much power that he decides who becomes slaves and who doesn’t? Wait, he’s not a slave trader, is he?”
“No, my uncle is the emperor of Sparta and you will do as he says.”
“What?! But that means your mother must be... wow. It really is amazing that you kept it a secret for this long.”
“How so? I merely didn’t tell you the whole story. Now, we must be going, as we’ll never make it to Sparta at this rate. Come, we’ll get the horses.”
“Are—” Galloran began.
“Before you ask,” Kendra interrupted. “You are not going to ride. You will be chained to my horse, which will be walking, not trotting or cantering, as that would be cruel. Once we go, there will be a water break every hour, and if we come to a stream, it will be another water break for you and the horses. Understood?”
“Understood,” Heru sighed. He wasn’t at all looking forward to what the rest of the day was going to be like. Even though they had done similar exercises in during his time as a recruit. Still, it had been... what... seventeen years since then? Although most of that time was spent as a soldier, for the past five years he had been a Commander. However, during his time as a Commander, Heru hadn't gotten much opportunity to hone his skills. Even when he did have time to train himself, he usually decided not to. Now he was going to pay for all of those missed opportunities.
“Well, if you understand, why are you still standing there? Get moving!”
“Yes, Kendra.” Heru trudged after her and held out his shackled wrists. Kendra clamped yet another heavy chain onto the chain in between the shackles. This new chain linked the prisoners together so the captors wouldn’t need to worry about one of the prisoners escaping into the trees when they were on the journey.
“You will refer to me as Mistress from now on. Either that or Your Highness, as I am royal.” Nodding her head as though that was settled, Kendra then said to the horse she was riding, Starlight, “Walk on.” It was only then that the journey truly started.