Chapter 155 Guilt
The royal court.
Marisela: My queen, there are other important matters that require royal approval. Those who died in the battles have families. With the city less chaotic, they would like to have the bodies of their loved ones for burning or burial. Funeral rituals are important to the people.
The queen: Yes, how can we do it? With so many corpses and so little time before the next battle.
Emiliano: Communal mourning. It was used after the Puerto Blanco revolt and the battles during the war against Prince Edgardo.
Olivia, with an interested look: Explain it to me.
The priest spoke with unusual certainty: The bodies are placed in a large field, and messages are sent throughout the city so that people with relatives in the army or who were at a battle site can come and look for their relatives. The Sisters of Shadow sort the bodies into groups according to their soldier type or rank. People walk along a path and are directed to the correct area.
Olivia: When would they be ready for that? And where?
Danilo: With the help we are going to request, and from the guards and servants here, possibly tomorrow. They would display the bodies during the day, from dawn until dusk.
Heinrich: The Unicorn training grounds. It is large and clear. A wide road runs alongside it.
Esteban: I am not sure inviting thousands of people here during the day is a good idea.
Olivia: Count, I have heard about the fear people have of this castle. I do not want my people to be afraid of me or my castle. That is a good idea. Tomorrow. Give the Sisters everything they need.
Peador: It will be a good time to do the coin ritual, if we have enough gold coins to do it.
Emiliano: Maybe, I have set aside hundreds for that. They are from the rooms of Count Octavio and some bags I found in the quarters of Bartolo and Hector. I think those two were robbing the kingdom.
Marisela: I can contribute the rest. My servants brought most of the coins from my castle to finance the war.
The Queen: What is the coin ritual?
Esteban: A representative of the throne places a royal gold coin on the chest of every man who died serving after a battle or war. It is payment for the family of the soldier. I can do that.
Olivia spoke in a soft but firm voice: No. I will do it myself. And I need enough coins for every soldier on both sides. They died because I took the throne. Their families deserve the same as those who died for me.
Esteban: My queen, the traitors...
The Queen: To all soldiers! I want to compensate each family for their losses. You may accompany me.
The heads of three warriors nodded with a newfound reverence.
Esteban spoke cautiously: Of course, my Queen. There is one last matter for the court. Count Octavio and Lord Bartolo. They are traitors to their oaths. They conspired to kill you. They deserve to die.
Olivia: I already have enough blood on my hands and guilt in my heart. I do not want to execute anyone. They are in cells, yes?
The Count: Yes, but...
Marisela: My queen, these men are the worst kind. They deserve the axe.
Olivia: No. I am not my father. They are prisoners, alone, with only the guards. I know how terrible that can be.
The royal stables.
Carriages and carts began to arrive from the Greenwood. They carried more than three hundred people: pages between eleven and fifteen years old, and maids and servants between twelve and almost fifty. They were escorted by twenty royal guards with injuries. The horses were old and unfit for military service, but they pulled the load tirelessly. The caravan traveled all day, arriving at the royal castle by three bells in the afternoon. The people were very hungry, weak, and tired. But they had returned home.
Many witnessed a procession of Sisters of Shadow, servants, and guards bringing corpses from the castle to the unicorn training grounds. A line of carts filled with bodies passed in one direction. In the other, empty carts entered the castle to collect more corpses. These people worked with little rest. It seemed as if their duties never ceased. The bodies lay on the cold ground under a sun that offered little warmth at that time of year. Groups of men, separated by the color of their tabards and positions. Hundreds of torches were stuck in the ground near the bodies, to be lit at night.
A group of pages and servants jumped from the carriages. They had become friends after terrifying and dangerous experiences.
Alice, watching the procession: How many dead?
Antonio: Hundreds, maybe a thousand.
Juana: I was very scared in the forest. The dangerous animals, the doubts about our safety. But we were safe from the war.
Frieder: Yes. These men were facing more than just big dogs and snakes. We hid.
Gunther: I felt brave after fighting the wolves. But now I feel like a coward.
Yegor: Nobody here is a coward. We fulfilled our duty with honor. Every duty is honorable when it benefits someone else instead of oneself.
No one could remember if it was Alicia or Yegor who moved first. Both approached the Sisters of Shadow and asked how they could help. Gunther and Frieder were next. Within minutes, hundreds of exhausted people joined in the task of carrying the dead. Some wore necklaces with Pegasi, others with Unicorns. Blond youths wore rings of the three Goddesses or of the God of the Sea. Tall women had tattoos depicting Mother Earth or the Sky God. They worked until late into the night until they could move no more. The bodies were treated with honor and respect.
In the bedroom of a royal page.
No one asked him for anything today. Marco spent the day eating, thinking, and drinking. He sat on the floor instead of in bed. Two bottles of wine were empty. He opened the third, which he had stolen from the kitchen. He took a swig of the strong, undiluted liquid. The young man had stolen and drunk cider, beer, and wine every afternoon or evening, from the first day he began bringing the punishment scrolls.
Marco, after swallowing: Luis, fifteen.
He drank from the bottle: Elicio, fifteen.
Another drink: Gilberto, fifty-two.
Marco, after another sip of wine: Arturo, thirteen.
He drank at each name and age. His mind tried to imagine their faces. The men and boys who had died because he had not saved them.
Marco spoke in a low voice and without addressing anyone: Men die, but if women live, new men are born. I am sorry Lupita; I am not the man you think I am.
He lost consciousness before the bottle was empty and the list was finished. He fell sideways; his face pressed to the ground. The voices in his mind fell silent.