Chương 25: The Son and the Sound Of His Father's Heart

The square of Widow's Wall had only begun to look like a plaza again. But now, everything had been cleared, and the stalls that had been set up neatly around the squares were all closed and empty. The newly painted banners of House Blackwood dropped on their posts, not one snapping from the wind... because there was no wind—something that had not happened in Widow's Wall in a very long time. The square was filled with people, and yet not one of them made a single sound.

Duncan had already told them of their lord's crimes, all of them cried and protested. They all said the nasty things they wanted to say to the Lord Commander. Duncan didn't care, nor did he turn away. But Robert had calmed them down, of course. He told them to accept it. And now, the people of Widow's Wall all just stared ahead, toward the manor, and toward the man standing before them. Robert had washed his face and his hands as well, which were folded in front of him.

He had changed out of the clothes stained by dust from the chaos, and now wore the best coat House Blackwood still owned. It was old, and there were threads near the sleeve that had been repaired more than once, but he wore it as if it were silk. He could've worn the newer ones Ulric had brought for him, and yet he chose this. Mira and Enel stood with the crowd in front of him. And unlike them, they still had dirt covering their clothes and skin.

Lamb stood beside Enel, her jaw still clenched while staring at Duncan. And Duncan... Duncan stood several steps beside Robert, with his sword still sheathed at his side. And his soldiers... his soldiers were nowhere to be seen. It was just him there.

"My people..." Robert looked at the crowd. Gregor was there, holding Lysa and their son. Ansel stood beside his mother, ashamed to even look. Ulric stood with his men near the edge of the square, his hat held against his chest. Everyone was there for Robert, and he was there for only one.

"Please, do not wear a sad face," he said.

"I have asked Lord Commander Duncan to carry out my sentence here, before you all. Some of you may think this cruel of me. Some of you may think it unnecessary." Robert's eyes moved across the faces before him.

"Perhaps it is both." Mira's fingers tightened at her side when his eyes passed by her. She looked at Robert once, and as if feeling her, Robert gazed back. Whatever passed between their eyes had been built over years, through hunger, loss, and prayers unanswered. She smiled at Robert, and Robert smiled back. Their smiles were the only things they needed to understand the words unspoken. Then Mira turned away, moving closer to her son.

"But House Blackwood has always stood before Widow's Wall. Not behind it. Not above it." Robert touched the old deer carved on his chest.

"Before it." Enel slowly raised his head, and Robert looked at him then.

"My son went to war because he loved this place," Robert said.

"Because he loved all of you. He heard one woman beg for her husband, and he made an oath beneath the Sovereign to bring him home." Lysa pressed her face into Gregor's sleeve.

"And he did," Robert continued.

"He brought back those he could. He brought back Gregor. He brought back Ansel. He brought back women who would not have seen their homes again. For that, I am proud of him. I will be proud of him until my last breath." Enel's lips trembled.

"But love is not always enough." Robert's voice remained gentle.

"Strength is not always enough. A good heart does not make every action good. And if a house acts, then its lord must answer."

"No…" someone whispered from the crowd. Robert turned his head slightly.

"Do not hate Lord Commander Duncan." Several people stirred.

"He did not come here because he wished to harm us," Robert said.

"He came because the law was broken, and because someone must carry the weight of it. That weight, of course, falls on me."

"Father…" Enel whispered, slightly stepping forward. Robert looked at him again, and the smile that came to his face almost broke Enel where he stood.

"No, my son," Robert said softly while telling him to stay put.

"Not now." Duncan closed his eyes at this. Robert faced Widow's Wall once more.

"Care for my wife. Care for my son. Do not let grief make you cruel. Do not let anger make you foolish. This wall has stood through hunger, darkness, and the forest beyond it. It will stand after me." And then finally, the wind moved through the square. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. For a moment, no one answered him. Then an old woman began to cry, and once she did, others followed. The sound did not rise loudly at first.

It simply moved through the crowd. Robert took in a breath and turned to Duncan.

"I am ready." Duncan did not move immediately, and instead only looked at Robert. Then he turned to Mira, then to Enel. There was no anger on Duncan's face, only the frustration that had lingered in him since the time he couldn't stop Enel from leaving the battlefield. His eyes returned to Robert, bowing as he stood closer to him.

"Robert of House Blackwood," he said, his voice reaching even those at the end of the square.

"You have confessed to sending your underage son into an active field of war for the purpose of removing soldiers sworn to His Majesty's army. You have taken the crime and burden of your house upon yourself. By the laws of the Crown, and beneath the witness of the Sovereign, the punishment is death.

"This... isn't right." Lamb's fingers curled. Robert only glanced at her once, then nodded to Duncan. And slowly, very slowly... Duncan drew his sword. The sound of steel leaving the sheath wasn't loud at all, but it felt like it sliced through everyone's ears. But Enel... he heard it more clearly than anything else. He heard the edge sliding free. He heard Duncan's breath. He heard his father's coat move as Robert lowered himself to his knees. Mira leaned closer to Enel.

"Mother…" Enel whispered.

"I am here," she said, resting her forehead on Enel's shoulder. Robert knelt with his back straight. He placed his hands on his lap and looked not at Duncan, but at Enel.

"You must live," Robert said. Enel gritted his teeth.

"You must live," Robert repeated.

"And you must think." Duncan gripped the sword with both hands. And that was when the heat came. It began behind Enel's eyes, small at first, like a coal buried beneath ash. Then... it grew. It grew along his breath that threatened to burst from his lungs. And as his jaws began to shake from containing it, his eyes... started to burn. Mira saw it immediately.

"Enel." He didn't answer, he couldn't. His father was kneeling. Duncan's sword was slowly rising. The whole world had narrowed for him until he couldn't see anything anymore. And then... the light began to leak from his eyes. Lamb saw it too, and her anger vanished.

"Enel…?" But Mira stepped in front of Enel before anyone else could notice, and placed both hands over his eyes. The heat touched her palms, causing her fingers to tighten... but she didn't pull away, no.

"Listen to me. Enel... listen." The heat pushed against her hands, but she did not care. The old circular marks on her palms, the ones she had carried for years, screamed with pain again. Mira's breath shook, but her voice did not.

"Listen to me. Only to me." Her voice, however, did not work this time. The world once again began to open for Enel. The square roared into him. He heard the crowd crying. He heard their boots scraping restlessly against the ground. He heard Lamb's teeth grinding together. Too much. It was too much. Enel's hands rose to his ears, but Mira caught his wrists with one hand while keeping the other over his eyes.

"No," she whispered.

"Do not run from it."

"It... it hurts."

"I know."

"I hear everything."

"Then choose one thing."

"I can't."

"You can," Mira said, and her voice cracked only then.

"Listen to your father." Enel shook his head, but Mira held him.

"Listen to your father. Hear him."

"I..." He gasped, and the sound still crushed him from all sides, but through it... he started to search. He heard Robert breathing—no. He heard something deeper. He heard the cloth of his coat shifting. His father's hands gripping his lap. But then, deeper still, he found it—his father's heart. It beats... slowly. It wasn't empty, not at all. The beating was strong, but Enel could hear no panic around it at all. There was only... peace. Robert Blackwood knelt before death, and his heart was at peace.

"Father…" Mira's hand remained over Enel's eyes, but the heat began to fade.

"He is not afraid?" Enel whispered.

"He is," Mira said.

"But he has chosen." And soon, Duncan's sword was above. Enel heard it before he saw it. He heard Duncan's foot shift. He heard the breath leave the Lord Commander's chest. And... he heard the blade begin its fall. And then—"Stay your sword, Lord Commander!" The voice tore through the square along with the thunder of hooves, but Duncan was already swinging. His eyes widened as they snapped toward the voice. His whole body twisted, one foot dragging across the dirt as he forced the blade away from Robert's neck.

The sword flashed past Robert's head... and cut through ear and cheek instead of neck. The blood splashed to the ground.

"Wh..." Robert fell slightly to the side, one hand rising to his ear. Mira pulled her hand away from Enel's eyes. The heat was gone now, replaced by tears that immediately spilled down his face.

"Father...?" Robert... was alive. A screaming gasp almost escaped Mira's throat, and the tears she had been holding back finally broke free. She fell to her knees, completely forgetting the burn on her palm as she covered her mouth. She stared at her husband. The upper part of his left ear was gone, and blood ran down the side of his face and into his collar. He looked dazed for one breath, maybe two, but he was alive. Duncan, on the other hand, dropped to one knee before his sword could finish its swing.

He quickly placed the sword in front of him, lightly stabbing it to the ground as he bowed his head. He was breathing hard, harder than Robert. For a moment, Robert looked at him while holding the side of his head. Duncan looked back, and of everyone in the square, the one who looked most relieved was... him. The man who had been holding the sword. A smile even dared to come to his face when he looked at Robert. He placed his hand on Robert's shoulder, shaking him... and Robert also finally smiled.

Then, slowly, everyone turned their heads to the voice. A large horse stood at the edge of the square, its black mane tossing as steam rose from its mouth. Riding it was a man in dark clothing, wide shoulders, his hair and beard silver and gray. The man gazed at the entire square before he spoke again.

"By my authority and the Crown," the man said, looking at Duncan, then at Robert, then at the crowd.

"No execution will take place here until I have heard this matter myself." The people of Widow's Wall had no idea who this man was, but they still lowered their heads one by one. But as soon as they heard Duncan's next words, they all started kneeling.

"By your will, Duke Gawen." After those words, everyone was kneeling. Even Lamb lowered herself, although her eyes never left the rider. Only Enel remained standing. He did not mean to. His body simply did not remember how to move. His father's blood was on the dirt, and he thought him dead just moments ago until this old man arrived. And so, he looked at Duke Gawen, and the duke's eyes found him as well. For a moment, the two just stared at each other. Then, the duke tilted his head slightly.

"So," he said.

"This is the boy." Mira tried pulling Enel down, but she couldn't budge him at all.

"Good, very good," Duke Gawen nodded to himself before glancing back at the cavalry behind him.

"Come, meet your betrothed." And those words truly made Mira and Robert's heads snap up.

"Huh...?" But no one moved from the group of riders, and Duke Gawen looked over his shoulder.

"Daughter," he called, and one of his men rode forward, swallowing hard.

"Your Grace... Lady Guinevere is not with us."