Read Online The Invisible Chains - Part 3: Bonds of Blood by Andrew Ashling - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Andrew Ashling
Tags: Fantasy
Ads: Link
everything goes to the eldest. The new wife wanted her son to inherit of course. They say she bribed some members of the council.
“The decision was not without controversy and a lot of people saw the intrigue behind it. But what could they do? If they protested too much they could be accused of un-Mukthar behavior, maybe be declared brezzonmàhai themselves...
“There was one mercy, if you could call it that. The Cutting Out was to take place on the first of May. The young frishiu would of course become the quedash of the new tribe. His half-brothers thought this to be a fine joke. They knew that the chances were overwhelming that the so called new tribe, once out of the territory, would be captured by other Mukthar tribes. They fully expected him to end his days as a shorgah, a non-human, being worked to death on some distant field.
“Those who were to be cut out of the màhai were ordered to assemble on the square that lies on the inside of the great gates of the city. So, on the morning of that first of May, the half-siblings, who like the young frishiu himself lived in the palace, waited for him in the hallway to come out of his room, naked as the day he was born. They thought to send him off ridiculing him, humiliating him, touching him in intimate places.
They expected him to be afraid and intimidated. In short, they expected to have a mighty good time playing with him. The frishiu came out of his room with a big grin on his lips. He bared his teeth and showed them his nails, which he had filed into sharp points during the night. ‘The first one who touches me or comes too near will lose his life,’ he said. ‘I don't care what the others do to me, but the first one I will kill. I will bite his throat. I will not let go, before I have ripped it out. I will put out his eyes with my nails. I will do what damage I can. The others may pull at me, hit me, do whatever they like to me. I don't care. But the first one to touch me will feel my wrath.’ He grinned again and walked up to them. Well, they gave him a wide berth.
None of them was going to risk losing his eyes, or worse.
“He walked out of the gates of the palace, and took to the middle of the streets, lined with people. He looked straight before him. He must have cut a striking figure, because nothing was thrown at him. Still ignoring them, the first other naked person he saw was a young girl. She was cowering and ashamed. She was only just fifteen. Some of her former friends, who had escaped her fate only because they were a few months, weeks even, shy of becoming fifteen, were standing on the side of the street, shouting abuse and mocking her. The young frishiu went to her, put his arm around her shoulder and said ‘Come with me, sister, don't mind them. We're leaving them behind us.’
“More and more of the cut out youngsters joined them. One of his best friends was the young heir. He had waited in the house until he saw the frishiu and his group. His father, his step-mother and his little step-brother of twelve years stood on the street. Well, they had to be seen to be in full support of the Cutting Out.
They stood to lose everything if they didn't. The young step-brother, on the other hand, didn't seem to understand fully what was happening until he saw his older step-sibling come out of the door, naked, and join the group. His mother turned to him and whispered ‘It will all be yours now, darling.’ Then she turned her attention back to the group of naked youngsters. Without back Wi‘his parents noticing the young boy began to take off his clothes. Finally he tore off his loincloth and ran to his step-brother, who was, of course, very surprised when he felt a little hand pressed into his. ‘I'm coming with you,’ the young guy said. The mother cried out in horror, but there was nothing she could do anymore. By his actions her little son had put himself outside the tribe.
“The friends of the little guy laughed at him when they saw him
“The decision was not without controversy and a lot of people saw the intrigue behind it. But what could they do? If they protested too much they could be accused of un-Mukthar behavior, maybe be declared brezzonmàhai themselves...
“There was one mercy, if you could call it that. The Cutting Out was to take place on the first of May. The young frishiu would of course become the quedash of the new tribe. His half-brothers thought this to be a fine joke. They knew that the chances were overwhelming that the so called new tribe, once out of the territory, would be captured by other Mukthar tribes. They fully expected him to end his days as a shorgah, a non-human, being worked to death on some distant field.
“Those who were to be cut out of the màhai were ordered to assemble on the square that lies on the inside of the great gates of the city. So, on the morning of that first of May, the half-siblings, who like the young frishiu himself lived in the palace, waited for him in the hallway to come out of his room, naked as the day he was born. They thought to send him off ridiculing him, humiliating him, touching him in intimate places.
They expected him to be afraid and intimidated. In short, they expected to have a mighty good time playing with him. The frishiu came out of his room with a big grin on his lips. He bared his teeth and showed them his nails, which he had filed into sharp points during the night. ‘The first one who touches me or comes too near will lose his life,’ he said. ‘I don't care what the others do to me, but the first one I will kill. I will bite his throat. I will not let go, before I have ripped it out. I will put out his eyes with my nails. I will do what damage I can. The others may pull at me, hit me, do whatever they like to me. I don't care. But the first one to touch me will feel my wrath.’ He grinned again and walked up to them. Well, they gave him a wide berth.
None of them was going to risk losing his eyes, or worse.
“He walked out of the gates of the palace, and took to the middle of the streets, lined with people. He looked straight before him. He must have cut a striking figure, because nothing was thrown at him. Still ignoring them, the first other naked person he saw was a young girl. She was cowering and ashamed. She was only just fifteen. Some of her former friends, who had escaped her fate only because they were a few months, weeks even, shy of becoming fifteen, were standing on the side of the street, shouting abuse and mocking her. The young frishiu went to her, put his arm around her shoulder and said ‘Come with me, sister, don't mind them. We're leaving them behind us.’
“More and more of the cut out youngsters joined them. One of his best friends was the young heir. He had waited in the house until he saw the frishiu and his group. His father, his step-mother and his little step-brother of twelve years stood on the street. Well, they had to be seen to be in full support of the Cutting Out.
They stood to lose everything if they didn't. The young step-brother, on the other hand, didn't seem to understand fully what was happening until he saw his older step-sibling come out of the door, naked, and join the group. His mother turned to him and whispered ‘It will all be yours now, darling.’ Then she turned her attention back to the group of naked youngsters. Without back Wi‘his parents noticing the young boy began to take off his clothes. Finally he tore off his loincloth and ran to his step-brother, who was, of course, very surprised when he felt a little hand pressed into his. ‘I'm coming with you,’ the young guy said. The mother cried out in horror, but there was nothing she could do anymore. By his actions her little son had put himself outside the tribe.
“The friends of the little guy laughed at him when they saw him
Similar Books
