"We were both broken glasses, how could we have touched each other without bleeding?",
Shroud
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We were both unfinished stories, getting dusty on this chessboard of life. For a long time, we were in a stalemate, then...
The first time I met him, it was under cover of darkness when the sky was weeping, and the canals in Banragh ran red with blood. The battle was long over, the royal family of Banragh slaughtered and the predators of the night came for scavenging. We were one of them.
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Aftermaths were the ugliest part of any battle or war when the unlucky who lived were left to be gathered like sheep, picked and prodded and sold to the highest bidder. They called it Mandi. A place wherethe living spoils of war were gathered and sold off.
I rob people of life, not of honour or pride. So when I stood there bidding on the woman in front of me, I felt something akin to shame and regret for the first time in a long time. The taste of it was a strange thing on my tongue. The hate in her eyes was a tangible thing, the determination that I would not bow before anyone, admirable. But we are all broken eventually. When pressed enough the right amount, the right place; we all break. She was the last person with the royal blood of the Banragh. The people around didn't know that, they thought that she was just another peasant girl to be sold off as a slave. If they knew she would either be dead or sold at a higher price than what I got her for.
With my mission complete I started toward the docks with my new companion in toe. The looting of the houses continued, the streets were filled with predators like me. Some stealing goods, some lives, some souls and some honour. My weapons were on full display. The message was loud and clear. Don't fuck with me and I won't mess with you. Still, some of them who didn't heed the warning got what was coming for them. After the third kill, no one stopped me. Until him.
The streets became narrower as I neared the docks. There were places so narrow on these streets that two people would have to go sideways to pass through them. It was at one of these points that he stood, waiting for me, a hooded figure draped in a black robe, his face covered in a mask.
He asked,
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" How much would you take for the woman?",
Because the way forward was blocked entirely by his frame, I stopped. "-Not for sell", I replied.
