The prompt this week was to use a random character generator
which provided six choices. We were to select the second or the fourth, and use
that character in our story. The fourth one that came up for me was a ‘A foolish
pickpocket is doomed to wander the world’. What a character! I decided to put
my character in the days of kings and spells. I hope you enjoy my little peek
into the past.
Thou Shalt Not Steal
“Rowan did it, Your Highness. He walked up to me, pulled my coat
open with one hand, and reached into my pocket with the other. He got all my
coils – every one. I had just sold some of my shawls to the Nannies in the square,
and those coins were going to buy bread and milk for my children. I am sorry to
trouble you with this, Sir, but it is said you want to be informed. I do not know
now how I will feed my babies.”
“Do not be upset, old mother. You will not leave here empty-handed.
Borin, take the lady to the kitchens and give her food and drink for herself
and her family - enough for a month.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Come with me, old mother.”
‘Thank you, Sir. You are truly kind and have a good heart. We
are all blessed to have you ruling our land.”
***
“Merek, what am I to do? I am King, and supreme enforcer of
our laws. Yet, within my own family, I harbor a thief – a common pickpocket.
You are Chief of the Guards, and should have jailed Rowan many times over. Yet,
he still roams free to steal because of my turning a blind eye to his crimes.”
“You cannot blame yourself, my Lord, for the actions of
another, and all is made well since, with your generous spirit, you give back what
he has taken, and more. The people honor you, and despise only the evil in his
heart. But, I must tell you something more, Your Highness. He used to confine
his crimes to the time past midnight, and his victims were only those who drank
to excess in the taverns. Now, he picks the pockets of women and children. The
children who sweep doorways to bring coins home when their fathers are not well
and unable to work.”
“Merek, picking the pockets of men who struggle to fill those
pockets is sin enough, but women and children? Why does he do these things? This
fills me with so much shame that these crimes continue to occur with my full
knowledge.”
‘I know, Your Highness, but Sir Rowan is your brother.”
“Yes, my brother. My own flesh and blood. I have spoken, I
have counseled, and I have threatened, and still, he will not repent and reform.”
“A lesson perhaps, my Lord? A harsh and terrible lesson to
be sure, but one he would survive and hopefully, then cease his evil ways?”
“What are you proposing, Merek?”
“My old grandmother, as you know, is a witch. The spells she
casts are for good, and this one would be for the good of your brother’s soul.
Once the lesson is learned, she would remove the curse, and he would be the
better for it.”
“Do you have a spell in mind?”
“She does, my Lord, and it is a fitting one indeed. We
discussed the matter, and she told her plan to me last night.”
***
“Borin, my brother has returned home this day from being cursed
in the world for the year. I am filled with great hope that he may again bring
pride to this royal household. Bring my brother before me.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I will bring him directly.”
***
“My brother, now that you are again home, I will arrange for
the spell I had cast upon you to be removed. How have you fared this year away?
Are you filled with remorse for your sinful ways?”
“You did this to me? My own brother? I thought it was the
witch whose pocket I picked.”
“You stole from the witch? From my Chief of Guards’ old
grandmother? Why, Rowan? Why would you steal from such as she?”
“For the fun of it – same as I do the others. But, this
curse was from you?”
“No, she chose the spell, but I granted permission. Will you
seek forgiveness from her and pledge to end your wicked ways?”
“Yes, my brother. I will go to her now, and to you I say, no
longer will these hands take what belongs to others. This curse was cruel
beyond measure.”
“Borin, summon Merek to come to me. He will take Sir Rowan
to his old grandmother so that he may receive his salvation.”
***
“How may I serve you this day, Your Highness?”
“Merek, it is a joyful day. See that my brother has
returned, and seeks his release from his accursed state. I bid you guide him to
your old grandmother so that she may set him free.”
“I am sorry, my Lord, but I cannot fulfill your request.”
“You are refusing to obey your King?”
“No, Your Highness. It is that my old grandmother has died
this very morning.”
“Died? Surely she left testimony how to remove the curse she
placed upon me?”
“She swore an oath, Sir Rowan, to leave the words on a
scroll, but I have on this day seen the parchment left by her, and it has other
words. She testified that you took four enchanted stones from her cloak pocket while
she slept, and for that, she deemed it fitting to make your punishment eternal.
No one else can remove your curse. Your Highness, forgive my insolence, but for
him to steal from one so old and infirm, I believe his punishment is deserved.”
“Merek, I am in agreement. Rowan, brother mine, go back into
the world where you shall be doomed to wander. The witch did right by sealing
both your hands within your own pockets, and now, that is where they shall
remain. You will continue to have no desire for food or drink and will walk the
Earth as one who is dead until such time as the Almighty One sees fit to end
your days. From this day forward, your own pockets will be the only home your
hands can know. Go now, and I pray your soul may someday find peace.”
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