The Kingdom of the Damned

by Mario Garrido Espinosa

  “Are you interested in the commission or not?” Sabine said, fed up with that interrogation.

  "Of course, but since we are talking about not leaving a trace of a person, you should be more generous, gentlemen" the pirate proposed, with his verbiage and trinket salesman gestures.

  “Very well. I will give you thirty silver Alexandrians, but no more. It's fair.”

  “I'll just take it from here for a hundred.”

  “One hundred!”

  “I see you have a good ear. I congratulate you. Yes. One hundred I have said and only one hundred will be treated. As simple as that.”

  Severus remained pensive and finally exclaimed:

  “Well, there's no deal! The port is full of boats.”

  “Don’t you think bargaining with me?” The Hands-Cutter asked, as if the act of not doing so was a kind of abominable sacrilege.

  “No way. Thirty silver coins is more than enough reward. If you do not accept them, you lose a simple and well-paid business. Someone else here who has anchored their boat will be willing to earn the money I offer in a more honest way than you.”

  “Honor?” The captain asked as if he did not know the meaning and scope of that word, and he did not understand how it could be part of the vocabulary of those two men.

  Severus and Sabine did not want to continue with that conversation so they said goodbye with a face gesture and turning around they prepared to move away, but before they could complete a couple of steps the captain wanted to tell them something else:

  “Listen to me, gentlemen. Do not leave so quickly. You see... I have negotiated with men more and less smart than you two. With all I have reached interesting agreements for both parties. You just have to talk reasonably. Nothing else.”

  Severus and Sabine were silent, so the captain continued with his speech:

  “But since you do not want to negotiate, I will have to impose my own conditions.” He paused. “This is the situation: as soon as you walk more than four strides away from my boat, these men who you can see around me will take charge of you and together with the damned barrel will be put on the boat, indeed, very kindly," he said with a brutal irony. “Tomorrow, on the high seas, you will end up at the bottom of the Mediterranean, tied to your good dead friend. Of course, before you accidentally fall overboard and serve as food for the fish, we will steal everything you have... The thirty Alexandrine that miserlings you offer us and the rest of your money ... Oh, and also the honor; around here, if necessary, we have volunteers who do not dislike anything...”

  He made a long pause, scrutinizing the faces of his interlocutors.

  “And, now, do the hundred coins seem fair to you?” He threatened while his smelly subordinates surrounded the two murderers.

  "You are a son of a bitch unworthy to rule a ship!” Severus snapped, reaching for his belt and checking to his dismay that he was not carrying his gun.

  The captain smiled wickedly, partly because the phrase he had just heard was somewhat childish and inappropriate, given the staff there. Without giving it more importance, he continued with what he was telling, so that he did not seem to have been interrupted and insulted.

  “Even now we could take everything you have on you and I assure you that nobody in this damn port would move a finger to help you.” The captain paused for a long time, waiting for the two men to assimilate their situation. “But we are good people.” The pirates laughed like hyenas. “We would never steal from such distinguished gentlemen if they were reasonable with us. We only ask for the right price for the work.”

  At that time the pirates who watched the scene closed the circle around the two murderers even more. A man of two meters and more than a hundred and forty kilos of muscle grabbed Severus by the arms and began to sniff at his neck. His face was destroyed by geometric tattoos and a scar that started at the left eyebrow and surrounded his shaved skull until he reached the right ear.

  “Bunta, do not bother these gentlemen!”

  The brutal pirate released Severus immediately, but stayed by his side, awaiting any order from the captain.

  “Forgive him, in their homeland they smell each other in greetings. Do not fear! Bunta is a good sailor, loyal and obedient. If I ordered him to get on all fours and bark, he would do it without question. On the other hand, now that I think about it, if I told him to break your neck, he would do it instantly. And with pleasure. Another custom in his tribe. See the tattoos on his face. Each figurine is a split neck of an enemy. Anyway, I do not want to bore you with these details. What were we talking about? Oh yes, you told me you were going to pay me one hundred of silver Alexandrians...”

  Sabine, given the situation, paid without question.

  The captain took the money greedily. Thanks to his crook instinct, while it took him a long time to count everything and to the nervousness that the payer showed, the captain knew that they had many more coins than he had initially imagined. Without showing his thoughts for a moment, leaving the already familiar shark grin on his face, he ordered three of his men to raise the barrel on board with a simple shake of the head.

  "It has been a pleasure to do business with you, gentlemen. Do not fear for your commission. It will be done according to your instructions," the captain said farewell, with a mocking smile that showed his black, pitted and pestilent teeth. “I hope to see you again for other matters that benefit us all more.”

  The Hands-Cutter turned around and got on his boat. Meanwhile, Sabine and Severus left under the deadly gaze of the crew, and receiving more than one push —supposedly friendly— from any of them.

  The pirate, already in his cabin, ordered two of his best men to chase Sabine and Severus and as soon as they had the chance and there was no one who could betray them, they would kill them and steal the rest of their money.

  3

  "Have you noticed that two men are pursuing us?" Sabine remarked to his companion.

  "I have," was Severus' quick response, which seemed to have been about to say the same thing. “Those two have been behind us for a long time and they do not overtake us despite having good horses.”

  “It's very weird.”

  “I think they are waiting for us to go out to the open field.”

  “What do you think they want from us?”

  “Stealing or killing us. I do not know.”

  “I think to have seen them on the ship.”

  “It can be. Of course, they do not seem decent people.”

  They routed their horses through an alley and, diminishing the pace of their mounts, continued on their way. After a while, the two riders appeared with the same confused air.

  "Let’s stop at that inn," Severus proposed as soon as they were back on the main street of Guardamar del Delta.

  “Alright.”

  Once tied the horses, they entered the Inn of the Fattened Calf. On the floor of the place, it was not difficult to see fat black cockroaches cheerfully running, and Severus, after sitting in front of a table, stepped on one that, due to the size and content of its interior, should be the most developed of the place. The two pirates, meanwhile, passed by without looking at the door of the inn. They looked straight ahead and did not seem to care about what was going on around them.

  Severus and Sabine took at least ten minutes, voluntarily, to drink four sparkling beer mugs. The hop-scented liquid was barely entering their bodies because they had no desire to drink and, in addition, the beers were hot and strangely thick, which is why they did not rush the last jars. They paid, went outside looking in all directions with the face of not trusting anything or anyone and mounted their horses with much parsimony. After a little while, they began to gain confidence. There was no sign of those men who seemed to chase them.

  From Guardamar del Delta it could see nothing but the bell tower of the Oceans Holy Virgin’s Church, with a shimmering sea of ​​light blue tones in the background, when then, as if they had appeared out of nowhere, the two horsemen returned to be behind them. In
fact, the moment they left the inn, the pirates resumed the persecution, but at a much greater distance and hiding and disguising better.

  Severus and Sabine made their animals gallop faster, but the pirates also spurred their horses, so that they did not detach from them, always leaving them a few dozen meters apart. Finally, the pirates made their horses run, ready to catch their pursuers.

  The man who owned a Barne pistol noticed that those horsemen were catching up to them and pulling it out of his saddlebags, turned around and used it quickly and accurately, even though he was in motion. One of the pirates fell to the ground because of the bullet impact on his body and the other was immediately stopped.

  “So they will learn.”

  Sabine and Severus laughed satisfied.

  “Good shot! Those are no longer pursuing us.”

  "One of them, at least, will have to do it with more lead," said Severus, while returning the gun to the saddlebags.

  "It must not have seemed quite enough the hundred silver Alexandrians to the bastards.”

  They galloped away, leaving a huge column of dust behind them. The pirate who was not injured followed the trail with his eyes until he vanished.

  CHapter 10

  Sir Higinio’s choice

  1

  T

  he morning after abandoning the child in the Burnt Willow forest, Sir Higinio went to the kitchen —where he had breakfast— totally disheveled. He did not taste a bite. He sat down to wait while he stared at the whitewashed wall. At once Irene arrived, freshly washed and perfumed, and dressed in clothes to leave. She seemed to have the same joy in her body as any other morning, perhaps because after breakfast she planned to go on one of those adventures that lasted all day and, sometimes, part of the night. She sat quietly in her usual chair.

  “Good morning, Father.”

  There was no answer.

  “How was everything in the forest?”

  Sir Higinio was silent for a moment, looking at her with fury; then he got up and took her tightly by one shoulder. Almost provoking pain.

  “I thought a lot about you, daughter. Your customs are dire. I do not know how you could get them, nor do I care, it does not matter anymore.” Sir Higinio shook his head in a clear gesture of regret and went straight to the point: “The truth is that you are a wrong model for your sister.”

  “What?” Irene Lopezosa exclaimed that she really loved Laura, although in her own way.

  “You are!” he said without paying any attention to the offended exclamation of his first-born. “You are cruel and evil. You have an attitude unlike the woman I always wanted you to be. You impose your will without calculating the damage you do, and what is worse, without measuring the damage you cause to your own family.” He pointed at his daughter with one finger. “The thing about leaving the child has been... It has been...”

  “Enough of nonsense!” Irene interrupted furiously, not admitting criticism and did not expect such speech at the beginning of the day. “So I am cruel and evil. Of course! I have a good teacher in you, Father. You know that everything you have said describes you better than me," she said, taking Sir Higinio's hand from her shoulder with a hard shove.

  “How dare you...!” It was the offended response.

  "You, dear father," Irene replied with her usual irony, "You are not the best person to talk about kindness or exemplary behavior... At least, that's what I think.”

  “Shut up, I do not want to hear you!”

  “Well, you are going to do it! Do you know how many families you have left in misery? You know! And for what? To continue exploiting those rotten lands of yours, which must be more barren than your head, Father, where your hair does not even grow anymore...”

  Sir Higinio did not like this last observation about his incipient baldness, but he could not stop his daughter, who was determined to tell everything:

  “It has mattered to you that after removing every last one of their belongings, all those people would starve.”

  “I just charged what was fair. What I was owed," the old soldier replied in a tone that wanted to give truth to an event that was completely false.

  "You did," Irene said skeptically. “And how many men have been beaten or killed by your order? How many?”

  “What do you know about that...!”

  “More than you think... And what do you tell me of what you have done tonight? Eh? Why have you not given another option to solve the damned kid thing? Why have you not stayed with him? Maybe someone who has abandoned a child in a forest can give me lessons," Irene snapped as if she had rehearsed the last questions previously.

  “The child's was your idea...”

  “Yes. It was an idea that I believe to remember that you recognized as the only reasonable one.”

  “Shut up! I should beat you up right now...”

  “What do you think of hitting my head against a table?” Irene suggested, pointing to the part of her face where, months earlier, she had worn an ugly scar for that reason.

  Laura should have come to breakfast, but she had not made an appearance yet. Neither of them seemed to miss her.

  “Have you finished? Sir Higinio said holding back. He glared at his daughter, who was congested and euphoric, after having told him so many truths. With what fury he would have whipped her a day earlier for half of those words, but today the old constable sheriff’s guard did not feel strong enough to punish her physically.

  Irene Lopezosa immediately answered to her father:

  “No, I'm not finished. I could go on. There is a lot to tell about your life, Father. But it's not worth it. You know yourself better than me.”

  "I've done everything for you and your sister, and you know it, too. You are unfair to me. You should be grateful.”

  “Well, thank you very much. You are very good. The perfect father that every woman would like to have as a child...”

  "Do you think it's good to make fun of your old Father?”

  "Yes, it seems good to me," was the shameless response.

  That was too much.

  “I never admitted such disrespect to anyone, and it will not be today when it starts...”

  "What are you waiting for, then, to beat me up?" Irene interrupted. It's not like that, Father, how you earn your respect.”

  The old soldier restrained himself. He knew that whipping his daughter was the end of all his arguments, and today he had a lot to tell him.

  “I'm not going to punish you because now it is useless," Sir Higinio admitted. “This is what I order you to do from this moment: you have to find a husband and get married. If you do not respect me in this house, you're an extra."

  "I'll do what I want, Father!"

  "Your duty as a woman is to serve a husband and take care of the children he wants to give you. Obey him and let you do, in order to go the right way. Through which any respectable lady of Gurracam walks.”

  “Save it, Father. I already know all that."

  “Your adventures, and especially now that it seems that we have finally finished with the child's business, must cease now," Sir Higinio continued without listening to his daughter. “You cannot continue acting like that all your life. You are dirtying my good name, your deceased mother's, your sister's, and our entire lineage. You must find a husband as soon as possible. With all the men you should have been with, it will not be difficult for you to choose one. Take care that he is a man worthy of me... and also of you, if you have dignity left."

  "Whatever you say," Irene answered, knowing she was not going to obey. “And how many years does you give me as a term?"

  "I do not give you any time, but if I understand that you are delaying, I will take care of looking for him myself."

  Irene left her questions, which seemed to be done to buy time, and again she cut it off:

  “I do not think to get marry ever, Father. Know it once for all"

  "The duty of a decent woman is to get married and raise her children!” Repeated the father, gi
ving a strong punch on the table. “The woman must be good, comply without disputing the will of her husband and serve him with humility and self-denial. This is the only way to achieve happiness in marriage," he said, explaining something that at least was irrefutable to him.

  "Whose happiness...?"

  "Husband and wife’s, of course," Sir Higinio explained resigned. “This has always been the case. The woman is at the service of her husband's good judgment. This is one of the few things that you, as a woman and a lady, should know and accept gladly; but you have to do everything your way," he continued. "Ah! And a decent girl must be kept virgin and pure until marriage! But this, I fear, can no longer be solved."

  Laura still did not appear in the room.

  "I'll do what I want, Father," Irene repeated a second time, "and you will not be the one to avoid it. You no longer orders me. I am no longer a little girl afraid of the punishments of a father disguised as a soldier. It's been a long time since you left the army, and I, of course, have never been one of the sheriff's guards at your command."

  “You're a tongue-tied! You owe me a respect as a father."

  “I will not say it again: I do not obey any man, least of all a husband! I'm not going to get married and there's nothing more to discuss! Look for it, if you want some wretch to dispossess me, and I assure you that in less than ten days I will take care of being a poor widow.” She paused. “Ah! Another thing: I do not owe you anything! And less a respect that has never been won."

  “This is your last word."

  "Yes!"

  "Very well. I see then that I have not made a mistake in my decision."

  "What decision?"

  Sir Higinio stopped, voluntarily maintaining the intrigue. A grimace of superiority reappeared on his face, as if speaking to a former inferior officer recently arrived at his headquarters in St. Josafar.

  “Talk at once! What decision?”

  However, Sir Higinio seemed to want to take his time.

  2