Chapter 21 Stallion on a Barley Field

Songs for this chapter are:

Drown - Lecrae, John Legend

Grace - Limoblaze ft Gil Joe

End of the road - 1k phew, Canton James, 1k P-son

Hope you say - Gawvi

Deep end - Lecrae

Dan

Several years ago...

Fire. An emblem of life. A conjuring of earthly elements: oxygen whirling round the air with an outpouring of a good quantity of petroleum uniting to bring to life a powerful roaring crack of hades, smoke jutting out of it as steamingly heating enough to keep you a mile away to seek refuge for your own life.

Unfortunately, sometimes, the chaff of smoke emanating from the outbursts of the symbol of destruction, damaging enough to leave your lungs in a perfect jalopy.

Fire. Destroying yet Refining. Sharpening yet Abridging. Certainly fascinating to watch it burn objects in the twinkle of an eye but equally crushing if you submit yourself to be that object.

Parents often told her kids not to play with fire, but since fire is such a powerful insignia, almost as powerful as water, the words, "don't play with fire" had transformed into a proverbial expression as well. Just like a man would tell his sweetheart, "you are the air that I breathe."

Those emblematic facets go so much in sync with our lives, that we not only apply them literally, they figuratively add essence to our lives as well. If you play unduly with water, it drowns you till geysers of water fill all of your vital organs, making it extremely difficult for you to gush them out, which automatically hurdles the passage of air, another powerful emblem that works both with fire and water. Hence why a man on sighting a damsel, feels a new breath of a fresh, satisfying intake of air putting to a fated calm, the past cannonade of his life; an excessive dangerous flow of water.

You are the air that I breathe. Without air, water consumes.

If you plunge too deeply into the water of fire without an element of air, you die a vicious death. Fire is insatiable without water and it's non-existent without air. These three emblems of life are so potent that each one of them is very important both to one another and to us as mortals. These things work for and against us and for and against themselves as well. Water works against fire but air works for fire.

These emblems work for and against us as mortals too so, it banks on what part of our lives we put them to use and how we use them because they are willing to deplete us before we even get to growl the words, "unfair"

Do not play with conflagration.

But what are the chances of you ever surviving when the one who ought to shield you from even the faintest smoke emanating from fire throws you entirely into the fiercest of all furnaces, flames drastic enough to such and brush every fiber of your flesh and bone, tenaciously consuming your fullness by the minute but yet the person who thrashes you into the fire still expects you to come out that fire...alive?

For years, I was singeing, deteriorating in the restraints of merciless hell with absolutely no drop of water or even chaff of air to vindicate me. But somehow, I came out of that fire, a burnt and rotten remnant, just one more contact with even a matchstick of fire and I would have been converted into ashes, an excruciatingly severe process of experiencing your very own cremation. Interment.

But I fought with the last amount of flesh I had left to meet my exoneration and when I saw it eye to eye, air came and it stirred around my reasoning aptitudes giving me reasons to stay alive so I would never have to go through the fire again.

She was that vindication. My infinite getaway from the fire. The passage I had to go through so air can find it's way into every part of my existence that had been ferociously dealt with by the furnace.

When I saw the nine-year-old girl that day, standing innocently close to her mother, whilst her mother chatted with my dad, the loan shark, I saw springs of wages like a woven garment upon her tender, little frame, as an adornment powerfully quenching the fiercest of all furnaces which were my father by the minute as I saw the both of them together from where I sat on my Dad's stallion.

She was the water that could extinguish the fire I had been floundering in for years — my father. If I could bring both of them close to my life for a good while, my dad would be annihilated forever and I would finally get to have a remedy of the emblem that I was the most deficient of — air. Redefining air to be precise. But how could I possibly merge both elements together for my own advantage?

I knew I wanted her but how could I possibly use her to defeat my dad for good? How could I get to see her for one more day or even a week? Or a month perhaps? What if her mother pays back the money that my dad borrowed to her despite how great the amount was?

I pondered over these things as I felt my body gallop in sync with the movement of my dad's stallion against the pathways in the middle of the field rich with barley. Maybe for once, I could understand why my dad cared so much for his stallion, Maximus.

Horses can be questionable. Clergymen, loan sharks like my father, sojourners, even equestrians, and many other men of the high class used them to embark on the farthest of journeys even when donkeys could be much more effective for such purposes. Some riders are so thoughtless and they use their horses' strength to point where they fall limply on the road and die.

But there are some riders and owners of horses who take very good care of their horses, scrub it's skin with a bristle brush, assigns a prolific veterinary doctor to take care of their horses and even give it the finest of all grasses to chew on but these horses still die in the middle of the most important journeys without showing a sign, unlike donkeys that can function without food but they definitely give off signs that alert you that their death is nearby.

But you can never tell when a horse is about to die. It just dies at the point when you think it's even supposed to serve the purpose you want it to serve which makes it such an unreliable animal but yet, you have to care for it if you want it to last long.

Maybe I am going to imbibe just one trait from maximum if I do say so myself. I would get what I want— what I am entitled to rather. I would get it from my dad and then I would leave in the lurch.

"You said you know what you want now not so?" My father asked. His voice came in raggedy and dismembered as the stallion kept moving at high speed, miniature grasses crumbling under the stallion's mighty goods as we were now headed west, the sun radiating richly over the fields of barley, a striking likeness to the field where slaves my dad had ruthlessly acquired, worked endlessly like ants.

"Yes, I do." I said with composure now, upon knowing what I would do once I can get to see that little girl one more time. "I got carried away, hence why I didn't expressly state what I wanted earlier." I added.

"Is the little girl that lovely? It's unmistakable that you are smitten by her charm." If it weren't for the fact that my dad was seated in front of me, leaving me with a view of his hard, hunched back, I could pledge that there was a scowl on his face.

"Well...she sure is very lovely and so for this reason, I choose her." I lie smoothly, deciding to play his games with him.

I had deciphered that it would be best for me to let my dad feel like I wanted that little girl as a betrothed mate or lover but the true intentions behind my actions would definitely stun him to his death.

That's for sure.

The reason why I wanted that little girl was not too far fetched. I have been looking for the most modest, but nonetheless, the most mischievous way to leave the castle of hades for good before I turn to ashes and I had tried to see if I could use any slave my dad owned for that purpose but none of them were suitable enough for me for that purpose.

None of them looked glamorous enough to catch my eye. But seeing that elegant little girl, I figured she would be the perfect maiden to use as a tool to deceive my dad and even smite him before he gets to fully realize that he had been greatly deceived.

So, whether the little girl's parents pay my father the money they borrowed or not, the little girl would be abducted because I wanted her and in my attempt to "help her escape", as though I were genuinely in love with her, I would finally get to leave the castle forever and finish off the accomplishment of my aim by killing my dad.

So the plan in layman's terms was, — to act like the little girl's savior in a hellish, foreign domain yet, remaining subtly as the captor she never knew she had. She'd grow up instead to perpetually blame her mother for selling her off to a gruesome loan shark but would never consider for once that her "knight in shining armor" was actually her captor.

Yes! It's definitely the best plan! Surely I am very optimistic about the fact that it would work in my favor no matter what.

Call me wicked but what another way would I ever leave that castle if I don't do it by dubious, jagged means? Leaving a place like that only requires a teaspoon of uncommon wisdom and probably a pinch of corruption.

"Hmm. She would make a good maiden for you, my boy. You deserve a good lady to yourself at your age and you have definitely made the right choice." my father said.

But I'm only just fourteen... I nearly thought aloud when my snarky inner voice reproached me quickly; "for a boy who can come up with a plan as shady as yours, then you are certainly not too youthful for a maiden."

I concur after managing not to cuss aloud of course and then nod curtly as though my father would see me nod and the stallion sprints even faster.

Fiercely, I clung onto my father's back as we raced over the cobblestones now. The uneven paving almost knocked my teeth out at the speed the stallion was riding.

Soon, we had begun to see buildings as they rushed by in a confusing blur, but I didn't notice that I'd get a few minutes, the reddish-brown brick color of buildings was replaced by surrounding mountains, fog fleeing from the uppermost layers like something out of a volcano.

We had left the outer districts of the city and now I was back at the fiercest prison of Hades. It was one hell of a nostalgic fourteenth birthday of me — to leave the castle for the first time since my birth only to return to it but this time, I could manage to live there for as reasonably long as I could while I await the little girl's arrival.

The emblem I plan on using to out to death the emblem that has nearly destroyed me thus far.

I would bear all of the pain for one last season. I said to myself as two servants came on their heels of open wide the bronze gates of the castle as my dad rode Maximus into the area surrounding the mighty castle.

Two months later...

I went around the little clump of trees in the park to a small pond and fed the ducks for a few minutes. They seemed to appreciate the pieces of dry bread I threw them very much and It soothed my nerves. Although I was feeling very miserable, it was good to know that at least, I could make someone else happy even if it was only a feathery beast. The last piece of bread landed in the pond with a soft 'plop'. I turned and started towards my chambers.

I could scarcely wait for the day when my father would bring that little girl into the castle. Knowing you can be free from captivity at last but having to wait for that freedom to come your way is incredibly depressing. I could not stand my father's beastliness any longer. He'd killed twenty-five slaves after my fourteenth birthday that was only two months ago.

I could feel the only pound of flesh I had left slowly getting consumed by the furnace of life by each passing day that I had to wait, hopelessly for my pathway to freedom.

I thought my dad had said he was going to bring her to me whether her mother pays the money back or not. I knew two months was a pretty short lapse of time for her mother to pay all of the money back but what was going to happen to me if I had to wait for some more time?

The rest of the day flew by in a whirl of disjointed images. It seemed to take no time at all until I stared at the candle on my nightstand. Around the lone candle frame, there was darkness. I was lying in my bed, wallowing in my daily portion of pain, staring into the flame so hard it almost hurt my eyes.

Suddenly, I heard a faint noise. Was it really what I thought? Yes! The jingling of keys! Someone was coming. Quickly, I tucked the ends of my bedspread properly into the wooden barriers encrusting my bed as I got edgier by the second. The mingling from outside my room grew louder and was joined by the sound of heavy footsteps.

I watched the door of my room open apprehensively. After a few more moments, my dad appeared from around the corner. I could see him approach through the iron bars of the door. The light from my candle reflecting eerily on my father's face and even casting a more monstrous shadow on the bare cemented floor.

"Is she here?" I asked, not managing to keep apprehension from creeping into my voice.

My father frowned.

"Are you that much in need of a maiden? Remember your math teachers won't be so proud of you if they learn that you are not very focused on your homework. Hence, once I bring that little girl in here, I would have to make her a slave like everyone else so no one takes note of what is actually going on but I would make room for you to express your love to her but..." he hesitated, wearing a scowl on his face and then continued.

"You have to give me your word that you would be smart and cautious about it."

"Y-yes I would. I don't mind disguising myself as a slave either just so I could be more cautious." I swallowed, trying to reaffirm my own intentions, hoping that it doesn't come off sounding cynical to my father.

Since when did my father even care about formalities, when he was Adolf Hitler himself and most certainly even worse? Besides, we both knew that the most I'd achieved at math class were the knowledge of basic arithmetic.

"Very well then. I'd be heading to the city tomorrow to fetch her for you. It's a good thing you know what you want now, and it's ironic how you got what you wanted by leaving the castle. Well, at least you'd never make a request as silly as wanting to leave this castle again because its high time you settled down in this castle and followed my footsteps." He smirked.

I gave a curt nod and then a bow just as he turned and left my room, locking the door briskly. I smirked in my head, leaving him to think he has me in his grip forever if only he has an inkling of what I was truly up to.

This is only the beginning of something entirely catastrophic. Now that I know all of the escape routes in this castle and have been successfully able to decipher the most trustworthy path that even my dad doesn't know about, I'm just going to go about escaping this palace in the most modest of ways.

It was only just a matter of time...

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Psalms 55:12-14 - "For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; Then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in the throng."