Kapitel 3: Sins of the Past
From the muddy waters, the Princess dragged herself out of the creek. She had been washed a long ways downstream where the water is gentler and had somehow managed to avoid drowning on her way down. Dimly, she remember struggling for a long time, partly fighting to stick her head out of the water to catch even a single breath and partly holding for dear life onto her breath when she was washed back under the current. All over her body were scratches and cuts from the rocks she had brushed by, but fortunately, she had suffered nothing life threatening or crippling. Now on dry land, she panted and breathed gratefully, glad to be alive.
From the corner of her eyes, she saw another figure floating down, his clothes were rags and his hair was unkempt and overlong. It was the Book Keeper, and he was floating faced down in water. With haste, she rushed over and dragged him out of the water and laid him on dry land. She placed her ear over his heart and found it to be silent, and immediately performed resuscitation, and soon he had coughed up water and was breathing again.
She checked his wounds next, and like her, he was bruised all over, but nothing that should kill him, at least it seemed so on the surface. As she looked over him, she noticed that of all things, the Keeper still held onto the Book of Knowledge, never letting it go. Curious, she tried to take it off his hand, but no matter what she does, the fingers were locking tightly upon the Book, and she could not budge it even a little bit.
After deciding to give up, she noticed that she was being watched. Either naturally or disturbed by her attempts, the Book Keeper had awakened and had been silently watching her.
"Uncle, you're awake!" she cried in surprise.
With a pained groan, the Keeper got up. "There is nothing in the Book for you. Reading it won't do you any good."
"I was only curious as to how you could have managed to hold onto it even while unconscious." said the Princess, but she would have tried to read it had she gotten the Book off the Keeper's hand. The Keeper, of course, knew that.
"At any rate, uncle, can you move? My brother would surely come looking for us, we can't remain for long."
Wearily, the Keeper stood up, and though he would much liked a warm fire to sit by, he knew very well that it wasn't going to happen.
The two of them continued travelling further downstream. From her memory, the Princess recalled that there should be a village perhaps two or three days from where they were washed up. By day they travelled by the stream and by night they make camp in the nearby brush. For meals, they ate fish caught from the creek by the Princess, who was swift with her hands and could remain almost completely motionless as she waited for her prey to swim by.
"I wish we had some seasoning." she complained on the second night, already tired of the bland tasting fish that they roasted on a fire as is.
"It's only been the second day and it makes no difference once you swallow." the Keeper said indifferently. "They all end up the same way after going through your belly."
"Uncle, don't talk about that at during a meal!"
"It is the truth."
"Truth or not, I like to enjoy my meals as well as the taste of my food."
"Taste doesn't matter. All that matters in the end is that you get your nourishment."
"I disagree. If all live their lives thinking only about the end then all we'd have to look forward to would be death. The journey is important, the flavor is important, to savor it is important."
The Keeper listened in silent and at length there was not even a single retort. It was only after a while did he finally uttered a "very well" and went back to his meal.
The Princess sensed that there was something that had not been said, and it bothered her. While she and her uncle had talked, he had never gave anything away, his deepest thoughts always tucked away and every time it seemed as though he might reveal something, he goes "very well" or "fine", and then kept his silence.
She was feeling impatient now, impatient and forceful, there was something bottled up within her that she must absolutely receive an answer to for the longest time, and she felt that she could hold on to it no longer.
"Uncle," she said, carefully, "is it true? That you killed my father?"
"Yes." he said bluntly with no signs to any pretense.
She wasn't told of it till she was judged to be old enough, and when she was told, she did not believe. It was because for the longest time she loved her uncle, in her memories, he was kind and accepting. She recalled that both she and her brother loved it when it was time for history class, for it was taught by her uncle, the royal historian, not because the classes were particularly interesting, but simply because her uncle was always seemed so patient and understanding. The classroom would be their brief refuge. Mistakes others would immediately rebuke her for were gently corrected, and when she does not understand something, he would simply explain it over and over back to her, till she does, all the while holding an impassionate gaze that she had thought to look rather gentle.
She remembered when there were times when she could no longer bear the burden placed on her due to her royal blood but dared not say anything about it to anyone, only to her uncle, who listened to her incessant complaining like listening to the rain. He didn't offer much of any comfort or consolation, but simply listened to her saying things that would have gotten her into trouble for. And simply by listening to her, by allowing her to say whatever she will, the Princess found some peace in her heart.
"Why?" she found herself asking, "Why would you do such a thing? He was your brother, your family, was he not? Weren't you born together, lived together, and raised together?"
"Yet, he was king, and I, a lowly historian." he said, coldly, feeling nothing for it anymore, his fury long gone.
"There's nothing great about being king." the Princess was quick to retort, remembering her burden.
"No, no there is not, but he was greatly loved whereas I was hardly remembered."
"That is not true!" She stood up with force. "I loved you, my brother loved you, mother loved you, and surely, my father as well loved you very much."
"Perhaps, perhaps not, I wouldn't know, not back then." he said solemnly.
"But now you do, don't you? With the Book of Knowledge in hand?"
"Perhaps, but whether I do or not, what has happened cannot be changed. Your father is dead and I had killed him, and that is the truth. And now your brother hates you and wished you dead, and that is also the truth."
The Princess felt her heart tighten and sat back down, her eyes downcast. "I don't understand. I don't understand you or my brother. Why are you both like this?"
But the Keeper remained silent and gave up nothing, and soon the night had passed.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein