Chapter 4 - Oh, those hooves

Gudja’s stomach growled. The hard piece of bread and old fruit the guards had tossed the two prisoners were hardly enough.

“Sir Falco, how long will they keep us here?”, he asked the voice on the other side of the wall, presuming that the man would at the very least make a better guess than himself.

“Usually, until someone comes for us”, Falco responded.

“And how does that happen?”

“Well, it could be a notice from someone in power, or they could bail us out with money, or it could be any number of less civilized methods than these.”

“And… what if no-one comes?”

“Then we are handed to the slave traders”, Falco concluded matter-of-factly.

“You seem very calm about this Sir”, Gudja sighed. “Do you believe someone will come to save you?”

It was true that, while Gudja was not able to see the man, his sixth sense told him that Falco did not feel any strong desire to live. Yet on the other hand, it was also fairly obvious from the way he spoke of the world and of his lover that he had not given up on his life.

It was as if he had no doubt that he would indeed somehow live through any tricky situation and therefore did not have the need to wish particularly strongly to live.

Falco snorted lightly in response, which could have also been a laugh.

“I told you earlier that I was banished because I was unworthy of my girl, but I have been in an awkward position for most of my life”, he said reminiscently. “The affair was merely a trigger. I have been in… well, situations before. And I survived… so I shall again. Do you believe in anything?”, he threw the ball suddenly to Gudja.

“I am not sure Sir… I do not think I believe in the Peaceful God anymore”, he tried, unsure of what was being asked of him.

“I have a belief”, Falco passed over Gudja’s response and continued. “I believe that we all have some part to play – you could call it fate if you wish – and that my part has not yet finished. Fate will not allow my life to end here without completing my part.”

Gudja was not sure if he understood.

“But you do not know how you could be saved right now.”

“Back in your village, did anyone ever question the need to sacrifice your so-called blessed children?”, Falco asked.

“No, sir…”

“Exactly, because they believed in the Peaceful God. Just as I believe in fate. And I also believe in love. Not that it makes the impossible possible but rather that, in the name of love, the impermissible becomes permissible.”

Gudja was still not sure if he understood but decided not to ask further on the topic. Humans of the outside world truly were complicated beings – or was it just this man, Falco?

Love was a word which was not used under the peaceful god. It was mentioned from time to time in lessons of the outside world, but was far less frequent when compared to the mentions of greed and hatred. He tried to paint a picture of what love was in his head with what little he information he had.

A woman with a bull-head was supposedly Falco’s lover and she made the impermissible permissible, and Falco believed in it the same way the villagers believed in the Peaceful God, meaning that he would make sacrifices to her…

Whatever. Life must be very complicated for Falco.

Perhaps this was what the kind baba had meant when she said that no-one would care for Gudja’s differences in a city. He was certainly less peculiar than love.

And so the second day passed.

Conversation gradually faded as the prisoners had exhausted topics as well as energy to be lively. As Gudja grew numb to the hunger and stopped feeling the discomfort from his stomach he drifted off into a comfortable sleep for a couple of periods. Falco’s desires enveloped and shielded him from the disturbing noise of the town in a somewhat hypnotic way and his sleep was like that of a mouse which slept on the lions palm, knowing that it kept him safe from the cat.

He was knocked out of his doze at the clacking sound of multiple footsteps approaching the cells in the corner of the watchtower. The room was dark now as only the dim light of dusk was seeping in through the narrow window.

The footsteps belonged to the guard and a tall well-built soldier whose polished armor shone twice as brightly as that of the guard which lay in a heap in the corner of the room.

The guard was in a good mood, toying with a small bag of coins as he quickly unlocked the bars to Falco’s cell.

“Ahhh, finally!”, Gudja heard Falco exclaim as he himself sat awkwardly staring at the guard and soldier who seemed to completely ignore the existence of this other wretched soul.

As Falco stepped out of his cell, into the room and into Gudja’s view, what caught his attention first was the tuft of thick dark curled hair unlike any which the boy from the mountains had seen before. Gudja did not have long to gape in awe though.

“Oh, I’d like this one too”, Falco said to the guard as he turned towards Gudja’s cell.

The guard was more than happy to – he could not feed the prisoner forever – and proceeded to unlock the second cell as the soldier who had bailed Falco out frowned but did not utter any words of disapproval. Gudja was quick on his feet, determined to be free before any one of them changed their mind.

The soldier ushered Falco out of the watch tower, out onto the bustling street and then down an alley cluttered with crates, children and chicken running around screaming or clucking respectively. Gudja followed close behind, trying hard not to loose sight of them. The worried tension in the soldier’s demeanor reminded him of the fact that Falco had been imprisoned, or confined, elsewhere originally and was probably being searched for.

As the three of them turned another corner and were temporarily out of sight from any other passers-by, the soldier suddenly dropped on one knee and bowed deeply.

“Lo…. Sir, I cannot express my happiness to have found you unscathed. It is due to my failing to protect you… I do not wish to be forgiven, but please allow me to repent by serving you until you wish to behead me”, he expressed gravely.

Falco did not appear in any way surprised or startled by this exaggerated apology and responded nonchalantly as he reached out for the soldier’s hand, “It is not your fault, there was only so much you could do alone. After all, no man can ever be in a place where he is not supposed to be. The last night was really not too bad. Now, I would like to introduce you…”

With that, Falco drew the attention to Gudja, who had watched the scene from some steps away.

“Gudja, Ron. Ron, Gudja. Good? Good”, he said in a single breath, as he looked back and forth between the two sides being introduced.

Gudja attempted to introduce himself but was cut short by the soldier now known to him as Ron.

“Sir, we cannot afford a burden”, he said, making Gudja nervously look towards Falco.

“As much as your concern is appreciated, it is not up for discussion Ron. He will prove himself quite useful when the time comes”, his master responded firmly. “How many horses have you prepared?”

Ron sighed. “I will go and buy one more. Please remain hidden.”

“Oh, but wait”, Falco stopped him and turned to Gudja. “Can you ride?”

This was a rather difficult question for the boy from the mountains.

“I don’t know, sir”, he said meekly.

“What do you mean, you don’t know”, Ron said sharply, irritated at the boy who he saw as nothing but a burden.

“I have never tried it, sir…so I don’t know”, Gudja explained himself.

“Ha-ha! Just what I thought”, Falco chuckled to himself as Ron pulled a grimace. Had he not been in the presence of his master, he would more than likely have rolled his eyes and groaned.

“Then the boy will have to ride with me”, Ron shook his head. “Now, please follow me, sir.”

So, the three of them made their way further down the alley, trailing along the edge of town, near the town walls. Two horses were saddled and waiting for them at a small exit leading out towards the woods which spread behind the town.

Gudja jumped as one of the horses kicked up a rear hoof. Again, he had heard of horses and horsemen from the elders, but to see one for the first time was an intimidating experience. The way the horse’s foot landed with a heavy thud on the ground made him imagine how easily this animal could shatter his bones.

A voice inside his head was whispering to walk away but then, he saw Falco elegantly swing himself up into the saddle and trot a few yards towards the gate.

Gudja had nowhere to go. Nothing to do. No way to live.

Seeing Falco’s back reminded him that this man was his chance to survive. After all, Falco had said that Gudja would come in useful. Surely, that meant that he had a life to look forward to if he followed this man.

He approached the second horse, now being untied by Ron, and clumsily scrambled up. Ron shook his head again and sighed.

“Move further back”, he instructed and patted the horse’s loin before swinging himself up into the saddle, in front of Gudja. “Hold on and don’t let go.”

With that, they galloped out of the town. It had been dusk when Ron had freed them from their cells. Now, the darkness of the night and the shadow of the trees hid them from prying eyes as they hurried their horses along a narrow foot path on the edge of the woods. It was too dangerous to ride through the woods at night. It would only take moments for humans to become disorientated and the horses would stumble.

Gudja did not witness much of this though. He was too busy clinging to Ron’s body and keeping his eyes tightly shut to ignore the daunting height which felt ten times higher than it had appeared when looking at the horse from the ground.

They continued in silence until the town of Tolbrij which had originally been a dark outline against the dim starlit horizon was no longer in sight.

Four days had passed since Gudja had abandoned his life in the sheltered village.

It may have been passively, it may have been unknowingly, and it may have been after having his sentences cut off many many times, yet slowly but surely he had begun to walk towards a place which he would someday be able to call a new home.