Chapter 1: Eyes Tell No Lies
I entered a room full of sneering people, they were disgusted by the fact that a lowly peasant like I am, can enter the sacred court of the nobles. The King was watching in front of the pedestal across the room, along with the Queen and their three children, the eldest being only 14 years old.
Just three...
The guards uncuffed my hands and then pushed me to the elevated platform in the middle of the room.
"Louis Lumiere, you are hereby sentenced to execution due to the charges mentioned, you showed contempt to your job by making a necklace that has harmed a noble's reputation, and you injured a noble by pushing them, light wounds as evidence.
'I never did any of that!' I screamed, but the sound never came out, as my mouth was blocked by cloth.
"But due to the king's lenience, he lowered the sentence significantly. The hands that you used to push the noble will be cut off and your tongue will be severed as you might commit 'Lèse-majesté'."
"His majesty is so kind." An astonished noble praised the king.
"Why 'Lèse-majesté'?" A noble whispered to another noble due to curiosity.
"The peasant might berate the monarchy for cutting his hands off, berating them as such harms the monarchy's image." The questioned noble answered.
"Those peasant doesn't know how to be grateful they're alive."
"Yeah, cutting off his hands and tongue is better than dying." Said another noble with a smirk.
My glare reached the whispering nobles, while they continued mocking my situation, an executioner suddenly entered the room, with an axe in his right hand. They placed my hands on the table, preparing to cut them off.
The majority of the audience suddenly smiled at the sight of the weapon, as if they will be entranced by the sight of my fear,
But I didn't show any.
The audience suddenly felt an uneasiness as they saw my mood becoming calm. Like I was slowly accepting my fate.
*Thud* The executioner swung his axe with gusto. So much so that I saw an after image of my hand still on my arms.
My hand suddenly flew across my eyes, with my tears and muffled scream simultaneously came out of my body. A strong smell of metal gushed into my nose.
Blood,
The blood splattered on my face, clothes, and table. Astonishment showed in the eyes of the nobles and monarchs like they were watching an opera that reached its climax.
The executioner removed the clothing that blocked my mouth as if he knew I cannot multi-task, screaming in pain while cursing the nobles and monarchs. No can do. I can only scream in pain.
They clapped as they were shouting about justice being served on a horrible beast in front of them.
Few people, only a few, felt it was a horrid nightmare.
But the show must go on, as my tongue is still intact, evident by the scream that my mouth produces.
"Cut the tongue!"
"Why so slow?"
"I still need to shop later!"
The nobles jeered in rejoicing.
'Are you guys the pillar of the kingdom?!' My thought swirled in anger.
"Silence! Executioner, you may continue." The King announced, with a glint of happiness on his eyes while his lips showed no emotion.
The executioner picked up a scissor given by an assistant, a scissor that has no design, valuing function over form.
"Executioner, that seems like something that might prolong the criminal's agony, use this sharper tool!" The queen exclaimed.
"Her majesty pities such low life so much..." The audience thought, said rather.
The assistant brought in the scissor that has a design covered in gold.
A lion head insignia is donned in the middle of the handle as if the animal may come out any moment now.
How beautiful, I thought, momentarily proud as I was the one who made the handle, But the dull edges contradict its' outer look. The audience watched in awe as they saw the beautiful object in front of them.
"Shall we take our time?" The executioner whispered.
Tears began to roll down my eyes, desperate to end this entertaining show. My eyes traveled until I caught sight of the king, mockingly smiling his eyes while giving an aura of a benevolent being.
He pulled my tongue and then shoved the scissors in. He squeezed the handle, in front of the audience, showing the willingness to end this as fast as possible, but I know deep down that he is taking his sweet time.
Blood covered his hands, I know that he is smiling behind his mask. The eyes tell no lie, as I caught glimpse of it.
The king seemed relieved knowing that I can't talk.
Eyes never lie.
~
~
~
Loud banging noises woke me up from my nightmare, barely asleep due to the moonlight seeping from a window, or just the word hole will suffice, as big as my hand when I had one.
Right, nightmare... or precisely a memory from months ago, my beard telling a history that should have never existed, if it weren't for something important, a dream. Be it may a person, thing, thought, all equal as a dream.
"Oi, here's your gourmet food good for 2 days."
A composition of ingredients, harmonizing with each other as if a note clashes with one another. An orchestra of chaos, vile and heartless. A plate of food no different from a pig's food, befitting this pigsty of a prison. A room where insects celebrate their birthday or hold a festival. A vault where you can neither lie down nor crouch.
The banging noises became louder.
"This motherfucker! Should I throw your food instead?!" A guard exclaimed as I can only imagine veins showing on his head.
A muffled voice came out of my mouth, a noise that can only be made without a tongue.
"Right this prisoner is the one without hands and tongue." A different voice reached my ears, fortunate that it wasn't removed.
"What heinous crime did that prisoner commit?"
"No idea, don't care."
Looks like there are three guards in front of my cell, a calm guard shoved my food into the hole, so that I can feast with the plate on the floor.
"Hope you choke, lowlife criminal." The angry guard added, with a loud bang on the small door in front of me.
'Deep in my heart, I am wishing for that as well.' My thoughts conversed as if it's going to be heard.
"Stop that dude!" The calm guard exclaimed.
As the sound of their foot became softer, I ate with my head down low. I chow down as if my life depends on each bite, my hunger winning over my weakened body.
As I finished eating my sustenance, I looked up to fill my vision with moonlight, talking to the moon, it was willing to listen. Glowing with every word that I thought, as if an eye of a Goddess took pity, listening to my wishes.
'Please end this third-rate farce. Please grant me another chance. Please end my life.' These kinds of thoughts encircled my mind endlessly.
The list goes on however the last phrase was the cherry on top.
The moon seemingly empathizes with a sorry excuse of a person I am and shed a tear.
Imagination?
Perhaps.
Comforting?
Absolutely.
~
~
~
Faint footsteps only reached my senses the moment I heard a voice, an unfriendly yet familiar one.
"Well, if it isn't the downfall of our greatest craftsmen."
An ample amount of silence bridged his next words.
"You covet all things beautiful so much so that you added my daughter into your pipe dreams."
*Clang*
I heard something metallic, oh the vibration echoed by my prison cell, something familiar as well.
The mysterious person kicked a shiny object into the small crevice in front of me, the same way the guards shoved my food in.
A circlet, or tiara if I may say, has shown its beauty in front of me. Made of gold, engraved with flowers and foliage, almost alive. A garden that can be worn on the head, that at any moment's notice, might bloom even if it's the moonlight that embraces it.
A stone that has facets reflects light, a light delivered by the moon and the stone gives it back to the audience. They call it a gem, in ancient times. The complex processes used in making them were lost in time. Held between clasps of vines, made of gold.
All on top of the plate of pig food that I ate.
'Ah...' I thought.
Why do I know so many details, you might ask?
I made it, devoting my time, sweat, and blood. Toiling under the light of a candle at night, guided by my emotions. Each flower represents the beauty that it will adorn, an item of sheer elegance to decorate someone beautiful.
The gem, set between the vines, is of outstanding clarity. The light that it reflects along with the rainbow of colors it gives back, is like a fire. I tried to recreate the ancient method that was written by a lost civilization. Trial and error helped me shape what it is today. It might be crude by the masters of the past's standard, but it is the only gem existing today.
"You should've made something of this gravitas for me, the King.
You clung to the wrong person, clung to a powerless person,
You should've bowed before me, for I am King, ordained by God."
A thunderous voice covered the hall and crept inside the room he dedicated just for me.
"Chancellor! Get the crown."
A disheveled footstep, came running to the King.
"Also, remove the so-called Gem."
"Understood, my liege." A familiar voice, coming from the chancellor reached me.
A white-gloved hand grabbed the tiara, dirtied by the mud that surrounds the prison floor and the food that covered the base of the said object.
Muffled cries instinctively came from my body, knowing that it will be the last time I will be seeing what I had made for her.
The chancellor kindly put the tiara devoid of any gems in front, while the king smashed the flowers and foliage that once covered the princess' hair. The mud, food, and gold made an unexpected harmony, fit for a person like me.
He then proceeded to kick the tiara back to me, its' creator.
"I shall use this gem for a greater cause, scepter? or crown? Hmmm, where should I put it?"
A joyous voice came out of the king's mouth. Silence then ensued.
"Answer me!" He demanded, a thunderous voice once again clouding the place.
After a moment of silence, a laugh came out.
"Right, right, right I forgot, you cannot speak. Should I put it on my daughter's coffin?"
I wailed, aware that he can kill his daughter.
He can as he hid her from the public ages ago because she was a daughter of a commoner.
Tears welled in my eyes, mixed emotions welled inside me.
Anger, confusion, dismay, hatred, and hope.
Hoping that the king shall be kind to his daughter once more. Kind enough not to kill her.
While I was showered with emotions, my body became numb. I can neither produce a sound nor move my body. Poison came to my mind. The food was poisoned, a concoction that I happily ate like a dog. How weird, I was calm.
Am I going to be finally freed from this farce?
"The poison might have kicked in, I am a benevolent ruler once you've known me. I want to end your suffering."
'You just wanted to play God, where you control the death of your subjects.' I thought.
A satisfying sense of gratitude to the king sprang, small but impacting.
He might've ended my suffering, a bit late but it came.
My eyes began to close, granting my last wish, tired of my life.
Eyes never lie.
~
~
~
My consciousness wandered, it has no sense of time, but it can sense emotion.
Anger filled my soul, due to what they did to me.
A familiar face, mourning for a person like me. Crying like there was no tomorrow, a beautiful face distorted by sadness.
She was the one who I loved so desperately, I was willing to give my life to her, and I did. She was mumbling something, I struggled to swim nearer so that I can hear her. My soul against all odds tried to hear her thoughts, but I am no God.
"She waited, but everything was in vain." A voice came out of nowhere, secluded in this abyss.
She loved me, wordless but gestures made her emotions reach me.
How did I know?
I saw her eyes.
Eyes tell no lies.
— New chapter is coming soon — Write a review