The Whole Story

“Hey guys look, it’s that low-life Verglas,” sneered the boy in front who looked to be the ringleader of the four boys behind him.

“Hi Cletus,” greeted Lucien. Cletus Adelson was a noble’s son, so naturally, many kids would flock under his leadership. He was a little taller than Lucien with combed blonde hair, blue eyes, and freckles. He was dressed in fancy clothes that suited a noble’s son.

“What do I keep saying peasant? You don’t deserve that bread. Now give it to me.”

“Come on Cletus. This is my food. My family barely has enough as it is. I can’t be wasting it on someone like you. Besides, what did I ever do to you guys?”

Cletus scowled in response to this remark, “Well boys, looks like we are going to do this the hard way again.” Cletus and his followers all cracked their knuckles as they closed in on Lucien.

Lucien clasped his loaf of bread in one hand, set his books down, and got ready to fight back.

Cletus was the first one to throw a punch at Lucien. However, Lucien moved his head to the right in order to dodge the punch.

“What the… Why you little…” Cletus threw another punch, but Lucien stepped out of range to dodge again. “Hold him.”

Two of his lackeys moved in from the side.

‘Now what? Father didn’t teach what to do in a situation like this!’ Lucien panicked and threw a punch of his own with his free hand.

Pow!

His fist collided with the face of the boy to his right. The boy yelped in pain and stubbled backwards. However, this attack was a double-edged sword. Lucien’s hand was now throbbing painfully from the hit.

“Come on! Hold him!” Cletus ordered.

This time all four moved in. Lucien turned to run away, but one of them dove and got hold of his foot. Lucien tripped and fell on his face. The four boys quickly jumped on top of him and rolled him over. They then stood on top of his four limps, locking him to the ground.

Lucien groaned in pain from the immense pressure the four boys were using to hold him down.

“You really need to learn your place. All of you Verglas’s need to.”

Cletus stood over Lucien.

Bam, pow, slam!

Cletus stomped on Lucien’s stomach twice, then his face. Lucien’s nose began to bleed as he coughed from the impact to his stomach.

Cletus then crouched down on top of Lucien and began to repeatedly throw punches towards Lucien’s face.

The adults watched in surprise as Cletus beat Lucien’s face in. However, none tried to stop it. Instead, they began to converse amongst themselves.

“That’s that Verglas kid, right?”

“Yeah, I hear he’s going to school now?”

“I’m surprised they let someone from that family into the school. Oh well.”

Cletus stopped and seemed to look satisfied once Lucien’s face was covered in blood. He stood up and then stomped on his hand, forcing Lucien to drop his bread, and proceeded to stomp on the bread before kicking Lucien in the stomach one more time before calling his subordinates off of Lucien.

Tears began to trickle down Lucien’s face as Cletus and his crew walked away.

‘Why? What did I do to deserve this?’

Lucien began to sniffle as he picked up his smashed bread. He sat up and tried to eat it. However, this was very difficult as his entire face was swollen and his mouth was full of blood. However, Lucien didn’t care, he wasn’t going to let the little bit of food he had go to waste.

After he finished. He made an effort to try and stand, but he stumbled back to the ground. He tried again. This time, his attempt was a success as he stood to his feet, gathered his books, and began to stumble towards the tavern.

The tavern was called The Tavern, and was located towards the outside of the town, just inside the walls. The Tavern was comfortable wood building with a bar and tables. They were famous for their ale, but they served food as well.

Lucien stumbled in, blood dripping from his face onto the ground, his new shirt and other clothes covered in dirt and grime.

“There you are boy!” exclaimed Mr. Fuller, the owner, a tall portly man with a brown eyes, brown beard and mustache. “You’re late. I’ll only be giving you half pay for that… and go wash your face off. I don’t want any blood on my dishes.”

“Yes sir.” Lucien replied weakly. Lucien knew better than to argue. He tried it once, but Mr. Fuller reduced his pay that day even more.

Lucien limped into the back off tavern where the kitchen was located.

Lucien stood on a stool as he was not quite tall enough to reach into the sink and began to wash the dishes that piled up during the day.

Lucien washed and washed until late afternoon. He had stacked the plates neatly and put all the utensils in their proper places.

“Ok boy. Here is your pay for today.” Mr. Fuller handed Lucien a small loaf of bread and three copper coins. “Now run on home.”

Lucien was always sent home before the busiest time of day for The Tavern. Lucien would wash all the plates that accrued slowly during the day and cleaned them in preparation for people in town that would come in after their hard days work and enjoy some ale.

Lucien limped out of the tavern.

“You actually pay him? He’s a Verglas right,” asked a nosy customer as he watched Lucien pass by and head out the door.

“He doesn’t get much believe me. I have to admit he is a hard worker,” replied Mr. Fuller.

Lucien walked slowly back to his home outside the town’s walls. As he did, he looked down at his earnings for the day.

‘Only three coppers today. Not even enough to buy a pair of socks.’ Lucien sighed, but clasped the coins tightly. ‘I’ll take anything though. Just as Father said, every little bit counts.’ Lucien then looked down at the little loaf of bread he balanced on top of his books. ‘I should just eat this now. Cletus will probably show up and try and take it like he always does.’

Lucien thought it over, then decided to eat the loaf. After finishing, he realized just how hungry he was. He wanted more food to eat. He picked up the pace and tried to run. His body still hurt from the beat down he received earlier, but he would rather satisfy his hunger then keep his pain at bay.

Lucien began to fly down the stone alley to the man road that ran through the middle of town. As he turned the corner, he felt his legs kick into the air and he came tumbling down, dropping his books to the ground.

Lucien groaned in pain, his knees scratched and bruised, as he tried to prop himself up with his arms. He heard laughing from behind him.

“What’s the matter Verglas. Can’t you even run properly?” Cletus snickered.

“Come on guys, wasn’t this morning enough for you guys?” Lucien breathed in pain.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re the one that fell. I didn’t do a thing.”

Pow!

Cletus kicked Lucien in the stomach as he laid on the ground.

“I know you have some coppers with you. Cough them up,” demanded Cletus.

“No, I worked hard for this money. Unlike you.”

Pow!

Cletus kicked him again, “I know you didn’t work for that. You stole it didn’t you? You Verglas are so needy you resort to stealing. I’m here to take back the money you stole.”

“You know I worked for this money. You…”

“You’re calling me a liar?” Cletus glared at Lucien.

Cletus gestured for his gang to join him and kicked and kicked Lucien until Lucien’s stopped yelping in pain. However, Lucien held on tightly to his copper coins.

“See you tomorrow at school, Verglas.” Cletus left with his lackeys back into the town.

Lucien twitched, then slowly tried to pick himself back up. His legs were shaking, but he managed to stand.

Lucien began to take everything in and think things over, ‘Why? Is it just because I’m a Verglas? The noble that ran this town didn’t even let my parents live in the town walls.’

Lucien looked down at his new shirt which was now torn and stained with blood and dirt.

Lucien tears began to trickle down Lucien’s face as he picked up his books and headed for his house.

Lucien returned home. His mother was in the kitchen and it didn’t look like his father was home from work yet. Lucien stumbled inside the small log cabin into the presence of his mother.

“Hello son, how was your…” Lucien’s mother stopped short at the sight of her son, battered and bruised with blood stains.

“I’m sorry Mom. The new shirt you got me is ruined. I did my best, but…” Lucien sniffled.

Lucien’s mother knelt down and hugged her son, “It’s ok sweetie. I knit you another shirt. I’ll buy you some pants too.” His mother let go of him and then smiled at him.

“I brought some coppers home with me.” Lucien held out the coins in the palm of his hand.

“Thank you, Lucien.” She took them and put them into the jar of coppers they used to save their coppers. They had other jars as well. One jar for each type of coin: copper, bronze, silver, and gold.

“Is Father home yet?” asked Lucien.

“I’m sure he’ll be home soon. Dinner’s almost ready too.”

Lucien wiped his tears dry then smiled since he was very hungry. He couldn’t wait to eat.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.” Lucien’s mother went outside and drew water from the well they had in their back yard. She had Lucien take off all of his clothes and she splashed the water over him. She let Lucien wipe himself down with a sheet of cotton. After he was cleaned up, Lucien’s mother tended to the scraps on his knee and his battered face.

Knock, knock!

“Hello, I’m home.” Announced Lucien’s father.

“Hello, Dear! How was work?” replied Lucien’s mother as they kissed each other lightly on the lips.

“It was a long one today, but we got a lot of ice excavated and I brought home some more copper coins!”

“How many!” wondered Lucien.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that Lucien. Just focus on school. How was school today.” Lucien’s father turned to face him and noticed the bandages on Lucien’s face. “Was it those boys again?”

Lucien’s expression saddened, “Yes father.” Lucien’s father shook his head in regret. “Father, why do they pick on me?”

Lucien’s father frowned at this, “Did they talk about the history of the early days of when the countries first formed?”

“Yes.”

“Did they tell you about the first monarch of this country?”

“Only that he formed an alliance with many countries to gather warriors to fight against the Kretans,” Lucien replied.

“They didn’t tell you the whole story. Here, take a seat son. I’ll tell you a story I should have told you a long time ago.” Lucien’s father pointed at a seat inviting Lucien to sit while he pulled up a chair of his own.

Lucien’s mother went back to work getting dinner ready.

“The first monarch’s name was Desiderius Verglas.”

Lucien’s mouth dropped open in awe, “You mean?”

“Yes, he is your ancestor. Royal blood runs through all of our veins. However, we aren’t considered royalty anymore. Desiderius formed an alliance and gathered all the strongest warriors. The strongest, no doubt, was Desiderius himself. He had amazing skills and power with ice magic. That was the reason he became the first monarch. He was unmatched in the field of battle. He was so powerful he drove the most fearsome creatures back into the shadows. Now, no one is sure what happened after he accomplished this great task, but he was glorified by all of the other existing countries at the time. It is said that he grew power hungry and began to bring country after country under his monarchy and oppressed the people, killing anyone that got in his way. It is said that he wanted to conquer the world and he became very close, until his subordinates formed a rebellion against him. It was a very fierce battle, but Desiderius, in the end, was defeated. He was stripped of his Monarch title and banished along with his family to live in the wilderness with his family. We only recently got permission to come back into this country. Ice magic became feared because of its superiority to all other magic types in this world.”

“Why do we have to bear the punishment as well. We didn’t do anything.” reasoned Lucien.

“The people I this world are very prideful. They love to establish themselves above others in any way they can, even if it means bringing up the past,” sighed Lucien’s father.

“What happened to the countries that were gathered under Desiderius’s rule?”

“They were given back their freedom with the same country’s leader.”

Lucien was saddened by all of this. He didn’t want to believe that his ancestor would do such a thing, not without a reason.

“Dinner’s ready!” called Lucien’s mother.

“Oh goody. I’m starving!” exclaimed his father happily.

Lucien’s mother set some oats in a bowl in front of his father and himself along with some bread and cups of water.

“I really need to go hunting soon,” murmured Lucien’s father as he looked at the oats.

They all had gathered at the table and began to eat.

Lucien ate in silence as he thought about the story his father had just told him.

Lucien finished his meal and pushed his bowl forward. He then turned towards his father.

“Father?”

His father finished chewing the section of bread he bit off and answered, “Yes son?”

“You said no one was really sure right? About the past events, right?”

“Well, it is taught in school as fact, but I refuse to believe it. My father and his father before him both talked of how friendly and caring Desiderius was. He wanted what was best for the people.”

Lucien didn’t want to believe that his ancestor did that. He slid his chair back and started to head outside.

“Where’re you off too?” asked his mother.

“I’m off to practice my sword skills as well as my self-defense techniques,” replied Lucien. He decided to put the story out of his mind for now. “After all, I want that bow and arrow next year.”

Lucien continued outside and picked up his wooden sword that was leaning against the log cabin. The sword was still heavy for Lucien, but he swung the sword awkwardly until he got used to the feel. He then imagined an opponent standing in front of him and practiced slashing, parrying, blocking, and even thinking of how to incorporate dodging into the mix.

Lucien was a determined boy and wanted to do his best in everything he could, especially if he could please his father.

Lucien practiced until he was tired and sweaty. He looked up at the sky as the sun began to set.

“Come on Lucien. Time to sleep!” called his mother.

Lucien obeyed and propped his sword back up against the cabin and headed inside.