Chap. 64 Cellacious Talk

Chap. 64  Cellacious talk

"Wasn't the smartest thing to do, to attack people who can track wherries just by their scent," said Lord Dorn's master-at-arms. His men shoved three men into an already occupied cell, making four.

The three said nothing, but scowled. The occupant greeted them with a hearty smile. "Siddown, siddown. There's bunks enough for us, pick one. You'll be here awhile. I've been here for a month."

The three waited until all but one of the guards left. That man sat down on a stone bench, put his feet up and promptly went to sleep.

"What you here for?"

They said nothing.

"Oh, aye, I understand.  Yon idiot. He's not only a fool, he's deaf as a hammer. He'll forget you're here, you have to throw a rock at him to get his attention. Doesn't do to make him angry, though, he'll stop feeding you. I don't think the Lord Holder knows that yon lout is eating the food meant for us. I've lost weight, I have, just being here. Not fair, what? I've complained to the master of arms-that rowdy what just left who brung you in…but he just walks off. Not fair, at all."

He shook his head.

"Don't understand how they can put an innocent man in a cell and then just leave him to rot."

One of the men, his spine twisted, said, "You're innocent?"

"Oh, aye, as a baby. Just as innocent as a baby. I got cheated, you know? T'was about a month ago, I was here at the Market, met the apprentice butcher of the hold. Said he was going to throw half a side of beef into the river, you know? Said it was 'bad'. Well, I'm no expert, but it looked fine to me, just fine. I thinks, you know, I could use that meat to sell or feed up some wherries and then sell them. Even eat it, it looked just fine to me. So I says, "here, I got a mark, I'll buy it from you," and he says, 'what you going to do with bad meat?" and I says, "I'm going to feed it to the wherries and when they're fat, I'll sell them at the Market!" And he says, "that's a good idea, wish I could do that but they told me 'get rid of this meat', so it's my job." So I give him the mark and he puts the meat on my wagon and off he goes. Me, I'm thinking, I've done him a good turn."

"A mark for a half a beef? That's a good deal, it is," said one of the men. He had a bandaged hand and his other arm was twisted.

"Aye, just what I was thinking…that's a really good bargain, what? He didn't look too smart."

Then as I'm making my way home, here comes half a dozen Hold men, on runners, come after me, grabbed me by the neck and says I robbed the apprentice at knife point, stole the meat! I've been here long enough, to figure it all out. He stole it from under the Holder's nose, and was going to sell it,  he DID sell it, made some money off of me and then he got caught, where is the meat, we saw you take the meat, so he comes up with this tale of me robbing him and fooled me, he did! I took him for an honest lad, and now I'M here in this cell because of him!"

"That's not right. Not atall. Didn't you tell them?" said the twisted one.

"Of course! But I'm a stranger to these parts, trying to find a way to keep tucker in my stomach and make some money, hard earned money in my pocket.  He had me marked, he did! I trusted him, thought him an honest lad. But no!

I told them everything he said, that it was no good meat and he was going to throw it in the river, and now I know he was just a liar and a thief, just as crooked as your arm there," he said to one of them.

"Leave me arm out of it," the one said. "I'm innocent."

He spat into the dirt floor and muttered.

The first man said, "Don't spit in t'cell, man. You're going to need the rocks here to throw at yon lout. Like I said, he's a fool and deaf as a hammer. Only way you get his attention is throw at him, like this." He picked up a small rock and, approaching the cell door, threw it through the bars at the sleeping guard. It hit the man's arm and he awoke.

"Hey, you son of a sow, wake up, you lazy sod. I saw your mum in the market sleeping with her piglets."

The guard rubbed his eyes sleepily, stretched and yawned. Then he looked at the cell inmates.

"Yeah, you, you wherry's arse, give us something eat, what?" He pointed at his mouth.

The guard got up and walked to the door. "You hungry?" he said, in a flat voice.

"Yeah, you idiot, look ,we got three more men in here, give us something to eat, before I tell you how stupid you are," the man said, pointing at the three behind him and then sticking up four fingers. "Four, you get it, you lout? Can you count to four?"

"I'll get your food. Wait here." the guard said and wandered off.

"Wait Here? Like I have a choice? Idiot," he yelled at the retreating guard.

He turned and shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a darn shame. I ain't even been before the Holder yet." He shook his head, sorrowfully.

"But…now I have someone to talk to, someone who can hold an intelligent conversation. What about you, mate? Sorry about the remark about your arm. That must hurt."

"It's okay. It does hurt, but not as bad as me hand, here. Could use some numbweed."

"Hi! You're in luck my friend, I do have that!" He turned and rummaged in a small pack and pulled out a jar of numbweed.

"They let you keep that?" said bandaged hand, incredulous.

"Nay, nay. They don't know. You better keep mum about it. I have a ….friend, you know, she snuck it in to me along with some other things. She comes by now and then. She pretends to fancy yon guard and when he's not looking, she slips me things. Numbweed. Meat rolls, fresh ones. Once even a beer."

The one with the bandaged hand took the jar.

"Thank you," he said. He began to unwrap the bandage.

"You use it, then put it back here in this pack, understand? Then they don't know I've got it. Sometimes if they think you have some ''contraband'' they'll come in and search the cell. I learned that the hard way. It's why I don't have any boots, they took mine to punish me because I had contraband in my pack. My feet get cold at night but now I don't complain, don't give 'em a reason to search."

"Who is this girl? Don't trust her," said the twisted one, " a girl is what got me on the run."

"Not this girl. She's a good 'un, I can tell you that. She don't come around too often, just so they don't get wise to her passing stuff to me. What happened to you? A girl did what?" the original man said.

"Oh, she was shining on me, all the time. She's just a drudge, you know, but wants to make it higher up and started chatting with me. Said she likes me, wants to be my weyrmate. Well, it's because I’m a Crafter's son, first in line for the Hall, I'm set, you know? My dad, he worked his behind off to make it a going business and all I have to do is wait on him to die, then it's easy life. So I'm thinking, a drudge? Not me, I'm not taking a drudge for a partner, but…you know, when they crawl into your bunk, what's a man to do?? What?? So one thing leads to another, then it starts getting 'bring me this' " I would like that, something for my hair, a new shirt,' stuff like that. I got tired of it and tried to send her away and all of a sudden she's saying it was rape. It wasn't rape. She was in MY bunk, not the other way around. So now I have to run, because they took the word of a drudge rather than mine."

The man looked horrified. "OH, that is WRONG. So bloody unfair!! Let me guess, she gets no punishment, just 'oh you poor poor girl."

"RIGHT. Absolutely right!! Me, I'm living on the run and she's fat and happy in my home. I'm innocent."

"Aye, I hear you. It gets under your skin, it does, when someone accuses you of some crime that didn't happen. Not fair at ALL. How can this be justice?  But that's how they get you stuck here, like us now. Innocent men, we are. Innocent."

"How about you other gentlemen? How is it you all come to be charged at the same time?"

One of the men had a hat pulled low over his ears, despite the warm air. "Don't want to talk about it, mate, nothing personal, just don't want to go into it."

"I understand. But you have to see one thing. It's us against them. Got it? You don't trust them. You keep secrets from them, you know? All of 'em.  This lout, he'll be here soon with something to eat, you gotta stay on his good side or you don't eat. We're lucky, he's deaf and stupid, so he's easily managed. You understand that? Just like the girl I told you about, she's MY friend, but she shines on him to get stuff to me. It's disgusting, really to see her work him and he just believes it all. But she's really for ME. So you just let the lout think he's really in charge, that you're afraid of him. It's easier that way.  And now it's US. So we stick together, right?"

The three of them nodded. It would have to be that way. Because they were innocent.  Innocent!!