Human abattoir of Noir
Late noon
It was indeed a human abattoir. She was in chains, wishing she could still break the chains as she did earlier.
'So you lied!' the soldier said as she received another stroke.
She raised her head in pain and endurance. She was a moving corpse. She could feel her cells dying and her spirit flying.
'Plea…'
'Give her more!' the soldier yelled again as he looked at her n disgust.
The other soldiers were swift in obedience. They did not spare a second before whooping her whole body.
'Lord Zuzu!!!' Perriguin yelled with all the strength in her before falling down suddenly.
She could hear the voices but she could move.
'Lord Zuzu?'
'Take her out of here'
'No,let's cast her in the pit of thorns'
'Let's bury her,she is dead'
'Continue! What does Lord Zuzu have to do with this? the head yelled finally, shutting their opinions.
Perriguin wondered why she couldn't break the chains. What was happening?
'But she's…'
'You dare not go against the Duke's command…no one lies to the Duke and gets away with it!' he yelled with authority.
They did not hesitate again. They continued stroking her as if she was a dead object. They gave it to her more terribly than ever. Perriguin started praying for death. She could no longer take it. She wanted to just die because what she was facing was for sure worse than anything anyone she knows has ever faced. Soon, she started tasting her blood and sweat as they dropped into her mouth. Her tongue stayed t the edge of her lips like a dead dog's. Her eyes were seeing multiple abstract objects. The last one she could feel was the one around her waist. That one sent her to another world.
'Let's go and eat something! The Duke is gone and we've been dealing with this girl since morning' their leader said .
Perriguin was not happy that they were leaving. She wanted them to complete the work of death but they left. Their leaving was not going to make a difference. She could not move at all, all she could do was to look up to the sky, probably for the last time. She saw a letter falling down. It read;
Perriguin,
Don't go! Jumbadiway needs you…
Du
She could not see anything after 'Du'. Her eyelashes met.
She inhaled.it felt as if she had taken in life. She inhaled again and again and again. It felt like she was coming back to herself.
Her eyes opened. Everywhere was dark! Did she die for some hours? It was still noon when her eyes shut. She looked at her hands- the chains were broken. In shock, she wanted to stand but she fell.
The galaxy was full and the floor was fresh as grassy. It was definitely not Noir. She lay on the lawn as she started hearing fainting music;
There is a future
But you need to go for it
There is a future
That you must feature in
No one is a sla…
'...ve! She is just a slave! We cannot retain her in the women army!' a voice yelled.
She was back to Noir! The opposite of where she was. Perriguin wondered what had happened. Probably, she died for a while. She was still in chains, very weak.
'This girl is very strong…she has to be retained' a man replied before she was grabbed brutally by someone to a place that was better. She was dropped under a small waterfall which was like a shower. It was one of the oasis in the kingdom which was customized into a bathing site.
The first drop of the ice cold water made her release a sound of shock. The water poured heavily on her while she shivered. After a while, the temperature of the water increased. The wounds on her body were on fire. The temperature kept increasing. Perriguin quickly left the place. An obese woman carried her like a sack of refuse and dropped her on a wooden bench. She rubbed her whole body with ointments, methylated ones. Her cells came alive immediately. It was hurting but as usual, she had to absorb the pain.
'You have to go to war…so, you must get better as soon as possible!' the woman said hurriedly as she treated the wounds without mercy.
Perriguin assume what she heard was one of her many illusions.
Most likely, she misheard. When the woman was done, she lay Perriguin on a coarse wooden bed. It was a collection of wood planks. Despite the discomfort, Perriguin slept off.
The next day, Perriguin discovered it was not an illusion or a misheard sentence. There was war and she was going to be part of the war. They had reported that she was strong so she had to be part. They were taking any strong person to the war.
It was crazy because she had just left the human abattoir the previous day and was going for war the next two day. Also, the war was against Jumbadiway Kingdom. Perriguin was very confused because the Duke of Noir was Duke Jumbadi's friend. Indeed, the Duke of Noir was abnormal. The reason for waging war was the dumbest thing- because the Duke of Jumbadiway refused to marry the duchess of Lumbidimaway. It was an abomination and a great crime for royalty to reject royalty in marriage.
Gradually, things were beginning to become clear. Indeed, the Duke had to listen the duchess of Lumbidimaway about bringing her to Lukana because he did not want her to spill out the fact that her refused her. While they planned the war, Perriguin also drafted out her own plans. She had to do something. If not for anyone, for Lamidat and Roria.
The day of war eventually came. They had already traveled at night to a place not too far but far from the kingdom of Jumbadiway.
According to the map they were given, they were two routes to the Kingdom. They were meant to follow the longer route for some reasons. Perriguin had studied everything over the night and had created her plan. She was going to fight for the Duke as she said.
'Take this…this…this…' the leader of the army said as he gave weapons to everyone. After receiving weapons, everyone mounted on their horses. Perriguin was a novice but from the one hour horse training she got the previous day, she was going to be fine.
Her stay at Noir was horrible. When she spoke, no one answered. She did not even have anyone to speak to. Yet, they expect her to fight for them.
'People of noir, we are black! And we are proud of the fact that we don't care! The birds who refuse to stay in the cage must be shot down!' the Duke of Noir chanted and hit his spare on the floor.
'...today, we fight against Jumbadiway, a friend of Noir , because their Duke has defiled the kingdom of Lumbidimaway by refusing the duchess publicly. I am the Duke of Noir and I must all the law take it course! Jumbadiway must suffer the consequences…onwards!!!' he thundered.
As if the horses heard, they move instantly with great speed, raising dust. Perriguin remained in the dust while others moved. The Duke looked at her.
'Move!' he yelled.
A letter came. It read;
Perriguin,
I need you…
Duke
Perriguin looked at the Duke of Noir for a while and then moved speedily. Her right hand held a spear while the other held on to the horse. At her side was the sword and dagger.
After the Duke's address, Perriguin was sure the war was inspired by the Duchess of Lumbidimaway. The Duchess was not fighting, it was Noir that had no business with it.
Soon, Perriguin was with the others. When the dust was so heavy and she had reached the point of diversion, she diverted into the forest and used the map to follow the short route. There was a lonely path in the forest that she followed. It seemed to lead to the Kingdom. She could get there in less than thirty minutes, hours before the others. She hurried, but the horse frequently.
Not quite long, she arrived. She had to act like a spy because Jumbadiway was heavily guarded- always. All she had to do was get to the palace, explaining to the guards was time wastage. She tired her horse to a boubou tree and covered herself with a veil. She dressed like a citizen with some clothes and accessories that she had stolen. Like a normal person, she entered the market and bought some things with the money she had stolen from the very owner of the shop in order to appear normal and fit in. Then, she got into the main city. Perriguin tried her best to be as fast as possible.
Perriguin could see how unprepared they were, carrying out their random activities. Some were dancing, discussing or working. Children were playing about. She took a chariot ride to the central city and paid with stolen money. She hoped Lord Zuzu understood she was stealing for a good course. Without hesitation, she moved to the palace.
Avoiding much explanation, she went over the palace fence, removed her veil and carried a bucket and rag.
'Perriguin?' the head of maids called out.
Perriguin's heart skipped a beat. The head looked at her for a while.
'Were you not…'
Perriguin swiftly covered her mouth.
'Madam Noni…you have to keep this. The kingdom of Noir is coming against us right now…'
'Wha...?' she began, full of fear with her hands on her chest and another covering her mouth.
Perriguin nodded, giving Madam Noni assurance that she was saying the right thing. Madam took her hands and looked into her eyes.
'Sure?' she asked.
Perriguin nodded again. Madam Noni led her to the passage. As she got to the top, she looked down, left, right and up- there were not yet coming. She walked carefully along the walls till she reached the Lamidat's quarters. He was busy practicing archery. Luckily, he was alone. Perriguin ran to him and tapped him. He jerked in shock. Then, he looked at her. He knew she was Perriguin but the scars and marks gave him doubts.
'Perriguin?' he asked.
She nodded and bowed.
'Please, you have to hear me. The kingdom is hunted. Noir is on their way against us! I swear…and it's because the Duke did not marry the duchess…' she explained breathlessly.
'I don't understand…how? I'm just seeing you for the first time in a long while!' he said with a face that had a mixture of smile and confusion.
Perriguin walked up and down then returned. She took the map and gave it to him.
'They are almost here! Before the festival of a completed revolution, the kingdom will be conquered!' she explained as her veins popped out.
The Duke's brother grabbed her immediately with widened eyes.
'I miss you a lot…let's sort this out first before we get into business…' he said and they and they ran to the Duke's quarters.
'We were expecting this…' he muttered.
The Duke's brother still had his quiver behind him and a bow in his hands. He looked war-ready. Entering the quarters, they found the Duke on a cane chair, drinking a cup of wine. Lamidat impatiently, grabbed the cup of wine from his hand. Perriguin looked at the table before the Duke. On the table was a paper and an ink. On the paper was, Perriguin…. with that same handwriting.