Leeward's eyes widened, and he exhaled a long sigh until he felt a tingling sensation spread through his entire body.
The words "My husband is murdered" never came at the right time. His mind immediately filled with complex calculations; everything he had planned crumbled before his eyes.
Just yesterday he was with me in his office... a few hours ago... Damn it, this came at the worst possible time...
It was all against him. He wasn't so much saddened by Overd's death as he was shocked by the timing of it. The shock wasn't emotional, but a cold, calculating one.
He clenched his fists tightly, trying to project a normal reaction. He couldn't quite believe it; he wanted to see for himself. He stared at Overd's wife, who was running frantically, zigzagging, almost tripping and knocking down everyone in the street. He looked at her with bewildered, questioning eyes
From the direction she was running, it was clear she was heading for the seat of power in the village. Leeward knew that Overd hated his wife, and her hatred for him was no less intense. So her behavior seemed very strange, to explode like that at his death
He didn't doubt it much; even hatred couldn't prevent a shock.
"I must hurry to the plantation, and I must also free the Stone Cat."
He was certain in his mind that she was headed to the seat of power, so he decided to get one step ahead and remove the Stone Cat from its hiding place. These were only preliminary measures. He wasn't yet certain of Opherd's death, but being first was always better than being in greater trouble.
He tried to walk lightly, but his feet felt heavy, and his expression was tense.
He hadn't killed Opherd.
"I didn't even touch him... I had intentions, but I didn't act on them... All last night I was just thinking about what I was going to do... I didn't even sleep well..."
A war broke out in his thoughts. He began to replay his entire memory, mercilessly.
He remembered how he had sat in front of the slave hut on the plantation drinking some wine with the slave he knew, Nair.
Then he remembered the maid who had entered Opherd's room late at night, carrying his supper, and then leftAfter that. This alone was sufficient proof that Overd was still alive at that moment.
That temporarily removed suspicion from Leeward, provided that Nair and the maid were witnesses.
Afterward, Leeward first slept among the group, on a wooden wheelchair in front of the wooden slave hut.
He did not remember waking during the night, nor leaving his place for any reason until morning. He woke up early, fed the stone cat some meat, and made sure that no one saw him do so.
Then he went directly to the village headquarters, where he paid his freedom fee and received the papers proving that he was a full citizen.
After several minutes, Leeward arrived at the farm gate, and it was wide open.
The farm was operating perfectly normally.
This greatly surprised him.
He had heard of Overd's death from his wife, and yet no one here seemed to know about it. Everything was proceeding as usual, enveloped in an eerie, unsettling silence that increased his anxiety... and at the same time, calmed him a little
Here, Leward realized, "This is my chance."
He walked toward the sheepfold in the center. Those sheep were no longer his. He opened the wooden door, and the sheep scattered in a panic, bumping into each other and running around the circular pen.
In his mind's eye, he commanded the Stone Cat to come.
And it came.
Its fur was brownish-gray, and it looked like a cat, but the size of a small dog. The cat showed surprise and joy at its master's arrival.
Leward didn't play with it much; he picked it up right away.
"I must go, because... I'll need you later..."
The farm was enclosed by wooden fences, and at its far end stretched empty farmland. There, Leward wanted to set the Stone Cat free.
The cat frolicked in his hands, as if longing for its master. As he walked, he noticed several slaves working in different sectors:
Some were leading the cows into the pen
Another was clearing dung from the groundAnd others feeding the horses.
The slaves' daily chores made a familiar, almost beautiful rhythm.
But behind that rhythm, there was a heavy tension, lurking within the silence.
No one was speaking.
Only the sound of the light wind, the footsteps of the animals, and the breath of the farm as it moved, unaware of what was happening above it.
He made no obvious interest in them. At that moment, his focus was entirely on freeing the stone cat first.
This made him quicken his pace, avoiding their gazes and making sure that none of them actually saw him.
He came to a narrow passage between two wooden huts and walked quickly down it, the heavy smell of refuse clinging to every corner. There, some of the farm dogs were sleeping. As soon as they sensed him, they got up and began barking from afar with disturbing sounds, and some of them charged at him, trying to attack.
"Go away..."
he shouted at themBut they were damned dogs. They wouldn't stop bothering him, only retreating a little. Barking on, they pressed on until they reached a wooden fence, almost as tall as he was.
He lifted the stone cat over the fence, then whispered to it in his mind,
"Go to some clan of stone cats, and stay with them until I call you."
Then he threw it over the fence.
The cat landed lightly on its feet, then sprinted across the farmland, heading for some unknown place.
"If Owerd's death is real, then this is trouble... I've just gained my freedom, and I'll be the prime suspect in this case... On top of that, the authorities will be looking for a missing fortune... Troubles are starting to pile up on me, one after another."
He went straight back through the corridor, the ground beneath him rotting dirt. He came to a yard surrounded by several huts and headed straight for the slave hut.
He went in and called for Nair, who was still asleep on top of the burlap sacks.
"Oy, get up. I've already gained my freedom."And I'm a full citizen now. Let's go celebrate at a nearby bar.
He acted completely normal. He still wasn't sure Overd was dead. If he wasn't, he'd just keep pretending everything was normal, that what had happened might have been just an accident.
But if he was dead... then the trouble would be real.
Nair half-stood, looked at him with tired eyes, and then stared at that rotten grin on Leeward's face.
"Good heavens... what have I done in my life to wake up to such an ugly face as yours?"
He muttered to himself wearily, then sat up halfway.
His hair was short and black, and his teeth were dirty.
"So congratulations to you. What about Overd? You know he won't be happy if I drink this morning. He'll be furious if he finds out."
"No need to think about that. I'll talk to him and tell him it was me who dragged you along."
Leeward felt a slight pang in his heart when he heard the name Overd from Nair's mouth, but he maintained a perfectly natural expression
Nair wiped his face with his hand and stood up from the burlap.
"Well, let's go and have some wine to celebrate this... Oh, and I remembered, where do you intend to go next? Or Overd might throw you out of the plantation."
"I don't really know, I haven't thought about it yet. All I want to do is celebrate that I'm free... ha ha ha."
Nair grinned a disgusting smile.
"Damn it, you've got your freedom, and I'm stuck here like a bastard. But it works in my favor, at least I'll get a little drunk before that old man Overd gets his annoying orders."
"Oh, you're right. Don't overthink it. The important thing is that you're celebrating with me. Let's give a double toast when we get there... ha ha ha."
Nair laughed, raised his hand, and they walked out of the slave hut
"You cheap hypocrite... I'll buy you with a glass of wine to testify that I didn't kill Overd. That's enough for now. I'll let things take their course... Perhaps Overd didn't die at all, and perhaps his wife just lost her mind from the intensity of her hatred for him."
It was clear that their relationship was self-serving, and full ofBy hypocrisy.
The two left the farm quickly and headed to a nearby tavern on that street. A wooden sign above the entrance read:
Noss Tavern
That was the name of its owner.
Only a quarter of an hour later, a group of guards, accompanied by the village headman, entered the farm.
All of Overd's slaves gathered in the yard, while his wife wailed and cried incessantly until her throat was dry.
As soon as the village headman opened the door to Overd's room, a very sharp smell of blood rushed out. He raised his hand to his nose, which he could only partially cover with his thick mustache.
When he opened the door fully, he whispered a single word
"My God..."
Overd was slumped crookedly in his wooden chair.
His chest and neck were pierced by several stab wounds, without order or pattern.
Random... utterly