Helpless: Day 15

Word Total: 90,031

Year to Date: 595,239

Summary of Events:

Mikolaj and his fellow prisoners are placed onto two gallows, each with six nooses, but when the trap drops from beneath Mikolaj, he falls instead of hanging, and so do the others; they are then relieved of their nooses and directed to crawl through a tunnel — which Mikolaj finds terrifying — that takes them to a building where they're put in sacks and covered with potatoes before being loaded onto a wagon and taken on a long journey into the forest, where they emerge at the camp of the friends of the man in green, who feed them a tasty dinner before their leader addresses Mikolaj and his fellow prisoners . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

“Greetings,” the man said. “My name is Dobrosław, and these are my Swięty Rycerz.”

In accordance with the man’s gesture, Mikolaj surveyed the men in green who remained gathered around, most of whom looked to be tending to the cleanup of the meal which they’d all just enjoyed.

“It is our belief that Lasnaród is suffering in the throes of injustice and immorality, precipitated by decades of negligence within the house of the Wódz Książę, and, previously, the Książę,” Dobrosław said. “Thus, it is our goal to see justice and morality return to Lasnaród, that peace, prosperity, and success might flourish within our fair borders once more.”

A twinge of scepticism rose in Mikolaj, and a glance down the line of his cellmates showed it was not merely within him, but there were others who were thinking of the conduct of the man in green who’d been their cellmate and wondering what exactly Dobrosław and his Swięty Rycerz envisioned.

“I was told you were all convicted unjustly,” Dobrosław said, looking and sounding a touch bemused. “Why do you not look gladdened at what I have said? Do you not want justice?”

“We do,” the new man said. “But we must also add that your man who was among us was rather an unflattering emissary for your cause.”

“That does not surprise me,” Dobrosław said. “He is not strong in his self-discipline.”

“So, then, you mean to say that you want true justice and morality?” the new man asked. “You do not mean to hold others to a higher standard than you yourself seek to maintain?”

“No,” Dobrosław replied. “It would be unfair of me to do so, for if I cannot do it, how can I expect others to do so?”

Several of Mikolaj’s cellmates nodded, looking pleased by Dobrosław’s words, but Mikolaj still felt wary, and he couldn’t really say why.

“It would, thus, be reasonable for us to expect that you would engage in advocacy efforts when it comes to seeing our names cleared of the unjust charges which were brought against us, and led to our being on the cusp of death this afternoon, until you and your men so graciously liberated us?” one of the men asked critically.

“Of course,” Dobrosław replied. “True justice doesn’t convict innocents.”

If he was honest, Mikolaj felt surprised at the pleasure some of his cellmates expressed. As much as he wanted to have his name be cleared, or even be able to be sentenced to something more along the lines of giving an appropriate recompense to the Wojewoda for the slaughter of his bull, Mikolaj still didn’t feel like he trusted associates of the man who had addressed him with such appalling vulgarity as the man in green had to be the sort of help he wished to have in such an effort.

Pronunciations:

Dobrosław: dawbrawswahv

Rycerz: rihtserz

I will be taking a summer break again this year, so look for the next post on 31 July.