THE WIEKTS

At the end, I didn’t go to the King. I didn’t go anywhere outside the little town that was my hometown, in fact. I continued to stay in the house, doing whatever Father wanted me to do. I didn’t meet with Ila anymore. Just as she expected, Father and Mother heard about her involvement in the rebellion and forbade me to meet her ever again. I obeyed. I knew that it would only bring more trouble for the poor girl so, even though I still loved her dearly as my best friend, I didn’t see her any longer. But I hoped that she would know that I still thought of her as my best friend. I didn’t want to do this but Father wouldn’t give me any choice. So I did what I needed to survive. I would go out of Proscris and changed my life. But I couldn’t do it if I didn’t get Father’s trust first. That was why I waited. I waited for the perfect time to execute my plan.

I understood completely that people would see my action as a betrayal to the family, but I couldn’t let myself be dragged down by the society. Especially after Father got the letter from Thoar saying that he would stay in Skeistl and left everything behind. The news only strengthened my resolve to get out of the Kingdom. Even my brother who was just like Father could see that living a fulfilling life was more important than being chained by the customs and traditions here. I didn’t think that those were bad, but sometimes people needed to change for the better while change was the thing that couldn’t be accepted by the people here in Proscris. I wouldn’t be one of that people. I was sorry for Father and Mother because in the end, all of their sons disappointed them, but I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, live under the burden that the people gave me. With that resolve in mind, I started my plan. I gained Father’s trust.

“Father, I’m going to the farm.” I said to him. Nowadays, all he did was lounging around the house. The blow of Thoar’s leaving the Kingdom was the hardest for him. Thoar was Father’s favorite son, aside from Hart. Since Hart died, this was the second time that I saw him as if he was dead to the world. The disappointment and confusion were clear on his face.

“Hmm.” He responded quietly while staring at nothing in particular.

“Bye, Father.”

I left. I took all the excuse that I could get to get out of the house. The house was full with sadness. Mother was crying all the time, and when she wasn’t crying, she started to sob quietly. Father was like an empty shell. I feared that he would end up like Roan, sometimes, because he would look at the ceiling or the sky — when he was sitting outside the house — and did nothing for a long time. Only when people greeted him would he acknowledged them and even then he would only grace them with short answers. If I thought about their condition, I felt like such a cruel son to leave them behind for my own freedom and dream. My duty was supposed to be for them who had raised me since I was a kid. But then again, my heart warred with my mind, and for now, my mind won.

“Hey, Oarn. How were your parents?” asked one of the farmers.

I had reached the farm nearest to our house and started to distribute the day’s wage to them as always. I had been doing it for quite a long time now and the farmers had been warming up to me.

“They’re grieving, but they’ll be fine, I think.” I answered the farmer.

He smiled and nodded in agreement. “Yes, your father will be just fine. He’s a strong man. I don’t know about your mother, though. She seemed so fragile. Take a good care of her, Oarn.”

“I know, Sir. I will.”

And then I continued to give the rest of the farmers’ wages. After I was done with this farm, I moved onto the next. During my trip, a lot of people stopped me to ask about my parents. I knew that they meant well, but I gritted my teeth when I heard them spoke with a murmur behind my back when they thought I wasn’t listening to them.

“Those Wiekts were once a respected family here,” one of them said.

“To be acquainted with them was an honor, but now, look at them. They’re ruined because of the sons.” Another spoke to the first one.

“Arn and Lianne must’ve done something wrong to have such ungrateful and vile children.” That was the last person that I heard because after that I walked quickly and left them and their ill comments about my family.

I gritted my teeth and balled my hands in a tight fist to contain my anger. They knew nothing of my family and yet they dared speak as if they knew the problems! They were all just a bunch of nosy people who make everyone’s business their own. In fact, almost all of the people here were like that. I hated it and I hated how they acted. It wasn’t their business. I walked even quicker in my anger and annoyance to those people. Once I reached the farm furthest from my house, I gave the farmers their wages for the day quickly and went home. I didn’t bother to engage anyone who stopped me to ask about my parents anymore because I knew that they were all just pretending. Once I got into the house, I closed the front door and leaned heavily on it. Mother saw me and approached me.

“Oarn? What happened?” asked her, worried.

“Nothing, Mother. Just the people, they…” I lost my words as to how to tell her about what happened. “…they talked.”

She sighed. “Of course they do, dear. People do nothing else. What did they say?”

“They said things about our family, Mother.”

“Oh, sure they do. I mean, with all that has happened to us, I couldn’t say I’m surprised.”

“But, Mother. They shouldn’t! They know nothing!”

“Oarn.” She said with a deep sigh. “You can’t tell people how to act.”

“Really? But apparently they can tell us how to act.” I said with sarcasm dripping in my voice. I had never talked about this with either my parents and now I blurted it out because I was too angry to contain it any longer.

“That’s the reality, dear. As long as the problem wasn’t in your family or on yourself, it’s easy for you to tell people how to act in those situations.”

“But, Mother, it’s not fair.”

“I know, Oarn. I know. But that’s life. Life isn’t fair most of the time.”

I was silenced. I couldn’t respond simply because I knew that what Mother said was right. I was rather stunned though. I had never talked like this with her and now after I did — even though it was very brief — I found that she was just as intelligent as Father or even more so. I was wandering why she submitted so readily to Father’s whim.

“Mother,” I called her softly.

“Yes, dear?”

“Why do you obey Father so much? You know that he isn’t always right, don’t you?”

“I do know that, Oarn. But I’m his wife. I should obey him and respect him. No matter if I was supposedly ‘more’ than him. He is the head of this family and I want you to remember that, always. Respect him.”

“But what if he was the reason to Hart’s death, Roan’s madness, and Thoar’s decision to leave Proscris, Mother? Will you still respect him then?”

I was so sure that she would be shocked and demanded for an explanation from me about the claims that I made towards Father. But what she did, instead, shock me. She didn’t even blink or think before she looked me in the eye and answered me without a waver in her voice.

“Yes.”

“But —,” I gaped, trying to find some words to form.

“He’s my husband and even though you, more often than not, think that he was a monster or sorts, he wasn’t. He’s still a human. And humans make mistakes. Yes, he was perhaps too demanding at times, but try to think of it this way. He was only trying to make all of you to be better people.”

“But, it’s too hard on us, Mother. And the impact to our lives! Hart died, Mother.” I was exasperated. Why couldn’t she see reason?

“Look, Oarn. Try to forgive him. He blamed himself too, you know, for all that happened. Even though he forbade us all from saying your brothers’ names in this house, but did he disown them? No. He forgave them at the end. And by not disowning them, he also takes responsibility for their failures. If only he disowned all of your brothers, people won’t talk about our family, Oarn. They’ll talk about your brothers. Do you understand me?”

“Father has such a strange way to show that he has forgiven them.”

“He’s just not used to expressing himself, Oarn.” She said and then hugged me tightly. “Just, promise me something, son.”

“What, Mother?”

“If you have something in your mind, tell us. Please don’t shut us out from your life even though you don’t really like us as your parents. First Hart, and then Roan, and now Thoar, the blows were too hard. Please, son, talk to us.”

I was once again stunned. Did she know of my plan to go to Erzieg no matter what happened? I didn’t think so, but my heart beat faster at the thought. I was so close to reaching my dream. I had gotten information that a group of merchants were coming here. They were from Elesia, but they were planning on going to Erzieg after they finished their business here. I was planning to go with them. But the talk with Mother made me thought about it once again. Even though I had made up my mind before, this talk made me doubt myself again. Could I really leave this house and this family behind? Without saying anything to them? Just went to Erzieg suddenly and sent a letter just like what Thoar did? I needed to think and decide soon, because the merchants would come soon enough.

“Alright, Mother. I promise.” I said finally, returning her hug. She smiled, kissed me on the cheek and went back to the kitchen to prepare dinner. I went back to my room first to nap for a while and more importantly, to think.

As I reached my room, I closed the door and sat on the bed. What Mother just said came back to the forefront of my mind. I tried to see the matter like the way she saw it. But I did understand. She saw the matter from Father’s point of view, the one that he had never revealed to us, his sons. But no matter whether it was true or not, that conversation with Mother brought me to a new decision. Especially that last one when she made me promise to talk to her and Father if there was anything in my mind. I couldn’t go on with my previous plan without disregarding my promise towards Mother. And I couldn’t do that. No matter how I wanted to just go to Erzieg without ever telling them anything, I couldn’t. Because I made a promise to my own mother. And so, I decided to tell them about my plan on tonight’s dinner, no matter what the outcome would be. I would leave with the merchants when the time came. I would honor my promise to Mother and at the same time, I would honor my brother’s wish.

“Oarn. The dinner’s ready,” called Mother from the dining room.

I sighed to prepare myself and went to the dining room. I greeted them both and sat on my usual chair — beside Father and in front of Mother. We ate in silence. When we finished eating, I knew that I couldn’t postpone the talk any longer. So, I took a deep breath and called them to get their attention.

“Father, Mother. I have something to tell you.” I said to them. Mother looked at me with confusion and Father just stared blankly.

“What, Oarn?” asked Mother.

“I’m going to Erzieg, Mother, Father.”

Mother gasped and Father started to show the sign of following the conversation. Thank goodness. I needed him to hear what I had to say. I drew another deep breath and continued.

“Mother, you told me to promise that I would tell you and Father if I have something in my mind. And so, I’m doing it now. Please, listen to me first.” I explained. “I have always wanted to be a teacher since I was a little kid. You may not know this, but I learned how to read and write since a long time ago. I learned it from the merchants. That’s why I wanted to go to Erzieg. It’s because I wanted to get the best training that I can get to help me be a good teacher.”

“I thought I told you to stop talking about this, Oarn,” said Father. I was expecting some kind of a cold anger from him, but it wasn’t there. His voice seemed to be devoid of any emotion. I couldn’t guess what was in his mind.

“Yes, Father. I know. But I can’t just forget my dream just because you told me not to talk about it. This is my dream, Father and I’m going with or without your permission.”

“Oarn!” Mother gasped.

“Yes, Mother. I’m going to Erzieg. The next time the merchants from Elesia were in town, I’m going to go with them because they’re going to Erzieg after coming here. I’m going to study there.”

“What about money? With what money will you study there? I assume that it will surely cost you much money,” said Father, still with his emotionless tone.

“I’ll manage. I can get some work once I’m there to support myself. And for the initial entrance, I’ve saved some money from working with you in the farm all these time. I will do whatever I need to do, Father. I’m not going to live my life in regret like Hart,” I said and paused seeing Father’s eyes glint with something once I mentioned Hart’s name. “Yes, Father. I don’t want to regret things like Hart or worse, like Roan. I wanted to be like Thoar who can get what he wanted and be happy.”

“Thoar is a not a good example, Oarn. You don’t just run away from your parents like that,” said Mother. “It’s disrespectful. Will you live your life knowing that you’ve disrespected your own parents?”

“No, Mother. You’re right.”

“See, Oarn. That’s why —,” she started to speak but I cut her.

“That’s why I’m telling you this, Mother. I realized, after our conversation before, that I don’t want to be like Thoar either. I want to be able to go there knowing that you give me your blessings. But if you don’t, I’m still going to go. I won’t live in guilt because I will notrun away without any news like Thoar. But I am going.”

“Oarn!” Mother gasped again.

Silence fell for a while before Father started to speak.

“I see that you’ve made your mind,” said Father.

“Yes, Father,” I said with full determination.

“I see.” He said then stopped. I was confused as to what that meant. Then, suddenly he continued. “Go then.”

I stared at him for a few seconds just trying to comprehend his words. What exited my mouth was, “What?”

He turned and looked at me. “You have my blessing. Go ahead and go to Erzieg.”

“Are you serious?” I asked him. This was unbelievable.

“Yes.” He said. He looked serious. He sounded serious.

“Arn, are you sure? Who will take care of the farm then?” asked Mother. She looked just as confused as me. “You’ve been preparing him to take over your farm.”

“I can always give the farm to one of my trusted farmers. They know all the things there is to know about it. I’m sure they can do well,” explained Father calmly.

“Father, what changed your mind?” I asked him.

He looked at me straight in the eyes and for the first time I was seeing my father. Really and truly seeing him. He looked weary and old. All these times until now, I didn’t see him as old. He was always so strong and powerful. Now, he just looked defeated and tired.

“I’ve lost three sons. Do you want me to lose another one?”

That was all he said and that was all the explanation that I needed. What Mother said was right. Father did love all of us, his sons. I couldn’t help the wetness in my eyes to start trickling down my cheek at that simple question. It was so simple and yet it was not. It was perfect.

“And then what happened?” I asked the Professor. He looked as if he was still lost in that memory. My question seemed to bring him back from that memory. Once he was back, he turned at me and smiled.

“Then Oarn went with the merchants to Erzieg, of course. There was no more news or information about the movement. It seemed like they simply vanished into thin air. Perhaps there was more to it than that, but we wouldn’t know, would we?” he smiled.

“Then what about his parents?”

“He was starting to be close to them. He even tried to make his parents forgive his brother, Thoar. But, his parents died when he was studying to be a teacher,” he explained.

“What happened to Ila?” I asked, breathlessly. I hoped that what I think happened would really happen in the story.

“She and Oarn met again after he became a successful teacher in Erzieg. He came back to Proscris, married her, and has a son whom they raised with so much love. They named him Arn just like his father’s name. And with Oarn’s teaching through the new academy he founded, the society in Proscris finally could accept the change that he fought for when he was young. And the change brought us to the new Kingdom that you stayed in right now. But you know all of this already, if you paid any attention in your School History class in the chapter where they talked about the founders of this academy. You did pay attention, didn’t you?” asked the Professor, narrowing his eyes.

I grinned at him and winked. He laughed and rumpled my hair. He stood up and motioned me to stand with him and walk together. I followed him.

“Come, it’s late. Let’s go home,” said the Professor.

“Alright.” I said cheerfully.

I fell into steps beside him and we walked together. It was such a nice story. So nice that I couldn’t stop listening to it just once. But I was sure that he wouldn’t mind to repeat it as much as I wanted him too. That was just the way he was. He was such a funny guy, Professor Arn Wiekt. My father.