THE WIEKTS

Thoar Wiekt was a proud and stubborn man. The most stubborn from the rest of the Wiekt brothers, some might even say. He was the closest in character to his father, Arn Wiekt. People slightly feared him because of his blunt nature in making his opinion known to the people around him, especially towards his friends, family, and enemies. However, his closest friends swore that he was the most generous man they had ever met. No matter what people thought of him, he strode — yes, he always strode — the town with his head held high. That was one of the things that made the townspeople felt slightly intimidated when they saw him. But it was the general consensus that he was a respectable — though sometimes feared — young man and the most eligible bachelor in town now.

The most eligible bachelor in town was not something that was important for Thoar Wiekt. Oh yes, his face was so beautiful, chiseled with strong jaw and prominent nose. And then there was the matter of his extremely well built body. It wasn’t overly muscled that would make him look bulky, no, he was more on the lean side, but no one would be able to mistake him for a scrawny or weak person. His well-built body was earned from his years of practice in order to be one of the King’s soldiers in the Capital. And so, it wasn’t so surprising that young women in town would swoon and fawn all over him when he walked passed them. But, alas, it wasn’t something that was important for him. Nothing else mattered for the young man except his training and now, his job as the trusted Captain of the King’s army.

Now as he was preparing for his long voyage with the King himself, he was allowed to take a few days off to visit and say his goodbyes and see-you-laters to his family and friends in his hometown. And so, here he was, back in his hometown after years living in the Capital to be the King’s army. It had been two years since he came back home. Now, he was standing in front of his father’s house, waiting for whomever home to open the door for him. Then, when he raised his arm to knock once again, the door was opened.

“Thoar!” exclaimed his mother. She proceeded to circle her hands around his neck and pulled him into her embrace.

“Mother,” said Thoar. “I’m home.”

“Lianne! Who is it?” shouted someone from the house. By the grumbling tone in the voice, Thoar could safely assume that it was his father.

“It’s Thoar, Arn!” shouted Lianne Wiekt back at her husband and then she turned to look at him and once again pulled him into her tight embrace. “Look at you,” she sighed. Her eyes looked positively dreamy. “You look absolutely dashing, Thoar.” Then she shed her eyes and sniffed.

“Come on, Mother. Don’t cry,” Thoar said while drying his mother’s eyes.

His mother laughed and nodded. “You’re right. Silly me. I shouldn’t cry. Come, come. Come inside and meet your father. You know that he will never go out here to meet you by himself.”

Thoar gave her a small laugh and followed her inside. Just like what he expected, his father sat in his favorite chair nearest to the warm hearth. He looked gaunt and tired, but Thaor knew that his father could still teach him a thing or two about fighting even in his old age. One year ago, a message came from his family saying that his father’s health was declining. His father was struck by some illness that really takes a toll on his body. Now, a year after, he was still recuperating with the visible marks from his struggle against the sickness, but he was healthy now and that was all that mattered for Thoar.

“Father,” greeted Thoar.

“Thoar, Son,” grunted his father.

“How are you feeling, Father?”

“Like hell.”

Thoar laughed, because that was his father’s response to almost every question regarding his health that was thrown at his way. He hated people who pitied him, but he grew tired at trying to ward off people who visited the house to wish him well, so he gave them the answer that they expected to hear instead.

“How are you feeling, really, Father?” asked Thoar again.

Arn Wiekt gave his son a small smile then. “I’m fine, son. Just fine.”

Thoar gave him a small smile then. He knew that behind all those grumpy façade that he put on his face, his father was actually a very good man. And so, he was never fooled by his father’s attitude.

“What are you doing here, son? Aren’t you supposed to protect the King or whatsoever now that you’ve been made Captain of the King’s army?” asked his father.

Thoar smiled and took a seat beside the man. “Let’s wait for Mother, shall we?”

As expected, his father grumbled and bellowed, “Lianne! Come here!”

His mother ran from the kitchen after hearing his father’s booming voice. “What happened? Do you need something?” she asked, slightly out of breath.

“No,” answered his father. “Thoar wanted to tell us something. Sit here for a while and then you can go back to whatever you were doing in the kitchen.”

“Oh, why don’t you say so then? No need to shout,” chided his mother.

Seeing their banter, Thoar couldn’t help but smile again. It was normal. After years of misery and sadness caused by his two older brothers, now he could see his parents happy again. He used to grow up admiring his eldest brother, Hart, but then his father told him that Hart died because of illness in the battlefield. At that time, Thoar was old enough to understand the meaning of death and life, but what he didn’t understand was why his father looked so upset about Hart’s death. And so, little Thoar asked him about it.

“Thoar, your brother Hart is dead,” said his father.

He was practicing his swordsmanship at that time. He was standing and trying out a new move that he learned from the other kids in the town when his father went out of the house, called him, and told him that horrible news. He was so shocked hearing the news of his brother’s death because Hart had always been his favorite brother.

“How, Father?” he found himself asking his father for any information regarding his brother’s death. He wanted to know what could possibly kill his oldest brother.

“You don’t need to know how or why. Just know that he’s dead and you or anybody else in this house is not allowed to even mention his name, you understand?!” yelled his father.

“But, why?”

“Because your brother is a disgrace for the family!”

And right after shouting that, Arn Wiekt turned his way into the house and slammed the door so hard that Thoar flinched and dropped his wooden sword. He didn’t understand what his father meant by that at that time, but as time went by he finally knew what happened to his once-favorite brother. As he found out about the truth behind Hart’s death, he cringed in shame and recoiled each time he thought about his big brother. He understood then why his father said that Hart was a disgrace. For a soldier to be weak enough so that he could lose to a mere illness was outrageous. It showed lack of training and determination to fight for their kingdom.

Losing Hart was hard for their family. His father went to work every morning, trying to conceal his embarrassment from his farmers and fellow friends in town. His mother didn’t dare to go out of the house because she was afraid that someone she knew would go to her and ask about his dead son and how he died. The situation in their house was so strained for so long. And then, to make matter worse, there was his other brother, Roan. Roan couldn’t keep one single work for more than a few days. He was constantly getting kicked out of his workplace. Thoar didn’t know why he couldn’t stay and commit himself to one occupation. Things started to look up for the family when his father decided to give his land to Roan in order to make him stop disgracing the family further by getting kicked out of another work. Not for long after that, the marriage happened, and everything went downhill once again for the Wiekts. Roan couldn’t cope with his life and lost his mind. Their father gave him up to the asylum in the outskirts of the town they lived in.

But everything had changed now. It had been several years after Roan’s incident. Thoar shivered with disgust every time he remembered his brother’s vacant face. He would never be like any of his brothers. He would bring his family the greatest honor that he could give them. And so, he joined the King’s army and his talent ensured him promotions that come so fast. Now, he was already a Captain of the King’s army.

“So, what would you like to tell us?” asked his father impatiently.

His father’s voice brought him back to the reality. He looked at his parents and their expectant faces. “Father, Mother, as you know, I have been promoted as Captain of the King’s army.”

“Yes, yes, we know all that,” cut his father.

“Let the boy speak, Arn,” said his mother.

“Fine,” grumbled his father.

“Go on, son. Tell us,” his mother said encouraging him.

“Yes, so, I’ve been made Captain and the King heard about my contribution to the last battle against the rebels, so he wanted me to accompany him in his next voyage.”

“That’s wonderful, Thoar!” exclaimed his mother. She stood up and once again pulled him into her embrace. He could feel her cheeks wet with happy tears.

“Your mother’s right, Thoar. I’m proud of you,” said his father from his seat near the fire.

“Actually, the voyage is soon and that’s one of the reasons why I came here. They gave me the chance to talk to my family before I leave the kingdom for I don’t know how long,” explained Thoar.

“How soon?” his mother asked, concerned. She didn’t have the chance to see her son too much these days, and because of his position as the King’s army, he was often dispatched to fight against the rebels, this made her worried constantly about his safety.

“Very soon, Mother. I need to go back to the Capital in two nights time. After that, I will be going with the other Captains to simple training in order to help us maintain our bearings on the sea. Right after, it’s the voyage,” explained Thoar.

“What’s the nature of this voyage, son?” asked his father.

“It’s a diplomatic visit, Father. The King wanted to strengthen the diplomatic alliance with the Queendom of Skeistl. The alliance between our kingdom and Skeistl was strained for a while because many of the member of that rebellious group go there, seeking for protection.”

“Ah, yes. I heard about that. Bah! I think you should just destroy that so-called organization for once and for all. They called themselves revolutionary, but I think they’re just a bunch of twisted idiots who wanted to rebel against the King,” yelled his father.

“I couldn’t agree more, Father. But the King didn’t want to just kill the rebels. He said that too much blood has been shed already,” said Thoar. “Sometimes, the King could be too soft on these people.”

“Now, now, let’s talk about the voyage and not about the politic behind it, please,” said Lianne Wiekt softly.

“Well, the voyage is actually a way to negotiate with the Queen of Skeistl regarding those heretics residing in her land. The King himself wanted to come and settle this matter. That’s why he wanted to do this voyage.”

They were silent for a while. Thoar glanced at his mother and saw her concern about his safety. He knew that every time he was dispatched by the King to go into battle against the rebels, his mother would be worried sick for him. But he couldn’t help it. This was his passion, to fight for his country and King, and to defend them from the enemies, including the ones coming from the people of the Kingdom itself. He knew that he was extremely good with his weapons and bare-hand that he had no worries about fighting these battles. He would survive. People called him arrogant, but Thoar Wiekt didn’t care. He was proud of his talent and he would gladly use it as a service to the King and this Kingdom. And so, sometimes he felt that his mother worry was too much, because surely there was nothing to worry about in the first place. Now, he was going to venture to a new land on a ship for quite a long time and his mother, once again, worried for him.

“Mother, you don’t need to worry so much. I’m one of the best knights that this Kingdom has ever had for centuries. Nothing bad will happen to me, especially not in this voyage. This isn’t a war, Mother. It’s just a simple voyage,” said Thoar, trying to calm his mother.

“How could I not worry, son? You’re my son. I will be constantly worried about your safety. Even more so now that I have lost two sons…” trailed his mother.

“Lianne!” barked his father. “Do not talk about that again. This is a happy occasion. Why do you have to bring that matter again?”

“Yes, Mother. Let’s not talk about that,” agreed Thoar. “Now, I have only two nights to spend here. I will go out to meet my fellow friends first, and then I’ll go back here and have dinner with both of you and Oarn.” Thoar stopped and thought about his youngest brother.

“If you’re thinking about your little brother, we don’t know where he is,” said his father.

“What? How come?” asked Thoar, confused.

“He often went out with his friends to god knows where and only come back late at night these days,” explained his mother.

Something in the story about his youngest brother didn’t sit well with Thoar. There was something more in the disappearance of his little brother. Thoar was sure that his parents didn’t know anything more, but knew that there must be something more to the matter. It wasn’t like Oarn to suddenly leave home with his friends until late at night. Now that he thought about it, these friends sounded suspicious too. Nevertheless, his brother was already an adult and he was capable enough to take care of himself without Thoar meddling in his affairs. And with the voyage so soon, Thoar didn’t have the time to think about this matter further. He simply let the matter go, said goodbye to his parents and went to the tavern to meet his friends, the matter of Oarn’s suspicious behavior and friends were gone from his mind.