“Rusted Sword”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

The last time that Vocksin had been so terrified had been when he had been discovered sneaking pastries into his room past bedtime. Of course, the consequence back then had been only temporary starvation.

How Vocksin wished that he had been caught stealing pastries again. He would’ve gladly gone to bed hungry for months to avoid this fate.

“Hey, you, get up!”

Vocksin’s vision spun as a large hand collided with the side of his head. In that moment, just like every other moment of his life, he wished he had his brother’s confidence. Tandrim would’ve stood up, looked the man in the eye, and demanded how he dared hit a prince.

Vocksin, on the other hand, kept his head down as he stood, shoulders hunched and fingers trembling.

“What a wimp,” the man scoffed. He threw a rust-covered sword at Vocksin’s feet. “Go,” he spat. “It’s your turn.”

There was no greater insult than being handed a weapon as a prisoner. If a prisoner could be trusted with a weapon, it just showed how little their captor thought of them and their abilities. Vocksin wished that he was acting like a scared child rather than being the scared child. He wished that this man didn’t trust him with a sword.

Still, Vocksin slowly bent and wrapped his fingers around the sword’s hilt. Somehow, even the hilt was covered in rust; Vocksin supposed the weapon was so used that the fabric covering had been completely rubbed off. Either that, or these captors really cared so little that they hadn’t even wasted money on the fabric coverings in the first place.

“Get!” the man shouted, using the hilt of his own sword to shove Vocksin toward the door.

He stumbled toward the light, all his energy dedicated to making sure he didn’t run himself through with the spike of rust in his hand.

Final Comments: I had trouble with the wording of this one. I’m not sure whether it feels too formal or whether I’m still not fully comfortable writing in this style.

Overall Rating: 😣