The Executioner

The whole town is waiting on the castle grounds. It was midday but the people’s thick clothes can’t stop them from freezing from the rainy weather. It had been raining for the last 10 years and everyone is praying now more than ever to the gods for a miracle. The light sprinkles of rain today is the best weather we ever had since. “Bow for the king!” the general exclaimed. He was a man of great physique. The scars on his face are tattoos of his victory. The king arrived from behind. The people bowed their heads in sincere respect. The king was an old man who, at first glance, carried a trace of power and authority. And to the people, the King was the chosen one from God. This is his future foretold by the sacred crystal after all. Today is this year’s 10th Execution Day. Every execution day happens every month after the full moon. And this is the reason why the people of Tripeak has gathered. 

I stood at the centre of this elevated wooden stage which was 10 feet off the ground and I could see the large number of people gathered who maintained a few meters of distance from the stage. The old priestess in her clothes of silk embroidered in gold threads appeared and rose up to the stage, carrying with her a crystal just around a foot in diameter covered in shiny and clear glass. In it, you can see swirling white clouds and specks of light. They say the crystal was a direct gift from God to tell the people his commands. It appeared in the crater formed after a small comet hit the east side of the mountain near Tripeak. For three centuries, people had worshipped this celestial stone and let it guide their own fates.

The priestess placed the orb in a short pedestal made of ivory. “Let them in.” the priestess ordered. 47 people were being led behind me, they were in a line side by side and the stage is big enough to show every one of them. They were the ones labelled as the Rejects, while I, I am the Executioner. This was all foretold by the crystal. When a child is born, they were presented in front of the crystal. The priestess will then read what is showed from the celestial orb. It could foresee their future and tells their role in the kingdom. The gardener, the soldier and even the king, all of their futures were foretold the moment they were born. Just as much as it tells what futures they hold, the crystal could also see when the person is to do a sin- maybe an act of treachery or theft or even as pity as telling a white lie. And to make sure that the kingdom is free of faults and to please the gods, the people who will do their foretold sin will pay with their life before the deed is done. They would then select the Rejects and the execution day they are to be judged. And that person who judges their life is me- the Executioner. But no one really has ever escaped the Execution Day and no one’s life has ever been spared- not even a five-year old kid. The Executioner, the King and the Priestess are the three greatest futures the kingdom has hailed. The Executioner is he who finishes God’s will which is why I wore the grandest clothes next to the king. My robe is made of white silk and ornaments of gold, my gloves are made of silver and my inner armour is also of gold and precious gems. One can never escape their fate. No one can ever be free. It was what everyone has accepted, even the Rejects. And you can’t hear no mourn, just a sigh of disappointment.

The ceremony began, and the Reject with the most grievous sin presented himself in front of me and bowed his head while kneeling down as though submitting his soul. But no one, no one ever really wants to die. If you looked closer, you’ll see fear in every Reject’s eyes. Being the one nearest to them, you’ll hear their heart beat so loud. You’ll see how they shiver. “Raise!”, the priestess ordered casually after she said the ceremony prayers. The people became so quiet that you could hear the defeaning sound of silence. I drew my sword up as the raindrops touched its tip. I have been the official executioner when I was 18, and I am not used to this job even after 35 years. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this either. 

I tightened my grip to not show how nervous I got. When I was 5, they already made me try to kill living beings. My heart screamed but no sound came from my mouth. The day I killed that innocent rabbit still hunts me. I then secretly raised rabbits on a secluded mountain to try to wash away the guilt. But the blood from my hands can never be washed off. I studied the bodies of living beings, both animals and people trying to understand how it worked and the hard work paid off. The next time I was tested to kill an animal, I was able to kill it. I was placed in a room with a live rabbit and they came back a few minutes later. There was no heartbeat, and they have assumed I strangled it to death. I begged them that I should be the one to bury the body as a sign of respect. But they never knew that what I did was give it a few dose of a poison that temporarily stops the heart. I am supposed to kill, but I don’t think so anymore and all I’ve wanted now is freedom. With time, I grew to love medicine and even poetry. However, when I became the official executioner, it was all for naught. No one can revive the decapitated. I cannot cheat fate, I cannot cheat that crystal. This hand that loved to cure and write poetry, is once again covered in blood.

With these thoughts, I gripped the sword tighter. I don’t want to do this. Ideas of escape kept swirling in my head. I want this to end. I don’t want to kill. Sweat covered every inch of me. But this is the fate I cannot escape. I want to escape! “Pass your judgment”, the priestess commanded. But all I could hear is the ringing in my ears. No! No more! Please don’t! Maybe the souls I have taken have all tried to come back for me, begging to stop my sword. I raised my sword higher. Then... there was a familiar voice. “Do you want to do this?Don’t you want to be free?”. Yes,  I remember now. The voices were not from the unrest souls. It was my voice. I hear it a lot when I try to shout to the mountains how I never wanted this purpose, how I wished for freedom. The echoes resonated my soul. 

Suddenly, my feet walked away from the Reject. Step by step, the creaks from my footsteps was all that could be heard. I approached to where the priestess was without putting my sword down. Nobody noticed when the rain stopped. But everyone noticed how the first ray of sunlight of 10 years touched my sword. And the next thing I heard are the gasps of the people of the kingdom. When I came to my senses, the orb that has been controlling our lives has been shattered in its pedestal. I dropped my sword. I didn’t use too much force. It was too fragile. The thing that has been holding us all these time is this easy to break. And the realization broke me into laughter. My laugh echoed through the castle walls- the kind of laugh I don't even understand. It was a mixture of grief, happiness, confusion and all other complicated emotions. As I stopped, I looked around me and saw all the different expressions the people made- especially the king. And I felt something drip from my hand. It was from the rain earlier, but it felt as though the blood from all the people I killed had been washed off. “This is my judgment. It is done!” I exclaimed before a thousand arrows rained on me. The last blood in my hand is my own. And nothing hurts anymore. I looked up at how the clouds parted and smiled. “At last, I’m free.” were the last words I parted with my last breath.