The promise

The starry sky was all that could be seen that night in the field. It was a beautiful landscape: the field extended to the green hills, the wind made the soft murmur of the grass and the sky covered everything like a blanket. Emma and her twin brother always liked to lie on the roof of their cabin every night to admire the stars and play at guessing which figures made up those little points of light.

    “It is a rabbit.”

    “It's a dog.”

    “Rabbit.”

    “Dog.”

    “Rabbit!”

    “Yeah, sure, it is whatever you say then.”

    Emma sat up and glared at her brother, not that it bothered her to be right, but she hated that Sebastian gave in because she was the youngest. He looked at her with a mischievous smile on his face, challenging her to reproach him for something, since that would imply that Emma was not content with having won the little argument. Instead of saying something, she let the air out dramatically.

    “To be fourteen, you are a nuisance.” She said as she leaned back on the wooden planks on the roof.

    “Nuisance?” He asked with feigned innocence. “That's an unpopular opinion, little sister. Many girls find me totally charming.”

    “Well, practically their options are the cattle or you. Although I'd personally prefer the cattl– Ow!” Emma exclaimed when her brother pinched her nose. “Sebastian!”

    “You would rather leave this place than anything,” he told her, ignoring her complaints.

    “Exactly, all I want is to get out of here,” she replied looking into his brother's dark eyes, the same as hers. “With you, obviously” she added, taking his hand.

    Sebastian didn't look at her, but he smiled and squeezed his twin's hand.

    “Of course we'll be leaving here together, Emma. You're my other half, I can't even remember a time when we weren't together and I don't want to imagine a time when we are not.” He was silent for a moment, his gaze still fixed on the sky. “Sometimes I think we are like those stars,” he finally said.

    Emma frowned in surprise, definitely not expecting that comment.

    “Why do you say that?”

    “They go out every night to light up the sky without fail and they may seem separate from each other, but they are not. They are always together, none of them is alone, they are like a family, they are like us. We are never separate because we are part of the other. You are part of my own entity, from here to eternity. Even when death does us part, we will meet again, and together we will be part of this same starry sky. It is a promise.”

    Emma was speechless at what he had just said, she knew what it meant for them to live in that field, living as slaves to their feudal lord, and being orphans. But that he had hope in a world where the two of them could live in freedom, made her feel that same hope in her chest, a warm sensation that she was infinitely grateful for.

    “It's time to go to sleep,” Sebastian announced, sitting up and offering Emma a hand to get up. “Tomorrow will be a long day, we must gather the harvest.”

    Emma sighed and accepted the hand her brother offered her, they walked carefully down the tiles and down to the ground, shaking the ground with their bare feet. They entered the cabin in silence and they both threw themselves on their straw cots. The dream quickly seized Emma, ​​causing her to dream of a greenfield bordered by a lake; in the dream, she ran from Sebastian, who was chasing her with an insect in his hand to annoy her. She could clearly feel the warmth of the sun on her dark skin and the wind whipping her hair behind her, she could even still hear the echo of her brother's laugh when a voice woke her up.

    “Emma, ​​wake up,” the voice said softly.

    She spluttered something and turned away from the insistent voice.

    “Emma, ​​there is fire!” The voice exclaimed.

    That made her sit up at once and frantically look around the cabin for fire. But what she found instead was her brother, dressed in his work clothes and folded in two, laughing heartily. She wanted to get mad at him but decided it wasn't worth it, instead, she started dressing in her work clothes: a simple white blouse and a long skirt made of stiff and rough brown fabric; finally she tied her hair in a pair of tight braids.

    Sebastian offered her a piece of bread and they headed for the door, putting on their straw hats, picking up their baskets and work tools. The day passed naturally: they went with the foreman to report with the other farmers and both went to the fields, which were adorned with yellow flags with a class of two-headed black eagle, to harvest the berry crops. The feudal lord was a fan of this fruit, so he made the workers plant them constantly. 

    It was late afternoon when Emma gathered the last berries from her section while Sebastian plowed the soil and planted more seeds. These looked appetizing, puffed up, and glowing red and purple circles amidst the entire green and gold landscape of the field, caused by the evening lighting. She was so immersed in her thoughts that she did not realize that she began to pick up some small black fruits and put them in the basket next to her, mistaking herself for the purple berries.

    “Emma!” His brother exclaimed.

    She blinked and looked at her brother, still wearing his straw hat to avoid the sun, but the heat had already made him sweat, causing his white shirt to stick to his body. He was looking at her worried and with a tense body.

    “What’s the matter?”

    Sebastian looked around cautiously to see that there was no watchman nearby, he approached her and slapped the berries in her hands.

    “Those are fruits of belladonna,” he explained through clenched teeth. “They are poisonous, they could blame you for attempted murder, make sure there is no more in your basket.”

    Hastily Emma took out a scarf from her skirt and began to separate the fruits of belladonna, this was easy since they were darker than the normal berries; It was about to end when the neighing of a horse made her tense. He turned, letting prayers to the sky not to meet what was feared, but the sky was not in her favor that day. He came across a white horse with a mane silkier and more combed than his own hair, ridden by a rider dressed in a red velvet raincoat with gold clasps, black pants and boots, and an extravagant hat with a white feather: the feudal lord. 

    Emma could see that Sebastian was also tense and was getting a little closer to her, pretending to be pulling the weeds. What was the feudal lord doing there? He rarely visited the fields, and when he did, nothing good turned out. Quickly Emma put the scarf with the belladonna in her skirt and they both focused on continuing to do their work so as not to attract attention when a shout made all the workers stop their work and look.

    “Lazy!” Bellowed the feudal lord's voice. “I don't want such a slow worker, you will only delay my crops!”

    Emma looked up and saw a girl curled up on the floor, trying to protect herself as best as possible from the feudal lord's lashes. Emma felt a spark of rage at that scene.

    Coward. She thought. Hitting a helpless girl with a whip was cowardly, there was no doubt that the feudal lord was a completely rotten human being due to his greed and hunger for power. The girl he was beating had far more human worth than that man, the world would be better off without someone like him–

    “Emma, ​​no.” Her brother said, taking her firmly by the wrist.

    She blinked and it was when she realized she had got up and had taken a couple of steps towards the scene; a completely suicidal impulse. She had no chance of reaching the feudal lord. She bit the inside of her cheeks and knelt down to continue her work, feeling that helplessness invaded her. She hated not being able to raise her voice to the injustices she witnessed daily, hated that her only option was to just look away and pretend that nothing was happening if only she could do something–– her thoughts stopped at the fruits of belladonna.

    “They are poisonous” his brother had said, and they looked like normal fruits, no one would notice the difference. She didn't even stop to think about it anymore, took the handkerchief that she had kept in her skirt, and returned the fruits that she had put to the basket, stirring them with the other berries.

    “Everybody up!” Screamed the feudal lord's voice. “Put your baskets before me!”

    “You heard, slags,” replied the foreman's voice. “Move!”

    Emma and Sebastian hastily got up and headed towards the circle of people and baskets that were surrounding the feudal lord. Due to how far they were, Emma's basket was one of the last; as she approached to lay her on the ground, she tried not to look up to get away, but the feudal lord's gloved hand gripped her wrist, forcing her to look up.

    “Look your lord in the eye when you approach him, young lady.” He said running a lascivious glance over Emma's body.

    She contracted with disgust but had to force herself to keep an impassive expression.

    “Yes, sir,” he muttered.

    The man released her and she quickly scoured the crowd to return to her brother, who discreetly took her hand in a protective gesture. The feudal lord followed his gray eyes to Emma and when their eyes met, he gave her a smile that pretended to be mischievous, but for the young woman it turned out to be sinister and cold.

    “Foreman Kadir,” called the feudal lord. “Bring me that basket,” he said pointing to Emma's basket.

    She tightened instantly, Sebastian began to run her hand with his thumb, confusing her tension with the anxiety that the feudal lord had pointed her out. In no way did Sebastian imagine what Emma had done, she had done an impulsive and foolish act, she had not thought about the consequences.

    The foreman took the basket and approached the feudal lord with it, holding it out to him, but he shook his head.

    “Take what you want and eat, Foreman. It must have been an exhausting day today.”

    The foreman hesitated a few moments before shoving four handfuls of dark and red berries into his mouth. Then he placed the basket on the floor with a gesture of satisfaction and turned away from the feudal lord with a slight bow.

    “Thank you, my lord. His goodness knows no limits.”

    The man dismissed the comment with a wave of his hand and addressed his horse.

    “Load the harvest and take it to my estate” he ordered, mounting his horse.

    The foreman opened his mouth to say something, but nobody knew what he was going to say because at that moment he fell to the ground like a dead animal. They all seemed to have frozen in their places and the color completely left Emma's face, she suddenly found herself clinging to Sebastian, who had already wrapped his arms around her and whispered reassuring words to her. But Emma was only able to see the foreman's limp body.

    The feudal lord dismounted his horse with a cold smile. He approached the body and turned it over with his foot without any decorum. The foreman's face was frozen in a puzzled grimace, all the color had left his face and white foam came out of his mouth. The lord's gray eyes scanned the crowd, searching for a face, and Emma knew exactly who he was looking for. When his eyes fell on her there was a wicked amusement in them.

    “You,” hissed the man. “You did it, you wanted to kill me” he declared.

    Emma felt her stomach drop to her feet, she was barely aware that she had started digging her nails into Sebastian's arm. Which looked at her with a complete expression of alarm.

    “My lord,” Sebastian began, “I am sure there has been a mistake–”

    “Shut up!” The feudal lord ordered. “I'm not talking to you, peasant. I know very well what is harvested in my fields and I sent to plant a certain hook to get rid of those treacherous rats who dared to belittle everything I gave them.” He plucked Emma from Sebastian's arm. “And it seems that the first one has already fallen.”

    Emma was totally frozen, her ability to react had suddenly gone out as if her bravery was a candle that the cold wind had just cruelly extinguished. The feudal lord raised his whip, ready to strike her, all Emma could do was shrug and close her eyes to await the blow–– a blow that never came. She opened her eyes and found the man's hand halfway to hit her, but a firm brown hand stopped him. Emma knew that hand well.

    “Don't touch my sister, you damn coward.” Sebastian's firm voice exclaimed.

    On the man's face was a genuine expression of surprise, which was quickly replaced by one of pent-up anger.

    “Well, the second rat is out,” he said dismissively. “The two of you will receive their punishment, pair of brats.”

    “My sister had nothing to do, I put those berries in your basket in the hope that you would die. Such a scum of a man does not deserve to live in this world.” The look of Sebastian was firm and fierce, Emma knew that the berry was a lie, but there was also truth in his words: Sebastian also believed that this man was the worst.

    “Brother–” Emma started to say but was silenced by her brother's furious gaze.

    “Even if it was just you, you know what the punishment is,” the man replied in a cold voice.

    “I know and accept it, I prefer that to be here one more day.”

    This time Emma felt her heart go out of her mouth, those words had dropped like a bucket of cold water. The punishment for trying to harm the feudal lord was death.

    The following events passed like a flash, the flash of a horrible nightmare in which she could do nothing: Sebastian pushed Emma against one of the workers, who held her tightly as she kicked and screamed for her brother. The feudal lord took Sebastian by the arm and led him to a hill where a large tree with thick branches stood and a rope hung from one of them.

    Two guards put up a barrel so that Sebastian's neck reached the rope. They had all gathered around the tree while watching with grim faces what was happening. For her part, Emma, ​​who had lost her voice from so much screaming, watched the scene helplessly and with hot tears slipping down her face. One of the watchers was reading the Bible, asking for forgiveness of his brother's soul; that seemed too cruel a joke to Emma. That soul that required forgiveness was that of the man who was about to take his dear brother's life.

    The worker continued to hold her tightly, preventing her from going to Sebastian, who rested his dark eyes on her. The last thing her brother did was smile sweetly at her, the smile he had so long outlined to calm her down when she got scared. The feudal lord kicked the barrel hard and Emma had the impression that she would never forget the cracking of her brother's neck when breaking, she fell to her knees to the ground, without a hint of energy in her being.

    “Tomorrow I will come to pick you up, little lump,” said the voice of her brother's murderer, Emma was hardly aware that he had approached her. “I am sure I can give you the comfort you need now.” Having said this, he left on his horse for the estate.

    By decree, his brother's body had to remain hanging from that tree for three days so that no worker would rebel again. so it was no use Emma staying there. He got up and walked sleepily to his cabin, with the stars witnessing his grief. When she reached the door, she was frozen, since in front of it was her basket filled with belladonna fruits: a gesture from the feudal lord.

    She took the basket and went up to the roof, where the night before she had been happily lying with Sebastian. She looked at the stars and his brother's voice came to her head:

    “We are like those stars, they come out every night to light up the sky. They are always together, none of them is alone, they are like a family, they are like us. Even when death does us part, we will meet again, and together we will be part of this same starry sky. It is a promise.”

    “A promise I am going to keep, brother,” said Emma, ​​eating the fruits of the basket.

    She wasn't sure what the future had in store for her after that night, but she was sure of one thing: she wasn't willing to live in a world without her twin, without the other half of her soul. The last thing she saw before life left her body was the image of the stars shining in the night sky with the promise that they would reunite her with her brother in that clear, deep blue, starry sky.