Nicholas Taylor - Legon Awakening

Her voice was small but still irritating, like screeching metal. “Hello, is there anybody here?” As she spoke she looked around as if the shop was empty and Legon was not standing in front of her.

He grimaced and resigned himself to an unpleasant encounter, “Yes Moleth, we’re here. How are you today?”

“O-oh there you are,” she said with a nervous chuckle. “I was supposed to pick up some… hmmm… some meat.” As she spoke she looked around the shop noticing the knives and other sharp objects on the walls and shook her head disapprovingly.

“Well how else are we supposed to cut the meat you idiot?” he thought. Moleth was very odd and probably mad. He was already getting annoyed with her. She walked to the counter now and clasped onto it like Legon was going to pull it away from her. She started to speak but he cut her off.

“I’m just finishing up now, Moleth. The meat will be ready in just a moment.”

“Ah, oh well ok… ok I–I guess that works.” Her voice sounded confused and tired as if she was worried that Legon would do something to her; in truth she wasn’t worried at all. She was always like this. She fidgeted with her hands in a way that reminded him of a chipmunk. A fake smile played across her face.

“Why… why is it so late getting done? I am a paying customer after all, you know,” she started with a shaky but surprisingly accusatory voice.

Legon tried to cut her off. She continued to talk but he just spoke over her.

“Sorry Moleth, it will be done in a sec and you can be on your way.”

“She can’t hear you, you know?” said a voice inside his head. “She’s in her own world right now; she’ll be with you in a moment, not the other way around.” This was true. Moleth was prattling on about something completely unrelated to meat and seemed not to take notice that he’d spoken. After what seemed to be hours to Legon, Moleth registered what he’d said.

“Ah, so I take it you got off to a late start this morning?” She said this as if she had figured out the solution to some challenging riddle that he hadn’t solved yet. “Yes, I can see it in Edis’s eyes. He looks worried,” she said, growing more and more confident.

It was true. Edis did look worried. He was thinking about his daughter, and he seemed not to have noticed that Moleth was even in the shop. “Why does he always do this? He pretends that’s she’s not even here and I have to deal with her the whole time!” thought Legon bitterly. In the last few years Edis hadn’t said much of anything to her, and when Legon thought about it he wasn’t sure if his father had ever said anything to her at all. Legon knew that Edis did not approve of the way Moleth talked about his family, and he would have understood if his father had banned her from the shop or even gotten into fights with her, but he didn’t. Instead, it seemed that she just didn’t exist to him.

His attention was jerked back to Moleth. “It was that demon half-sister of yours, wasn’t it?” Moleth said knowingly.

She had apparently been born without the ability to figure out that you don’t say things like this about somebody’s sister. It was true that Sasha and Legon were not related by birth. Legon was by all accounts adopted, but they were still brother and sister. He felt his face flush.

“My sister is fine, Moleth,” he said through gritted teeth. His anger was rising fast.

She tittered. “Na, na she’s not, I’ve always said there’s something wrong with her, just you wait… not that it’s going to matter anyhow. The queen will be taking care of her soon, so don’t you worry.” She said this like she was telling a sick person that they were going to get better.

Her statement pushed any kind or nice feelings from his mind. If any man had just made the statement that Moleth had, Legon would be all over him. He attempted to hold back his fury and counted to ten slowly in his mind. He tried to keep his voice calm but the attempt didn’t work.

“Sasha is not going anywhere, Moleth, so get used to it!” He felt his hand tighten around the handle of the cleaver.

There was a warning tone in his voice that a person with any sense would heed unless they were ready for a fight. Moleth did not have this sense and she pushed on, oblivious to the now quivering man in front of her.

“Oh come on now, you people can’t keep paying the taxes that she costs you. In the spring they will take her away and be gone with her. I dare say the queen’s men will have a lot of fun with her, don’t you think? She is a pretty girl after all, and the queen’s men do deserve it. They work so hard to keep us safe.” Her voice was warm and a smile came over her face as she winked at him.

Legon’s face contorted and rage filled his body, tearing through him like a wild animal. All rational thought left his mind, replaced with an overwhelming bloodlust. The arm that was holding the cleaver jerked up of its own accord. Edis seized Legon’s arm hard, all the man’s strength holding him back. With his other hand Edis threw the packages at Moleth, who stepped back with the sudden weight of the packages, and barked “Get out!”

Moleth looked perplexed and angry. Her voice was rough and irritated as she spoke.

“What, what’s the matter with you?” She was oblivious to how rude and dangerous her comments had been.

“I think it’s time you leave, Moleth. Legon and I have a lot of work to do.” This time Edis’s voice was calm and controlled, but he still had a look of murder on his face. Moleth looked at them both reproachfully and left the shop muttering about rude people under her breath.

After that the morning went by quickly. Legon was still fuming, and the hard work was good for him. For once in his life he was happy about the prospect of a long and difficult day. He and Edis brought in a cow carcass and hung it from the ceiling. He felt the rage in his heart dissipate as he heaved the cow. Work had a way of clearing his mind. He looked back on the morning and felt a twinge of shame. If Sasha had known that he was planning on hurting, if not killing, Moleth, she would have been very disappointed with him.

Sasha knew what people said about her, and Legon knew that it hurt and bothered her, but that didn’t mean that she would be ok with him attacking a woman in cold blood. Sasha was a kind person and couldn’t stomach violence or cruelty in any form. She had always been a compass for him; she made him a good person. Sasha was sweet and innocent, kind to everyone, and would do anything to help. It tore at him watching her do kind things for people in town who, as soon as her back was turned, said things like, “Don’t think that will buy you any grace with me freak.”

“How could people think so poorly of someone so good?” he thought. Legon turned his attention back to the bloody carcass in front of him. He now understood his father’s approach to Moleth-it was better not to acknowledge her rather than do something rash.

“Thanks dad, I’ll split it and then I’ll need your help again to put one half in the ice box until I’m ready for it.”

“Sounds good. I’m going to get started on that deer that we got the other day.”

Legon smiled at Edis and said with a playful taunting voice, “The deer we got?”

Edis looked confused for a moment and then said sarcastically, “Oh, forgive my mistake, o mighty hunter, the deer you got.” As he said this he gave Legon a slight bow.

“Very good, peasant, you may go back to your work now.” Legon tried to make his voice sound pompous and important.

Edis laughed and shook his head. “You should respect your elders.”

Before Legon could retort, Edis walked to the ice box to get the deer. Legon walked back to the wall and grabbed a large cleaver. This one boasted a three foot handle and a blade that was about a foot and half long and six inches wide. They used this one for splitting carcasses. He walked to the cow hanging from the ceiling, raised the cleaver high above his head, and brought it down on the center of the cow’s back. His aim was perfect; the cleaver cut right against the vertebrae about two feet down the back. Legon pulled the cleaver out and repeated the cut, and within a few minutes the cow was split in two. Legon and Edis took one half to the ice box and then placed the other half on a counter in the back of the shop. He spent the rest of the morning cutting up the piece of meat.