Heir to History

    Melody hid, as her father told her, in the tree she climbed ever since she was old enough to remember.  She watched as the sailors tore through the small village destroying everything in their path.  Tears streaked down her face as she watched her father take a sword thrust through his chest and her mother taking one in the back as she ran to him as he lay there pumping blood all over the already discolored grass.
    That was hours ago but the tears did not stop.  They didn’t stop as the sailors tore through all the houses looting and defiling.  They didn’t stop as children were killed and then thrown out of the way like rag dolls.  They didn’t even stop as family pets were kicked and murdered with sneers and laughs as the sailors took what ever they wanted.
    Melody, did not want to enter the small village she called home, but the realization of having no where else to go quickly overcame her.  She climbed down from the tree where she took refuge and made her way into the now deserted village.
    Tears would have came if there were any left, but the tears were gone, as was the chance of ever having a normal life again.
    The first stop was the bodies of her parents.  She  felt her heart break as she reached down and touched both their faces.  The coldness of each made her pull her arm back.  That was when it hit her.  They were dead, and they would never come back.  Her Mother would never be able to help her with her hair and her father’s lecture’s were a thing of the past.
    The end, that was all she could imagine.  The end of everything she knew or cared about.  She sat on the earth next to her parents and tried to remember everything but she kept despairing over the things she already knew she had forgotten.
    Grief once again overcame her and she cried, not a cry of a child, but a cry of someone who has lost everything they had ever cared about.  The pain racked her body and she lay on the ground convulsing and never even heard the horses as they came up to her.
    Melody felt a hand grab her and tried to fight but the thought of the sailors coming back and the chance for them to put this nightmare to rest for her was to much.  She begged for death but the blow did not come and when she finally looked through pain and tear clouded eyes she could see they were Eastern Regulars and the man that was holding her was some sort of captain or general.
    The man never said anything to her but he sat with her on the ground and ordered his men to begin clean-up.  They moved with-out words, each knowing his job, and each knowing the pain that was evident on the poor girls face.
    They began by locating all the bodies and taking them to the far edge of the village.  Adults, children and even pets were all taken together and many of the men began digging a giant tomb.
      Melody watched, and just shook as each of these people she had known her entire life were gone.  Then she looked over to the man who sat beside her.  She noticed how he sat in a puddle of blood, and even though his uniform was clean and perfect, he didn’t care as the stain permeated his clothing.
    Melody looked him in the eyes and he looked back at her and she saw a deep sense of compassion that she had never known before.  She wanted to speak but didn’t think anything would come out, But he must have understood and reached for her hand.
    “Are these your parents,” he asked indicating the two forms yet to be added to the burial pile.
    Melody just nodded.  She couldn’t speak and knew if she tried nothing would come out.
    “I won’t tell you I know how you feel, but I can help you to recover if you will let me?” He asked in the most sincere voice she ever heard. 
    She nodded once again and waited for his next words.
    “I know how special your parents were to you. But we have to bury them, or some scavengers will desecrate their bodies.  I will carry them over and place them in the pit myself if it is alright with you?”
    Melody, wasn’t a baby anymore, but she was also not old enough or strong enough to do the job herself.  She knew they had to be buried and this man seemed so nice.  She nodded at his offer and he stood.
    “You stay here.  I will take your Father first and then your Mother.  Then we will see about getting you a little something to eat.”  He picked up her father and cradled him like one might a small child and he carried him over to the pit and handed him down to a man that was standing down inside the pit.  He returned shortly and took Melody’s mother the same way and when he was done he returned and his men began handing down all the limp figures one at a time and with a respect that melody would not have believed.
    She berated herself for thinking that they would just throw the bodies into the pit, and after she saw how careful and gentle they were she began tearing once again.
    A hand on her shoulder reminded her she was not alone and she was turned around and guided away from the site to a side of the village that was toward the forest.  A blanket was set up and on the blanket were small bits of meat and cheeses and some drinking canteens.
    The man motioned for Melody to sit and she did.  He then laid a small hand kerchief in her lap and began handing her bits of food.  She placed them on the folded square of fabric and waited as the man sat and did the same for himself.  He then began eating and when Melody watched him she began to get hungry herself and began nibbling on food herself.
    The man spoke softly and began talking of his childhood and adventures he had gotten into and some of the mischief as well.  Melody felt herself smiling at some of his stories and was completely caught off guard when he asked her a question.
    “So, what is your name?”
    “Melody,” she said it so quickly and without any warning that it just came out.  She quickly shut her mouth but the man continued on as if it was normal to hear her name.
    They ate and drank a little longer and the man looked at Melody.  “I know it is hard, but do you think you could talk to me Melody?”
    She wanted to say no, she wanted to run.  She wanted to do a lot of things but in the end she realized she had no where to go and no one to turn to but this man who seemed so nice.  She nodded and the man continued.
    “Melody, this is very important, did you see the people who did this?”
    “Yes, they were dark skinned.”
    The man nodded more to himself than to melody and continued on with his questions.
    “How did you escape from this mess?”
    “My father told me to run and hide in my special spot.  It is a big tree in the woods and I can climb up there and see the village but no one can see me.  I used to hide there as a kid.”  Melody said.  Just saying it out loud started bringing back memories and tears were forming in her eyes.
    “I know it is hard, but try to be strong for just a little bit longer.  Do you have any family that lives in any other towns or anything around here?”
    Melody thought for a moment and remembered both her parents were only children and both her grand parents had already passed on.  She shook her head no and lowered her eyes.  The thought of being placed in an orphanage was more than she could bear.
    “Melody, stay here for a moment, and I will be right back.”  The man stood and walked away and he called for one of his men once he was back toward the village.  The soldier that was new kept looking at Melody and she began to feel uncomfortable.  When both men were turned the other direction she jumped and ran for the woods.
    “Melody, wait …..”  She could hear the man that was nice to her but she didn’t want to go to an orphanage so she kept running.  She found her tree and began climbing.  Before to long she was nestled in her spot that she had occupied earlier that day.
    Melody could see the village as clear as day and watched as the men began clearing out the houses of all the furniture and belongings.  They began loading wagons and were careful to mark which house each item came from.  She watched with interest till she heard a voice call her from below.
    “Melody, could you come down please, no one is going to hurt you.”  The captain or general or whatever he was stood below her on the ground looking up.  He could see her, she knew he could, because he looked right at her.
    “I am not going to an orphanage.”  She screamed.
    “Of course you aren’t, now could you come down please, it’s too long a climb for someone my age to come up there.”
    She considered it for a moment and began to climb down.  There was no point hiding up here if they were emptying all the houses, she would have no where to go or stay.
    The ground did feel nicer once she was down and she looked into the mans eyes and saw a little look of dissatisfaction, a look she used to get from her father when she did something bad.
    “Melody, you are not going to a orphanage, now from now on I need you to stop behaving like a little girl and more like a young woman, is that clear?”
    The man said it but he didn’t sound mean, more like worried.  “Yes sir.”
    “The next thing is you are going back to Fishlet and the Sunrise Palace.  It is very important mission I am giving you, and I need to know I can count on you.  Can I count on you Melody?”
    “Aren’t you coming sir?”  Melody asked starting to sound scared.
    “I can’t right away, I have to go and stop the men who did this, but it is very important that you accompany some of my men back with the stuff from the houses.  There has to be a resident from the village in order for a formal document to be drawn up.  If any relatives of those that died want any of their belongings they need you.”  The man said and he looked hard at Melody.
    “Yes sir”, she said and looked at the ground.
    “Connolly,” the man yelled and a trooper came running up.  He was a burly man but had a pleasant face and he looked kind.
    “Yes Commander,” He said with a deep voice.
    “Did the lieutenant explain things to you?”
    “Yes sir, I am to take charge of the wagons and lead the men home to account for the merchandise.  Then I am to see the Finance Minister and give him your note labeled to him, and then I am to escort this brave young girl to Amethyst along with a note for her.”
    “Good, how long before you are able to leave?”
    “With-in the hour sir.”
    “Good, and Connolly, you know why I chose you for this mission and what this cargo means?”
    “Yes sir.  I will guard it on my own life and that of my families, nothing sir will stop this cargo from reaching Amethyst.”
    “That would be good my friend, very good indeed.”  The man said and smiled and reached out and grabbed the other’s forearm.  Then the man named Connolly walked away.
    “Now are you going to be strong and be able to perform your task?”  He asked kindly.
    “Yes sir,” she said looking straight in his eyes.
    “Good, I expected nothing less.  I will meet you in Fishlet.  Do everything that Connolly tells you.  I expect you on your best behavior for the Finance Minister and the King if he happens to be there.  When you are presented to Amethyst I just want you to be yourself.  Understand?”
    “Yes sir.”
    “Connolly,”  The man said and waited for Connolly to join him, “This young lady is in your hands now.  I will see you soon, I promise.”  Then he was gone as he got on a horse that was brought to him and he was leading the majority of the men away after the bad men that destroyed her village.
    “Come on little one.  I need your help to know whose house was whose, so we can keep things straight.”
    “Yes sir.”
      The big man laughed a big booming laugh.  “You don’t have to call me sir.  Call me Connolly.  I promised the commander I would take care of you, but if you call me sir again I might have to dump you in a pond or something.”
    Melody smiled.  She liked this man.  “The Commander?”  she tried to ask with-out asking directly.
    “Commander Trawler, He is the right hand of the king.  No one says a bad word about Commander Trawler.  Not that anyone would want to.  He is the nicest man you would ever meet, unless of course you are the enemy, then you are in trouble.”
    Connolly walked away and Melody watched as Commander Trawler rode away into the horizon.  The right hand of the king, she couldn’t believe it.  He was so nice to her.  She would do what he asked and not let him down.  She turned and followed the man Connolly wondering where this next adventure may lead.