Braun: Kryterius

My name is Braun. I am 28 years old.

I have short, ash-brown hair and grey-blue eyes.

Born in Marxes, Acolatum, I became an orphan when both of my biological parents left me at age 6.

I lived on the streets of this prosperous city, as a homeless, abandoned child until I was picked up by a middle-aged man called Kryterius.

He was a generous man who, ironically, had very little to give. Despite that, he worked himself to the bone in order to sustain myself, and another orphan boy he was travelling with before me.

A young prince. Lord Xax.

He was of noble descent, but he was a second-born child, meaning he would never ascend the throne. He was ruthlessly disposed of by his parents, just like I had been. A cruel fate, but a frighteningly common occurrence among high-ranking families.

Hearing of this disaster, a loyal servant of the household, a humble man known as Kryterius, stepped down from his position, and took the boy under his own care, simultaneously severing all ties with the family.

They left the city and came to Marxes, where they happened to meet me, in my pathetic, disheveled state.

“…poor boy. Young prince, would you mind if we take him with us?”

“Of course not, let’s help him. What’s your name?” Lord Xax asked me.

But I couldn’t respond. In the time I spent alone, I forgot how to speak. I didn’t even understand what they were saying.

Even so, they still took me under their care and helped me anyway.

Lord Xax was around 5 years older than me and knew Kryterius longer than I had, yet he never acted selfishly. He never considered me an outsider and continued treating me with nothing but kindness for as long as I can remember.

I started living with them, in a small, ragged hut they found on the outskirts of the city.

When I think about Kryterius’ job as a servant to the noble family, it makes sense. The man was very skilled; instead of wondering what he could do, I always questioned what he couldn’t.

“Braun, young prince, help me cut up those vegetables for the soup. We will make enough to last for tonight and tomorrow.”

“Alright,” we said in unison.

I picked up a potato and started clumsily hacking at it.

“Ow!” I exclaimed as I cut my thumb trying to peel off its skin.

“Let me see that,” said the man, examining my small wound. He mouthed something silently, and before I knew it there was no bleeding. Not only that, the wound as a whole had disappeared.

“How did you do that?” I asked, not being able to contain my amazement.

“Secret,” he said smiling, “But I can tell you how to properly peel a potato,” he said grinning.

I paused a little to think.

“…teach me, please,” I requested.

There was a short silence, and I had to check on him to see why he wasn’t responding. I bet he was awestruck that I was willing to learn such a mundane task. In his mind, normal kids would prefer to know something flashy instead of a tedious task for grownups. They would always prefer something they could later show off to their friends.

But I wasn’t normal.

My parents abandoned me without teaching me a single thing in life.

For as long as I could remember, I was surviving on the streets by myself and at the mercy and goodwill of other people. To me, all opportunities to broaden my knowledge were equally interesting.

I was willing to learn anything I didn’t know how to do and wanted to someday become as skilled as Kryterius.

‘A day I didn’t spend learning something new, was a wasted day.’

That was my entire life’s conviction; true even to this day, because of my line of work.

Throughout the years, Kryterius taught Lord Xax and me a lot of important things. Reading, writing, speaking, etiquette, cooking, and more. We couldn’t be more grateful to him.

The seasons flew by, and we turned 9 and 14 years old.

Despite being poor growing up, Kryterius always brought us some kind of gift or made it with his own hands. One of such gifts was a miniature wooden sword necklace he gave to me for my 9th birthday. I wear it around my neck, even 19 years later.

In this expensive world we could barely afford a place to stay, let alone personal possessions, so this made me extremely grateful. Xax had received a necklace too, but with a wooden shield instead.

Kryterius worked day and night, barely earning enough funds to pay for our small, overpriced hut. To that end, food started becoming a problem.

Lord Xax and I considered trying to find a job somewhere, but Kryterius scolded us like he never had before.

“You don’t understand the hidden dangers of this world!” he yelled. “Forgive my impertinence young prince, but as the older one you should be more reasonable! Please do as I say, you two… and have faith in me…” he said, frustrated at us.

Instead of helping him, we had hurt his pride and offended him by our intentions.

We listened to him and gave up the idea, but the problem never went away.

With every passing day, we could afford less and less. Because of that, he kept giving more of his share to both myself and Xax.

“You need to eat properly if you want to grow up strong,” he said, “Don’t make that face, us miners get fed during breaks. Now eat, get some fat on those bones,” he urged us on.

Our tattered, hanging clothes conveniently hid our physique, so you wouldn’t be able to tell if anyone was starving to death.

For weeks, he kept giving us his food, until the day came when he collapsed.

“Quick! Help me lift him Braun!” shouted Xax. “We’re going to take him to a doctor!”

I ran up and helped Xax lift Kryterius with shaking hands. I was terrified.

In a hurry and in the dead of night, we set out to find a doctor. We lived far from the city, so we spent a long time getting there, with our adoptive father around our shoulders.

When we got there, he started to sweat profusely and burn up. He was clearly sick.

But to nobody’s surprise, poor people didn’t have rights… Even to treatment…

“We only offer our services to those who are able to pay. If you can’t do that, I suggest you find someone more generous,” said the doctor we spent more than an hour getting to.

“But please! Can’t you see he is in a bad condition?” yelled Xax, “Will you really just let a man die because he can’t pay?!”

“Sorry kid, we all need to survive somehow…” he said as he finally shut the door in our face.

We asked a patrolling guard for directions to another doctor, but his disgusted face told us everything we needed to know.

No matter how long we looked, no one would even look at him…

Unbelievable, yet totally believable at the same time.

Nothing was free in this world.

When we finally came back to our hut under heavy rain, he was already dead.