A Bright Spot For A Broken Soul?

The luxurious Millbrook mansion, with polished wooden floors and staircases, sparkling glass chandeliers and large silk carpet panels. This was what Eldwin remembered when he looked at the dusty and cobwebbed space inside the mansion, the glory of the past.

He walked in the hall and looked at the carpet panels that had been eaten by insects and had large holes in them. What hurt his heart more than the current state of the mansion was the loss of one person, his master, Haskell.

In his mind he could see him coming down the stairs in his long black robe, holding the fan with one hand and calling him to himself with the other. Where was his master now? No one knew this. With the attack of the government people to the mansion, it seemed Haskell melted and sank into the ground.

Eldwin climbed the stairs to his master's shared bedroom at the end of the corridor. He opened the door and looked at the big double bed that was there and saw himself and his master lying on the bed in each other's arms. He sighed and closed the door. It was painful for him to remember the sweet memories that he could not experience in the present.

He stood behind the door and put his hand on it. On the one hand, he wanted to go back into the room and surrender himself to the waves of the past, and on the other hand, he thought that drowning in the past could drive him crazy. As he was immersed in doubt, an unpleasant memory came to his mind:

One of the government agents named Karmelo stood in front of him and said with joy shining in his eyes and a sneer on his face.
"We took off your master's beautiful clothes and tied him to the bed and feasted on his body. You don't know how that proud master of yours moaned like a rotten creature beneath us."

Eldwin's anger boiled like molten rock and he rushed towards Karmelo, but the other agents held him tightly from behind. Karmelo continued:
"We were busy with him until sunrise and before leaving we untied his slimy body, which was smeared with his contents and ours.

What do you think he did to himself? Perhaps out of shame, he buried his head in a bucket full of pig excrement and stayed in that position until the sound of a pig came out of his throat and he joined hell."

Karmelo began to giggle in a loud, ear-splitting voice, and Eldwin wildly thrashed in the government agents' grip to free himself and lunge at Karmelo and chew his larynx. But the result of his work was only strong blows from the officers that landed on all parts of his body and made him unconscious.

Eldwin was in prison for ten years and now he was released and without his master he felt even more lost. He could not believe that he had brought harm upon himself, his master Haskell was strong, he was steadfast and would wait for an opportunity for revenge without bending his back. Or at least that's what Eldwin liked to believe.

He went out of the mansion and let the burning wind blow on his face and reduce his sadness a little. He started walking down the deserted street and had not gone far when his attention was drawn to a cloaked man whose face was hidden under a brimmed hat.

The man was sitting on the sidewalk holding a piece of cloth. As Eldwin stepped forward, he realized that the piece of cloth was very familiar and resembled one of his old shirts. At this moment, the man, whose attention was drawn to Eldwin, turned his face and started running in the opposite direction. Eldwin also started running towards him.
"Master, master! It's you, isn't it?"

The cloaked man began to run faster, but his damaged buttocks did not cooperate and he landed on his knees. Eldwin reached him and leaned towards him, but the man motioned for him to move away from him. Tears rolled in Eldwin's eyes.
"Master, it is me, your Eldwin. Why are you driving me away?"

The man squeezed the shirt in his arms and started sobbing. Eldwin approached him carefully from behind and slowly wrapped his arms around him.
"My dear lord, how good it is to touch and smell you again."

The man continued sobbing for a while and then silence filled the space. Eldwin asked as he was hugging him.
"Don't you want to say something, my lord?"

The man felt a lump in his throat and if he did not speak, he would suffocate, so he said:
"What can I say, my dear Eldwin? Nothing is left from me. Ten years ago I was crushed and gone."

"Don't say that, my lord. You're still the mighty Lord Haskell. In your name I'll pounce on those vile creatures and flay them and hang their corpses on the walls of the city to bring some relief to your wounds."

Haskell turned his face towards him and his helpless and tearful face squeezed Eldwin's heart.
"No, my dear Eldwin. If you do this, they will arrest you and execute you, and it will kill me."

"But master..."

Haskell raised his hand and placed it on one side of Eldwin's face.
"Let's leave here together and start a new life. If you are by my side, I can bear the torment that has hit my soul."

Eldwin agreed with his decision, with his master's travails again etched in his mind and filling him with pain, and they linked arms and walked off to a point in the distance.