1 Bento It was all very unexpected All it took was an instant In a few minutes Bento’s life changed forever And Manu’s life too although it wasn’t obvious at the time Manu saw the guards take Bento away But all he could do was hide so as not to be seized as well It wasn’t clear how the brawl had started But it soon became violent ugly Manu heard the shouting and saw Bento throw a plate of leftover food at someone There was such an uproar that it was impossible to make out what was going on He wanted to help but he was too far away coming down the stairs with a tray that the tavern’s owner had asked him to bring from one of the rooms Bottles were flying barrels were rolling dishes were breaking creating a huge din Some of the brawlers joined arms to overturn the heavy long table that would seat ten men at the end of the day In seconds it was transformed into a barricade protecting Bento and the innkeeper’s son
soon bring the soldiers of the king They’d arrive in no time aggressive and confrontational Manu stood on the stairs tray in hand stunned by the sudden violence Bento signaled not to go down Without actually hearing his words Manu understood perfectly what he was saying his hands cupped around his mouth Get out of here Don’t let them grab you Manu stepped back and hid behind a huge chest on the landing that was used for storing mugs and tin plates Afraid and angry at the same time he wanted to run away and disappear but also felt like jumping into the fray and swatting people left and right or smashing someone with the tray He didn’t know what to do but obeyed Bento His heart was pounding hard enough to burst Call the king’s guards someone shouted Everyone in the city knew that this distress call would From his hiding place he watched as someone evil looking hit Bento on the head with a heavy object A candlestick maybe Bento staggered A trickle of blood began to drip down his forehead Here come the guards The guards As the message spread people ran in all directions The place emptied in seconds Only Bento was left standing in the immense room half-dazed disoriented not really seeing straight He swung and lumbered all over the place
and then he fell Three pairs of arms grabbed him at the same time They all belonged to soldiers of the guard He tried hard to defend himself Let go of me I didn’t do anything Hurry go after them The guilty ones are going to escape Bento was given a huge shove while the soldier who seemed to be in charge answered him What guilty ones There’s nobody else here Only you and you’re going to stay tied up while the innkeeper serves us a good wine to thank us for restoring order That was too much Already angry Bento became furious There’s no one here because everyone has fled Are you going to let them escape Run after them Hurry up you cowards One of the soldiers drew his sword menacingly Two others bound Bento’s wrists with a rope and forced him to sit on the stairs But this still didn’t silence the boy Bloodied and angry he continued to fight with words Surely His Majesty doesn’t pay your wages so you can sip wine for free instead of chasing hoodlums We’re holding the only troublemaker we found a troublemaker who can barely stand up he’s been drinking so much Not to mention he’s nearly destroyed the workplace that supports a family And now he’s incurred
what had happened He’s ri-i-i-ight sirs He’s t-t-telling the t-t-truth The guard commander’s response was sharp Don’t argue man Bring us our wine right away Or do you want us to take you in too new crimes disregarding the guards authority and even managing to insult His Majesty Bento knew better than to continue to rant It would only complicate his situation It was better to remain silent Stammering with fear the tavern owner tried to explain Even though he was Bento’s boss the innkeeper knew that he was helpless against this brutality There was no use trying to explain anything Quietly sitting on the step his wrists tied his head aching and bleeding Bento was beginning to understand the full extent of the danger he was in But gripped by an older brother’s concern he remembered his father’s advice He was responsible He couldn’t let anything bad happen to Manu Careful not to turn his head he looked through the wooden banister and spotted the small figure crouching behind the chest He did what he could Pretending to scratch his face he raised his tied hands and held his right index finger in front of his mouth It was an eloquent plea for silence A silent piece of brotherly advice and
