“Weren’t you scared?” Vison stared at Scaplo, a little petrified at hearing the griffin’s ordeal.

“A little,” Scaplo seemed nonchalant. “But that’s just what happens on duty.”

“But they hurt you,” the young boy protested. “And they tied you up.”

Arthor rolled his eyes at his little brother’s gentleness. Was he always such a worry wart?

“It’s not like I’ve never been hurt. You gotta be a man once you go out into the real worlds.” Scaplo told the boys. Arthor nodded to that, but Vison’s face remained frightened.

“Did you ever have to fight while you travelled?” Arthor questioned.

“A lot of poor folk tried to rob me. I think they think I carry lots of coin. Maybe cause my uniform.” Scaplo thought on. “One time an old man kept nagging me to give him a letter he saw me holding. I think he thought there was coin or something valuable. I thought he was crazy, but I saw he had no shoes. Then I saw he had no pants either, and was just wearing a big shirt. Poor fellow.”

“Did you fight him?”

“No. I just pushed him and ran away when he tried to grab me. I’ll get into big trouble if someone catches me fighting on duty. The plateau says I might destroy the package.”

“Oh.” Arthor’s excitement faded at the thought of the rules. Scaplo noticed.

“But one time I had a letter I was to take to an old theatre. The place was closed down, but the address was newly printed and even had the name. I think it was Volentine Theatre.”

The boys listened. New places were always a wonder.

“Well the address was there so I thought to have a check. No one was insde, so I had a look around. The entrance and the lobby was old and dirty. Lots of creepy-crawlies. But when I got to the stage room, all the seats were clean and new. Looked like the place was still alive. I went on stage to have a look.

“That’s when this short bald man came from behind the curtains. He called me a government dog. I thought that was rude of him, cause I’m not a dog. I’m a griffin. But then he pushed me into a tall bald guy. I didn’t know that other guy was there. The tall guy grabbed me and the short guy was gonna come and beat me, so I jumped and booted him in the face. I was gonna turn and give the tall one a piece of me, but he was still holding me. Then the other guy stood up and started bashing me in the gut. Lucky some guy wearing an eye glass came and stopped it all. He was the one who wanted the letter.”

Scaplo stood proudly at his little tale. Arthor, realizing what his neighbor told, shook his head in disappointment.

“That’s not a fight! You just got beat up.”

“I got the guy in the face!”

“That was a cheap shot.” Arthor shook his head again. A real fight is when the match is even.”

“Well, there was two of them.”

“But they beat you up. You have to put up a fight to call it one.”

“I did! And then the other guy came and stopped everything.” Scaplo smiled. Arthor could not look at him. The boy went back to his spot upon the tree trunk, no longer interested.

“You’re duty is so very dangerous. How do you still do it?” Vison wondered.

“I just do it. It’s not that hard, except if there’s a shorter time to do it.”

“But I mean, aren’t you scared you might die? You said pirates kidnapped you. Why do you still deliver?

Scaplo considered his comments.

“It’s just fun. It’s hard and of course. It’s scary. But it’s fun. I can’t stop my duty now. I’ve sworn my oath. My loyalty to duty.”

“Your loyalty to duty? Vison was not sure. His older brother turned to pay attention.

“When you swear your loyalty to duty,” Scaplo explained. “It’s not just a promise to your duties. It’s a choice you decide for yourself and for your life. It’s what you choose to turn your life to, so everything you do helps you do your duty better. People get really happy when you do your duty well. They tell me how happy they are when I bring their packages quickly in top shape. Tell me I’m the best courier around.”

Arthor nodded in agreement.

“Why do you choose it for your life?” Vison wondered on

“Because it’s his ‘Oath’. It’s a grown-up choice. We have to choose our oath when we get older.” Arthor said.

“He’s right.” Scaplo agreed. “And, Oh yeah! What about you, Arthor boy? You’re almost old enough to start you real duties.”

“Me?” Arthor stood defensively, unsure what to say.

“You’ll be in your 15th year soon enough, won’t you?”

“16th.”

“Well! Then you’re pretty much at that time to start thinking about your days ahead.”

Arthor had no response. The boy could only stop and think. Scaplo was right about this phase of life. Arthor lost himself in thought.

“I was in my 16th a few years ago.” Scaplo explained. “I spent every day thinking about what I was gonna do.”

Arthor nodded in agreement. He too, thought everyday about what he was to do.

Scaplo went on. “Dad’s always working hard at the barn and I barely see him, but once when I did he said not to waste my time at the barn like him. He said he’s only there cause he’s old and it’s the only thing left he needs to do.”

Arthor listened to their friend. This was the only advice he ever got.

“What does he mean the only thing left?” Arthor asked.

“I got no idea. I don’t think he made any sense. But he’s old, so I think he meant to tell me to leave the farm work for last. I wasn’t sure what to do. The farm seemed good cause at least I’d be close to Mom and Dad”

“I don’t wanna stay at the farm.” Arthor mentioned “I think I’m more…”

“Me too! I’m not good at it.” Vison interrupted

Scaplo understood the boys and continued. “I thought about asking Leighton to be an apprentice, but Dad don’t like the nasty carpenter or the idea of me working with him”

Vison giggled at the thought of Scaplo’s father and nasty Leighton in a quarrel. They were both the fittest men in Ducksworth who had grey hair too early in their day. And whenever they caught eye of one another, their moods would turn foul. It was if they were competing to be the toughest grey haired man in town.

Following Leighton was not a bad idea. The man had not had an apprentice for a long time. It meant Arthor would be able to learn true skills. Maybe then he could help fix up the home and make Mother proud. She worked too hard for Arthor and Vison.

Scaps continued. “Then I thought about going to Gappleton’s Castle.”

Both the boys’ faces turned bad at the sound of Gappleton’s name. He was the land owner around the region, Ducksworth included. He was supposed to be mayor, but nobody had agreed so. Now the man was in charge of the land where others worked or lived, or rather, collected fares for the like.

“There were lots of duties to take there, I think. But I was thinking about being a guard. The tough guy that I am.” Scaplo smiled.

“I can’t think of you as a guard.” Arthor mentioned.

“Why not?” Scaplo seemed surprised.

Arthor smiled with his brother. They laughed at the thought of a serious Scaplo.

“What?” He let the two quiet down. “It looked like a nice duty at the time. You get to stay there and they feed you, give you a spear and they might look after your family if you’re good.”

“Might…” Arthor said. “How do you be good as a guard when there’s no fights or invaders to guard against anymore? I’ve seen his guards. They do nothing all day. They’re just bullies.”

Scaplo could not think of what to say. He knew how those who worked for Gappleton became. But not that it mattered to him.

“Well, I didn’t end up as one of them anyway. I hear they barely get coin for their duties.”

Scaplo quickly jumped to another thought. “Then when I forgot about that, I thought about joining the ‘Army’. The kingdom pays families properly.”

Vison gasped at the thought of the army.

“But you might die.”

Disappointed again, Arthor shook his head at this brother’s fear, but at the same time Arthor was interested to listen.

“They’ll still pay even if you die. They pay for the time you served.” Scaplo said. Vison still felt the same. Scaplo went on. “My cousin died at the invasion of Ratan. I was just a boy but I remember my aunty was happy when the Kingdom gave her his share. That’s when she moved away, since she could afford to.”

“How long was he in the army?” Arthor asked.

“I think 5 years or 6. It was a long time ago. Just before he went to his last battle, he came to visit. He told me the training was hard. Every day you train, and you don’t sleep much. He said you can’t be weak. He said people leave cause they can’t take the training or cause they can’t take the wars. He told me he joined with 100 other guys and in the end there was only 18 of them left. Half left, the other half died. You have to be the strongest if you want to be in the army.”

“So why did he stay if everyone died and left?” Arthor was curious.

“I think he said it was the honour. I think he said it didn’t matter if it was too hard or if he died. He was happy to die for the Kingdom. Happy to die for something great. And the coin they promise is plenty. That’s why my aunty left us. She might be living in the capital.”

“So what’s wrong with leaving if you do?”

“If you think about it, you’ll be known as a deserter. No one likes that. You bring shame to your family and your name.”

There was a man who always sat lonely at the tavern. Arthor remembered him. Folk told Arthor that the man was strong, that he had saved his mother from bandits who once came to town. But everyone always told the boy to stay away from him. They called him a ‘deserter’.

Arthor wondered, “Is it that bad to be a deserter? What if you’re a good person?”

“I don’t think anyone who is a deserter is good. When you swear your oath and your loyalty to service, you swear your life. Breaking that is shame. Even the Father from above won’t forgive you.”

It was troubling to think badly of the man who once saved his mother. Was deserting really enough to shame a man for life?

Scaplo saw Arthor’s face and continued. “You just can’t be good after that. And I think you don’t get your coin for your service if you’re a deserter. So it will be a waste. It’s not easy to join the army. It looks like if you join, you join to die. Only the strongest live on and earn their time off.”

What an honourable duty it was to fight for the army. But to join meant to die. Arthor thought about that. He always knew he was strong, but was he really that strong? He did not want to die. It seemed that Scaplo did not either.

“Why didn’t you join, Scaps? Were you too scared?”

“I tried.”

Arthor was surprised to hear that. He did not think Scaplo would make the attempt. Vison shrieked in fear, as always.

“But?” Arthor said.

“I wasn’t strong enough.”

The comment was funny to Vison, who was happy Scaplo never endangered his life, but Arthor took it seriously. He wanted to know what Scaplo meant. Scaplo was embarrassed, either about the memory or the comment, but then he saw Arthor’s curiosity.

“It’s not easy to get into the Army. Before, a long time ago, it was easy. The Kingdom was happy to have anyone. But things change. To get in, you need to be real strong, or you need to have lots of coin?

“Coin?”

“People with enough coin could pay to pass the tests. Everyone else had to do it. I think they said they test you on your strength and speed, your ears and mind, and your determination and… Maybe that was all? Yep. That was it. I wasn’t strong enough so I didn’t get to do all the tests.

“What did you have to do?”

“There were these wagons full of big rocks. We had to take the whole load to the other side of this big field before the end of the day. It was too heavy. Only 5 guys were able to finish the test. We were allowed to try again if we wanted but I don’t think it would have made a difference.”

The test seemed overwhelming. If it was enough to scare Scaplo from trying again then it must have been unreasonable. Arthor was not sure if he was that strong.

“What were the other tests?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t get to see anyone who passed the first one. I knew I wasn’t cut for it anyway. But after that is when I saw the recruiter for the Griffins. I didn’t wanna go home, especially with no news, so I took the chance. Now I got one of the best duties around.

There were many different things that Arthor could swear to. But ‘what?’, was the question.

Scaplo peered toward Ducksworth, their tiny country town. It was getting busier. People and a few wagons rolled in from the dirt road. Farm duties were over and everyone was coming in to get their end of the week supplies. Today was Afrilux, so the next day would mean no work and no shops. No shops except for the tavern of course.

Once they noticed, the three boys looked to Lucifer and saw he was soon to set. The star was much closer to the horizon and was beginning to fill the sky with a warmer shade.

“We should head back. I can’t wait to eat. And your mother is gonna be looking for you two.”

The boys agreed, so the three began their stroll into town.

It was not the loveliest of places and not the biggest either, Arthor was ashamed to admit. The boy had been to Trough before and had seen how bright and bustling it was, with hundreds of shops and street vendors, with lovely signs of their sales, buildings of stone and fine timbers, and people dressed in all manners of attire. Ducksworth was just a scraggy old stump compared to the finely carved seat that was Trough.

In Ducksworth there were only a dozen or so small shabby buildings upon a crossroad. The tavern was the biggest. It was used to house the town feasts where everybody from Ducksworth came to eat for the Holy days of the Order of Three. There had not been a feast in many years. Things had been changing lately, but only internally. Ducksworth was still the same small country town.

As they walked into town it seemed everybody was busy keeping to their own business. People walked by with their heads down, faces grim and worn. They were probably tired from a whole week of duty. Mrs. Phelms who worked with Scaplo’s and the two boy’s mothers at the barn was walking past.

“Mrs. Phelms.” Arthor called, and Vison chimed in too. Manners were found to bring synchronization between two folk or more. The lady looked up and saw the boys, then saw Scaplo behind as well. After a moment of recognizing who had called, without a word she gave a brief little smile and quickly walked away.

“She’s not as delightful as I remember her.” Scaplo mentioned as the three watched her walk away.

“She’s usually got something to say about what she and our mothers got up to during the week.” Arthor said.

“But she didn’t even give us a hello”

“Hey. She smiled.” Vison added.

“Barely,” Arthor gave. “And what’s with everybody else?”

Everybody around seemed a little glum compared to what the boys were used to. The lively chatter was not there, townsfolk walked with their heads down, and there seemed to be an air of grey around everybody’s head. Well at least what seemed an air of grey to Arthor. Maybe the crop was not looking so good this season. Could you tell this early in the year? Not letting all this bother them, the boys moved on.

“I think mom would like it if I brought home an extra loaf with my surprise return.” Scaplo smiled, considering the idea.

“How do you know there’ll be enough loaf at the bakery?” Arthor questioned.

“Cause I see there is.”

Arthor span around to see what Scaplo meant. They saw the shelves at the baker’s still had a couple baskets full of loaf. It was strange as the bakers were usually close to finished by the end of the day.

The boys walked into Mr. Ruolf’s bakery curiously. A man and a younger one were leaving. Scaplo recognize his old companion and smiled.

“Hey, Ian!”

Ian looked up to Scaplo and at his green uniform, then looked away not bothering to acknowledge the call. Scaplo still held his dopey smile, but the two younger boys could not do the same. Even this Ian fellow had a problem he made obvious.

“Maybe he’s forgotten me.” Scaplo chucked to himself.

“You’ve only been gone for two years,” Arthor corrected. “Something’s wrong with him.”

“Don’t let him bother you, boys,” said Mr. Ruolf, overhearing the commotion. “The town’s pretty fed up with what’s been happening.”

The boys came closer to listen to the tubby man wearing an apron.

“There’s a big levy that’s come and the Kingdom expects every single person over 16 years to pay their own share.”

“Doesn’t mean he’s gotta be such a badge.” Arthor explain.

“I think he was upset to see a government lad. Especially one he knows” Mr. Ruolf smiled at Scaplo. “Scaplo! How are you, my boy? Well, you are a man now, in your government outfit and all.”

Scaplo smiled back, happy at least somebody gave him a warm welcome.

“I’m good thanks, Mr. Ruolf. What did you mean every single persons got to pay? I thought it was just every household. Oh and I don’t work for the government by the way.”

“My mistake.” Mr. Ruolf told. “It is the green clothes. Well, now. It used to be every house that had to pay, and before that it used to be a certain amount for every town. Now the Kingdom is leeching off everybody old enough to earn. They say it’s for the greater good of the Kingdom. O’ Father, we’ve already paid our part. And shop owners now have another tariff just for being open. I’ve had to charge more for loaf, you see. That’s why Ian and his father were cold.”

“The whole town’s gotten cold.” Arthor mentioned. They all agreed and peered out at the greying town. After a moment of thought, Scaplo remember what he wanted.

“Can I have a loaf? I think Mom will like if I came back with something.”

“Of course. I’ll give you best one.” Mr. Ruolf went to pick the loaf. Scaplo took out a pouch that seemed well fed by the sound and look of it.

Mr. Ruolf came back with a fat, brown loaf that smelt warm and freshly baked. The man wrapped it in paper. Then the man put on a slightly stern expression that did not suit his plump jolly face.

“8 pieces.” He said.

“Of bronze?” Scaplo was shocked.

“Of course bronze. I’ll take 8 silver piece if you’d like.”

“Wow. That’s a change.” Arthor mentioned. “I remember it was 45 chips before. And now it’s 8 pieces? That’s pretty much double.”

The baker’s face eased for sympathy as he explained.

“The miller asked me for more than double on my trip there. And all just for flour. The new levy is really taking a bite out of everyone.”

A big jump in costs was something Arthor had not experienced before, and it seemed neither had the townsfolk. There had been slight increases previously with the governmental change, but it had not been as dramatic as a double in costs. No wonder it had seemed so grey at Ducksworth. Arthor peered outside. A farm hand and his wife gave a lifeless march down the road, heads down, disconnected from whatever was about. Others joined the fashion. It was not how Arthor remembered Ducksworth, small and stress free.

A peculiar figure walked past, but it did not carry the same grey that had taken the townsfolk. The air around the man was dark. Strangely, it seemed a dark purple air, or an indigo that could be mistaken for black. It was the deserter. Arthor was surprised to see the deserter outside. How strange Arthor though until the boy considered his own imaginings. Did I always look at people with these colours? Arthor shook the thought away. Only the mad and disturbed wasted their time with such nonsense.

“I was gonna give you 5 pieces and let you keep the rest.” Scaplo stirred the coins in his pouch with his finger, like a spoon in soup. “But I think I have to leave you a bit more by the look of things.” The griffin pulled out a wide bronze coin and held it up for Mr. Ruolf to see. Or maybe for everyone to see.

“A bronze coin? I’ll get your change.” The baker almost turned to get it.

“Keep it.” Scaplo replied. “I’m moving up in the ranks of the Courier Griffons. It’s the least I can do for Duckworth.”

The two boys were surprised Scaplo could be so careless with coin. City chums… Arthor thought.

“Thank you, Scaplo.” the baker smiled. It cleared some of the mugginess about.

Outside the three turned toward where their homes sat by the hills.

“I’ll take you guys back to yours first. Say hello to your mother.” Scaplo said.

They were to pass by the tavern. The deserter was probably there. Through the windows, tons of townsfolk were inside. Families were eating, men were drinking, and women were hinting for their husbands to go home. The sight was strange after all that gloom the boys had seen. The tavern was always pleasant. A warm glow of yellow filled the inside. It was a relief compared to the townsfolk they first saw in town. A man and wife move through the tavern door on their way home. “Miley’s always been good! Always looks after the town.” The man spoke a little too loudly. His wife, though she was pleased, tried to hush him.

“Yes, Rob. Surprised he ent’ the mayor still.”

“Gapple’s throwin’ us in the privy.”

Over hearing the couple, the three looked inside and saw a few drunks shaking Mr. Miley’s hand. He was the tavern owner, but people saw him as the under-the-table mayor. He was not sworn to any duties at any of the farms. But Mr. Miley always organized things for the townsfolk and helped with important assemblies. He owned a big building, so why wouldn’t he?

“I think he’s giving free meals. He’s a saint, that man.” Scaplo commented.

“Nah. I don’t think so.” Arthor said. “He hasn’t been doing well. And these levies won’t help…”

“But he always helps us!” Vison added. The boy was as curious as the other two.

The three walked past town and made up the hill to where their house stood. Little cottages, like the viridia elm trees, were scattered throughout the hill in their isolated spots. Crop fields were further downhill, of course.

They reached Arthor and Vison’s home. As they were giving their farewells, a carriage was coming up the road to where they were. The car looked all too familiar, with its fading blue polish. It was Gappleton.

The carriage stopped right before their home. What does he want with us now? The car opened, and out came the slimy blonde man in his light brown suit. His big pointy nose always made him look evil. To Arthor and Vison’s surprise, Gappleton lay a hand out to receive somebody. Out came their mother, in a lovely light blue dress. What? Arthor thought. She doesn’t have a dress like that. Arthor did not recognize the colour, the frills on the ends, or the way it accentuated her chest in that crude manner. How dare he!

She stepped out wearing her lovely graceful smile that brought a real warmth to the air. She did look quiet lovely in the dress, they all must have admitted. With her light brown hair and eyes, she was radiance next to the filth of Gappleton.

“I’ll take my leave.” Gappleton kissed her hand and boarded his carriage. He did not bother to look at any of the boys. The driver looked at the boys and at Scaplo, then gave a disdainful sneer as he drove away.

Their mother lifted her long dress and came closer to her sons. She was too happy. She giggled then gave a fun little spin as she asked, “How do I look?”