The Conquered, Part 8: Reaping (final)

I took him into my home, raised him as my own.

Now I lie at his feet, my bones broken, blood streaming onto the floor.  

His people were bloodthirsty, unstoppable.  No one could resist them.  All the surrounding kingdoms lived in fear.  So I devised a plan.  I befriended them, tricked them into being conquered.  Even then they never stopped resisting.  So I had to put them all to death.  But when I found him, so small, so helpless, how could I not try to save him? 

My family’s death-cries tear at me.

This is my reward for showing mercy.