A new day began in the Northern Prison. A big day. Today, a major event would take place. Seven new prisoners who arrived yesterday would be “initiated” as prisoners. The other prisoners love days like this, because they can watch the initiation… so a break from work.

  The initiation is attended by all workers whose task is to supervise the prisoners. That is the supervisor at the front, by his side his two closest men, and then several others.

  The main stars of the day began arriving at a large bonfire. Everyone except Shard had already arrived. Fortunately, after a while Shard arrived as well, walking from the healing hut. At his side walked the girl who had patched him up yesterday.

  “Wish me luck, Flake. Hopefully I survive.” - Shard said goodbye to the girl and lined up among the other six prisoners.

  On the other side stood the supervisor. - “You’re lucky you arrived on time. Very well, we shall begin. Today you will become true prisoners. You will gain some purpose in life. From rotten criminals you will become people who ensure that the workers on the greatest project of Middleword have a pleasant working environment.”

  Near the bonfire stands a small wooden structure. The prisoners began entering it one by one. This is the first phase of the initiation: the prisoner changes into prison clothing. The clothing is not very warm, but it is warm enough so the prisoner does not suffer frostbite and so on. The most iconic part of the prison outfit is the gray cap, which has a symbol representing a red X in the center. The gray represents dirty snow and the X represents punishment.

  Until now, the prisoners wore the clothes they arrived in, plus some blankets and furs so they wouldn’t freeze.

  Each time a prisoner exited the structure, they wore prison clothing and held their old clothes in their hands. Once all seven newcomers had changed, they were ordered to throw their old clothes into the fire.

  This process represents discarding one’s old life and beginning a new chapter.

  Once the clothes burned away, the second phase of the initiation began. The supervisor took a heated iron rod that once again had the X symbol at the end. He pressed the rod against each prisoner’s palm individually. This part of the initiation serves as marking. A marking meant to remind prisoners that they are here as punishment.

  Six of the seven prisoners went through the process, one remained, the youngest. The youngest refused. - “Come on… I won’t be here forever, right… please, don’t burn it into my hand… please.”

  All seven prisoners were ordered to kneel when the initiation began. The supervisor knelt down to the level of the young prisoner. - “Were you allowed to speak? You wouldn’t want to ruin this nice moment, would you? Tell me, you filth… do you regret your previous decisions?” - “Yes… yes I do.”

  The supervisor stood up again and thought for a moment. The initiation of prisoners is his favorite day, because he sees it as criminals becoming something useful. One could say the supervisor is in a good mood. The supervisor looked at one of his closest men. His right-hand man.

  “I’m giving you free rein. This prisoner will not have the X burned into his hand. Instead, punish him somehow. I’m thinking a few lashes with a whip, but it’s up to you. I am busy with my favorite day.”

  The supervisor began the third and final phase of the initiation. The prisoners state the reason why they were sent to prison, whether they regret it, and finally recite a poem about the first prisoner of the Northern prison. After reciting the poem, they officially become prisoners. After that, they begin working on the tasks assigned to them. At that moment it is also decided how long the prisoners will stay in the prison and whether they will have any special roles, such as the two prisoners who guard the main entrance to the prison.

  The supervisor’s right-hand man grabbed the young prisoner by the neck and began leading him away from the initiation. It looked like he would take him around the corner and give him a few lashes with a whip… the reality was far more cruel. At the moment the two passed the large bonfire, the supervisor’s right-hand man plunged half of the prisoner’s head into the fire.

  Everyone at the initiation lost their minds… everyone except the supervisor, who began to laugh. - “Hahaha, well I didn’t expect that.”

  After a moment, the supervisor’s right-hand man released him and the prisoner was able to pull himself out of the fire. The entire right side of his face was burned. Severely burned. The prisoner completely lost control and cried. Everyone at the initiation fixed their eyes on the burned prisoner. The supervisor stopped the commotion - “Go to the healing hut, the rest of us will continue.”

  The supervisor fixed his gaze on Shard. - “You... speak. Tell me how you got here and whether you regret it.”

  Shard answered immediately. - “My father killed the wife of Horwann, king of the black Crystal kingdom. I have nothing to regret, my conscience is clear.” - The supervisor slapped Shard. - “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Shard. I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

  The initiation continued, Lapis said he beat up a man and that he regrets committing violence, even though the man deserved it. Play said he stole gold coins and regrets his act. So far, Play had only told Vein that he got into the prison on purpose.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The initiation was over. Prison life had begun.

  Brown monthh, day 32. - Nearly a month after the initiation.

  Shard woke up to the sound of pounding drums. The drums signal a wake up for the prisoners. Shard and the other prisoners went near a large wooden board and began searching for their names and the work they had to do that day. Shard found his name assigned to woodcutting, which made him very happy, because the other two names listed for Shard’s station were Lapis and Play.

  The three met on the way to the station. - “Yeah yeah yeah. Finally! Finally we’re together again.” - “Seriously finally, I haven’t been with either of you for about two weeks.” - “Guys, I’m so glad we’ll be together today, I was tired of seeing you only at meals.”

  The trio began working at their station. They worked a short distance outside the prison near the forest. Play wasn’t doing very well. - “What up, are you not very experienced because you mostly just carry food to Vein?” - Lapis asked and Shard began laughing with him. Play only works in the morning, because afterward he goes to help Vein.

  After some time, however, their day was turned upside down. Two prisoners guarding the main entrance to the prison called the trio and several other prisoners working at the station back into the prison.

  All prisoners began gathering around the southern corner of the prison. In the center of the scene lay a corpse. The supervisor’s right-hand man.

  The supervisor, completely beside himself, examined the body of his friend. The man had his throat slit and had bled out into the snow overnight.

  The supervisor looked into the crowd. In a very calm voice that quickly turned into shouting across the entire area, he said. - “Where are the newcomers… WHERE ARE THE NEWCOMERS… ALL NEWCOMERS HERE AND ON YOUR KNEES!!!”

  Six prisoners who had arrived to the Northern prison less than a month ago knelt before the supervisor. There were only six, because the prisoner whose face had been half burned by the supervisor’s right-hand man committed suicide five days earlier.

  The Supervisor looked at the six. - “That filth who recently killed himself… it’s no secret that my friend most likely drove him to it. But it was the boy’s own fault. If he hadn’t acted like a scared puppy, my friend wouldn’t have targeted him. And therefore no one… NO ONE OF YOU HAS THE RIGHT TO AVENGE HIM BY MURDERING MY FRIEND!”

  The six looked confused. - “Do you think I’m an idiot??? It’s obvious to me that one of you killed him. If the culprit doesn’t confess before I count to ten… I will slaughter all of you here.”

  The supervisor began counting. Memories from the past month played before Shard’s eyes. About each of the prison newcomers.

  The bad and the good. Moments when the supervisor bullied them, moments when they talked peacefully, and so on. The supervisor counted to ten. At that exact moment, he stood next to Lapis. - “You will serve as proof that I am a serious man.” - The supervisor drew his sword and prepared to stab Lapis.

  Lazuli screamed from the crowd. Tears began falling from the eyes of several other newcomers. Shard remembered his favorite memory from the prison.

  “Hey Shard, wake up!!” - Shard woke up in the middle of the night. Flake stood beside him, waking him.

  “Flake, what are you doing here?” - “I want to show you something, bring your roommate too.”

  Shard grabbed Flake by the hand. - “Wait… what if one of the guards sees me outside. I’ll be punished.” - “Shard… so first of all!! You’re with me, one of the most important people here in the prison. And second… today is the supervisor’s birthday… so everyone is drunk!! Explain it to Lapis on the way!”

  Shard, Lapis and Flake began climbing a small hill on the prison grounds. - “Look guys… to the sky!!” - Everyone looked at the night sky.”

  Lapis panicked. - “FLAKE?? What is this thing falling falling???” - “Oops, don’t worry. Those are falling stars!! This happens once in a while. I wanted to show you. I think they’ve gotten old, so they’re falling from the sky.”

  Shard stared at the sky. - “Whatever it is, it’s beautiful. Thank you, Flake, thank you for waking me. And thank you, Lapis… they couldn’t have locked me up with a better person.”

  Lapis, Shard and Flake layed down in the snow. It was cold, but they didn’t care, they watched the stars. - “Hey you two… the bullying from the leadership here is awful, but moments like this… they remind me that there is a reason to live… that there are beautiful things in the world.” - Lapis said and wiped tears from his face.

  The supervisor raised his arm. A few seconds and Lapis would be executed. Shard stood up.

  The Supervisor turned to Shard… everyone looked at Shard. - “So… so you killed him? I should have expected that.”

  Shard stepped away from the others. - “I killed no one, supervisor. I am not a murderer… that is my father. But every day I am punished for it. I learned to live with it, I learned to live in an unfair world. Every day it destroys me, but I live. I live thanks to the people you are about to execute. My friends. And I will not allow it.”

  The Supervisor charged at Shard, trying to knock him to the ground. Shard dodged. - “You… filth… you won’t allow me?? Now listen to me.” - Shard interrupted the Supervisor. - “No. You listen to me… all of you listen to me.”

  “Smurt was a good person. You don’t know who Smurt is? He’s the boy who committed suicide because the man for whom the supervisor has now decided to execute six people drove him insane. A few days before his suicide, I spoke with him. He was completely shaken, he couldn’t take it anymore… but that doesn’t matter, right? Because he’s a prisoner. Do you know what he did??? He insulted a very important person. Yep, that’s all. For that insult, he was driven to suicide. THIS HAS TO END.”

  Shard looked the Supervisor in the eyes. - “I… Shard… son of the second most powerful family of the black Crystal kingdom, condemn you for harming, bullying, and abusing young people… I condemn you to death. You and I, sword against sword. If I die, it means it was meant to be, that I am a bad person and all other prisoners are as well. If you die… the only criminal in this prison, then it will be clear what that means.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding… what did you just FRICKING say to me.” - The Supervisor wanted to execute Shard, but Flake stepped in front of him. When Flake did so, other prisoners followed. Then other workers, and finally Vein. Everyone knew that what was happening here was wrong… it was time to do the right thing.

  Vein, who now stood with the majority, declared. - “Shard is right, supervisor… accept the duel. Let the duel decide. I would gladly face you myself… but your challenger is Shard.”

  “Fine… FINE.” - The Supervisor shouted. - “I accept the duel, Shard. If you kill me, then maybe I truly am a bad person. If I kill you… I will slaughter everyone from your stupid little group. Someone give him a sword. Let’s do this, you filth.”