Broken April

Mark Ukacierra, an uneducated steward at the castle of Orosh, patrols the library in the early morning. He notes it’s nearly April. Mark is skeptical of the guests, Diana especially, feeling: “she had frightened him. By her expression he had understood at once that she had doubts about certain things that were being said around the table” (133). Mark laments the changing times. More and more, people are questioning the Kanun, and the money collected from blood feuds has notably decreased. Searching the archives in the castle, Mark consults The Blood Book, a long record of the killings across the High Plateau. Throughout 400 years of Albanian history, the number of killings has risen and fallen—because of plagues, wars, etc.—but the blood feuds always comes back, even after periods of decline.

Scanning the archives, Mark feels disgust toward any periodicals and writings critical of the Kanun. He wishes the writings would be banned and burned, but the ruler of the castle—referred to as the prince—is more lenient than Mark. Making matters worse, the prince has threatened to replace Mark with someone with a university education. Mark doesn’t confront the prince directly, but he tells himself, “Take on a steward of the blood who is educated, and when your little effeminate steward goes mad in his third week, then you’ll remember Mark Ukacierra” (149).