Broken April

Sometime in the early to mid-20th century, in the High Plateau region of Albania, 26-year-old Gjorg is tasked with avenging the death of his brother, Mehill. Mehill was killed by a member of the Kryeqyqe family as part of a long-standing blood feud, and now, per the traditions of a local code called the Kanun, it is Gjorg’s responsibility to kill a Kryeqyqe in retaliation. Gjorg waits by the side of the road, then fires a shot that kills Zef Kryeqyqe. The event rattles Gjorg, and he doesn’t prepare the victim’s body exactly as the Kanun specifies.

When Gjorg gets home, his father and the rest of his family are pleased with his work. They wash Mehill’s bloody shirt, which has stood as a reminder of how Mehill’s death has gone unavenged for over a year. It’s currently the 17th of March, and a bessa—a type of truce—will protect Gjorg from retaliation by the Kryeqyqes for one month but no longer. Gjorg sets out on a journey to pay the “blood tax” at the Kulla of Orosh, a necessary part of the process of conducting a blood feud.

Meanwhile, a well-known writer called Bessian is riding with his wife Diana through the same region of Albania for their honeymoon. Bessian has written about the region and has romantic ideas about it, even though some of the local traditions mystify or even terrify him. Diana tries at first to match Bessian’s enthusiasm for the region, but over time, she starts to become more and more distant from her new husband. They notice that may people in the area have black ribbons on their sleeves, a sign that a person is either a killer in a blood feud or a target.

Gjorg’s journey takes him to the prince who presides over the Kulla of Orosh. The prince is not an official member of the nobility, but he comes from an ancient lineage of families that have overseen the blood feuds in the region for generations. The prince has help from his steward of blood, Mark, who keeps records of all the blood feuds, with books that go back to at least the 17th century. The prince and Mark each hope for the blood feuds to continue because the blood tax is an important source of profit for them.

At one point on Gjorg’s journey back from the Kulla of Orosh, he happens to run into Bessian and Diana’s carriage at an inn. Gjorg becomes fascinated by Diana’s beauty, and in turn, Diana can’t forget the haunted look that she sees in Gjorg.

Bessian and Diana continue to explore the area, sometimes running into the famed Ali Binak, who has a reputation for being able to peacefully mediate blood feuds. Still, despite Bessian’s efforts to please his new wife, she continues to become more withdrawn and pull away from him.

Gjorg knows that his own death probably awaits him on April 17th, when the bessa protecting him expires. He decides to spend his last days wandering the region and eventually gets the idea that he’d like to see Diana one last time. He begins asking strangers he meets if they’ve seen her carriage, but although he is able to confirm that she hasn’t left the plateau, he isn’t able to find her.

One day while Bessian and Diana are riding, they realize that it’s mid-April, around the time when Gjorg mentioned he might die. Diana becomes obsessed with trying to see Gjorg again and even risks danger to herself by going into a fortified tower to look for him, but her efforts are unsuccessful. Eventually, they decide to ride out of the region, with Bessian looking back on the High Plateau for what might be the last time in his life.

Meanwhile, as Gjorg’s bessa finally runs out, he realizes that it would be best for him to only travel on backroads and at night. Still, he continues to want to see Diana one last time. When he gets directions about where to find Diana, he takes a risk by deciding to follow them.

All of a sudden, a voice calls out to Gjorg that he should get ready to meet Zef. Gjorg falls in confusion and is blinded, apparently having been fatally shot. As he listens to the footsteps of his apparent murderer, he thinks that he hears his own footsteps and that the person he shot on March 17th was not Zef, but himself.