Va’il felt that if he continued forward, the direction Zeick was pulling him, something terrible awaited. But behind that terror lied the answer to the question that had risen behind him. The scales of what each side held were balanced. But Va’il wasn’t one to leave a question hanging in the air if he could help it. He was curious, and knew that finding the answer was far more important.
Var sighed and sat back. He wasn’t aware of his own importance in this little play. If he had known, he may have tried harder for the sake of the trials to come, settling on the easy answer. Or, he may have given up far sooner, for the sake of the hope and happiness that mattered to those he could care about. Var had aged in that cell, feeling the years of dismay that confinement had imposed upon him. But Var still had the same heart. He would have struggled, and then chosen hope, of course.
Va’il followed Zeick further down the corridors of cells, noticing that after a while, there were no longer any prisoners in the cells they passed. Zeick carried a candle-torch in one hand, and one of the bags in the other. After a while, they came to the end of it all, where a single cell and no others near it resided. Along the way, Zeick had Va’il get a few more candle-torches to help light the solitary cell.
“Sir, please, do you feel well enough to eat?” Zeick asked, calling out into the cell.
“No,” a weak male voice replied. It was haggard, and Va’il couldn’t recognize it. He wanted to peer into the darkness, to let his sharp eyes adjust and make out the features of the speaker.
“I feared as much. Sir, please, it’s me, Zeick. I’ve come again.”
“Oh. Boy, I thank. But take care, of yourself,” the voice said slowly, and with great effort.
“I am, sir. I’m not going to ask today, though. I’m going to apologize. Though I’ve been kind, I’ve always still viewed you as a criminal and a traitor. I no longer believe that. My doubts have been cleared,” Zeick said. Va’il perked up at this, but he still resisted the urge to do or say anything. He didn’t know what he’d do either. But there was something nostalgic, a feeling in the back of Va’il’s mind.
“Boy, thanks. Don’t worry. Guilt isn’t important. You’re always kind,” the voice said.
“Thank you, sir. But that’s not the only reason. I want you to meet someone. I know it was dangerous to bring him, and I know it’s just a stupid whim. I also know that bringing him to you may mean he’ll look down on you. But I don’t think he will. And I don’t know if I can keep this secret to myself. Please, meet my friend again. Don’t worry, he won’t talk of you either, I promise,” Zeick said, almost pleading.
Va’il realized that whoever was inside this cell, their identity was plaguing Zeick with guilt. Va’il had to look at his friend again, the boy who was almost too kind now. Va’il knew that Zeick still loved trouble; that gleam in his eye was still there. But there was a sense of justice behind it all that motivated him. A sense for what must be right and wrong. Va’il realized that something had to be wrong, but Zeick couldn’t figure it out himself. He wanted Va’il, an outsider, to look at the situation, and tell him what was wrong. Va’il realized that much, though he wasn’t fully aware of how much Zeick looked up to him. He did, very much so, because Va’il was the one who had been a half longer than him, in a way. And so, Va’il spoke up before the man had a chance to object.
“Please sir, Zeick is earnest. I don’t know what I can offer, but please come and satisfy his request,” Va’il said in a stiff, upright voice.
There was a silence that lasted a while. It was long enough that Va’il and Zeick had to look at each other and exchange questioning glances. Eventually though, there was a request.
“Please, light, closer to your face,” the voice inside called, somewhat stronger than before. Va’il did as he was asked and held the light up, illuminating his face and hair. Zeick looked on in wonder as Va’il’s silvery hair seemed to reflect the light. He thought he was used to Va’il’s looks, but sometimes they still surprised him. And then, suddenly, there was a sound.
The man had stood, and his feet shuffled along the ground. He fell to his knees while his ragged, wrinkled hands held the bars in front of him. He brought his face to the bars and looked at Va’il, whose expression had changed.
“It’s you,” both of them said, both with wonder and shock in their voices. And then Va’il’s look dropped, as the fullness of the image in front of him made its imprint in his eyes. His mouth turned down, and for the first time since Zeick had known him, Va’il’s eyes watered, and tears fell without hesitation. Zeick had never before seen Va’il weep, and the shock of that was only second to the wonder at how this man could be the person to move Va’il so.
“You’re alive,” Darius said, his haggard face still retaining a small portion of its previous handsomeness.
“Darius. Darius. Darius!” Va’il said, unable to choke out more words. He almost couldn’t believe it himself, that the man he had thought he’d never want to see again would move him so. But to see Darius, once the epitome of a royal and regal commander, to be reduced to skin and bones, with cuts and bruises everywhere, and a horrid looking face, was too much. He knew he shouldn’t have been so happy to see Darius, especially not in his current condition, but there was something about the familiarity Darius brought that Va’il couldn’t hold back.
“What? What’s going on? Va’il, Darius?” Zeick asked. He knew that they had met previously when years ago they worked together against the maroon, but Zeick knew that wasn’t enough to provoke this kind of reaction. He was also vaguely aware there could be more, considering what Va’il had told him about Darius yesterday, especially since some of it was from Ruby, but that still didn’t satisfy Zeick. At the same time Zeick felt a sense of relief, a feeling that he had indeed made the right decision, and now he wanted to know why it was the correct choice. However, Darius and Va’il ignored Zeick. And if there had been more time available, they could have explained it better.
“Va’il, how you’ve grown,” Darius said, forcing all the strength he could muster into his words, and wiping Va’il’s tears away with a worn hand through the bars.
“Darius, why?” Va’il asked, still shedding tears, but in better control of his voice.
“I’m overjoyed, Va’il. Overjoyed. Oh that I lived this long. That I could see you again. It was worth holding on,” Darius said.
“You’re still here, Darius. What happened?” Va’il asked.
“The day! Zeick, the day?” Darius asked, ignoring Va’il’s question. Something had appeared in his mind that he had given up on, until Va’il’s appearance.
“Sir, this isn’t the time,” Zeick said.
“It is! The day!” Darius said, and then violently coughed. His body had started shuddering uncontrollably, and Va’il could feel Darius’ hand shake when it was placed on his shoulder.
Zeick sighed and reported the general time and exact date, and told Darius how many days it had been since Zeick had last appeared before him, since it wasn’t always his job to feed the prisoners.
“It’s today. King Fidel, it is today! How I wish you lived! But I know that if you were watching though my eyes, you’d be laughing inside, like me!” Darius said, and then coughed again. Darius continued, “Va’il, dear boy. I’ve been living. This day. For this day. I have lived, for this day. You must go! Go now!”
“Wait, Darius, explain why you’re here first,” Va’il said, unable to comprehend Darius’ incomprehensible speech.
“Ah,” Darius started, and then continued speaking slowly, as his strength left, “you live. How glad I am. You are the only one left who can stop today’s event. Only you have the truth. Go, run, rush, to the grand hall, now, boy, and stop it, you must stop it!”
“Stop what, Darius?” Va’il asked. But it appeared that as Darius’ strength left him, so did his clarity and sanity. His voice had alternated between fast and slow, and it appeared he was becoming delirious. The excitement he had upon seeing Va’il had accelerated the inevitable, pushed his frail body over the edge, but he didn’t care anymore.
“Grand hall. Stop it, only you can! I’ll rest. Yes, rest,” Darius said.
“No Darius, you can’t rest,” Zeick said, realizing what Darius meant, “not until you’re cleared, until you’ve lived in the sun again. Please, hold on for a while longer. Don’t go, not now when you desire to live again!”
“Too late. Zeick, for me, it’s late,” Darius said. Va’il felt further strength leave Darius’ hand. It came back for a moment, and then went weak again.
“Darius, what am I to stop?” Va’il asked, but Darius wasn’t able to hear their questions anymore, and spoke his own thoughts while he could.
“Though he may not have always been aware of you, be assured your father loved you. And her. Greatly. Take care, my king, and rejoice that I leave with a true smile,” Darius said. With that, his hand fell off Va’il’s shoulder, and he slumped back in his cell. Darius must have thought, in his final moments, that all his holding on was worth it, that the last of his strength, and the totality of it, was to be used on Va’il. He must have died satisfied in knowing he hadn’t yet died in vain. He too, held onto hope.
“Haven’t I told you,” Va’il said between sniffs and small sobs, “I can’t, I won’t, I don’t. But, Darius, friend I haven’t really made yet, nor can now, I wish you could have lived,” Va’il said. He reached through the bars and placed a hand on Darius’ chest. He then took Darius’ hand and shook it slowly, and then placed it on Darius’ chest. He couldn’t say anything further to the lifeless man. He couldn’t do anything further with the metal bars separating him from the great man. He wanted to sit and weep for a while longer, but he knew that there was something he could still do to pay homage to the smile that Darius had left the world with.
Though he had been tortured and starved over the past few years, Va’il could still see the image of the gallant man, the man Darius. The great commander, loyal to the king, leader of the royal guards, the human man who wore a trademark olive-green cape. No matter what Darius looked like at that moment, all Va’il could see was the image of that man, laughing and smiling as he made Mai’ou and Va’il worry all those years ago.
“Zeick, please, see to him if you can,” Va’il said.
“I’ll be notifying the others of the death,” Zeick said. “He should have lived. Why, why Darius? I’m sorry, Darius. I should have done something for you before.”
“My friend, you couldn’t have done better. Darius knew that. Don’t blame yourself for being unable to stop this from happening. Without you, I wouldn’t have known at all. Thank you, Zeick. Thank you,” Va’il said.
“Va’il, thank you. But, Va’il, what he was talking about? Va’il, I’ve called you friend, but, but who are you? Are you?”
“Please, for now, I’ve got to fulfill something. His last request. I’ll explain soon enough,” Va’il said. He stood and wiped his tears away, and then put on a new face. He also grabbed the helmet near him.
“When you leave, tell the guards I’m about ready and still cleaning, and that you’re going on duty elsewhere,” Zeick said. “They won’t question you further. If you’re going without the armor, leave it at the side of the third building after you turn the right corner and head straight back to the road. I’ll take care of it. Do what you have to do at the grand hall. Hurry, if it’s something Darius asked you to do, it’s important,” Zeick said.
“Thank you, Zeick. Please stay safe,” Va’il said, and then turned around.
“You too. Be safe! And Va’il, I say this for your safety, not just mine. But talking about Darius would be not so good,” Zeick said. He had to say it, though he felt apprehensive about it. He felt like he was trying to save his own neck, but he knew that if Va’il talked, regardless of what Va’il was, there was a danger involved.
“Don’t worry. If you haven’t been able to guess, I’m pretty good at keeping important secrets,” Va’il said with a grin that Zeick had longed to see. Va’il nodded at his friend, and then rushed off through the corridors.
Zeick sighed lightly, rolling the mess of thoughts over in his head. He then shook his head and pondered what he should do.
“Var!” Va’il said when he reached the cell.
“Yes, boy?” Var asked, knowing that he had spoken with Darius.
“He was a good man,” Va’il said. He bowed deeply, and then spoke with his head down. “You should get out of here. Do whatever it takes, but walk in the sunlight again. And, don’t tell anyone I was here, and speak of me to no one, not even my friend.”
“All right, boy. I hope to see you again, in better circumstance. He was? I see. He indeed was. Thank you, boy,” Var said.
Va’il stood tall, and then continued running. He reached the gates and asked for them to be opened, and made sure to sound friendly when telling the guards he had to go and that the other trainee would be returning soon. They waved him off, and then he continued running. He removed the armor at the designated spot, his usual clothing underneath it all. And then he ran. He knew exactly where to go. As to what, though, he was unaware. He knew that he had to follow Darius’ words. That they were important. He felt apprehensive that Zeick knew his secret, and also realized that whatever Darius was going to have him do may involve it as well, but those didn’t matter. There was something that Darius placed above his own life at that moment, and Va’il had the obligation to see what it was. And so, he ran.