A Second Chance

Since the day I became Baron, my dungeons were never used until we captured Wechia. Some soldiers who surrendered were offered a chance to work the farms and build roads while being paid more than triple the money they were paid to be soldiers for Axten. It was easy for them to pledge their allegiance to me this way. However, some of the soldiers were loyal to Axten, and they preferred to rot in a cell rather than live a good life under my flag.

To everyone’s shock, Tazen survived the fall with only a few broken bones. We captured him very shortly after we won the battle when he attempted to flee on foot. I made an effort to talk to him in the dungeon, despite the difficulty. He would not even acknowledge General Phylx when he tried to talk to him.

“Tazen, are you fine?” I tapped the cell bar lightly. He was sitting on his bed with his face looking towards the floor. He was pale and malnourished, despite everyone trying to feed him a full noble’s meal everyday. I pulled a chair and sat with Tazen for a few moments without talking to him.

“Tazen, are you famished? I can order some guards to bring some food for you.”

He did not reply or even react to me, much like Stephania during our duel.

“I want to apologize for your cell. Did you want somewhere else instead?” It was not me that locked him in this dungeon afterall. He demanded it himself.

“Tazen, I also want to apologize about your brother.”

He reacted very subtly.

“I want to apologize for how your brother was treated after his death.”

Tazen slammed his fist on the bed. He looked at me with deadly eyes full of tears.

“Why would you apologize for killing that disgusting lump of flesh?” He breathed heavily after shouting. The guards ran over, but I signalled them to stop. Some of the other prisoners began to yell, and I asked the guards to take them to another hallway.

“I did not have siblings, but I would feel sick to my stomach if someone killed Sevrus or Juliana in that manner.”

“He is not my brother. He is a fucking MONSTER.” He pulled a chair closer to the bars to face me. “After all the things I did for him, do you know what he did? He used me as a punching bag, and then he made me clean up his chambers and wash him after he forced slaves to lay with him. He made me dispose of slave bodies when he had a particularly terrible night.”

I could not imagine the horror this boy had lived through.

“And somehow, I thought that if I killed the you or the Princess, I could finally earn some respect from him. Instead, I was pushed off a fucking wall. The God of Honor punished me.” He sobbed through sharp breaths and clutched the bars tightly. I stayed silent and waited for his breaths to slow.

“My father and mother never loved me. They always sided with him. I planned to murder him to make him go away. Maybe then, they would love me like they loved him. But now he’s dead, and my father and mother had been killed by the Duke long before this anyway. Axten didn’t care about my parents! He called the Duke his father!” The sobbing increased. I was completely surprised by the death of Count Earulius Quidox and his wife. This poor boy had seen too much for his time.

“I am envious of you, Lord Rytus. How did you live through your tragedies and still find love everywhere around you?”

“I did not, for a very long time.” He looked at me, showing his confusion. “I hated everything and wanted everyone that caused me misfortune to die as well. I was just like you when I was younger. What I did was I opened my heart for love.”

“How do I open my heart when I spied against you, tried killing your woman, and planned to kill my brother? I want to kill myself right now. I don’t forgive myself for the things I’ve done.”

I held his hands through the bars.

“After I came back from the Arkan War, I had lost more than ten thousand soldiers. When I came home, thousands of family members waited for men and women who never came back. I convinced myself that I had killed them all. I closed my heart off, and then I tried to kill myself.”

Tazen and I began to sob together. I saw much of myself in him. He needed guidance through his life, and he was met with negligence and beatings. I had enough of this. It was my turn to break the cycle of self destruction.

“I had to learn to love myself to survive, Tazen. I had to survive to protect the people I love. Even though I have lost more people than I can count, I still have myself. You have to find it in yourself to open your heart again, and accept yourself.”

“You are too strong, Sire. How do I accept myself?”

“You have to find your purpose. What do you want for yourself?”

Tazen paused. He had never thought of serving himself in his life.

“I do not know.”

“What excites you?”

“I-I think that your realm excites me. The new technology, the fascinating people, the happiness in your tavern…”

“That is great. Now what is it that you want to do?”

“I want to learn about the world. The world outside of the nobility, outside of my brother’s doctrine. I want to learn from you about love. I want to live to see the beauty of the unknown and unfamiliar.”

“Very good. Did you like being a consul in my court?”

“It was the best time of my life so far.”

“How about you serve me as my Page this time?”

Tazen froze. He was clearly not expecting forgiveness. I was not expecting my own forgiveness for him either. However, I had learned a deep lesson from understanding him. There are people who perform bad deeds for the sake of goodness in their hearts, or for the sake of feeling loved. I, myself, had done wrong for the good of my people. I had to learn to forgive myself, and forgive Tazen.

“Sire, are you sure?”

“Of course.”

I opened Tazen’s cell. He struggled immensely to walk, but he strided with pride and distinction. I helped him walk through the dungeon halls and led him to the kitchen.

Months had passed after Tazen was released from my dungeons. He was taking sword work lessons with General Phylx, economic studies with Regulus, and aiding Sevrus in paperwork. In only a few months, Tazen became the strong young man he was destined to be. I realized that Tazen would be around my first Issac’s age, had he survived. The gods had given both of us a second chance to right our wrongs. For me, this was my chance to have a son again, and for him, he was given a chance to atone for his actions against our realm. Stephania had forgiven him much before this, though, given her warrior demeanor.

All of us had learned to open our hearts to forgiveness and gratitude.

***

I received word from Juliana after I had asked for a report.

“Sire,

I’m surprised and a little bothered by the fact that you chose to take Tazen in as your page. I’ll remind you that he blew your lover’s leg off, and he tried to kill you afterwards. He’s young, but I still won’t trust him fully. I trust your judgement though, and I won’t do anything to stop you. If he turns on you, he’ll join his brother.

Otherwise, my castle is clean and orderly. The tunnel people that were enslaved are now training under House Veraxas doctrine. I will advise you that they hate being called tunnel people, and they much prefer Liberaxus. I will rebuild the House and make my Father proud in the Great Sky. I have also sent for my lover to live in this keep. She should be arriving in a month.

I will also request some new patrols to scout my northern borders. I spotted some suspicious people a few weeks ago. They didn’t look like the normal black-capes, but we can’t be too careful after what happened here.

I’ve also met with Mother recently. She told me she sent you a few letters inviting you for tea, but you haven’t replied. What in Under are you doing to ignore my Mother? It takes only half of a half day for you to visit her, and you’re somehow too busy to do that. When you do, please introduce her to Stephania. I know that Mother used to condemn the Princess, but she believes in her too.

Lastly, I want to thank you again for meeting with me and letting me help you. I couldn’t exact revenge for myself fully, but I was happy to exact revenge for you. I am grieving for my sister, my father, and my nephew every day, but they would want us to keep moving forward. I will continue to move forward and support your realm as you need me.

My sword is yours, forever.

Love always,

Countess Juliana Veraxus, County of Wechia.”

Juliana was always refreshing with her bluntness. I would also love the opportunity to have tea with her, Mother, and Stephania. I wanted very much to hear Juliana’s tales of her adventures outside of Regalius. She had previously mentioned some disturbing things about the world that I would want to be aware of.

Despite the peacefulness of this time, the war was still raging around our broken kingdom. I had many questions overwhelming my senses at times. Why was the King kept alive? Where was Prince Theatus IV? Who was S.T.? Why did the Duke withdraw his soldiers from my borders? What will become of the kingdom if I help Stephania reclaim the Imperium?

Regardless of the uncertainty in the future, there was one clear certainty today: Stephania. After the losses I had taken over the course of my life, I had not anticipated this fairy tale of a story. The Princess who found her “prince”. The faraway lovers unite after years apart. The magic from love and from fabled stone fragments. Our story continues much further along, with more twists and turns in our lives as our world changes before our eyes…

…all set in motion by letters from the sky.