Kalin's Story
"I need to talk to you, Kalin."
It was late at night; Kalin had just been drifting off when Kieris' voice woke him. "Walk with me."
Kalin shot him a nasty glare. "As you command, my Lord."
"Please," Kieris added, though it still didn't turn his order into a request.
Kalin stood and joined Kieris, who led him away from the slave village to the same bridge they'd shared five nights ago.
"Well?" Kalin asked after a long moment.
"Lord Taylin has disappeared."
"I heard." Kalin shrugged. "I was listening at the door when the messenger arrived."
"Do you know anything about it?"
"No. Why would I?" Kalin demanded.
"You seem a likely suspect, if anyone here was involved." Kieris shrugged.
"Are you accusing me of... Of plotting with Knights?"
"Wouldn't you, if you got the chance?" Kieris countered.
"Hell, no. If I found a group of Knights to plot anything with, it would be to get myself the hell off of this Island. And why would I want to do anything to Taylin?"
"I thought I might ask you that. Serissa... She told me everything she knows, but there were some holes in her story. I gather you know something more about Taylin, from the way he treats you."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Kalin said flatly. "If you'll excuse me, I have to be up early."
"No earlier than usual. Stay and talk."
"Why should I?"
Kieris sighed and took a deep breath. "Elthis decided to move the wedding up. Two weeks from today, Kalin. I thought you should know that, too."
"Goddess damn." Kalin glared down into the water. "I don't really know why Taylin treats me like he does."
"No idea at all?"
"He said he... Knew a Knight, once. When he was captured. He told me about it, but... I don't know why. That was when he started acting differently towards me," Kalin explained. He didn't want to go into detail out of respect for Taylin, but he also didn't want to lie. "It was the night before Elthis cut off my hand."
"I think... I'm merely hazarding a guess, you understand, but from what I know of Lord Taylin and what you and Serissa have told me, I would almost think he feels somehow responsible for you."
"Huh." Kalin kicked at the base of the bridge a little, and leant against the wooden rail, staring into the water. "Why would he?"
"Perhaps because it was his fault you're here; after all, he was the one who made the bet with Elthis."
"Yeah." Kalin sighed. "That's probably it."
[OPENING CREDITS]
Episode 12: A Light In The Dark
Lisandra was bored. When Kieris had asked her to come, it was so she could spy for him; he hated not knowing everything about a situation, and since he was going to be the groom, they'd keep him busy. But she was the youngest daughter, and no one expected her to do anything, which left her free to wander about and overhear things. The same as always. He was the Heir; she was the spy.
Sometimes she resented her older brother. But every time she refused to "be his ears," as he put it after declaring 'spy' to be too strong a word, he was so damn apologetic and nice... And she kind of enjoyed it, anyway, so getting to snoop around in a new household, with all new people, was a challenge and she met it enthusiastically.
Right now, she was lurking at the end of the corridor that held Lord Elthis' office. For the first few days they'd been there, all that had gone on inside of it was wedding planning, but that was now being entrusted to Kieris' mother in her own guest rooms. Now there was a steady stream of Warriors going in and out; with Taylin missing, Elthis was the highest ranking Warrior close enough to take charge of the search.
Lisandra made sure to ask Kieris about the search every few hours; no one was going to tell her anything, but they would probably tell him. So far, he didn't know anything she didn't, and he'd actually asked her to keep an eye on Elthis and let him know if anything he should know about happened.
She heard footsteps coming and pretended she'd been walking to her own room, but had stopped to adjust a sandal, while the person walked by and towards Elthis' office. She stood up and saw it wasn't a Warrior, as she'd expected; it was...
A cook? She began to follow, as quietly as she could. The cook (she was sure now who he was) knocked once on Elthis' door and let himself in; Lisandra concluded he must have been expected, otherwise, he'd have waited for Elthis to let him in.
She hesitated outside the shut door, wanting to listen but also wanting to stay far enough away that she wouldn't get caught eavesdropping. However, she decided knowing why a cook was interrupting Elthis was more important and leant against the wall.
"...I swear to Ocando, my Lord."
"Describe what you saw."
"He... He looked around, to make sure no one was there—he didn't see me—and he just... walked off. He was headed towards the woods. I... I wanted to follow him, but I was... Well, my Lord... I was afraid, he was crazy enough to try to escape—at least, I thought that's what he was doing—so I thought he was probably armed and... Well, if I tried to stop him, he might..."
"Go on. What did he do?"
"I watched him long enough to see he was going to the woods before I left. I was heading home late, we'd been there extra to get things ready for your welcome home breakfast."
"So it was five days ago?"
"Yeah. And then... I got here the next morning, and no one mentioned an escaped slave, and I wondered why, 'cause it should have been gossip. But then I saw him, and I'm sure it was him, 'cause he only had one hand. And I wondered if I'd been dreaming the night before, 'cause an escaped slave wouldn't have come back, right?
"So I figured... Well, I remember that everyone was supposed to be extra careful in that forest awhile back, 'cause of a group of Knights that was supposedly there. But I didn't think of that until... Until the Knights kidnapped his Lordship. And then I realized... Well, if this slave had been in those woods, right before the disappearance... And he hadn't run away... Well, he must have been plotting with those Knights. He must have."
"I see." There was a long silence from inside the room, and Lisandra decided that was all she really needed to hear. She hurried back the way she'd come, and off to find Kieris. He was with Serissa, sitting in the library. They weren't talking; she was painting and he was reading—no, when Lis looked closer, she could see that he was watching Serissa above the book.
"Kieris." She shot Serissa an apprehensive glance, then gave the Lady a forced smile. "I... Think I found something that might... Interest you."
"Oh?" he asked, glancing up and seeing the look on her face. "Oh. If you'll excuse me for a moment, Riss..."
"Of course." Serissa didn't even look up from her painting.
Lis motioned Kieris to follow her, and stepped outside of the room and hissed the news to Kieris. He paled, then, "Thank you. I have to... We... I need to tell Serissa. Go find the slave. Hurry!"
"Kieris, why...?" she asked. She'd observed her brother watching that slave in particular, but Kieris had never mentioned why before.
"I can't explain now. Go find him, tell him to hide. Make sure he tells you where he is, I'll need to speak with him. Hurry!"
Lisandra nodded and jogged off, as Kieris headed back in to the library, to explain what had happened.
Kalin sighed. It had been a long morning. Since Taylin's disappearance, he'd been nervous and he wasn't quite sure why. Kieris had thought he had something to do with it; that was part of it. And this meant there were Knights in the area, and that meant that... Well, if he escaped, if he could find them, he could go home.
But the 'if's were still dangerous and leaving still meant losing Serissa forever. And... He wanted to go, he wanted to be free, he wanted to be done with the Island of the Sun forever, but he wasn't sure he could leave Serissa. She was the only thing that made his life worth living; she was the only good thing to happen to him in ten full years. He needed her and she needed him... But he needed to be free, too.
But with Kieris' offer, she'd be with him... They'd be safe. Not free. But safe....
He heard some shouting; a little too far off for him to make out, but definitely frantic. And people were coming towards him, it sounded like a group of three or four, running. They must have heard something about Taylin, he reasoned, stepping back against the wall so when they thundered past he could be out of the way.
The runners turned a corner, bringing them into the same corridor where Kalin was standing. Elthis led them, flanked by a group of other Warriors.
"There he is—"
"Quickly, before he runs—"
"I have him."
A jumble of voices yelling, and feet pounding the floor... Kalin lost track of what was happening. One moment, he'd been standing, waiting for the ruckus to pass by, the next giant hands were gripping his shoulders, he was slamming into the wall... He could feel chains, but it was happening so quickly he didn't know what was happening at all.
Then someone hit him, and the hallway and the Warriors all faded away. The last thing he remembered seeing clearly was a horror-stricken young Lady at the end of the corridor, trying to get lost in the shadows...
[EYECATCH]
So this is what Kalin feels like, every day... Taylin thought idly, somewhere in the back of his mind. His captor had stalked away temporarily; probably to think of a new plot. It was enough time for all of the aches to set in and to worsen without anything to distract Taylin from them, and the waiting was almost as bad as...
He hesitated to call it torture; it wasn't really. There wasn't much around for the frustrated young Knight to work with, but it was a painful questioning session nonetheless. And even if it wasn't for that, he'd been tied hand and foot, with his ankles and wrists lashed together behind him, leaving him keeling on the none-too-smooth rocky cave floor. It wasn't a comfortable position, and he'd been in it for... He had no idea how long. Hours. Days. He was facing away from the cave's entrance and couldn't see the sun or judge the light, so he had only a vague idea about how much time was passing.... And he was starving, too.
He and Erra—he'd eventually learned the name of the Knights' leader—hated each other almost immediately. They'd spend the better part of a day yelling about whether or not Taylin was going to give them his name and rank; the problem was eventually solved by one of the Knights providing some intelligence information, leaving Taylin wondering exactly where he'd found things out, and from whom.
Whatever apathy Taylin had been developing towards fighting and all of the recent questioning he'd done about the war dissolved as soon as he was actually faced with the enemy. He hadn't spent much time thinking about that, though; mostly Taylin had wondered why he suddenly seemed fluent in the Knights' language. It was bizarre; as if he was remembering something from a dream he'd had years ago. He didn't remember learning to speak it when he'd been a prisoner, and he hadn't known more than a few basic sentences since his return, no more than any other Warrior. But as soon as he started to hear it around him, he began to understand every word that was spoken.
Thus far, he hadn't let on to that yet. He wasn't sure where he was and he didn't know what they were going to do with him (though the word 'death' came up in conversation a startling number of times) and listening was a good way to find out. If they knew he could understand them, they'd have been quiet, so instead he feigned ignorance.
Their translator was very good. He spoke with a no accent from his native country; from what Taylin could tell, he was speaking his own language accented by the Warrior's. That seemed odd, until Taylin caught a glance of a few scars and what looked like a brand on the Knight's arm, and while it could have been nothing, for some reason, he was absolutely sure the Knight was an escaped slave.
So that's what slaves do when they escape. He thought of Kalin for a moment, and thought it seemed appropriate; the boy was certainly passionate enough about his Goddess to be a Knight. And his mother... Well, she'd been more than just a Knight, from what he gathered. He wasn't sure what she was exactly, but from the stories and the rumors, she was conversing with Kaleal on a daily basis.
He'd always wondered how much exaggeration had been involved in those stories, as Slenna never mentioned them herself.... But her word did carry a lot of power. He wondered for a moment what these Knights would have thought of him and Slenna, but had decided when he first awoke not to mention the two years he'd been a prisoner. There was no reason for them to know, and he remembered how upset the Knights had been when he was saved from execution... Well, no; he remembered hearing about how upset the Knights were, but he himself was unconscious at the time.
Erra swaggered back over to stand in front of where Taylin was still tied, kneeling. His sword was drawn and he ran it through the air on either side of Taylin to prove his mastery over it, then stopped the blade with the point at the Warrior's throat.
"You're beginning to bore me," he declared, and the translator provided the language switch.
"Infants bore easily. Wait until you're a few years older. Unless you're as lousy a Knight as I suspect, in which case, you'll die before you're old enough to be a real threat."
"A real threat?" Erra scoffed. He prodded Taylin with the tip of his sword, just deep enough to draw blood. He smiled and sliced down Taylin's chest, all the way down to rest at the top of Taylin's pelvis, leaving a line of blood—Taylin had long since lost his shirt; a few scraps clung to his shoulders, but that was all that remained of it. "Maybe you'll see how much of a 'real threat' I am after I do some real damage."
"Or maybe I'll see how unable to deal with a real man you are," Taylin smirked, referencing the portion of his anatomy that was suddenly in danger. Erra glared angrily, and stabbed Taylin through his lower abdomen. Taylin yelled, as much in frustration as pain.
"You gonna answer my questions yet?"
"Go to Hell."
He stabbed again. "Now?"
"Fuck you."
A third stab and Taylin doubled over as much as his constraints would allow. "Not gonna swear at me any more?" Erra mocked.
"God fucking damn!" Taylin screamed, the words barely coherent enough for the translator to be able to translate. "What do you want?" he finally managed to yell through clenched teeth, trying to ignore the burning pain in his torso.
"That's better." Erra smirked. "Now let's get down to business."
Kalin groaned and shifted, only to be woken fully by the clinking of chains. Chains? he wondered. My head hurts. What did... He had a vague memory of being grabbed in the hallway, but things had gone black awfully quickly. He didn't even know what he'd done.
Kalin found the chains allowed him enough freedom to sit up, although his ankles were bound. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he laughed at the thought that if he'd still had both hands, they'd have been tied too; having one hand allowed him more freedom.
Looking around, he saw himself in a place he only barely recognized, he'd been there once before: Elthis' rarely used dungeon. Three of the walls were cold stone; he'd been lying on a similar stone floor. The fourth wall was made of metal bars with a door at one side. He could see a hallway through the bars; someone stood outside, but it was too dark to make out who. Whoever it was had a torch, but it was out of the view Kalin got from his cell, so all he could really see were vague shadows.
"Why... Why am I here?" he asked whoever it was. There was no answer. "Who's there?"
"You told me you had nothing to do with it." Kieris stepped into Kalin's view, and set the torch into a holder on the stone wall behind him.
"What?" Kalin asked, confused. "This is about that?"
"Elthis thinks you're guilty, Kalin. And there's quite a lot of evidence that shows you are."
"They think I'm guilty of what, precisely?" Kalin didn't really like Kieris that much, but he was glad Kieris had been the one lurking outside his cell. Otherwise, he realized, he probably wouldn't get any of his questions answered.
"He thinks you were consorting with Knights and conspiring to have Lord Taylin captured, and, most likely, killed."
"Oh." Kalin paused. "Damn."
"Indeed. Elthis has a certain amount of evidence to support his claims; all I have to the contrary is your word. However, I decided to speak with you before deciding if the responsibility lies with you."
"You don't get to decide that," Kalin muttered. "Because I didn't do it."
"So you told me."
"Why... Why does Elthis think I did it?"
"You have a motive; Taylin was your former owner and none to kind to you. No one would be surprised if you wanted to have some sort of revenge on him."
"But..." Kalin sighed. "Look, no, I don't really like him. But he has been a lot nicer to me than Elthis, especially since..." he stopped before mentioning the night in the kitchen. "Since I lost my hand. And if I had been looking for anyone to kill, well... Quite frankly, you'd be a lot higher on my list."
Kieris started to answer, then stopped. Kalin couldn't make out his expression in the dim light, but Kieris was startled. "Why?" he asked after a minute.
"Because you're marrying Serissa and I'm not." He said it so matter of factly that Kieris was almost scared.
"But... I'm only getting married to her to protect her. Her, and you. I was never going to interfere between you two..."
"Yeah," Kalin agreed, "but when Taylin disappeared, I didn't know that yet. All I knew was that you were some rich important Lord, who was going to get married to the woman I love, and that she would be moving in with you and I'd be stuck here until Elthis got around to having me killed."
"Oh." Kieris took a moment to digest that. "I hope you don't feel that way any longer."
"I guess not..." He sighed. "What else are they claiming?"
"There was a report of you being seen walking off into the same forest where the Knights attacked Taylin. At first, it was believed they were escape attempts, but the fact that you returned of your own free will precludes that. Now the assumption is that you were there to consort with the Knights."
"Hm." Kalin considered.
"Are these allegations true?"
"Well, one of them is. I did head off into the woods for awhile, but I didn't know there were any Knights."
"And clearly you didn't escape. So why, then?"
"I didn't escape, but I was planning to. I wanted to know where I was going, so I did a bit of exploring. It was only once, though."
"I see." Kieris looked contemplative. "Serissa made you promise, after all."
"Yeah."
"But that defense would endanger Serissa, and I will not allow that."
Kalin shot him a dirty look. "I wasn't planning to put her in danger."
"Good. She... She wants to come see you, but I told her it would be dangerous and she should wait until after we find some way to prove you're innocence and you've been released." Kieris didn't sound any more optimistic about it than Kalin felt. There was a long, depressed silence.
"Tell her I love her," Kalin whispered finally.
"I will."
"Take good care of her, all right? I... If I don't come through this mess, she'll... Just make sure she's not upset."
"If you don't come through this mess, nothing anyone can do will keep her from being upset." Kalin sighed, sounding defeated. "Love her, then." He gave Kieris a pleading look, almost desperate for the Lord to refuse, to say no one would ever love her but Kalin; that she would never love anyone but Kalin. Silence hung between them. "She needs someone who loves her...."
"I do," Kieris answered quietly. "I... I'm not you. I could never be to her what you are. But... I do love her. I have since I first saw her..."
Kalin nodded. On the one hand, he was glad that Kieris loved Riss; it meant he would care for her when Kalin was gone. On the other hand, he didn't want Serissa to forget him, or to stop loving him... He was jealous, but he knew it was unavoidable. Serissa was a Lady, he was a slave who was about to be sentenced to death for a crime he hadn't even committed, and he'd much rather have her be happy with Kieris than mourning him forever.
Kieris removed his torch and slipped back out of the dungeon, leaving Kalin in darkness.
Kalin didn't even realize he'd drifted off until her voice awoke him. He looked up to see Serissa outside his cell, illuminated by a torch. She set it in the holder and knelt in front of the bars, gripping them.
"Serissa..." he breathed, startled—ecstatic, but startled. He struggled to his feet, and walked over to the barred wall as best as he could with the chains around his ankles. He knelt in front of her, reached out to her, and she took his one hand in hers. "You... I'm grateful to see you, love, but isn't this a bit dangerous?"
"I don't care," she said fiercely.
"Serissa, if anyone catches you...."
"I really don't care anymore. I want you, I want to be with you. And anyone who doesn't understand can... Can..." she struggled to find words. "Can go to Hell," she eventually finished, feeling that the language wasn't strong enough.
"I know, love, but I don't want to see you get hurt."
She smiled. "I know. But I had to come see you, it hurt too much not to. They think you had something to do with Taylin's disappearance."
"I didn't."
"I know. Kieris explained everything to me; don't worry, we're going to find a way to get you out of here. Kieris is very smart, he'll think of something. And then..." she trailed off again. "And then we'll be together." It was barely a whisper.
Kalin's heart broke as he heard her say it. He wanted to believe her, he wanted to so desperately it hurt, but the reality of the situation was too harsh. "No, love." He pulled his hand out of hers and looked away, feeling guilty.
"What?"
"We... It won't work. Kieris isn't going to find a way to save me."
"You don't know that, Kalin."
"I do. Your father won't listen to him, and even if he did, even if he believed I'm innocent, he'd execute me anyway. He wants me dead, Serissa, he doesn't care about anything else. Not even the truth." To emphasize his point, Kalin held up his stump. Serissa stared, and started to tear over.
"I know," she said, trying to fight back sobs. "I know, Kalin, I just... I just want to be with you so badly..." She took a deep breath. "When Kieris gets you out of here, which he will, you're going to run for it, do you understand? No more hesitations. No more delays. If we can't be together, than you're going to be free."
"I'm sorry, Riss... I want to be with you, I wish..." He took her hand again. "I wish things had been different to begin with. But, listen... Kieris is a good man. He cares for you a lot. You should... You should try and care for him, too."
"What?"
"It's just, Serissa... You can be happy, once I'm gone. No matter how I go... You can be happy afterwards. Promise me you will be. That you'll try to be happy with Kieris."
"No, Kalin. I won't be happy with anyone but you, and I—"
"You have to try. Please. I can't go if I know you'll be unhappy, and if I could, I wouldn't. You have to try... Please, Serissa."
She gulped and forced back the tears again. He was right and she knew it; he was either going to die or run, and either way they'd never be together, and he really wouldn't leave if he thought she would be unhappy forever afterwards. "All right. But... I love you. I will always love you."
"I'll always love you too." He kissed her hand gently, then leant as close to the bars as he could and she leant in too, and they kissed. "Goodbye, love," he whispered.
"Goodbye. I love you... Forever." Serissa looked away as she dropped his hand, stood, and walked away.
She left him the torch to provide a little bit of light.
Serissa thought she'd managed to slip down to the dungeon unnoticed; she was certain of it. It was late at night, and she thought everyone had fallen asleep, and she certainly hadn't gone near anyone. So, when she ascended the stairs that lead out of the dungeon and up into the wine cellar, she was surprised to see her father standing, waiting, watching her expectantly.
"Explain," he said after a long silence. His voice was ice cold and the look on his face was furious.
"I love him." She stared into his angered face, a sudden calm upon her. She'd told Kalin she didn't care if she got into trouble and had hoped he believed it, but now found out it was true: she loved Kalin, and if her father didn't like it (which he clearly didn't) she just didn't care.
"You don't." He said it flatly. "You love Kieris; the boy is just a slave that you have no feelings for." It was an order for her to follow, not even a denial of her feelings.
"No, Father. Kieris cares for me—" she remembered her promise to Kalin suddenly, "—and I him, but I love Kalin."
He raised an arm and she tensed, waiting for the blow, but before it came she added, "I love Kalin, and nothing you can do will make that a lie."
Elthis found himself unable to contain his rage, but his daughter simply stood there expectantly. He exploded and punched forward, but was careful to hit the wall and not her. He'd never have hit her with that kind of force, no matter how angry he was. No matter what she had just said, she was still his daughter...
He was vaguely aware that his hand hurt and was bleeding badly, but he didn't feel it. All he felt, all he could hear, were her words echoing inside his head: "Nothing you can do will make that a lie."
He drew back his fist and shook it, spattering blood over the floor and wall and some on himself and Serissa. "Go," he hissed. "Now."
"No," she said simply. "I won't let you go hurt him for this, Father. He's been through more than enough. If you want to hit someone, I'll stand here and take it. But leave him alone." She shut the door that lead downstairs behind her, and stood back against it.
"Get out of my way, Serissa." Damn, but his hand hurt now...
"He's protected me for a long time now. He has, and Taylin, and Kieris. I needed their help, but I don't now. Leave the man I love alone, Father."
"He may have cost Taylin his life," Elthis managed to snarl. "He's going to die for that."
"He's innocent, Father. And I know that won't stop you, but even if you have to execute him, you're not going to go hurt him tonight." She stared him in the eye, absolutely calm and deadly serious. She'd made her choice; if Elthis wanted to get to Kalin, he'd have to go through her. She hoped he'd be unwilling to do that, but wasn't going to count on it; if he decided to hurt her, she'd take it, she'd keep him away from Kalin for as long as she could. "Go away, Father. Go find a Healer for your hand."
He opened his mouth to answer, but found he had nothing to say. She had made it clear she wouldn't stand aside, and he suddenly realized she'd inherited his own stubbornness. And she thought she loved him...
Elthis turned on his heal and walked away.