Divided (76 page)

Lee realized he had his opportunity, and all he would have
to do was speak clearly and fluently, without bursting into tears over what
he’d done to Taeru—and he would have finished the job that he’d promised to
finish.  “Yes,” Lee answered slowly, “there was an amulet.  The present that
Calis gave to Tareth for his sun of birth.  It appears to have contained some
sort of toxin that wreaked havoc on Tareth’s eyes.  I assume the Cathalari had
some way to trigger it.”  His words were fluid, just as they were supposed to
sound.

Lavus seemed agitated for a single moment, and then a smirk
moved across his lips.  “What a deceitful and conniving thing to do—I wasn’t
sure that Calis had the capability.  Perhaps he is not lost entirely, though I
would love to know how he managed such a device.  And the reason he chose to
sabotage his brother.”

The thoughts were beginning to calm, and Lee could feel
himself regaining control of the situation.  He swallowed, and he shook his
head.  “I’m unsure, your majesty.  Though… if you would permit me to see him, I
might be able to get a few answers.”  His words were casual, as though he
didn’t care one way or the other.  Yet, his heart felt suspended in the air
over an endless chasm.

The king stared blankly at Lee for a few moments, as if
processing the words he’d said.  He frowned, then.  “I don’t know, perhaps I
ought to speak with him about it… I doubt you could intimidate my son to the
degree that I can.”

Lee felt himself scrambling mentally, though he kept his
words even and disinterested.  This was far more difficult than he’d imagined. 
Seeing Taeru like that had really twisted his insides.  So much blood.  “I just
thought, as Calis tends to respond so negatively to intimidation, that I could
convince him to tell me… in confidence.”

Again, Lavus paused, as though he were processing the
request in intimate detail.  Again, Lee felt as though his insides were about
to explode.  Then, Lavus pursed his lips and offered a tentative nod.  “Perhaps
you are right.  My son has not been very receptive, and you two seem to have a
decent rapport.”

“That we do, sir,” Lee said.

“Fair enough.  Go see him at once.  Report back to me what
you find.  If you find nothing, do not lie—I will know.”  Lee could feel
elation spread through him like an illness.  “I will make preparations to hang
that bloody prince.  Don’t be too long,” Lavus said, “only a few shifts till
dusk.  And I expect my eldest son to be present.”  Glancing to one of the
servants, Lavus flicked his wrist.  “Ensure that the guards know that Lee
Keiichi is cleared to see my son.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

“You cannot kill that which will not die.”

-A Hero’s Peace v.ii

Pain split through Calis’s mind, and his fingers dug into
the stone beneath him.  Images that he couldn’t erase plagued his mind.  The
bits of sleep he’d gotten in between his lapses of aching wakefulness had
always left him with horrifying visions of the things that Lavus would do to
Taeru.  He saw them now, like a dance in front of his eyes, and when he closed
them—the dance only grew more vivid.  Screams that he could do nothing to
quiet, whimpers that he could do nothing to soothe—they played a tempo in his
mind.

Calis was sure that it had been over two cycles, and Taeru
had been Lavus and Tareth’s prisoner for two cycles.  And now—they knew.  Now,
they knew Taeru was the Phantom Blade.  Why?  Why had Lee told them that? 
There was nothing to gain from that information—all that information would lead
to was Taeru being tormented further.  Tears streamed down his face as he
thought of it.  Lee had betrayed him in the worst way.

To think that Lee had seen the way Calis looked at Taeru,
and he had known Calis was in love with him—and yet he had still chosen to
betray Taeru to Lavus and Tareth.  He must have known that Tareth would want to
exact revenge on Taeru.  There was no reason for it—none.  Especially given
that Taeru had only become the Phantom Blade to help Dark District.  He was
being punished for helping Telandus.  They were the ones that ought to be
tortured, if they wanted there to be justice throughout the kingdom.  Taeru had
done nothing but good, and yet Calis could only imagine what they were doing to
him now.

Oh, and imagine it he did.  He saw the thousand different
ways they would touch Taeru.  His fingers trembled as he stared blankly at the
blood-soaked rag in his hands.  He brought it to his lips, sobbing silently,
and the dried blood felt like a poison and an antidote on his hands.  The rag
even smelled like Taeru, vaguely, and mixed with other, terrible scents—but
Taeru’s scent was on the rag.  For that reason, Calis couldn’t do away with
it.  A rag soaked in blood of the man he loved—and yet because he missed Taeru
so badly, he couldn’t discard it.

After Lavus had left the last time, Calis had fastened the
amulet around his neck.  He would be a Lassau before he would be known as a
Tsrali.  He wanted nothing to do with the name—with the house.  He wanted
Taeru, and he needed him more than it was possible to need another person—to
need anything.  Taeru felt more crucial to him than the air that he breathed. 
The air felt inconsequential when compared to those soft, blue eyes, that lithe
form, the quiet temerity, the dimples—all of it.  It felt so necessary to
Calis.  And yet, the person Calis had thought was his best friend had betrayed
Taeru, and therefore, Calis.

There was something altogether horrible about that.  Though,
Calis didn’t have the emotions to mourn for the loss of his friend.  He felt
entirely exhausted with the way his mind desperately sought to destroy the room
around him.  He could only see his own helplessness, his own uselessness, when
he looked around.  He could feel the pain of failing the only person he’d ever
loved, and that feeling consumed him entirely.  There was nothing else, except
the growing desire to hold Taeru.  “I love you,” he whispered into the silence.

I would do anything for you.  I would—and the fact that I
can’t get out of this forsaken room hurts me more than anything they’ll ever do
to you.  Oh, I want to know… I want to see you.  I love you so much, Taeru…
please, please be alright… please, hold on.

Images came back to his mind, and Calis bowed his head.  How
could he be so useless?  Through his entire life, Calis had been renowned for
being competent in every area—and yet, for the first time, he truly cared about
an outcome, and nothing he did could change it.  His entire body ached from
clawing at the walls, from banging on the floors, from tearing at the shackles,
and yet none of them had yielded results.  No, he could do nothing to save the
love of his life—and consequently, the only person that he would ever love. 

To his dismay, there was another commotion outside his
door.  The voices that he heard before any granted entry, only these were more
subdued, which meant that Lavus wasn’t near the door.  Perhaps Claudia, though
Calis hadn’t seen her for some time, and she had seemed rather upset with the
situation.  He hadn’t expected to see her again. 

Calis leapt up, waiting as he glared at the door, trying to
find an opening to run out.  His teeth pressed against one another as he glared
at the unopened door.  The shackles on his wrists felt heavy, and he clenched
his fists.

More voices, and then there was a strange silence.  The door
creaked open, just barely, though no one showed themselves.  Calis moved
towards the door, slowly, carefully.  He heard the faintest of noises, and as
he continued to creep towards the door—it opened, and there he was.  The
traitor himself.  Lee’s eyes were tired, as though they had kept secrets for
far too long, and his face was pale—far paler than Calis had ever seen it.  And
none of it mattered—all that mattered was what Lee had done to Taeru. 

Without a word, Lee stepped forward and grabbed Calis’s
shackles, and with a small, silver key, he unlocked them.  They fell to the
floor, and Calis could see the marks from where he’d tugged against them.  His
eyes widened, and as he stared at Lee, a thought formed in his mind.  Still, he
reared back, and his fist collided with Lee’s jaw without forgiveness.  Lee
staggered under the impact, and then he shook his head and stood to face
Calis.  His eyes weren’t angry or surprised in the least.  “I deserved that—but
I had to do this.  You can beat me up later, but they are going to hang him…”

The entire world collapsed around Calis, and any anger that
he’d had for Lee vanished in that single instant.  Whether Lee betrayed him or
not no longer mattered.  “What?” his voice was choked, hoarse.  “When?”

“We have a shift,” Lee said quickly.  “I’ll explain on the
way, but we have a whole castle of guards to get through and hardly enough time
to make the trip.”

“The guards outside?” Calis asked, feeling his insanity
disappear in favor of a side of him that had a chance to stop something that
would end his world. 

Lee stared blankly at him, as though he’d asked a strange
question.  “I killed them,” he said, as though he spoke to a daft child.  “I
would have done so earlier, but without your father’s permission to enter the
room—I couldn’t get in—I didn’t know how they were opening the door.  It was
some sort of hidden device.”

“That’s why you told them,” Calis said flatly.

“Yes,” Lee answered.  His voice was weak, and from the
haggard expression on his face, he had not dealt well with selling Taeru out to
the monsters in this castle.  “I know that is no excuse, and I don’t expect you
to forgive me…”

Calis’s teeth gritted.  “When we save him, I will forgive
you—but I will kick your bloody ass before I do.”  Lee smiled grimly.  Calis
couldn’t be mad—he couldn’t feel anything, other than the pressing urge to get
out of this room.  Taeru could not die—and if he did… no.  He wouldn’t.  Lee’s
eyes moved to the amulet hanging around Calis’s neck, and oddly enough, his
smile got a little less grim.

“That belongs to him.” Lee’s voice still sounded less
confident than Calis was accustomed to.  He sounded as though he wanted to
collapse, and Calis knew the feeling—though his desire to do so had vanished. 

With a nod, Calis affirmed Lee’s guess and started towards
the door.  The more time they wasted in this Light forsaken room, then the
longer Lavus had to do precisely what he wanted to Taeru.  Why was he hanging
Taeru now, though?  He wasn’t, Calis reminded himself.  Lavus would not kill
the only creature Calis had ever loved—the only thing in this world that
Lavus’s ill treatment and corruption had not stolen from Calis.  Not now—not
ever.

Calis pushed out into the hallway.  The change in lighting
was strange, as he had sat in the darkness of his room for too long—with strips
of light only coming through when the soldiers gave him food or one of his
Lightless family members had come to visit him.  As his pace set, Lee hurried
past him.  “Calis, here,” Lee said.  With a quick tug, Lee pulled Calis into
his own room.

Lee’s bed looked like it had not been touched recently.  So,
Lee never had betrayed Calis, after all—though, Calis found it difficult to be
anything but angry with Lee considering the circumstance.  Then, Lee nodded his
head towards the suit of armor in the corner.  “Your armor,” Lee pointed out. 
“And your sword.”

The coloring registered itself in Calis’s mind, and he
realized that Lee spoke the truth.  Somehow, Lee had managed to obtain the
prince’s armor and weapon and stow it in his own room.  Calis hurried to his
belongings, immediately beginning to slip the armor on over his dirty clothes. 
“Have you seen him?” Calis asked warily, as the question refused to give him
peace.

The grim expression in Lee’s eyes made Calis’s heart drop to
his feet.  His jaw clenched, and he tried not to think too hard about Lee’s
expression.  After all, Calis had seen the rag covered in blood—he ought to
know that Taeru was hurt.  Hurt, and it was all Calis’s fault.  Letting out a
shaky breath, he continued putting on his armor.  “Why are they hanging him
now?  Did you orchestrate it?”  Calis’s breath caught at the inkling.  Surely
even Lee wouldn’t… Calis worked to contain his anger.

“No!” Lee sounded as horrified as Calis felt.  Their eyes
met, and Calis saw the sincerity in his friend and advisor’s eyes.  So long as
Taeru was safe, Calis knew he would be able to forgive his friend—despite his
dangerous plan.  “No!  I wouldn’t.  I never meant to hurt him—not at all.  I
didn’t want to have to tell them what I told them.  But I did… and Tareth,
he…”  Lee floundered, as though he were choking on his thoughts.  “Hurry,
Calis.”

At last, Calis strapped his belt on, connected the sheath,
and slid his sword into its proper location.  They wouldn’t have much time
before the dead guards in the hallway, which Calis’s mind had scarcely bothered
to perceive, were discovered.  They exited back into the hallway, and Calis was
aware that pushing Lee past his limit right now would only slow them down.  The
hallway that Calis stayed on had been deserted, likely by Lavus’s order, and
that meant that for a bit of walking—this would be simple.  “I ought to find
Tareth and kill him myself,” Calis snapped.

For the first time since Calis had been reintroduced to his
advisor, Lee’s voice sounded a little like itself.  “I fear that might be a
waste of effort, my lord—there isn’t much point in killing a blind man,
anyway.”  There was a dangerous glint in Lee’s eyes, though Calis wasn’t sure
he wasn’t just pleased that the device had been used.

In fact, Calis was feeling a bit excited himself.  They
continued to walk, but Calis’s mind became consumed with the idea that Taeru
had trusted him enough to use the amulet—if Taeru had triggered it.  “Taeru?”
Calis asked desperately.  “He used it?”

Lee nodded, and Calis could feel a twinge of hope surging
through him.  If Taeru had been well enough to remember and use the amulet,
then he had to be okay.  So why did the color flee from Lee’s cheeks at the
question?  Even now—Calis’s advisor was pale, as though he were reliving
memories that he couldn’t escape.  Calis swallowed the worry that accompanied
Lee’s expression.

There was obviously a large piece of information that Lee
was not going to inform Calis of—perhaps because Calis would be pushed over the
edge by it. 
Good, then,
Calis decided,
I have to focus now—I can
worry later.

The first guard that they ran into was alone, which was a
rarity within the walls of the Telandan castle.  Without thought or
consideration, Calis unleashed himself forward so that the blade of his sword
plowed through the armor with little resistance.  Calis’s hand was without sleight,
without reservation, and the armor buckled and caved—lending the sword to flesh
in a matter of moments. 

A choke of shock from Lee, and then a choke of pain from the
guard, ended the moment.  Blood bubbled from the man’s lips, and Calis narrowed
his eyes and used his foot to slam the man backwards, off his sword.  He
sheathed the weapon without emotion.  “I suppose they forewent any mercy from
you when they touched Taeru.”

“When they took him, they took any semblance of a soul I
had.”  Calis’s words cut the air between the two of them.  Lee’s eyes widened,
only infinitesimally and then he nodded his head.  Calis spoke the truth—Taeru
had become his everything, somewhere in the few phases that they had known one
another.

They continued forward, and Lee let out a weak laugh.  “Ever
dramatic,” he said, and though he was trying to be humorous—there was a
blackness in his words.  There was very little light in this situation, and Lee
knew that as well as Calis.  Still, Calis could appreciate Lee’s attempts to
keep him calm.

Only when they reached the grand hall did several of the
guards notice them.  The daft men took several moments, staring at the two of
them without thought, before they knew that anything was amiss.  In fact, Calis
had already jumped forward and lanced his sword through another man.  After the
first murder, Calis felt his mind disconnect from reality.  The thoughts of
Taeru, the ones that had been rooting him there, abandoned him as he stared
into the faces of the men who had willed this.  These men followed Lavus, and
by association, they had condemned Taeru to his fate—to whatever horrible
atrocity that made Lee grow pale.  The detachment brought with it a release,
and Calis’s sword moved without worry.

He swung it, putting blade to flesh, through armor and
weapons.  He parried the blows, instinctively prepared for them before they
struck.  A blind rage fueled him, pushing him forward and nearly controlling
him.  He tore through throats and other limbs, and when a blade would catch his
own, his sheer force would send its wielder stumbling backwards.  A grand hall
filled with guards, and yet Calis noticed nothing but the various men that his
sword broke.  They all fell, and he scarcely heard them.