Part II, Chapter Eighteen: Aurius Is Halfway There

Part II: Shiromori

"You never truly live until you find something worth dying for." --Zhi philosopher, c. 320 AE

April 24, 1110 AE
Shiromori Castle, Ayumora, Shiromori

The only light in the dismal cell came from the small, barred window of the locked door. Aurius supposed it was better than nothing, but it was only torchlight; unchanging, given these slow-burning Shiromori oils, barely different at midnight than it had been at sundown. How long he had sat in this dungeon, he couldn't be sure, only that it had been too long.

And yet, as no footsteps nor clinking of keys betrayed an approaching guard, it had not been long enough.

A rat in the corner scurried about, digging around for spare crumbs and whatnot. Aurius tried to follow it with his eyes to distract himself from his own throbbing face. The guards--on Kohashi's orders, he was almost certain--had beaten him liberally upon his arrival at the cell. He hadn't struggled; they had wanted him to struggle. If he had fought back, then they could have charged him with the assault of the king's men. They had gambled that he would be foolish enough or naive enough not to realize that; they had lost.

He probably looked a mess. Hours later, blood still streamed from his likely-broken nose, and even had the light been sufficient, he doubted his left eye would have been of any use. He'd been lucky to find that piece of string amongst the hay; at least his hair was out of the way of the blood.

But while he was in a wretched state physically, he didn't doubt that Maru was more stressed than he. At least he knew what was happening; she was in her bedroom, likely unable to sleep, writhing in both anticipation and fear of dawn's first light. This incident was probably taking its toll, on both her and the baby. Aurius did not think he could rest until he saw her again.

Outside the cell, a door creaked open; Aurius's gaze snapped to the cell window. Whoever it was pushed the door shut behind them, then continued on their way, their footsteps drawing nearer. Oddly enough, the tread was rather light--more like a lady's slippers than the heavy boots of a soldier.

And there was only one lady who would dare. "...Maru?"

A cloaked female figure stepped in front of the window; he saw little of her, but he knew the curves of Maru's face and body well enough to tell that he'd been wrong. "No," she replied in a whisper. "Her mother."

Aurius frowned. "Your majesty?" He had assumed that Princess Takamari was a meek sort of woman, the kind who dealt with difficult situations by relying on an overpowering husband, but perhaps he had underestimated her.

The lock on the cell door clicked open. "Please, call me Takamari--you and I are going to be seeing a lot of each other, so we might as well be on first name terms."

"Takamari," he repeated with more than a little awkwardness, pulling himself off the pile of hay and shuffling toward the door. "What's going on? Did your husband send you for me?"

She pulled the door open and shook her head, but he scarcely noticed the gesture--he was too distracted by the obvious bruising around her eye.

A grimace broke upon her face at the sight of him. "Well... aren't we a sorry looking pair."

He wasn't even going to pretend there was any humor here. "What happened to you?"

"Wardrobe door," she answered hastily. "Anyway... we have to get out of here. This is almost too convenient for Kohashi--it's a pretense."

"But Maru--"

Takamari silenced him with a roll of her eyes--a shockingly Maru-like action for a woman who had seemed to think herself more ornamental than anything else. "Don't be an idiot. Kohashi wants you dead and thanks to Ustelian, it won't be long before Banus does too. His plan is to hang you at noon. I'll explain on the way, but you have to realize that you can't throw away your life for some girl you've only just met."

"Just met?" he gasped in disbelief as he stepped out of the cell. "I've known her a year! And loved her the better part of it!"

Takamari sniffed. "Then this place is only more dangerous to you--especially if she loves you back. Kohashi would never stand to see his daughter with a desert dog, even if she weren't his firstborn."

"But we were going to run off together anyway! She wanted to leave tonight!"

"I can send for her later."

"But we're--"

She sighed. "Look, I'm only rescuing you because my daughter seems to like you--not because I want you to be together. Anyway, I have some other leverage that I know for a fact will make you cooperate with me."

Aurius scowled. "There is no leverage that can make me leave without her."

"You had a son, correct? He died as a baby?"

He froze. There was still enough lingering pain over Athayos that he did not feel comfortable discussing him. It had even taken him a few months to work up the courage to mention him to Maru. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

She gestured toward the wall opposite the cell doors. "Look."

Irritated, he did as he was told--only to step back in shock. "How...?"

He was bigger. He was older. He was healthy--and alive. But he had Aurius's own eyes--Danitia's eyes--their father's eyes. He had Kinea's mouth, and even the nose of Aurius's long-dead mother. How was this possible? Was this an illusion of some sort? Aurius tried to look back at Takamari, but found he could not take his eyes off the boy--his boy--his son. "What...?"

"My in-laws have been looking after him," she began in a whisper, "hiding him from my husband. A pair of Guildsmen rescued him from Ustelian--he brought him back to life as part of some sort of experiment or something, I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, they dug up your son's grave later just to be sure; it was empty."

Whatever remained of his rational side was skeptical. "That's a lot to believe."

"I know--but just hold him. He's real."

He wanted to believe it. He took a few steps toward the child and pick him up; sure enough, he was real. Very real. The baby even seemed to recognize him, if his little smile was any indication.

It no longer mattered that he was bruised and battered. It no longer mattered that he was a prisoner of the tyrannical ruler of an unfriendly country. His son was alive--and he was here. Unable to contain himself any longer, he hugged the boy tightly, a tear running from his eye and into a cut left by the wedding band of one of the guards--as far as he was concerned, it hadn't stung. "Athayos! I thought I'd never see you again!"

"He's a good little boy," Takamari assured him, though he had sensed it already. "I'm taking him to Zhian. He'll be safer there than he would be here. If you come with us, you may get a house there and keep him--and if I find I like you, I will send for Maru."

Aurius nodded. This was his chance. He would have a house in Zhian, with Maru and Athayos, the new baby and any other babies to come. Finally, he would have a family again. "Rest assured, Takamari--before we reach Zhian, you will like me."

Tilting her head beneath her hood, she gave him what he guessed was a half-smile. "For all I know, you're already halfway there."

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