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The two men were halfway along the tunnel that led from the cage. They had left Suahrnir on the platform, overlooking the cage. Now it was time to carry out the next part of their scheme.
“Are you sure she will come?” A’Gaeris asked, his eyes half-hooded.
“I am certain of it.” Veovis said.
They walked on. Turning a corner, they came to the narrow steps that led up to the gallery. Here they had to go single file.
“Can I ask you something?” A’Gaeris said, as he followed Veovis up.
“Ask.” Veovis said, glancing back over his shoulder as he climbed out through the hatch.
“Why do you want her? I mean, she will never love you. Not while you keep Aitrus prisoner. And if you kill him...”
Veovis was silent as they walked, their footsteps echoing on the stone floor. “...Vengeance.” He said simply.
“For imprisoning you…” A’Gaeris mused. He was reading Veovis in the shadows, like a book. “...But something more?”
“I want them to suffer the way I suffered.” Veovis’ face was hard now, much harder than A’Gaeris had ever seen it. “I dreamed of it, when I was on the Prison Age, night after night. I dreamed of Aitrus, about him and his bride ...” Veovis spat that word “and how he has no concept, no idea how badly he has betrayed me. I want them to be tormented the way I was tormented. I want them to feel betrayed the way I felt betrayed.”
“Quite a testament, that your old friend was living in your head all these years.” A’Gaeris chuckled. “...But that’s not unusual for you, is it?”
Veovis paused half-way up the stairs, the light overhead shining down on him.
“You were friends with Aitrus for years, were you not? Since childhood?”
“I used to bully him in childhood.”
“Well, what do they say when a boy bullies a girl? It’s a gesture of love~”
“I believe you’re making guesses about matters in which you are not informed.” Veovis snapped.
“It’s not a guess, Veovis, but a hypothesis.” A’Gaeris stepped toward his friend, pressing in beside him in the tight, enclosed space, and Veovis stepped backward in response. “...It’s not Ti’ana you love.” Not so much a question, but a statement, for he was sure.
Veovis was trapped. If he acknowledged that he did not love Ti’ana, he would be subsequently admitting to A’Gaeris what he was suspected of. But if he lied, and tried to claim he DID love her, A’Gaeris would see right through it.
He said nothing, his eyes moving to the floor as he realized there was no out.
A’Gaeris smirked. “...I understand your hesitation.” He said. “Imagine if that got out. It’s one thing to forge books and sell them, desecrating their value.”
“I never-”
“It’s another to murder D'ni's own guildsmen, to take a life with your own hands. Oh don't raise your voice in protest, whether you did it or not doesn't matter to the five or to me." He gave a light smile at Veovis' obvious discomfort. "But if word got out about this , about Lord Rakeri’s son and his immoral desires-”
Veovis turned and stormed up the stairs, unfortunately A’Gaeris was right behind him.
“I did not mean to offend.” A’Gaeris insisted. “But you know, that’s what they will think. It is not just your own name on the line.”
“I know that.” Veovis hissed. “You think I am not keenly aware of my position? You think I haven’t lived with that knowledge all my life that if I even so much as thought about my...wants, I would not only be outcast by society, but deface my family’s name as well?”
“I never said as such. In fact, I am happy that you are so mindful of your...predicament.” He grabbed Veovis’ hand, pulling him backward slightly. “As now I know you shall not be deterred in our mission.”
“You question my loyalty?” Veovis spun around and glared at A’Gaeris, his eyes like amber fire.
“Not anymore. But I did not come this far by trusting without cause.” A’Gaeris pressed his hand to Veovis’ shoulder, close to his neck. “Even if the impossible happened, even if you were forgiven by the council for your crimes you did commit, even if you were proven innocent for those you did not, all it would yield is your return to this prison age we call D’ni.”
Veovis seemed to deflate, and A’Gaeris saw him looking past him, down the stairs to the cells. Where Aitrus was held.
“He will never love you.” A’Gaeris whispered. “Not while Ti’ana lives. Certainly not if you kill her.”
“I know.”
“Good.” A’Gaeris pulled away. “Then you have nothing to lose, Veovis, except your own shackles.” He pushed past him, stepping into the wider room and running his hand along the spine of a slate-grey book. “I understand how you feel. To be deprived of the one you love most. To have them, right there, and yet be unable to hold them, unable to touch them again….
“Are you…?”
“No, friend, I’m afraid I do not share your preference for men.” A’Gaeris laughed crudely. “No, It was not just my guild membership I lost. I was betrothed. Betrothed to the most beautiful young woman you have ever seen.”
“Ah ...” Veovis had been about to move on, to return straight to the study, but now he changed his mind.
“Her name was Hadassah.” He continued. “...Not a very bright girl. I could talk at her for hours, and she’d just sit there watching me with those big, empty eyes. But she was beautiful, and happy, and mine . And I still see her, Veovis. I see her, and she is happy. Without me .”
“What do you want, A’Gaeris? I mean, what do you really want?”
A’Gaeris did not hesitate. “To destroy it all. That is my dream.”
“Then the Guilds ... ?”
“Are only the start. I want to destroy D’ni the way D’ni tried to destroy me.” A’Gaeris’s whole frame seemed to shudder with indignation. “There! Does that frighten you, Veovis?”
Veovis shook his head. “No. I know now how you feel.” He stared down at his wrists, the imprint of shackles still apparent on the skin.