A/N: The events of this story take place during the Journal of Sally Acorn, just after the Brisby Tribunal of May 20th, 3235. As such, existing characters are used from that. Events from the Chaos Chronicles Universe may be mentioned, though extreme in-depth references may be avoided to help reader comprehension.

As always, I am here for any assistance in answering questions.

-C.

Confidant

CRV

Late May, 3235.

It was early evening at Castle Acorn, with the late spring air blowing through the open windows. It was fairly comfortable to walk around in, and the sound of the birds in the trees of the courtyard were soothing to the ear as well as the soul. It helped calm Chris down as he slowly made his way down one of the corridors. He passed several servants making sure portraits were cleaned, shelves were dusted, and various blemishes of the floor or walls were removed. Chris noted their work was without the use of advanced technology as if it were done more out of tradition than anything else. The Human analyzed their faces without staring for too long. He studied them, seeing how they reacted. He perhaps thought that they liked their job just as well as anybody would like cleaning up a seven or eight hundred year old castle like the one they were in.

High stone arches supported the ceiling. It clashed heavily with the uniform he and some other Human soldiers he passed wore. Some naval personnel perhaps. They wore rank of petty officers second class on their shoulders. They saw Chris approaching and stiffened, seeing the silver bar on his own uniform.

"Good evening, sir." one of them said quickly.

"Yeah." Chris said, returning with a slight nod. He passed by leaving them somewhat confused. Chris however couldn't really concentrate all that well. Those noncoms were probably just moving between posts or perhaps they were just two friends that happened to know one another. At any rate, personnel assigned to the castle were generally more laid back. The Navy was anyway, as was tradition.

Chris took a left and headed away from the outside hallway, passing a pair of precious oriental-looking vases. He knew better than to assume their origin was Earth. The murals painted on them indicated that they were from the Dragon Kingdom. He had only visited once last year, and it was perhaps more of a culture shock that he was expecting. He had never visited China back home, so he had nothing to compare it to. He remembered the incident with the Imperial Palace and the fireworks and tried to forget it. He had been down this hallway several times over the last year almost.

Almost one year. He chuckled at the thought. Almost one year to the day they had stumbled across this little planet. Almost one year to the day that...

He breathed deeply and closed his eyes.

He was in the hallway that had several polished oak doors, and he remembered the one that he had entered some time ago. He stood outside of it and straightened some of the half inch long buzz cut he sported. He took a few deep breaths and then quickly checked himself to make sure he didn't have any stains on his shirt or creases on his pants where there shouldn't be any. He was acting like a boot fresh off the transport, but he couldn't help it. Halfway between when his knuckles hit the door, rapping it quickly, but not too fast, he wondered if he were underdressed.

The door was opened by a Mobian who stood maybe a half head lower. He wore a dignified looking suit and had thick glasses on. A chamberlain, the Marine guessed. Chris tried not to notice that it was a mole that had answered the door. The man nodded. "Right on time. His majesty has been expecting you."

"May I enter?" Chris asked curtly.

"By all means!" the chamberlain said. "You don't need to ask my permission, my lord!"

Chris had to remind himself that officers of the military were treated with reverence. Apparently the apparent nobility was not restricted to Mobians, but to Humans as well. The chamberlain opened the door and ushered him in. The room had dark paneled walls with stone traveling from halfway up the walls to the peaked gothic-style ceiling. Electric lights hung from fixtures, bathing the room in a warm glow that seemed to contrast with the stone walls and obvious age of the room. Bookshelves littered the walls, and just as Chris remembered, in a glass case in the very center of the room, was a silver-colored sword. It was long and straight edged, with its blade looking like it had been sharpened yesterday. The hilt of the weapon was just as ornate with taut leather wrapping around the grip. A simple jeweled stud was at the pommel of the weapon. Chris couldn't help but glance at the House's inscribed name on the blade.

"Really catches your eye, does it not?" he heard a voice speak to his right.

Chris turned so quickly he almost lost his footing. Maximilian Acorn stood just in front of the doorway to his study. The Lieutenant couldn't find words for a moment.

"I apologize, your Majesty!" he said standing at attention. His hand snapped straight to his temple. "I didn't mean to..."

The king waved his hand. "Relax."

As if a magic word were spoken, Chris' tension eased. He lowered his hand hesitantly before Max nodded and he could let it fall to his side.

The mole chuckled. "His Majesty, Maximilian Acorn!"

Max smirked. "Thank you, Bartholomew."

The king was dressed in a manner that Chris was not used to seeing. Usually Maximilian had a long coat in the fashion of his old military uniform. Golden epaulettes covered his shoulders and a sash hung around his waist. Today, the most powerful man in the Kingdom of Acorn was dressed simply in a button up shirt and slacks, though the man's shoes were expertly tailored. Chris also noticed that the king's shirt was made of silk. Even "casually" dressed, he was still an example of formality.

"Well, I suppose I will take my leave then, if I have your permission, my liege?" Bartholomew posed.

"Of course." Max said. "Thank you, old friend."

The mole bowed deeply to them both.

"My liege. My lord." he said to them both before backing out of the room, closing the door behind him.

There was a bit of silence as Maximilian took the time to smile.

"That man has helped raise me. My parents were busy people you understand. They couldn't always be there for me. Bartholomew helped teach me etiquette, schooling, and kept me in the ways that a future king should be. We should all be so lucky for someone so dedicated." he sighed, and went back to the sword. "This sword has been in my family ever since the beginning."

Chris knew this. Sally had told him the history of the blade, but he let the king speak anyway to be polite.

"Every king, every prince, and indeed princesses from time to time, has held this sword and has taken the oath to serve the people as their ruler and protector. Every time I look at this sword, it reminds me of the burden of leadership. The burden of responsibility." He touched the case with one of his fingers. "The legends say that this sword was given to my ancestor, the first King of this land, from a Human, one of the Lost Million. Some say that it was Matthew Mobius himself who gave this to Alexander. I don't know if that's true, but the legend is what elevates a simple object to one of near worship. Some would call this a holy artifact."

"I can understand that, sire."

"Do you have something of great value? An object you treasure?"

"Yes, your majesty. My father had a mechanical watch. It was passed through his family for generations. It supposedly was the same one of my ancestors wore when he fought in the Second World War."

"You do not have it with you?"

"I keep it back home on Earth. It's quite old."

"As is this blade. Do you think the legend surrounding your father's watch is true?"

Chris nodded his head. "I like to think that it is. It makes it... special I guess."

"I would agree. Perhaps Alexander received this sword from Matthew Mobius, and perhaps he made it himself, or perhaps neither is true. The legend makes it special."

Max's brows dropped and they furrowed together. He stared at the sword with a look that the Marine had never seen before.

"And just like your ancestor's watch, this sword has seen war too. Interesting."

Max's eyes brightened a bit more and he smiled.

"Come, I wanted to speak with you on something. My study is a perfect place I think."

Chris had never come in here before. All around were hundreds of books placed on shelves so tightly packed they looked like they would burst. There were globes, decanters, ships in bottles antique clocks - everything that one would expect to find in a study and even more. Set to one side behind a case was a military uniform and alongside it, a curved blade not unlike a cavalry sword. Chris was taken aback by the complexity of this room. Hunting trophies hung from the walls, a collection of portraits by centuries of artists were on every available space, and just over the doorway that they had come in, Chris saw a painting of the Royal Family. Sally was there, maybe only five or so years old. Next to her was a young boy that Chris had heard stories about but never really saw all that much. He was Sally's brother. His name was Elias. Next to her husband was Queen Alicia - a beautiful woman in her own right. She was elegant, regal, but had a genuine warmth in her smile that was clear even in a painting.

"Every time I think that life is difficult, I just look up and see my family. It really is the most important thing in the world. Please, sit."

Chris nodded, taking the chair in front of Max's large desk and sat down in it. Chris could imagine Admiral Andsworth sitting down in this very chair. Did President Cleary perhaps sit in this very chair to speak to the king?

"No doubt you're wondering just what I've actually called you here for. I admit that I'm not being very direct. This is not an easy thing to talk about for me."

Chris had a lump forming in his throat over what the king would ask next. He had a bad feeling about what it could be. Was he not discrete enough? Was he too careless?

"What do you know of the Great War?"

Chris relaxed at once. He realized that he had edged forward in his seat. The words felt like a great relief to him once he had comprehended them. the Human tried not to look too comfortable and quickly said, "I know a good bit about it, your Highness. Granted, I'm not completely read on the history of the Kingdom, but I feel I grasped the general idea of it."

Max knitted his fingers behind his desk. "Would you mind sharing what you know?"

Chris nodded, surprised with the request. he put his left hand to his lip, recalling the information. "It was a series of battles spanning all over Northamer for about five years, that involved the forces of the Kingdom of course, and the forces of the Overland - four fingers." He held up his own right hand with his small finger tucked in slightly to illustrate the point. "The Kingdom fought back through sheer willpower and determination as well as through hit and run tactics to weather larger units of Overlanders down before finishing them off."

"Do the texts mention Julian playing a part?" Max asked.

"Yes, they mention that his defection near the end of the war played a major part in the Kingdom's victory. The usage of his robots helped turn the tide before the Siege of Knothole. They mention that the war wouldn't have ended the way it did. The Overlanders were defeated, and were forced into exile as terms of their surrender."

"I remember that." Max said. "You know, Colin Kintobor wasn't a terrible man." He said this as if a great pain was gripping him. "We had our differences, but I could see that Colin was just a tool to be used, just as one of his generals, Charlemagne was used. There was potential in these men for great peace, but so many great men become corrupted. Some by greed, some by the smell of blood, and some because it suited the needs of others. I had to look Colin in the face and tell him that he could never come back. He would never call this place home again. That was ten years ago, almost to the day."

Chris suddenly felt the wave of this hit him.

"Julian did save us. As horrible as things turned out, and as bad as things were about to get, he did save us. I couldn't let the Overlanders have the benefit of such a strong mind. We needed to win. The war was not easy. It was bogged down in bodies. What those texts won't teach you is that we were a hairsbreadth away from losing every single day. The bravery of men and women that I knew like Sir Jules and Charles are testament to that. It's like a small shack trying to brave a hurricane, Lieutenant. The pressure, the wind, the waves... they're almost irresistible, but everyone tries to hold on regardless. The Overlanders had technology that we never used. Never dared to use. I was afraid... and for a bad reason." Chris said nothing, absorbing every single word that he was hearing.

"I had a nephew once. He was young, perhaps he was only ten or twelve. His name was Emerson. The young lad was full of energy and had a love of the world that nobody could match. There was an Overlander child. I could not remember his name. Emerson was fascinated by a small object the child was carrying, which turned out to be a small pistol, perhaps this big." Max made the size with his fingers, perhaps five or six inches in length. Chris could picture such a weapon and the inner workings in his mind. "The Overlander child shot at the trees in sport. It was all fun and games before the child aimed at a bird. My nephew, in undying love for the world around him, dove to protect the bird. He caught the beam in the chest and was killed instantly from the shock."

Chris didn't say a word, but it looked like this memory troubled Max greatly.

"I was enraged that such a device could be used. Horrible weapons of death and destruction, right in the palm of a man's hand. The power to end a person's life at a whim separated by only a quick pull of the trigger. So I vowed never to see anything like what killed my nephew that day. No man, woman, or child would possess any firearm under threat of imprisonment."

Chris felt strange hearing that. The guards were armed. The military was armed. Sally carried a revolver on her!

"I thought it was right to do such a thing. We would be going back to a more civilized time. Removing objects of killing from our lives was supposed to make things easier. Then the war came around. It took a full year to even come to terms that such a scale of conflict was even possible. We are not warmongers, Christopher. We are people of peace! We have never known such battle and such death. In the first year alone, we lost thousands of men simply because they could not fight back. I had forced the army to teach swordfighting as a far more noble means of meeting an enemy. I had former marksmen trained to fire longbows. I had forced an entire army to relearn war in a way that was deemed 'peaceful'. The texts will not tell you that ten thousand men and women died a month. Ten thousand soldiers that rushed enemy positions with swords and bows while the Overlanders burned them to the ground with plasma cannons. The texts will never tell you what those soldiers looked like when they were brought back to be buried. The texts will never tell you how I felt when I saw that first casualty report."

Chris wanted to say something but couldn't find the words for it.

Max however spoke once more. "Can you tell me about who started the war? Do the history books talk about the very beginning? Who struck the first blow? Who fired the first shot?"

Chris shuffled in his seat, not sure where the king was going with this. Was he called here to be recited the history of his country's greatest war? He answered honestly though.

"The stories say that the war was started by an Overlander team who crossed the Colorado to massacre an entire camp of RAF soldiers. A note was left explaining that the Mobians deserved nothing but death. That they were inferior and savage."

Max laughed, though it was one without mirth. It was a laugh with great pain behind it. The king got up from his chair and crossed the study to one of the cabinets on the wall. He opened it and pulled a bottle from one of the shelves. It was brightly colored silver and was reflective. The room was a fun-house mirror in the material.

"Would you care for a drink?"

"Thank you, Highness, but I'm afraid I don't drink."

"Not even wine offered to you by a king?"

The Human considered. "That doesn't happen every day." he shrugged, tilting his head.

"For you it happens more often shall we say." Max drew a pair of glasses from the cabinet and placed them on his desk. "This is Casa Nero. One of the finest wines ever to be grown and fermented on the West Coast. This wine was made just north of Mobotropolis." He poured Chris' portion first. It was deep red and seemed heavy as it landed in the slightly conical glass. "It was also made by Overlanders as well."

Chris bobbed his eyebrows. "Really?"

"House Nero wasn't one of the most prominent of the great houses of the Overland, but they were no doubt one of the friendliest. They had no interest in politics, had no interest in war, or anything that worried their people. They just wanted to make wine." Max pushed the glass across the table. "And they didn't care who they sold it to either. Before the war, they were good friends of the Kingdom because they were a symbol of promise." the king poured his own glass, looking at the liquid inside. "My grandfather was good friends with Thaddeus Nero, who was proclaimed by the Kingdom to be the greatest vintner in all of Mobius. He was a rare case of an Overlander lorded by this court. How quickly the people forget once war comes about." Max sighed sadly, but lifted his glass to eye level. Chris did the same. The king's face was stout and confident.

"Well, Lieutenant, what shall we drink to? Seems a pity to have wine and not toast."

The Human considered. "To the friendship of our peoples?"

"To peace between worlds?" Max suggested.

"To Mobius?"

"To Earth?"

"To the Alliance?"

Max smiled. "To friendship."

"Never a better thing." The Human nodded. "Slainte." he said in Gaelic.

Both he and Max tilted their drinks back. The first sip ran down Chris' throat in an explosion of fruit and something else he could not place. It was a very sweet wine, but pleasantly so. He knew his wine from his own grandfather. Pietro would probably not like it very much, but Chris thought it was fantastic. For a second, Chris wondered if Mobians had different standards of wine. He knew his grandfather had few bottles of Vino di bosco back in Chicago that perhaps Max would like.

The aftertaste was almost tart, which left him wanting a second sip. Max's eyebrows bobbed. "Not bad, is it?"

"Not bad at all." the Human admitted.

Max checked the date on the wine. "Oh, that's good. That's a double aught. Nero could perhaps make a wine fifty years old and it would still taste as good if not better." Max placed the bottle back on the desk.

"What I am about to say to you is not to leave this room. Please tell me you understand that."

Chris' smile dropped away, not sure what was going to happen. "What?"

"Please tell me you understand."

Chris nodded. "I understand, your majesty. Whatever you tell me will be in confidence. Not one other soul will know about what we have spoken of."

Max nodded and slid back into his chair, clearly burdened about what he was going to say.

"The books are wrong. They're all wrong."

Chris' head quizzically cocked. "I'm not sure I understand."

"The Overlanders didn't start the Great War. We did."

Max had gotten it out. Ten years of sitting on this truth, this great shame, had finally been thrown out in public. All the others who knew it were dead. He was the last one to have any sort of knowledge of what actually occurred the day this damned war started. Now he needed to let it out.

Chris was in stunned silence. He couldn't believe that after a full year of living among these people, after seeing how people feared the returned of his Human subspecies, that they could have possibly started a racially-motivated war. It didn't make sense. It contradicted everything that he had been told.

"That story you heard about how the Overlanders attacked our men unprovoked on the banks of the Colorado? That wasn't the beginning." Max leaned forward and rested his face on his knuckles. "Kodos." he nearly whispered.

"I'm sorry, sir?" Chris answered.

"There was once a powerful man that came from Afrik. A powerful warlord and ruler of his own people. When he came to the Kingdom to offer his services, I was only too happy to accept them. His name was Kodos. This is not a name that you will ever hear spoken in this kingdom and I do not expect to hear you uttering it."

Again, Chris nodded, wondering just why he was being told all of this.

"Kodos was a bloodthirsty lion and one who hated just about anything that did not represent what he felt was Mobian. His hatred for the Overlanders was something that I had not foreseen. He had spoken of them in passing and never in any degree of positivity. Always cursing them as the reason war still exists. The attack on that camp across the river was not unprovoked, as it was reported and circulated, but as revenge. An Overlander scouting team, civilians no less, were found on the borders of the Kingdom looking for food and resources to send back to their homes and were captured by our military. They were brought to Mobotropolis for questioning as to whether they were an advance force or perhaps reconnaissance team. It was a prudent measure and I agreed that they be interrogated. I questioned them myself with Kodos at my side. Who they were, what they were doing in our realm, if there were any others besides them... and they answered honestly. They were just two young boys from a small village far away from MegaCentral. They were just looking for places to farm." Max sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'm not an unreasonable man, Christopher. I may have had my misgivings with Probst and his government, but these people were terrified. They were crying, son. I could see it in their eyes. They just wanted to go home, and it broke my heart knowing their families thought that they had been kidnapped or lost in the woods. I ordered them released and to be brought back to where they were found under escort."

"So where does Kodos come in?" Chris asked, slowly coming to the realization himself.

"I realized this far too late. He told me what happened one year before the end of the war. He gloated about it. Kodos had no intention of sending them back. He brought the boys to where we found them weeks before, and then he killed them with his bare hands."

The sounds of birds could be heard through the windows. Max let this fact sit in the air and drew back as if forced into his chair by the power of his own words. For nearly ten seconds, neither men said a word. Chris could only feel his pulse quicken. A Mobian had killed two young boys out of spite? Because he hated who they were as people?

"He said to me when I found out, 'With these hands, Maximilian, I have brought a thousand years of vengeance to the accursed Maneless Ones. Their spines cracked like twigs and their whimpers were like song. When I cast them before their kin I need not say a word. Their deplorable carcasses spoke volumes.'". Max held out his hands, mirroring the Warmaster's actions which he recounted with impeccable accuracy."

"When was this again?" Chris asked.

"Almost four years into the war." Max said, his voice now suddenly quite morose. "Tens of thousands of people were already dead, and more would come in the Siege of Knothole. Mobians, Overlanders, they were all bodies in the end. A pathetic waste of life."

"What about Hyneman?" Chris suggested, referring to the Overlord. "He didn't have any direct influence in this?"

"Probst Hyneman was always an opportunist." Max said, jabbing his right index finger into the desk with a thump. "He saw a chance and capitalized on it! Two Overlander children were dead by the hands of a Mobian with witnesses seeing Kodos throwing them down in front of their parents! He had all he needed to flare this into a national catastrophe. No, Lieutenant: the war was inevitable after those children were killed. Hyneman stoked that spark into a full on inferno, and it was timed so well, so well executed that... I wonder... even to this day..." He placed his fist against his mouth before saying, "...if they were working together. What if they both wanted a war?"

Chris had a simple question on his mind: "Did you know?"

"Never." Maximilian said. "Never until he told me. I assumed it was all a lie. Propaganda. But the way he described it. In such detail, with such emotion... I believed Kodos when he said he murdered those people."

Chris made another realization; one that chilled his heart and perhaps began to change his opinion of the man sitting across from him. "You didn't say anything." he finally said. "Kodos told you the truth and you let the war continue."

Max's eyes were full of pain as he nodded silently.

Chris thought about that last year where the fighting came to a head. The Overlanders pushed their hardest during this last period of the war. The body count had spiked at this point. The feelings inside of his heart was that of shock, anger, and confusion. "You had an opportunity to end it all but you let more men die. Why?"

Max didn't say anything. The king appeared less than regal in that appearance. He rose from his chair and walked to the window, turning his back on the Lieutenant. "Have you ever been in a situation where you realized there would be no easy way out? That you would suffer no matter if you did everything that you could to make things right. Two peoples who had hated each other since the beginning and finally came to blows. Years of combat would march the war along destroying homes and people and only kept going because we believed this was a war to exterminate our very lives. But in our crusade, the truth comes out. Let me put you in my place. Would you tell the truth knowing the worst was to come? That you would be attacked by the very best our enemy had to offer? The burden of command is now on you."

The Human thought hard on this. He tried to put himself into the king's place. He tried to think of himself as a beloved leader who had just suffered through a bloody war. He tried with all of his might to imagine what it would be like to hear such terrible news broken to him. With such a pain in his heart, he quickly saw the dilemma the king faced. The truth should be told. He was almost satisfied with this until he thought about the fallout of this decision. An entire kingdom of people would learn in an mere moment that their side, the 'moral' side, had been responsible for the war that had killed thousands of their own people. The effect would be devastating. The will to fight would be lost in an instant. Whole armies would be broken and bickering among itself. Morale would plummet, and stretches of land would be lost to enemy advances - enemies that now had a just cause to fight for. Worse still, the prospect of an army throwing down their arms and surrendering was bad enough, the idea that many in the Kingdom would become angry and demand answers, eventually at the end of a gun barrel, was far, far worse. Max and his family would be called liars. They would be called traitors, and people would shout that all the death was unnecessary, and they were right. It was all pointless.

The other option, cast the truth aside and keep up the appearances seemed absolutely repulsive, but this was what the king did exactly. This was the road that led to his people winning the war. Chris felt sick thinking about this. He didn't even realize that he had gotten up and was pacing.

Max could see the look on the Human's face. He could see it in his body language.

"That's how I've felt every day for the last ten years." Max said, returning to his desk. "Now you know the pain I felt as I had to hold that inside myself. The truth. I lied, because telling the truth would have been far worse. You said your ancestor fought in the Second World War. Let me pose a question to you. Let's say four years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, one of your immediate subordinates comes to you, a respected general, and tells you in no uncertain terms that the United States issued a pre-emptive attack on Japan several weeks before the actual war began. The result is a long war in the Pacific which would result in American victory yes, but not at the cost of many, many lives. You have the option of telling the people of your country the truth, but could you stand for the consequences? The international nightmare?"

Chris took a quick glance at the flag on his right shoulder. Fifty one stars. Who knows how many times those stars had almost been fractured. It had already happened once and took centuries to recover.

"Would you do it? Would you tell the patriotic people who fought for their country and ideals 'we started it' and brave whatever was to come? Now think of us. It wasn't just for our country. It was for our very existence." Max concluded. He watched the young man across from him. He had forced ten years of truth into his head in the span of only a half hour. He could see the wheels turning in his head, all of the realities of what he had seen over the last year were being rewritten and truths were being readjusted. Maximilian couldn't say if his view of the king had soured. If it had, it was rightfully so.

"You asked why I was telling you all of this. I suppose I was afraid for one. I was afraid that one of my own people would gaze at me with hatred, possibly what you feel for me now. We are men of action. We are men of war. You and I have both killed in battle and we both know the value of a life. I've read what happened to you."

Chris made eye contact with Max and held it there hard. Now it was the king's turn to see pain. "You were not even twenty years old. You were a boy. The last ages of your childhood were taken from you to fight. I've read the reports. I've read your accounts of battles. Christopher, I know about what happened in Tigrin."

The color from Chris' face drained. "Please don't talk about that. That's one memory I want forgotten. I'd do anything to make that go away."

"I won't press it." He walked around to the front of his desk and stood just over the Marine. "I chose you because we're more alike than you would think at first glance. We both had responsibility on our shoulders and were thrust into a war neither of us wanted. In the end result shocked us to our cores. I chose you because the beautiful irony that the friendliest and most familiar ear in the world is an alien one."

Chris banished the last of those memories to whatever dark corner in his mind they resided in. Corners that held phantoms of the men he once knew. He looked up at Max, barely keeping his composure.

"Do you think I did the right thing, son?"

It was an honest question. An honest question from a good man who had questioned himself for a decade. Chris thought on everything that Maximilian had told him since he had walked through that door. Friendships, alliances, deceptions, and lies. It all added up to the pain of a truth that he almost wanted to keep inside of him. However, he took a deep breath and said...

"Yes."

Max looked surprised, and a slight laugh escaped him. More a puff of air than a laugh. "You think so?"

"I think your question wasn't well worded. Back in training they taught us something: A man named Franklin Mendez once said that there was a difference between lives spent and lives wasted." he carefully worded what he would say next. "I think you did what was necessary to keep lives from being wasted. The truth would have caused the kingdom to collapse and the people to splinter when you could least afford it. You would be overrun, destroyed, and crushed. You would have lost. Everyone would have lost. The Overlanders would lose when they would hear of the truth. Nobody would walk away. So I think that, all things considered, you did what you had to do. Victory was achieved. The war was over. Lives were spent, not wasted. Your end result was a prosperous kingdom and a peace among your land. You allowed the Overlanders to leave in peace. They wouldn't have extended the same to you because of Kodos' lie."

Max rubbed his eyes. "Truth be told, I was hoping that you'd say 'no'. I was hoping that what I did was wrong so that I might have learned something."

"That's the burden of command, sir." Chris said shrugging. "I made tough calls too, some I regret, but in retrospect, it would change the outcome. I probably wouldn't have left Talahan V alive, if at all." He thought back on such a decision to blow up a bridge with busses crossing it, not knowing if bombs or civilians were on them. It turned out to be bombs, but he didn't know until after the fact.

"I see." Max said. "That crown weighs more than you might know. To make a directive. I panicked when that war started. I bypassed council decision and made an executive action to get involved, because I felt I had to."

"These bars are plenty heavy too. I think I understand." he nodded at his insignia. They were stitched on, but the point stood quite clearly. "Maybe I got them too soon."

"Perhaps we are more alike than we realize." Max smirked. "Thank you very much for being honest with me. I thank you for taking time out of your furlough to come speak to me. I know you need to be back in Oaxaca in a few days, but all the same, I appreciate you coming here. Thank you for listening, and I thank you in advance for keeping everything you've heard here between us." Max held out a hand to the Marine, who came to his feet. He didn't want to disappoint the king. He would not have told him everything that he did if he did not feel that the Lieutenant could not keep a secret. Chris took the king's hand, something that would have been an extreme breach of protocol had he not been in this particular place. Maximilian's grip was strong, possibly stronger than his. His blue eyes were full of relief, but also perhaps lingering hesitation. Was that because of telling the story? The burden of his secret perhaps still in his mind, or was it something else?

"I'm honored that you chose to make me your confidant, Majesty."

When Chris attempted to pull his hand back however, Maximilian's grip was still solid. He did not allow the Lieutenant to pull his grip back. The king's smile disappeared. His face was now as solid as if it were carved stone. Chris was suddenly nervous, though he said nothing. However, his composure was failing hard. He had been taken by surprise.

Max's voice was low, almost a growl. "I have told you a secret that has given me great pain over these years. You have been honest with me and have judged my actions - something that I have never allowed anyone to do since then. Since I have answered you honestly, you must now do the same for me."

Chris swallowed. He had a bad feeling about this. When he opened his mouth, he didn't have words. Not for a second. "I'm not sure that I understand what you wish from me, Majesty."

Max's expression did not change. His gaze was solid, and his jaw was clamped shut. The man who had appeared seeking assurances of his actions was now consolidated and steeled. He had nothing to hide anymore.

"I will ask you one question, and I expect you to answer me honestly. Do not lie to me."

Now Chris was terrified, but he had no choice but to answer, "I will, sir."

"Are you seeing my daughter?"

The king's eyes were on his. Chris felt dizzy. He had no idea how he could have possibly known. He felt that they had been discrete. Thought they had been secret. Though he knew there had to have been slip ups. People had to have known one way or another. He had feared that Sonic would have found out... but this was far, far worse than he ever could have imagined.

Max's grip was almost crushing. He wanted an answer and quickly. The longer Chris made him wait, the worse that look in the king's eye became.

"Yes." he admitted slowly.

"How long?"

"Less than a month."

Max's grip slackened, and his hand retracted. He still made direct eye contact, but without looking, he pointed back to the chair. "Please sit down."

He had no choice. He had to go. Chris slowly walked, keeping his eyes on the king, as he kept his eyes on the Human's. He sat down in the chair, no longer feeling comfortable in it. He felt the exact opposite of comfortable. He felt very scared now. Maximilian did not cross behind his desk. Instead, he stood over the Lieutenant, glaring down at him. The power structure of monarch and soldier had been re-established. The next question may as well have been a fist in the face.

"Are you sleeping with her?"

Max betrayed no emotion, and his voice was far too even.

There was no easy way to answer this question. he tried to formulate a strategy in his head, but it kept on returning a loop.

"Yes." he said. He didn't glance at Max, who he was sure was judging him far more harshly than he had ever judged Kodos. "But let me explain."

"I will allow that." Max said, voice icy cold. "Speak."

"We haven't... done anything. I haven't actually..." he trailed off, unable to say the words. "But we've slept in the same bed. Eyes closed, eyes open. That's it."

That wasn't it. He was lying, just as Max had lied. They had never slept with each other in the strictest sense, but they had bent their one agreed upon rule.

"No." he corrected himself. "That's not true." he said hanging his head and leaning forward in the chair, setting his elbows upon his knees, looking at the carpet on the floor and the king's well made shoes. "We've never..." he paused, deciding that it was no good to hide it anymore. "We've never actually had sex, but we've been intimate." Chris was silent, waiting for his judgment.

"She cares about you." Max said after a long pause. "Every time she mentions you, her thoughts drift. She doesn't hear people, or asks them to repeat themselves. The only time I've ever seen her like that was when she thought about Sonic."

"I love her."

It was the first time he had said those words out loud. They didn't even sound like his words, and they sounded like they've come from far away. He placed his face in his hands.

"I love her so much." the Human said before raising his face to the king. Two lines of tears fell from his eyes. "I want to wake up and see her beautiful face there! I want to see her smile in the sun's first light! I want to feel like these last five years have lead to something good! I've lost my parents. I've lost my friends. I've lost my education. I just want love."

There. That was all he could say. He admitted it to the last person he ever wanted to say it to. Now his judgment was in the king's hands. Max could order him imprisoned if he wished it. He could order him back to the tribunals if he wanted it, and this time, he wouldn't walk away.

Instead, he felt a hand on his shoulder. A weight, but not an unkind one. Max's eyes softened.

"Telling the truth is always better than a lie. This is almost exactly how I was when I had fallen in love with Alicia. I may not have told her father, a powerful man in his own right, right away, but soon, he sat me down and told me he knew I had feelings for her. Have you told her you love her?"

"I haven't." the Lieutenant admitted.

"Tell her." the king said, putting a little pressure on the Human's shoulder. "Sally has the right to be with whoever she wants. That is her right and I should have known better than to try and force it. Don't play with her emotions, son. She deserves better than that and you know better." He wasn't ordering him, and he wasn't chastising him. He was simply sharing his wisdom. "One more word of advice though. Everything has consequences. You may be finding happiness, but another man may have his life destroyed because of it."

He did not need to elaborate on that. the Lieutenant understood well enough.

Max neither approved or disapproved, though in his heart, all he cared about was the happiness of his daughter. Sally was his life though. Ever since Elias went missing, she had become precious to him. He could not stand to see her upset, in any way. He did not say this to him. If his response was sincere, then he would not need to warn him. Max made a small gesture with his hand after pulling it away. the Lieutenant was free to rise.

He did so, standing before the king, not saying anything, letting Max control the situation.

"I can help you leave the military if you wish." Max offered. "I can help discuss things with your superiors."

Chris shook his head. "Not until Robotnik is taken care of. Until he gets what he has coming to him, it would be selfish to leave now. I started this; I need to end it."

A fair answer. Max nodded his head, extending his hand once more. "This time it's for real." he grinned.

Chris took the king's hand after a bit of hesitation. The grip was loose, welcoming, and friendly. They shook. Maximilian had many thoughts about the Human standing in front of him. His daughter was a grown woman that could make her own decisions. This man was a Human, but he had the heart of a Mobian. No, it was the heart of an honest man. A tortured man perhaps, but one who knew the value of a life. He and Max were soldiers; fighters; survivors. He would turn his fortunes around in time. Perhaps he needed Sally. She was a sweet girl, just like her mother. If there was anybody who could turn a person around, it was his daughter. She could rally an army and raise their hearts to a cause. She had done this plenty as a young girl, and she continued to do so with this young man. Max believed him one hundred percent when he said that he loved her. He didn't find it hard to believe. It wasn't just romantic love, but unconditional love; love for something that was greater than just two people being together.

He released the Lieutenant's hands. "Thank you for being honest with me." Max said again. "Treat her with utmost respect. Treat her like the queen she is. Think of this as a blessing... but also as caution." that stony look returned again for an instant. "If you break her heart; if you make her regret her choice, that sword out there that you so much admire may be used again."

The old shotgun routine, but one that the Lieutenant believed this time around. Was it a threat? Max had done worse in the past. The look was gone. the king was now jovial again. He slapped the Human on the shoulder and said. "No point in me keeping you any longer. In truth, I wanted to only talk to you about the war; get it off my shoulders. Now, I'm sure you have some time to yourself I may have stolen from you. My greatest apologies. You're a good man, and good men need good rest. Where are you off to now?"

"Home. New York." Chris said.

"Will Sally be joining you?" Max asked, head tilted somewhat downward with eyes still focused on him, wide, and eyebrows raised.

"That's her prerogative." he simply said. "I'm going home. I don't see it often enough. I probably have a year's worth of newspapers in the front hall."

Max sighed and shook his head with a smile. "Remember that sword son. I still have some muscle on these old arms of mine. Who knows; I may just visit you one of these days."

Chris wondered if Max was playing with him, but he could not tell. The pair of them walked to the door leading back to the room with the Sword of Acorns in it. Max placed his hand on it and rotated the handle, opening the door. A slightly cool breeze from this room hit them both.

A thought passed into the Lieutenant's head. "Sire?"

"Hmm?" Max responded.

"What happened to General Kodos?"

The king stiffened, not happy that they had gone back to this topic. He sighed, but answered his question with honesty - something that he was glad could be done several times in a row. "Christopher, sometimes good men are punished worse than is required. Sometimes evil men don't get the fate that they deserve. When Kodos was before me, begging for death to spite me; to humiliate me; to show I was weak at heart, I did the one thing I knew he would hate me for: I spared him. I exiled him forever from the Kingdom back to Afrik. I hoped that such a decision may prompt a change of heart. I still hope to this day that I made a difference."

"And the general himself?"

"I have heard nothing for ten years. He may be dead, and he may yet be alive. He may have changed, and he may have destroyed many more lives since the day I left him alive. That is something we shall not speak more of today. Remember - what we have discussed...?"

"Between us and no-one else."

The door leading back to the hall opened up. The chamberlain Bartholomew had stuck his head back inside. The mole's eyes were large behind his spectacles.

"Your Majesty! Have you finished with your meeting? I've been checking to see if you've required anything but your door's been closed!"

"We're all done, my friend." Max said. "We've discussed all we needed to."

"Splendid! Splendid!" The chamberlain said. "My lord, is there anything else I can do for you before you leave? A drink perhaps?"

"Oh no, thank you though!" Chris said with a large smile. "I'm covered there."

"Oh very well, very well!" Bartholomew nodded energetically. "Please, please, let me get this door for you! I sincerely hope you have an excellent day! I am always at your service should you need anything."

Chris could only smile as the mole bowed him out of the room. When he had cleared the door, the chamberlain closed it, leaving only he and Maximilian alone just staring at each other with smiles.

"Well, well, your Majesty! You appear to be in a rather fine mood since I have left! I trust that perhaps your talk with the Lieutenant went swimmingly?"

"Yes it has, old friend." Max said, hands in his pockets, grinning more to himself. "Some questions have been answered, and they give me hope."

"Well, we could certainly use more of this hope stuff you speak of, nowadays. There's still civil improvements we must account for financially. Three finance ministers from the UEG are due to arrive in a few days time to discuss plans for a... spaceport of some sort at the Frederic Memorial Airport. A spaceport! What fancy, that is sire!"

"Yes my friend." Max said, now at peace in the conversation. "Things are changing. For everyone."

Chris made it partway down the hallway when he stopped to look outside. The sun had set and the night was only just starting to come on. Some last vestiges of the evening light were still in the sky as the sun had dipped over the horizon in the West. He couldn't help but feel relieved. He had walked into Max's study with no expectations, but what he received instead was a greater appreciation for the truth. Words needed to be said sometimes, and sometimes it was better not to say anything. Whether it was for preventing a collapse of society or saying something as simple as 'I love you', truth was a weapon that needed to be wielded carefully. In the wrong hands, or perhaps even the right ones, it could destroy a nation.

He was pondering these thoughts, thinking about what the king had told him. He was right. He needed to tell her, and soon. Just as soon as these thoughts crossed his mind, he felt someone grab his shoulder. He jerked, whipping his head around. Before he could speak, Sally was at his side, nuzzling against his neck, rubbing up and down with her cheek, eyes almost closed.

"Hey, Human." She whispered. "How are you?"

"Let's get out of view." he advised quickly. "Down this corridor?" he opted, pointing at a closed door.

"No, that's a stairway. Here's good though." she said pointing down a narrow hallway that branched away from the exposed and open corridor where they were. This was perhaps a servant's path that allowed them to get across the castle quickly. It was here that she came around to his front, wrapped her arms around his neck, and rose on her toes to meet his lips and kiss him in a short but powerful peck. "What's the matter?"

Chris noticed that he was frowning ever so slightly. "I just finished with your dad."

"Oh right!" She said. "I forgot about that! How did that go?" She broke from him and leaned against the opposite wall.

"He's a very wise man." Chris said. "He taught me a lot."

"He tends to do that. People like to think that because he's a king that he feels self important. He's probably the smartest guy I know. Besides Tails of course."

They both chuckled. Sally looked at his uniform. "I think you're underdressed."

"Stop it." Chris said. "That's what I was afraid of."

"Just being honest with you, Human." She said. Her ear twitched as she came up to him. Then she saw his expression and then both folded down. She seemed worried. "What's the matter, love?" She asked. "Hey, what's up with your eyes?" She noticed them in the light. Without fur, it was impossible to hide the slight redness to them. "Are you alright?" She whispered. "He wasn't hard with you on anything, was he?"

"No." he responded.

"You can talk to me about anything."

"I know." he said. He ran his left hand through her hair, brushing it away from her face. He quickly glanced to see if they were alone. "Sally... I wanted to say..."

She looked at him, eyes bright. "Christopher?"

He hugged her tightly. "You just look beautiful tonight." He hoped desperately that Sally couldn't hear him straining not to cry again. He couldn't say it. Not now, and it hurt him to keep it in. He, just like Max, was afraid to speak the truth, and just like the king, he was afraid of the consequences it would bring.

He told himself that he would say it. Such a small sounding word was so important for them both. Sally thought to herself that one day he would find the courage to say it. She believed in him, and would give him all the time he needed.

They placed their noses together and just stood there, staring into each other's eyes.

"We have a flight to catch tomorrow. Come to bed?" she asked him. "Sleep in a real bed, my Human. You deserve more than just a cot."

"Give me maybe an hour. That way nobody will pay me any attention."

"I'll stay awake." she said, leaning forward and leaning against his chest. "I love you." She kissed him on the nose before turning to walk away.

She strode back into the hallway and down the hall, glancing back at him every now and again with a smile on her face. She had said the words so effortlessly that it may as well have been breathing.

He watched her, filled with emotion in his heart. One day he would say it to her and they would both celebrate it, but for now, alone with her too far to hear, he said it out loud, declarative.

"I love you, Sally Acorn."

He watched her turn the corner far away. He thought of her loving embrace where they would just lay in each others' arms and fall asleep together. That was its own kind of beautiful. Tomorrow he would be back in the city of his birth. As for now, he turned and walked in the opposite direction. The hall was empty and crickets were chirping out in the gardens. The last thought he had was not of his beautiful Sally, but of Kodos, the people he killed, and the betrayal of a man who thought of him as a confidant and ally.

He would not make the same mistake. He would pledge his life on that. Chris left the hallway empty, with nothing but the peace and tranquility of the late spring night filling the air.