Hours later when the light of dawn came, Darius gently roused his guest. "Wake up, Wilhelm.
I've prepared a meal for you and you need to eat to fully regain your strength."

Darius slowly helped the young Immortal up and led him over to the table. It had been three months since
Wilhelm had been freed, but he was still painfully thin and would be for quite a while. The medics who had
examined him had prescribed for him what they had for all of the too many others; plenty of rest and a slow
buildup of wholesome food. Darius had prepared a bowl of soup, a few slices of bread, mashed potatoes and juice.

When they reached the table, Wilhelm sat down and Darius placed the meal before him. "Remember to eat slowly,"
he reminded, as Wilhelm reached for the food. "You've been free for a few months, but your body still needs to get
used to nourishment. It will take time for you to build up muscle and fat even though you're Immortal."

At the word Immortal, Wilhelm flinched and dropped the spoon he had picked up. "Don't..." he whispered.
"Don't call me that. You shouldn't call anyone that. None of us are really Immortal. None of us-least of all
those who say they are."

Darius nodded in understanding. Duncan had told him what had happened on the way from Amsterdam to Paris.
Many Immortals would have considered that a good first lesson for a newcomer to the Game. But, for someone
like Wilhelm, someone who had already seen far too much horror...

"We are not Immortal...we are not Immortal," Wilhelm rambled on.

Immortal...Darius pondered grimly, what would that word mean to this youth? He has seen so much suffering,
so much death. And then Duncan told him that he was Immortal. That he was Immortal when so many others
had died.

'No, Darius thought, perhaps we're not Immortal. Perhaps calling ourselves that is nothing, but arrogance.
We can live forever, but with the Game we seldom do. They say that in the end there can be only One
and who is to say what will happen to the One?

Darius reached out and put a strong comforting hand on Wilhelm's arm. "You're right, Wilhelm. We're not
Immortal. We just live longer than most and are harder to kill. But we are all equal in God's eyes."

"God?" Wilhelm whispered. He was silent for several moments, and then looked at Darius with his ancient
haunted eyes. "I...I heard some of the others say that there was no God or that He had abandoned us.

"All the time that I was with Daniel, I tried to keep up his spirits, his hope, his faith. But sometimes I felt
like a hypocrite because I didn't know where my hope and faith were. It was hard, Father Darius...so hard.
So much pain...so much death." He paused, trembling violently, his eyes pools of anguish.

Darius felt tears in his own eyes. He didn't say a word. In his long life he had learned that sometimes in order
to help someone you talked and advised. Sometimes there were no words and you simply listened. He gently
squeezed Wilhelm's arm.

After several minutes, Wilhelm whispered, "I still believe. I know that He is there, Father Darius. But…why?
Why did He allow this? Why did He not stop it? Why did He allow so many to...?"

The question of the ages, Darius thought ruefully. "I don't know, Wilhelm. God gave us free will, and too often
we choose to hurt our fellow man instead of help him. God does act, usually through us, but too often we refuse
to let Him. Sometimes He does allow us to suffer...even die. But He is still there, always."

Always there," Wilhelm murmured. "Reverend Troyer used to say the same thing."

"Reverend Troyer?" Darius asked gently

"He was a Minister. From a little town just outside of Hanover. He watched over me...at the first place I was taken.
He used to say that God walks through our pain with us and feels it with us." Wilhelm drew a shuddered breath.
He said that right up to the day that he..."

"He was right," Darius whispered.

The young Austrian was quiet, and when he spoke next his voice was both grieving and hard. "God is not the only
one who works through us, Father Darius. Many times we choose to follow... another path. We all know what path
my countrymen chose. And we've seen what happened because of it. I've seen what happened." He stopped,
his eyes filled with anguish. "My people chose... even my own family chose...even they..."

His voice broke. Then once again he reached for the food. He slowly ate the soup and then began to eat
the potatoes at a faster pace.

"Slowly," Darius reminded him. "You have to eat slowly."

Wilhelm slowed his eating and although he didn't smile, his expression lightened slightly. "After we were freed
I was always telling Daniel and Eva the same thing." The lighter expression faded. "I miss them."

"I know," Darius said. "But they're safe now and you'll have a chance to see them again in time."

"They're only children, Father Darius, but they've suffered so much. I should have done more for them."

"You did everything for them." Darius said firmly. "You kept them both alive. You saved their lives, Wilhelm.
Never forget that."

The young Austrian was silent before he took a deep breath. "They saved me as well. If I hadn't had them...
So many around me died. Part of me died every day. Part of me is still dead."

"You will learn to live again," Darius whispered.

Please, he prayed desperately. Please let that be the case.