In the Case of One Named Tethys
Standing over the gleaming headstone, he wept tears of loss.
Real tears...
He knelt down slowly, the heavy mail he wore making a soft noise.
Before the tomb, he placed a single rose... a symbol of both love and peace.
"You are not a possession." He whispered. "You are not a possession anymore. Why could you not have seen? Rani..."
The young warrior said no more, straightening again as he remembered the way the woman had moved, the way she would speak when she thought no one was there. She had been less than a possession at the end... she had been little more than a machine.
She didn't even seem human anymore.
And he regretted it, but he had been the one to ask Lord Grayson to free her. It was too late.
She was unsaveable by any other means but death.
"Tethys." Grayson's voice was soft, and the hand on his shoulder gentle. "It's time to go." Tethys nodded and slowly turned, his face like stone now, no more tears falling.
He wouldn't cry anymore.
"You did what you had to, Tethys."
"Why does it still have to hurt so much? Even after what she did... it hurt so much."
"You never told me how you knew her."
Tethys looked at his Lord and Trainer, a strange expression in his eyes. He was quiet for a moment, seemed to be lost in thought...
Grayson continued to lay his hand on the boy's shoulder, waiting for him to come back to the here and now.
Sometimes... memories could be comforting...
"What have you been doing?" Her voice was breathless and excited, and she clasped his hands eagerly. He beamed back at her, his green eyes shining.
"I've been training, I've become a paladin! And one day, I'm going to be a knight!" He replied. "Rani, what have you been doing?"
"I'm staying in the Keep, and I'm training as a soldier! The lady there has been taking good care of me. She says she has something special planned for me!" She hugged him tightly. "Ah, Tethys, I'm so glad we made it..."
He closed his eyes and returned the embrace, sighing gently.
Always, through the whole ordeal, she had been like a sister to him... now that it was over, now that they were here all those long years later, he wondered if he was wrong in looking at her as something more.
"Maybe we'll end up fighting together." He said hopefully. Rani giggled.
"Maybe... you should come to the Keep, Tethys! The Lady is so nice, I know you'd like working for her!" Her face glowed with excitement and pride... Tethys had never seen her so happy.
He managed a smile and shook his head.
"I'll stay with Lord Grayson." He murmured. "He's given me everything I could need in life."
She nodded and beamed more, her eyes telling him that was good enough for her.
"Then maybe we'll get to fight together anyway, Tethys!" She chirped happily.
Years passed...
Memories remained.
Wounds opened...
And refused to heal.
Tethys watched her recede into tortured darkness with every passing week and was helpless to do more than pray.
His heart wanted to hold on... But he knew he had to move forward.
Memories hurt...
Sometimes, memories opened more wounds than could be endured.
So Tethys found someone new, someone that dulled the pain and made him feel wanted again. She filled that gap that had formed within him, and slowly chased the hurtful memories from his mind.
Till that day...
"Tethys! Tethys, wake up!"
The presence of Lord Grayson was enough to force the exhausted young man to his feet, despite the fact that he had managed to get very few hours of sleep. He straightened and was suprised when Grayson seized his arms, shaking him.
"Something terrible has happened at the Cathedral, Tethys! It's Cora... Tethys, I'm so so sorry."
All the words numbed him... The words made him cold from within.
Tethys' feet carried him quickly to the cathedral, and he didn't have to go far inside to find what had happened. The sight of her blood, of her pale face so still in eternal slumber... It made his blood begin to seethe.
"Who did this?" He demanded. Rage that never should have belonged to one his age crowded his mind, and by the simple words the High Priestess spoke, he knew just who had been responsible for this...
It was then he asked Lord Grayson to free her.
"Tethys."
Memories faded.
Daylight appeared.
Tethys returned to himself.
Blinking, he looked at Grayson and put his hand over the other man's on his shoulder.
"We met when we were children, she and I." He murmured, the scent of the air and the scorching heat of the sun blazing fresh in his mind still. "We were once friends."
"She killed your lover... was it out of jealousy?" Grayson asked softly. Tethys shook his head.
"She didn't have it in her to feel jealous anymore. She did it because she could, and she didn't know any better. She did it because her mistress said to. She did it as the misguided soul she became. She did it because all she's ever known is slavery." He swallowed hard.
Maybe he was making excuses for her.
He didn't know.
Memories refused to die... Like love so often did.