"The eyes," he angrily whispered.
"The eyes?" Sorceress' dark thin eyebrows arched in confusion.
"I need her eyes."
"You want to rip her eyes out!?"
"I want to look into them."
"Sad. I'd love to see the first option come true." Morathi glided ahead of him through the bottomless void, enjoying her supposedly clever pun.
"I thought you had a bit of a…" she looked at him, revealing her smile, a mixture of sadness and flirtation, "…love?"
"What can you know of love?" Henri crossed his arms defensively. She must be considering this act of interrogation pleasing.
"Not as much as a fiancé of yours does, I suppose," Witch fiddled with her hair.
"What makes you torture your prisoners with such endeavors?" Henri could not hold his annoyance.
"Does the weight of thousands of years drive you mad?"
"As far as I am concerned you might live up to my age if you be a good boy," the witch flew closer.
"Besides, no one imprisoned you, sir knight. You are free to fly wherever you want." She grinned and circled Henri.
If stupid peasant girl ever manages to let me out, the crone will possibly be the first to know my justice.
"Ah, five hundred years." She tilted her head, putting the palm on his right shoulder.
"Some of us need dark magic, some make blood sacrifices, and some were lucky to get a blessing of Lileath-"
"Stop saying this name, Witch." He dived, releasing himself from the touch of sharp black fingers.
"She is ze Lady of ze Lake," Henri hissed. He struggled to hold his temper. For far too long he clung to knightly standards in her presence, bearing her questions and company. She was, however, the only way he can still maintain an understanding of time. Even though the void seemed to consume his physical and mental strength, he hoped there was a chance Repanse changes her mind, leaving him in Sorceress' possession. In that case, he will either die shortly or suffer an eternity of torture, physical or mental. He hoped Repanse would not betray her men and the Lady, he hoped he would die here. But will he die defending his beliefs and chivalry?
"This is the only true name and identity of hers," Henri stood his ground. "You Elves don't give a shit about the human race, and you expect me to believe that your goddess will pleasure dirty barbarians for our oaths? I can't even think why would you come up with this stupid lie and try to assure me of it."
"Do you really think fucking men into submission is a strategy only I would employ, Henri le Massif?" she bit her lips, looking somewhere down his eyes. "I wonder if-"
"No."
"No? No what? You didn't even know what I was trying to ask!"
"Ze Lady of ze Lake is a divine damsel who does not force her influence on noble knights with her body."
"Really?" Morathi burst into laughter. "So… so you didn't even get your cock sucked before pledging to face certain death in her name?" She glided uncomfortably close. "Oh noble sir knight, maybe you wanted, but your friend was nearby and ruined the privacy?"
"Everything I ever wanted was to serve the people of Bretonnia in her name."
"Liar," she whispered; their faces inches away. "Oh noble sir knight, how long has it been since you have enjoyed the pleasures of life?" Her breath warmed his face. "Oh come on, Henri, I know you must have wanted to do it. If not with Lileath, maybe with a friend of yours," she distanced herself a foot away. "She is quite pretty. Does she wear the suit of armor just to refrain her men from staring? Great body…"
Henri tried to hide the smile.
"Oh, I see you have also taken notice." Suddenly the grin started to vanish. "Why…" she no longer looked like flirting or interfering in his personal space, "why didn't you answer? She loves you so hard."
"Because how could I? I found her as a scared starving little girl, hiding from Norscan raiders in a pile of rotten hay. I raised her, I taught her what I could," Henri shrugged.
"Think. Adapt. Survive. Play with the swords. Ride a stallion. Study your enemy. Follow the heart, and you will be undefeatable. The irony is," he gloomed, "when you are five hundred years, the twenty-year age difference, as well as the experiences from decades upon decades ago…"
"Yes," she nodded. "I know exactly what it is."
Having thought through the phrase in his head, Henri responded, "I don't blame you. But I can't treat her like you treat your son. Even after all of those years, I can not forget who we were: a lonely knight and a scared girl. And now that she betrayed what we have bled for-"
"Haven't I told you I'm a good girl now?" Morathi calmly asked.
"People like you don't become good girls." Henri looked away. "And it does not change anything. She did not know of your current intentions."
"How can you fight for chivalry when you judge the aftermath of her wholehearted love to you?" Sorceress crossed the arms on a pale chest. "I think I haven't told you how literally a day ago she saved me from-"
"By Lady's name!" Henri clutched his head.
"Sir Henri!" she called strictly. "I have never seen someone unsheathe and raise the sword so quickly. The Elf in the armor of Aenarion was about to slice me in half!"
"So what?"
"So what? She was saving you."
He hovered, unable to give any proper response. He was mad and shocked to learn what Repanse was able to do for him.
"You don't value love as much as allegiance to the Lady, do you?"
"Which love? Her love is selfish. Yes, true love, and desperate love, but selfish. Not selfless." He took a deep breath before going on. "We are the noble sons of Bretonnia, we pledge ourselves to the laws of chivalry. Fight the ruinous powers. Defend the weak. Help your brothers in arms. These traditions are sacred and have been valued through myriads of generations. We live and dies in the name of these laws. Without witness. Without reward." He gasped. "And how after decades fighting for these laws could I forgive such betrayal? How could you for some reason expect me to forgive her? How?"
"I told you," the sadness shined through the ice of her eyes. "I may be far from the laws you value, yet I believe in what you should value to a far greater extent."
"How does this make her action any less bad?"
"It doesn't. However, if I can change, you can too. I ask you to forgive her for loving you more than the laws of chivalry she risked her life for hundreds of years."
"And what will you do to prove that you can?" Henri couldn't believe her.
"Kill my son."
His gray eyebrows slid together. "Indeed?"
"Indeed."
"Assuming there is a tiny chance you are not playing some of your games with me," he flew closer, "how does such act redeem you?"
"Malekith is a monster I have created a long time ago. A monster responsible for the demise of Ulthuan, for the war between the Asur and the Dwarves, and for what is about to happen in Al Haikk. Freeing the world from him would not eliminate the threat my children pose to the world, but it is a beginning. I have made him be; I shall make him perish."
"So you argue that I should forgive my daughter while you are going to kill your son?"
"Your daughter is not my son. She is brave, kind, and capable of great deeds, while Malekith…"
"Malekith is not?"
"No," she nodded sadly. "Only a miracle might make him change his ways – or stop me from changing my intentions."
"I can't trust you, you know that."
"You'll see."
"And then?" he wondered. "Do you want me to be a part of your plan just because you seemingly want to say you have turned good and pretend you care for Repanse's fate?"
"You don't need to do anything!" She raged at him. "Just survive the battle, sir knight, do that at least because she somehow cares for you."
In the blink of an eye, Sorceress vanished, leaving him hovering alone with his thoughts. How long will the fate give him to reflect on his opinion? Perhaps, love really is of greater value than all of the oaths and pledges in the word – or at least he must accept it in others.
