Chapter 55

Tom made his mind up on the matter relatively quickly. Grant had told him that he would probably regret it if he didn’t go to see Toth at least once, and Tom took the advice from the old-turned-young man very seriously.

He sent a message to the king requesting a visit with the prisoner. He wanted to meet with Goh as well, the Mage and false-priest of Ma’at who had convinced Toth to take part in the conspiracy. The requests were granted in short order, and Nigel arranged a carriage to take Tom back to the capital. He left early the next morning, arriving in the capital in the early afternoon.

He met with Yecha, who brought him to the dungeons and explained all of the safety measures which were in place for his visit. He was to visit Goh first, and the man was bound in enchanted shackles which would absorb all of his mana and also disrupt any spellcasting that the mage might attempt. Aside from which, Tom was not actually going to be in the same room as the man, but rather they would be speaking through a door with a window on it.

When Tom arrived at Goh’s cell, he was found the prisoner waiting for him. Goh glared at him with hateful and sunken eyes. His time in the dungeon had not been kind to him, and the marks from his questioning were prominent.

“What do you want?” Goh demanded as soon as Tom arrived.

Tom considered. “I want to know why.”

“You were Evolving soldiers for the Welsian army,” Goh explained. “Even at just a few per day, the advantage that would give your country in the war that’s coming would be overwhelming unless Velund found a way to counter it. Easier to just kill you off while you’re a pup.”

Tom followed the man’s logic, and he realized that it wasn’t wrong. “Why kill me though? Surely I’d be more valuable as a hostage, or--”

“You know how difficult it is to sneak an unwilling hostage across countries when that hostage isn’t someone important?” Goh demanded. “I do. I’ve done it. With all the king’s knights searching for us, we wouldn’t have gotten very far. Especially considering the fact that you can summon monsters to your aid whenever you want.”

“It doesn’t actually work that way,” Tom admitted. “I need to be near a Core Stone.”

“Yeah? Well that would have been good to know before the plan,” Goh scoffed.

“So it was just politics? You arranged to have me killed for no other reason?” Tom asked.

“You would have been far from the first person I’ve had killed for the sake of Velund, boy,” Goh said. “And if I hadn’t gotten caught, you wouldn’t have been the last either. If you’re looking for an apology, you’re in the wrong place. Only thing I’m sorry for is that I got caught.”

“I see,” Tom said. He sighed and turned to Yecha. “I’ve seen enough. I don’t know what I was expecting from him.”

Yecha nodded, and she slammed shut the window and led Tom away.

“He’s not such a big man as he was acting just now,” Yecha informed him. “Begged for his mother when we questioned him, he did. We had to wait until after the Mind Mage was through picking the truth out of his head, but once she’d gotten everything she could we confirmed the details on the rack. He’s mighty sorry that he ever stepped foot in Welsius, and sorrier for the part he played in trying to kill you.”

“So I’m supposed to feel better because you tortured him?” Tom asked, feeling disgusted.

“Isn’t that why you came to see him? Makes me feel better to know my enemies got what was coming to them,” Yecha said.

“What about Toth?” Tom asked. “Has he been tortured?”

Yecha tsked. “There was no point in that,” she admitted. “The boy is mad. I’m not certain what you’re expecting to get from him, but I don’t think you’re likely to get it.”

“I just want to see him and ask him why,” Tom said.

“You just got the answer why from the mastermind,” Yecha told him. “Politics, like you said. The boy was just a tool that Goh used. If things had played out differently, Toth would have taken all the blame for your death and Goh would have gotten away clean. Toth is just a pawn who was exploited and sacrificed.”

“You don’t sound like you feel sorry for him for that,” Tom pointed out.

“I don’t feel sorry for anyone fool or crazy enough to let themselves be played like that,” Yecha admitted. “Especially when it wasn’t even a trick. Toth thought that being executed after killing you would make him a martyr.”

“He expected to get caught?”

“He wasn’t even planning on running,” Yecha informed him. “Was planning to go to the gallows denouncing you as the devil and proclaiming that he’d made the world a better place. He believed it too, ‘till you used whatever magic on him that you did.”

“And now?” Tom asked.

“Now he’s just crazy,” Yecha said. “You’ll see for yourself.”

Seeing as Toth wasn’t a Mage, but a low level Commoner, there was less security involved in the visit. The teenage assassin was simply shackled to the wall. Like Goh, Toth had not done well in prison. He was filthy and showed signs of exhaustion, although he had not been tortured.

When Tom arrived, Toth looked at him with wide eyes.

“Are you really here?” Toth asked. “Or are you a spirit sent to torment me again?”

Tom frowned. “I’m really here, Toth.”

The teenager processed the information for a moment. “Kill me.”

Tom blinked in surprise. “What? Why?”

“It’s the only way to make things right. Smite me down for my wickedness, Tom Weaver. I dared to lay hands on your holy person and you suffered for my foolishness. You are the chosen of Anubis and Ma’at. You are the guide to the lost souls that wander between worlds. You are holy beyond holy, and--”

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“Toth, I’m not any of those things,” Tom protested. “I’m just a kid with a rare Class.”

“You summoned the eye of judgment,” Toth continued as though Tom had not spoken. “I thought that the eye was judging you, but what I felt was the eye judging me instead. It knew my wickedness. I deserve to have my soul devoured by Ammit. I welcome the end, for when I am no more there will be less evil in the cosmos. I--”

The prisoner continued to ramble. Tom sighed. He felt … conflicted. Complicated emotions roiled within him, and none of them were anger or a desire for vengeance.

“Toth, be quiet for a moment. I have something to say, and I want you to listen to me.”

Toth immediately fell silent.

“I forgive you,” Tom said. “And I don’t think you’re evil. I’m not certain what happens to souls after they die; the ones that don’t get Summoned at least. But I hope that if you’re judged by the deities of your pantheon, they take mercy on you.”

“My soul will be weighed against the feather of Ma’at,” Toth said. “And my sins are heavy; my soul shall be consumed. There shall be no mercy, only justice. I shall--”

The boy continued ranting. Tom sighed.

“Toth, try to get some rest,” Tom said. “I heard you haven’t been sleeping and I think you really need it.”

Tom left the prisoner behind. Yecha closed the door behind him and walked him out of the dungeon.

“I told you you were unlikely to get what you wanted out of him,” Yecha said. “The poor lad is completely unhinged.”

“I know,” Tom said. “But I think you’re wrong. Grant was right, I would have regretted it if I didn’t come see him. Now I know.”

Yecha frowned at him, but she didn’t pressure him to reveal his inner thoughts.

Tom returned to the palace and requested a meeting with the king. When he was informed that the king was busy and it would be dinnertime before an audience could be arranged, he inquired after Rowena instead, and that was a much easier arrangement to make. She was quite eager to see him, although she had visited him several times already during his convalescence.

They spent the afternoon together talking about everything, but nothing of importance. Rowena was curious to know how Tom was feeling, but she could read him well enough to know that he didn’t want to talk about anything serious, so she gossiped with him instead.

“They’re giving Duncan Seethring a medal, you know,” she said, broaching close to the subject for the first time after they’d been discussing other matters for what felt like hours.

“Is that so?” Tom asked.

“Yes. For meritorious service to the crown.”

“I forget, who is he again? I remember the name, but my head is so filled with names that I can’t keep them all straight.”

“You evolved him on the day that it happened, and then he saved your life,” she explained.

“Oh. I guess I should probably meet with him and thank him then,” Tom said.

“It would be the lordly thing to do,” Rowena agreed.

“I’m not a lord.”

“You will be.”

“Let’s talk about something else,” Tom said. “Your perfume smells lovely today.”

“And you smell like you’ve spent all day on the road, followed by a trip to the dungeon,” Rowena informed him.

Tom blushed. “I see. Perhaps I should wash up before I meet with your uncle.”

“He won’t care,” Rowena predicted. “You maybe should have washed up before meeting with your fiance, but I forgive you for being distracted. Since we’re on the subject, I’ve picked out a few scents for you. Come with me and we’ll figure out which of the options fits you best.”

~~~~~~

The meeting with Tom was pushed back until late in the evening. Fenard ate a sandwich at his desk instead of a proper dinner as he worked through the endless paperwork that had been plaguing him ever since the attacks.

Not only was his nation at war, but it was also in the process of an economic and technological revolution. There was seemingly no end to the matters that required his attention, and not enough time in the day to see to them all.

Still, one of the matters of upmost importance was the well-being of his Controller, which meant that he couldn’t put Tom off forever. He instructed the servants to show the boy into his study, reviewing a few matters of lesser importance while he waited for Tom to arrive.

Once he did and the pleasantries were exchanged, Tom seemed reluctant to discuss why he’d requested the meeting in the first place. Fenard allowed the boy to beat around the bush for a few minutes before simply addressing the issue.

“How did it go in the dungeon today?” Fenard asked. “Did your confrontation give you the satisfaction you were hoping for?”

Tom frowned. “No.”

“I see,” Fenard said. “Were you planning on attending the executions? Because I can think of no other--”

“I’d like for you to pardon Toth,” Tom said.

Fenard was caught by surprised. “Pardon him?”

“I don’t think he deserves to die,” Tom said. “Maybe he did before, but after I used my Claim Skill on him, he’s effectively a different person, I think. I feel sorry for him.”

Fenard examined Tom for a moment. “I see.”

“You’ll do it?” Tom asked.

“I’ll consider it,” Fenard answered. “If it were only your feelings to consider the answer would be obvious, Tom, but unfortunately it’s much more complicated than that.”

“What else is there to consider?” Tom asked.

“Several matters of state,” Fenard said. “Toth was a willing accomplice to a large conspiracy and an attack on the nation of Welsius, Tom. He’s a traitor, guilty of treason. He’s been denounced by a number of his co-conspirators, and has denounced them in turn. Several of those co-conspirators were of noble birth. If I commuted Toth’s sentence to anything less than execution, I would face a number of repercussions from the noble families of those conspirators who will not be getting pardons.”

“So you have to execute Toth in order to execute a bunch of nobles?” Tom asked, growing angry.

“It’s one consideration of many, Tom,” Fenard said placatingly. “The truth is that some of the nobles may be getting commuted sentences as well depending upon the negotiations with their families. A life in exile or disgrace. But if I show leniency on a commoner --”

“You were a target too,” Tom objected. “They’re nobles, shouldn’t the price of treason be even higher for them than a commoner? Shouldn’t you be able to show mercy on a … he’s not the person who stabbed me, Your Majesty. I’m pretty certain that the person who stabbed me is already dead. They died when I Claimed them. You’re going to execute someone who doesn’t deserve it.”

“And if I do, that weight will be upon my soul, Tom, not yours,” Fenard said. “You’ve said your piece. I will consider commuting Toth’s sentence to something other than execution, but that’s not a commitment I’m willing to make at this time. As I said, if it was only your feelings to consider, this would be a simple matter. But there’s much more to it.”

Tom was quiet for a moment. “I understand. I really don’t have anything else to say, so I’ll let you get back to work,” he said, and he left the room.

Fenard sighed. He hated lying to the boy.

Tom’s opinion on the matter changed nothing in Fenard’s eyes. Toth was scheduled to die along with forty-three co-conspirators, and now that they had all of the intelligence that they could get out of the boy, nothing would change that.

Fenard went back to reading the reports from Tirns, Silva, and his other Winged Knights.