He entered the room with a feather light step, quiet and calm. I remember him sitting down next to me that night, as I was slumping in my armchair, slowly losing my strength, unable to get up. Julius looked my way, his eyes slowly filling with tears, but he let none fall. He couldn't do it anymore. It was of dire importance.
"Why are you sad, my old friend?" I asked. " What bothers your soul so much?"
"It is the secrets that I posses that sunder me in two, sire." He replied. "I am sad, for I know the reason for your fatigue." He removed the half full glass from my hand. "But please do not worry yourself. You will rest soon, and I shall be on my way toward the End of the World." He then walked out, leaving the door ajar.
My mind wondered why he'd done it. Anger filled what was left of my conscience, a soul shattering feeling. I sat in the room alone when the deadly drop started working it's foul magic, realizing it was already too late. When he finally returned, his golden cross and chain hanging on the neck, his fine woolen robe covering what I only later noticed was his padded jacket. The one he wore under his armor, when we fought against the devils and demons from the Far Darkness, fought in the name of the kingdom to come.
As I sat there, recollecting our days of past, I found that I could not hold him any grudge. My Julius saved this miserable life of mine so many times. It was his to take it away, by right. Always he had claimed that I owe him no debt - not of life, nor gratitude, but I knew deep in my heart, as it slowly stopped beating, that it was more than that. And I found that my love for the man could not fade away for it. A comrade of many battles, he was. A brother through uncounted storms and tribulations, yet no blood bound us, but that which we spilled together.
He propped me up, helping me sit so I would not slump as my body went limp, buttoning up my shirt, securing I would have dignity in death. Good man.
I stared into those swelling eyes and asked but one question:
"Julius, my sword and shield... why did it come to this?"
It was a long silence, eerie, as thunder rolled in the distance, rain starting to patter on the glass window. It looked for a moment like he was going to break right then and there. He sat on the other armchair, looking not at me, but at the embers of the fire.
"Because my lord, I do what I must. There are things you may not want to understand, or need to for that matter. Although, looking at you now, I may have been terribly wrong in my judgement." He smiled "More's the better."
"We stood together, Julius..." I started trailing off, death drawing nearer. "Stood for what was right..."
"And we still do."
"How is this right?" I didn't feel much confusion, thanks to my still present fury. But there was the languor, becoming ever stronger. Sleep was taking over, sleep from whence there was no waking up.
"How can this be right..."
A flash of lightning cut the dim light of the fading fire, illuminating the room, thunder booming not long after.
"If done for the right reason, it could be." He said. "The things that we have done could have been wrong, my lord. Have you ever though of that?"
I could barely turn my head toward him, and it threw me off balance. I barely caught myself, elbowing on one arm, but I had to look at him. I had to see what was on his face as I answered.
"I have, Julius. I have so many times. And you were always there to remind me what we stood for. The light of a new dawn. The faith and courage to live and see the next one." I stared at him, focusing only on his face. "So why is it that, at the dusk of Time, I fade with it, yet you seem to be ready to charge into another fight, without me?"
The gloom enhanced as he stood up to prop me up again, so that I die like a gentleman, at least in appearance. It didn't hurt. And as far as I know, remembering all those who died in my arms, in the last moments it never does. When you are ready to leave the world of men, all of the pain seems to vanish.
Julius stoked the fire again, placing two more logs, lighting up the room, if just for a bit. The small light seemed so soothing. It was time for me to go now, I knew. Walk into the warm flames, cross over to the other side.
He came close, embraced my head, and in a low voice, replied to my question:
"In my effort to make sure you never forget, I failed to remind myself. And now I am not blinded anymore. I am sorry, old friend, but the fight I run into now is not one you can ever join, for reasons you will never understand. You are not worthy, scum of the earth. And we have all fought for naught. All fire eventually fades, leaving all in darkness. It is the way it has always been. Goodbye, and fare well into the next life."
He kissed my forehead, crossed my arms into my lap, and all I heard was the song of angels.
And as I stood, armored at the Gates made of marble and mother-of-pearl, I saw Julius Jevees, my knight in an armor of rust and decay, the traitorous butler, pass under the unholy archway and into the depths of hell.
And when I spoke to him again, I held his battered and bruised soul at the edge of the Elysian fields.
