Day is night (English version)

Chapter 2

Hans looked suspiciously at his cellmate.

"What've you done to me? What's that?"

"Take it easy, little prince," that old prisoner answered with some derision as he returned to his cot. "Nothing. Just as I expected of you."

"What're you talking about? Hans grew impatient. He didn't like the feeling of being mocked. "What's that thing?"

"This thing is your salvation."

"What?"

"As long as you help me get out of this dump, of course."

The boy calmed down a bit and sat face to face with the old man who was looking at him with a malicious smile and hope in his eyes.

"I'm all ears," he said piercing him with his gaze. Hope was beginning to be mutual.

"I like that, kiddo. This is the seal of fire. I stole it decades ago from a lovely hermit who was guarding it. He took care of me after finding me lost and hungry in the forest. I spent a few days in charge of him and gained his trust. It was he who told me that no one knew where it had come from or who had created it, but that the mere touch of this seal with the skin of a living being, set his heart on fire in a matter of minutes."

"Pff... how ridiculous..." Hans said at the story of the old man. "You've seen that I am still alive and healthy..."

"Indeed. That's what I like about you.

"Back then, I was young and stupid like you and I didn't believe him.

"One night, tired of the pilgrim's rhythm, I decided it was time to leave on my own. The stars were shining and orienting myself wouldn't be a problem; soon I would find some small town in which to take advantage of my theatrical gifts to earn a living at the expense of some candid soul with more possibilities than those of the hermit. But, after looting all his provisions, just before running away, I remembered that tale of the fire seal. I couldn't leave without proving that it was just a silly legend and I tried it on the face of the man who took care of me while he slept in our tent. And, well, he didn't guard anything anymore. He awoke to the sudden heat and looked at me with resignation and the pain of dirty betrayal in his eyes. I still remember his last words: 'A heart incapable of feeling the heat like yours will never have the honor of succumbing to flames.' Then he just turned into a ball of fire.

"From how fast he burned, he must be a very good man, no doubt."

"Are you trying to tell me that my heart is as rotten as yours?" Hans asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Exactly! Rotten enough to freeze even the flames of this seal."

Hans was not exactly flattered, but made a quick tour of mind for his actions so far and could not deny the evidence.

"All right. And what good is this to me apart from not being dead right now?"

"You are privileged here, brat. If I pretend I'm sick, no guards will come near me. They'll just let me die and wait to get my lifeless remains out of here when I start to smell dead. But you, prisoner or not, are the son of royalty. If you get sick, they will come to treat you. And you and I know that those guards are not clean wheat, but they are not so miserable that the seal doesn't affect them.

"If you help me escape with you and live my last years in freedom, I'll give you the seal. I no longer want it at all; I just want to stop seeing these four walls and your sideburns before disappearing from this world."

Hans was thoughtful for a few seconds. Then he got up and offered his hand to the older.

"Deal."