Destined

A Painful Death

Consilius, who was silent the whole time, except for his spiteful comment to Conor, sat down on a chair. He was agitated but at the same time tired and disillusioned. His elbows on his knees, his chin resting in his hands, eyes on the ground, he sent an unspoken message: "Whatever you say, I am done with you! You don't deserve my time nor my attention." 

I grew angry, ready to punch this man straight into his face,  because he was a miserable being, power hungry and self-important. How dare he! He knew, this was the moment, where the whole truth about the siblings he raised would be unraveled. I wondered, why Gaisgeil let him still breath ...he surely had killed men for less.

Hearing about the malicousness of Consilius, I was amazed about Conor. He didn't let his uncle's views affect him, he wasn't bitter about his own life. He didn't follow Amarin's path. It must be hard to watch your twin's life be wasted for nothing. How tragic, that Amarin's life ended by the hand of his own brother. 

"I'll say it only once, Consilius. I want the whole story. I am in no mood to take your rubbish. Either way, you'll die by my hand." The head of Consilius snapped to my destined.

Gaisgeil only smirked. "What? You really thought you'll walk out of your house alive?" He laughed hartily ...in an evil way, sending chills down my spine. My hair at the nape of my neck stood...

"You have the choice: Tell me everything I want to know and I promise, you'll die fast and  painless. Or keep your knowledge to yourself and  I'll torture you on a daily basis." Listening to my destined's honest voice, I knew, he ment every word it.

Gaisgeil took two small sharp knives, that were veiled for the eyes, out of his leather wear. "You see my two little friends here? I'll cut you every day, till you nearly bleed out, than I'll let my healers patch you up. We'll continue this game every day for years."

Ailis and Conor watched their brother in horror. I kept my composure. On the inside I was shivering at the picture, that Gaisgeil drew conciously in our heads. 

"You are the master of your own destiny, Consilius. Has nobody told you?", he grinned at the man, showing his fangs, his sharp claws scratching the wooden table next to him. How cruel he could be, to play with the fears of his prey. At this point Consilius was a pale and shivering mess.

Gaisgeil's eyes watched him cheerfully, widening in a feigned surprise. Abruptly his mood changed. "If you thought you'll get away with what you did, than you are a bigger fool than I thought."

His nostrils flared, his composure one of power. "You poisoned my brother's thoughts from a young age. You turned him against me. Now he is dead! The Lord of Desa doesn't have a heart, didn't you know? He is cruel and vengeful, mercy and pity unknown words in his vocabulary. Now, be wise and save yourself of a painful death."

Ailis, Conor and I stayed silent, watching between fascination, dread and revulsion. I ... I didn't know, if my destined only played the cruel ruler... or ... if he was only being his real self? Listening to his words and observing his behaviour was painful and frightening. I couldn't figure him out!

Meanwhile Consilius sat slumped on his chair, his eyes dull. In our presence he had aged years. There was no more sign of the once arrogant, smug man. Before us sat a broken trembling dead man walking.

He licked his dry lips. "My sister..I..I am the older brother. Our.. people live on the outskirts of Desa. We live hidden in the mountains by ourself. We...our people call themselves Bertaèyn. We are pure, simple people and we are humans." 

We waited in anticipation. Consilius gulped. "May I have a glass of water, please?" Ailis turned away, wiping a tear from her eye.

"I am going to fetch you a glass", she whispered. Gaisgeil watched her face with crossed arms and a clenched jaw. 

"You shouldn't waste you tears on a man like him, Ailis. He isn't worth your pain." 

And then he did somethig that amazed us all beyond belief - he hugged Ailis and kissed her hair. I couldn't believe my eyes. This was...incredible. 

Either Gaisgeil was really changing his personality, or kept his true carrying nature well hidden...

Ailis went stiff in his embrace, her big round eyes searching mine for help. I just shrugged and sent her a reassuring smile. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Than her own two arms hesitantly enveloped the big torso of her brother. And than, finally, she relaxed. 

With uncertain small steps the maid entered the room, a glass of water in her hands. She reached her master with wide fearful eyes. Her hand trembled as she gave him the water.   

"Master...", her trembling voice called out to him. Consilius raised his head. "Thank you, Leonore." The poor woman escaped the room without looking back.

Greedily he gulped the water down. "We live far away from others inside of an old bunker", he carried on.

"A bunker? What is a bunker?, I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Our ancestors built the bunkers for two reasons: First for safety in case of a war. Second to keep things safely hidden from prying eyes. We use the space to live a quiet and safe live." 

I took a mental note to search for bunkers in the old books and folders. I got suspicious... I had to know.

"Are there books and folders in your ...ah...bunker?", I asked carefully.

 Consilius eyes brightened. His lips turned into a grimace of mockery. "You are a smart little thing, aren't you?"

"Careful, old man...", Gaisgeil warned him. "You'll answer her question. Use your tongue before I cut it out."

Consilius lowered his gaze with gritted teeth. "Yes, there are tons of books in the archives. They are in the depths of the bunker."

He raised his head. "Very interesting material there, very interesting ...", Consilius smirked. Unbelievable. He thought he had the upper hand because he knew something, I wanted to know.

"I know, you are on the search for answers Callida. I know what you are looking for..." He threw a bone my way to see, if I grapped for it. Suspiciously I watched him. 

"You search for the key to our world because you want to understand, why we became what we are now", he grinned viciously. "You want to break the reign of the Lord yourself, to free humankind and to destroy the regency of those monsters." 

I went cold, as Gaisgeil's questioning eyes whipped to me.

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Bertaèyn= Celtic name of Brittany-Bretagne (a region in the north-west of France, opposite to the UK)

Dear readers, I am very happy, that you found this story, that you were curious enough to give it a try. Thank you, danke, merci, grazie, děkuju, ধন্যবাদ, salamat, terima kasih, धन्यवाद, na gode, e dupe, hvala vam, gracias, شكرا لكم

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