Eight Intertwined

108 - Hollow

Gustav opened the door a few seconds after Olberic knocked, and he stepped aside to let his guest inside. "Ah, welcome. Make yourself comfortable," Gustav told him. With the battle over, Gustav was carrying himself pleasantly, a vague curve of the lips resembling a smile on his face. He was far from overjoyed about this turn of events though, and Olberic could see it. If anything, Gustav seemed nostalgic for something bittersweet and long forgotten. If Olberic had to guess, Gustav yearned for the same thing he had wanted all these years. No, not the same thing--the same person. 

Gustav didn't bother with sitting, and Olberic didn't either. They both knew they were about to discuss something that they would never be able to sit down for, and the energy hanging heavily over them in the air only continued to prove it. "A deal's a deal," Gustav went on. "You want to find Erhardt, and I'll honor my side of the bargain." He paused for a moment as Olberic's eyes hardened ever so slightly. "But let's take it slow. There's much we have to talk about, you and I."

Olberic nodded. "If you say so. But what about?" he asked, his anxiety returning full force. Olberic had always known there was more to Erhardt's story than just deciding to slay their king one day, but something about the way Gustav was looking at him opened wounds Olberic didn't even know he had. He didn't know what wounds Erhardt had either, and the weight pressed down on his chest with more force than Olberic had even thought possible. 

"Sir Erhardt, of course. And what I know of him," Gustav replied. Everything about his shaded gaze only reinforced that there was a lot more to this than Olberic had expected. Gustav knew the reason behind why Erhardt had acted the way he did, the one thing Olberic had never understood about the man he once loved. Somehow, the reminder of there being something out of his reach cut far deeper than Olberic anticipated. 

But he let none of that show on his face, instead simply pressing his lips together into a thin line. "I'm listening."

"Now, where to begin..." Gustav muttered. He thought about it for a moment before looking up to meet Olberic's eyes. "Tell me, Sir Olberic... Are you familiar with the land from which Sir Erhardt hailed?"

"Some border town in the far reaches of Hornburg... Or so he once told me," Olberic replied. He could still remember the conversation clearly, and beyond that, he could remember the way Erhardt had wanted to avoid the subject. Of course, Erhardt hadn't said that out loud, but Olberic could see it in his eyes. After that, neither of them ever brought it up again. 

"Aye. A peaceful village called Grynd--at least it was, till it was razed in the war," Gustav replied, and Olberic's eyes shot open. A massive conflict had swept through Hornburg when Olberic was young, and he had grown up feeling the damage even if he hadn't seen the fighting himself. For the most part, the battles were left outside the boundaries of the main city, so Olberic was isolated from the brunt of the damage. Still, seeing the aftermath had been enough for Olberic to want to become a knight in the first place. He never wanted to see anyone suffer that way again, so he took to combat and raised his blade in defense of the people. It was the least he could do after hearing stories of how destructive the war had been throughout his youth. 

Gustav could see the recognition in Olberic's eyes, and he took that as a cue to continue. "'Twas long before Sir Erhardt became a knight that he lost his home. After that, he joined a band of sellswords for a spell. It was there that he got an idea in his head. And so he finally came to serve Hornburg and the crown... As a spy."

"Preposterous!" Olberic exclaimed before he could hold the word back. "You mean to tell me that Erhardt meant to betray us all along?!" All of a sudden, Olberic's heart was screaming in his ears. Had all of that been a lie? Had his connection with Erhardt just been a piece of a greater scheme he was never meant to understand? Had his love for Erhardt meant nothing from the start? Beyond that, how could Erhardt mean to turn his back on everyone who had accepted him with open arms? Olberic had never felt more at home than he had with the knights, and he had been so sure Erhardt felt the same. The more he heard, the more sure Olberic was that he had never known anything about Erhardt at all.