Bound by Deception

15.2 Never Trust a Soldier

The picture was glitchy and had dirt stains in some areas. There were boots scuffling against the ground that got Aria's attention, and the camera would often get smeared in the dirt and then brought up again. The men were taunting Edward in the language they spoke in Grandville - the gourd dialect. Edward didn't speak at all, and whenever his body jerked to the side or fell on the ground again, Aria winced knowing that he was being kicked around. They had brought him to a barren field, so she couldn't get any hints as to where he was captured.

"So, you are the man who allowed us to burn your precious church, eh?" A tall, bulky man with a wispy brown mustache and bulging biceps appeared in the camera. His face was blurry, but Aria could make out the sinister smirk that he had twisted on his cruel lips as he stared down at Edward. He was like a cold vampire - handsome but in a deadly way. "Lord James, is it? You're not much of a talker, are ya?"

"I don't humor my enemy," Edward raspily responded.

The man laughed. "You're adorable. How old are you, kid? Nineteen?"

Edward didn't answer. A soldier kicked him, his camera tilting to the side, but he remained silent.

"Rouver wanted to kill ya," the man, whom Aria assumed to be their regiment leader, continued with a sneer. "They blamed you for the fire, didn't they? All your hard work in the military, and that's how they rewarded you? By condemning you?"

"It was my fault," Edward coughed. "I should have been paying attention. I shouldn't have gone with that girl..."

"Listen, boy, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," the man growled. "If a woman is inviting you to join her, why the hell should you refuse?! You'd be stupid if you did." He laughed, and his regiment laughed with him.

"Fucking bastards," Sterling growled, his arm tightening around Aria's shoulders as he was still supporting her weight. "All of them are fucking monsters."

"Just listen," Kazuki told him.

"It was all my fault..." Edward whimpered. "I let them die..."

No, no you didn't. Aria's airways were constricting like a serpent was wrapping around them. It was our fault...we started the fire...we killed them...

"They were spies," Sterling seemed to read her mind and spoke. "They deserved to die."

"There were innocent people there too!"

"Since when did you care about them?"

"Since my best friend got mixed up in this shit," Aria snapped back. "I could give a shit about those people. But Edward was blamed because of something that we did."

"Technically, you weren't part of the syndicate yet, but I digress," Kazuki added quietly. "Keep watching. It gets interesting soon."

"Stop crying!" Edward received another shove. "You're a militiaman, correct? Your country honors those boys. Crying is not honorable, so be quiet! What's your name, lad?"

"Harry Wilhelm," Edward responded immediately, picking himself up again. The screen was cracked and covered with dirt by now, but Aria still managed to see bits and pieces of what was going on. "Sir."

"Harry, eh?" The man grinned again. He had a smile that could easily hide his nasty disposition. It relieved the cruel lines from his face and made him look like a jolly old grandpa. Aria hated people who looked like that. "Well, Harry, how would you like to do some work and get some money?"

"For you?" Edward sneered. "I'd rather die."

"Really?" The man stepped forward, and Aria was able to see his fluorescent eyes in a clearer light. "You'd rather we send you back to the Rouverians and let them have their way with you? They'll send you to the stretcher, you know?"

"The stretcher?!" Horror filled Edward's voice. "No...they didn't say that...they said I was going to a camp."

Laughter erupted from the video. It was voracious and ugly and caused a grimace to pass throughout the occupants of the room.

"A camp?" The man wiped his eyes, still chuckling. "Oh, my boy, they do know how to fool you young ones in that damned country. Do you know what? You Rouverians are just as bad as we Grandvillians. There's no difference between us, except that you cheated us from our land!"

"It was our land!" Edward shot back, but he sounded less sure of himself. "You were trying to take it!"

"Oh, was it?" The man smirked. "You need a recap on your history, lad. That land was ours. You Rouverians wanted to expand your territory. You slaughtered the indigenous groups there and took it. They told you that, didn't they?" 

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Oh no...what have the Rouverians done? Are they innocent in this fight? Or is there more than what meets the eye? 

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