This and That

Burn

"You will always be my father, but I hope you know it's your fault that I'll never know what that means."

Vynn Pinoris stares through the tall window, idly watching the battle taking place at his doorstep. The second act of cowardice in his fifty-one years, and yet he stands rooted to the spot.

"I would've looked up to you, I would have made you proud."

His son's last message haunts him. It does not matter that Turiah had written the words; they stab at his darkest, most vulnerable spots with all the force of an oral attack.

"And yet, you threw me away, tossed me into a life-long closet and locked the door. You thought if you filled that room with all the wonders any child could want that I would forget the outside."

The king turns from the window at the sound of banging doors reverberating off the stone walls. He strides slowly towards the stairs, every word clanging inside his skull. Or is it the sound of approaching weapons?

"I grew up on the same meal every hour of every day: the cold truth. I tried drowning its whispers in studying and playing and reading and anything I could grasp. And just before I had frozen over from that consistent meal, I found a way out. A last chance at true happiness. A chance to love and receive love, a family. My last opportunity at something resembling a life."

Reaching the door, Vynn flings it open with a practiced flourish and enters the hall.

"Then you found out. So you tried to take that away too. My one last hope of anything worth having, and you stole it from me. And in so doing, you have turned your oldest ghost into a monster. Twenty years of cowardice become a pyre. But with this final act you hand me the match."

"For this there is no forgiveness. I will watch you burn."

The sounds of a score or more soldiers pound the distant halls. Vynn Pinoris continues walking, determined to cap off those "twenty years of cowardice" with the staunch bravery he once knew. He does not pray for aid or forgiveness. He stands upon the last stage of the play, his way laid bare before him in blinding clarity. His final act is not to take away.

No. No, with this ultimate move he decides to let Turiah join him on the pyre. King Pinoris will hand his son the weapon. Turiah will burn away his own life with the darkest fire of all: revenge.