Jeneria: Defenders of Ausmik

CHAPTER SIX - PASSAGE TO THE END

In the last hour, the soldiers hadn't taken their eyes from Alexander; he was beginning to wonder whether the statuesque men were even alive.

"You know," said Alexander, "you certainly don't know how to treat a guest—you're all making me feel uneasy."

He waited for one of them to respond.

"I suppose it's fair," said Alexander once he realized he wouldn't get a response. "I'd probably have a sour face, too, if I had to slave away for the Imperial Mass."

He sat back in his seat and exhaled loudly.

"You know," he said, "I used to be a soldier myself. My career was rather brief, but I'm familiar with how things work at Lion's Bastion. They break your mind down until it remains nothing more than a pile of mesh. Then once your mind is back in its absorbent infancy, you're fully reconditioned. Remorse and empathy are eliminated to make room for honor and courage—qualities that become associated with the ideal soldier. Luckily for me, I was kicked out of the Mass long before they could complete that process."

Again, nobody said anything. Alexander sat quiet for a while before realizing that his boredom could only be combatted with one-sided dialogue.

He sat back up. "I know none of you were born like this," he said, "that you came out of your mothers' wombs unblinking and without any expression." He laughed to himself. "Then again, I guess I could be mistaken."

Alexander shifted his eyes from soldier to soldier.

"But like I said," he continued, "I don't believe any of your were born this way. No, I'm certain you came into this world just like the rest of us—kicking and screaming. But now look at each of you. From a distance, I couldn't tell any of you apart from a stone pillar."

He sighed and turned towards the window, but the view outside was almost as uninspiring as the view inside the carriage. The sun was blocked by a massive gray cloud, and, unlike the woodsy routes that Alexander was used to traveling through, they were on a paved road.

"For god's sake," he said, unable to stay silent. "I've been condemned to Abudox for the rest of my life anyways, so don't you think one of you could offer just a spore of interaction? I'm already a damned man—there's no reason to hate me anymore."

He caught one of the soldiers shifting his eyes down, then back up at him—the first sign of life.

"Aha!" said Alexander. "You want to speak—go ahead, speak."

The soldier said nothing.

"Come, now. You must be—what?—eighteen years old? And yet, in your young career, you're sitting just across from the most pursued man in the history of Ausmik. I imagine there's something you'd like to say."

The soldier shifted his eyes to his comrades, who still hadn't moved, and then back at Alexander.

"Speak," said Alexander, "for this is your only chance."

The soldier opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by one of the other soldiers.

"Say nothing to him, Steven," said the soldier. "He doesn't deserve your breaths. He deserves nothing more than a life sentence in Abudox."

Alexander turned to him, "And why is that? Why am I so deserving of such a terrible sentencing?"

"Don't play stupid, you know why."

"I know what I am being accused of, yes, but I'm asking why you think that I should be sentenced to die in Abudox. I am accused of murdering a person, but only a single person. How many people have met the deadly edge of your blade? I'm guessing more than one. And yet, you believe that I am well-deserving of my sentence? If that's the case, then I can only wonder what kind of sentencing you deserve—you're a mass murderer."