Un Souvenir d'Événements

The Daroga and the Architect

Where Erik went that night, I would never know. He left me without a chance to explain myself, though I could understand his pain and anger towards me, and I doubted I'd ever see him again after that night.

Unfortunately, the Shah had other ideas. First and foremost, he wanted Erik back. I had gone to explain to him that Erik was likely dead from the poison, but the Shah counteracted me and said that the dosage he had been given had been heavily diluted. It would have weakened him severely, but it was not nearly enough to kill him.

"Though admittedly, I hadn't expected him to have the strength to run."

The Shah had admitted casually as he lent back against his new throne that Erik himself had built for him.

"If he's dead, he's dead, but I want him found, dead or alive, and brought to me."

Indeed, the Shah had one last trick up his sleeve for Erik, that was, if he was still alive. I prayed for him at that point, I wanted Erik to be dead, at least that way the poor man's suffering would be over.

Yet again, the Daroga was tasked with finding the elusive architect, but this time he wasn't to escort him back, he was to arrest him and bring him back to the Shah using any means necessary.

This was the same architect who had now been trained as an assassin and had killed many men of incredible power in a heartbeat. The same architect who now had a vendetta against me for betraying him.

If only he could have known the truth. If only he'd allowed me just a few seconds to explain.

If only.

January passed without a sign of Erik, which didn't surprise me. If he so desired, he could vanish off the face of the earth without a trace, and he had done just that. Anyone I asked about the Shah's, by now famous, architect, could not help my search as none had seen him. But It didn't stop me searching.

Now more than ever my family was at risk. I knew what the Shah could do to them if I failed, but I knew that bringing Erik back was as good as signing his death sentence.

Either way, someone would die, but out of the two, I was more certain that Erik may be able to escape the situation than my mother or siblings. It didn't make my decision any easier however.

My sister by now had her own family to care for, and I was certain the Shah would set his sights on the youngest of my family, my nephew. It was to be his second birthday in the summer, and I was adamant that my family would live to see it.

But then, was Erik not my family? I had never meant to betray him, in fact, at that point I hadn't to any great extent. The Shah had told us what Erik had been plotting, showing us the proof in his unique jagged hand on a small piece of paper that seemed to have been torn from a book.

I did wonder where the Shah had acquired such a crucial piece of evidence, but I felt it best not to question him at the time. The proof was undeniable, not only because the plans to show that this was pre-meditated were there in Erik's own hand, but the vial of poison that he had intended to use had also been found, and had then been used against Erik in an unexpected attack when the Shah found him to be no longer loyal.

Now of course, I understand where this evidence came from, and how Erik was for the most part innocent, but it was not until the end of July that I would uncover this information.

I continued my search relentlessly through the late winter months and the beginnings of spring, scouring Mazandaran and the lands beyond for any sign of Erik, but it was a lost cause.

At this point, I doubted he was dead, if he had vanished from the face of the earth, that meant he was safe and protected, for if his body had been found, the news of his death would have shook Persia and all those affected by him.