73 Nature of Darkness

"Ah..." Leal suddenly said. "In your tongue, it should be 'Darkness,' shouldn't it?"

At this self-interruption that broke the cadence he'd adapted while relaying this oft-retold tale, some of his listeners took the opportunity to think on what they'd just heard -- and on what it implied.

"I see..." said Captain Judda from a yard away, the first one to speak up. "So your scholars have painted Amalasuintha thusly. That is typical of Lyseans, don't you think?"

Leal frowned. Hilde did as well, but she understood where the Captain might be coming from, so her confusion had more to do with the nagging sense that he was being hypocritical, reacting this way.

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"What do you mean?" the Prince asked him.

"Whatever else, she is always portrayed as a powerful woman," Captain Judda explained, his eyebrows raised in a seemingly friendly manner. "Her status is very much equal to that of Ansigar, a man. It is also greater than her son's -- who, it is needless to point out, is also a man. It would be just like your people, then, to automatically brand her as a creature of evil because of this."

The words came like a slap, even to Hilde who'd expected such a reasoning to be brought up. Truth be told, she too had reeled when Leal spoke the words "light and dark" in relation to the divinities who were said to have produced their country's founder. She too found something amiss in how the account he'd described had associated them inextricably with the domains they ruled: light and darkness; the tall and shining peaks, the hidden and shadowed depths...

Out of nowhere, there came a low but highly amused chuckle. She'd heard it once before, and thus, while the rest were busy looking around them to see where the sound was coming from, Hilde immediately zeroed in on Leal. After the others also realized who the source was, she could practically see angry sparks crackling in the air around them.

"Pardon me," he excused himself before anyone else could say anything. But seeing as the whiteness of his perfect teeth was still showing because he was yet to stop grinning, this apology was not well received. He tried for more seriousness and went on, "I mean no insult, I simply found the misunderstanding just now deeply ironic."

"Misunderstanding?" repeated the Captain, a hint of a threat in his gravelly voice.

Hilde asked, "How so?"

All humor gone, Leal met the others' eyes squarely and answered, "I have not said anything about anyone being 'evil.'" After a pause, one could almost feel everyone's shock at finding that this was true. They began to frown. "I also do not believe that that is what the scholars who came up with the epiteth were referring to." His gaze met Hilde's last of all and lingered there. In it, she saw what could have been a subtle warning. She only became sure of it when he continued, "It is ironic that we are on the subject of why our countries hate one another, but we could not suspend that hatred long enough to just discuss. I would also like to point out, the association between 'dark' and 'evil' did not come from me."

The response to those words were predictable.

"Are you implying--" Captain Judda began, but Hilde was quick to cut him off.

"He is implying nothing, Captain," she said, keeping to herself her fresh annoyance over Leal's self-endangering antics. She continued levelly, "He is stating a fact. I too automatically made that association, and the others as well, I think. It was an easy mistake to make. The Prince's statement was not solely directed at you."

Hilde did not actually believe that last part -- she didn't think anyone did. Still, for better or for worse, she was committed to her responsibility towards Leal's safety, regardless of her personal feelings. She needed the others to remain so as well.

'Honestly, why does Leal himself keep making this task difficult? Does he have a death wish, after all?'

While Hilde was thinking this, a young male soldier had begun speaking. She ignored how Captain Judda was once again looking at her with eyes full of suspicion and turned her attention instead to the coming discussion.

She was not unaware of how surreal the experience was -- there was a riot going on less than a hundred meters away, and there their party were, engaged in storytelling and philosophizing. Other than sleeping or worrying, though, there was truly little else they could be doing.

"But ISN'T darkness evil?" the young Guard had asked.

He seemed to be close in age to Leal, so the other young man dispensed with ranks as he answered with another question. "Would you call night evil?"

"Well..." The soldier hesitated before decisively saying, "Yes. So much evil is committed under cover of night, after all."

Leal nodded. "True, many take advantage of the dark to commit evil acts. Yet more often than not, the acts themselves can just as easily take place during the day, using other means of cover. Sometimes even without. See, I believe evil acts can also be committed under bright light, free for anyone to witness."

"If not exactly understand..." Hilde muttered, lost in flashes of memories from two lives.

Having heard her perhaps, Leal acquired an introspective quality to his voice when he continued, as if he too was recalling something.

"As I'm coming to find, there are acts whose nature is evil yet does not appear to be so at all, on the surface. These need no other covers, dark or otherwise."

After a few beats of silence, one of the female soldiers sought to bring the conversation back from the confusing tangent it had veered off to.

"So... er, Prince... are you saying that darkness itself is not evil?"

He showed a spare smile and pointed out, "This very moment, we are making use of its cover for protection. Is what we are doing evil? Does our use of darkness automatically make us so?" At her considering look that was echoed by a few others, Leal nodded. "Yes, I do not think darkness and evil are one and the same, and neither did the scholars who had uncovered and recounted the version of the legend I was telling. The account I favor is not steeped in morality by any means, and by calling Ellanher the 'Child of Light and Darkness,' I believe the scholar meant--"

Just then, from the group seeing no activity at all this last quarter of an hour, a couple of things happened in quick succession that had them all back on full alert.

First, a runner arrived, telling them that Baron Marmion and his escorts had safely reached the Royal Palace. They were careful not to let the relief get to their heads, but the party of tired soldiers and royals allowed themselves to enjoy this little reprieve.

Just as they were settling down again to await more good news -- or so they hoped -- the soldier whose armor Hilde borrowed without her consent returned. She was reporting even before she stopped walking, and she was headed straight for Leal.

"Sorry for the delay, Prince," she said, voice tense but not showing any other signs that might indicate alarm. A good sign, surely? Hilde thought. "I had to go in as far as the soldiers' barricade before the building's entrance to make certain. From afar it appeared to be the decoy group inside. They are on the second floor, and some would fight off men trying to get in through the balconies. I saw Kel first, so I thought..." The soldier shook her head. "I was about to head back when I saw Alanna too. Prince, it's one of your lords who's trapped in there."