In Between The Ends

Chapter Twenty One

     The screaming hinges of a large metal door pierced the stillness as light from the hallway spilled over Historia's bruised and dirty face. The chains around her wrists clinked off the dusty floor in her attempt at sitting upright. The cell was a familiar sight, but her binds were a new addition: weeks of waiting in the dark was apt to make one agitated, which was evident by the guard she put in the hospital.

Two shadowy figures made their way into her cell, casting menacing shadows along the wall. The taller of the two struck a match and lit one of the lanterns that hung beside the doorframe, flooding the room with its flickering light.

"Good evening, your highness. Sorry to keep you waiting."

Historia growled and blinked hard, trying to focus her eyes on the sneering men looming above her.

"Where is my daughter?!" She screamed, lunging forward against her restraints like a feral dog. "If you have done something to her, I will KILL YOU." All her regal composure was lost in anger and desperation; There was no punishment horrible enough for the people who kept her from Ymira, alone in the dark. Slowly her vision adjusted, allowing her to confirm their identity. Jaegerist bastards!

Commander Angelo laughed menacingly, stooping low just out of her reach. "Now now your majesty, there's no need for that kind of behavior. Besides, you'll find that there's not much you can do either way, given your current state."

He gave her a contemptuous smile, leaning in close to her furious face. "And here I was with the understanding that you were a composed and gentle leader- UGH!"

The second he had gotten close enough, Historia had wound back and spit in his face with an uncharacteristically wicked grin. Angelo stumbled back, wiping the spit away with his sleeve and glaring at her murderously.

"To my people I am. WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!" Her cry was strangled, blistering with anger and fear as she tried desperately to be rid of her binds.

"Why you..." Angelo began to swing his arm back for a blow, but before he could swing the other man caught his wrist. The commander looked perplexed towards his companion; a man Historia knew instantly with a rise of bile in her throat.

"That's enough, Bernard."

The commander nodded, stepping back and allowing General Loren to take his place in front of her. The look on his face was jarring; both blank and intense, his steely eyes boring holes into her. She pulled back in disgust.

"The great Historia Reiss, brought low, mere weeks before her evacuation... That is cause enough for celebration." He leaned in closer, his stale breath hanging between them. "You have been a thorn in our sides for many years, though it is possible we have more to celebrate than simply taking down an enemy..."

He did not blink as his continued to scrutinize her. "You... have been keeping secrets, your majesty."

Panic swelled in her chest as she struggled to keep her expression under control.

"What the hell are you talking about? I've been left in this hole for weeks with no demands! Why have you done this? You very well know we were preparing to leave the island, finally giving your government exactly what they have been fighting for the last six years: sole control of Paradis. You won't get away with this, this is a declaration of war!"

"That," Loren muttered softly, "is no longer a concern of mine, nor of the councils."

Historia's breath hitched in her throat. No longer a concern? What could give the Jaegerist government confidence enough to allow for such a blatant power move against the Allied Nations? There was nothing they could hold against her or Marly that gained them that level of advantage... unless...

There was no way they knew what secret she held. There was only one other person on this earth that knew the truth, and to their knowledge, she was dead. Despite this, the conviction on General Loren's face was wearing away at her certainty. Fear was clawing its way up her throat, choking her.

They can't... it's impossible...

Loren nodded to himself and rose.

"I admire your constitution, your highness. To be able to keep such a revelation to yourself for so long is impressive. But if the truth is indeed what has been revealed to us, then your chapter in this tale is quite finished, though your legacy in the revival of Eldia will be known for centuries to come. I thank you for that."

Her heart was pounding painfully as he turned from her and headed towards the door.

No... please no...

The General leaned out into the hall and gestured toward him, and the sound of shuffled footsteps could be heard making their way down the hall. He reentered her cell and hovered beside her expectantly.

"Let us see the truth."

Two armed guards appeared, dragging between them a battered and semi-conscious man. Middle-aged and worn, the man was bruised and beaten over almost every inch of his body, his jaw hung slack as the two soldiers forced him onto his knees in front of her. Striding forward, Loren grabbed his balding head and forced it upwards, revealing his face.

Historia choked back a hysterical sob as she looked upon a familiar and haunting face hidden behind his injuries. This man has plagued her nightmares for years; his inquisitive and knowing look dragging her from the deepest of sleeps.

To the outside world he was a simple farm hand once employed at the queen's ranch, a kind and helpful man. Yet to Historia he was a demon, a harbinger of their downfall. This man brought nothing more or less than the ruin of everything they had built. He was the End. Tears spilled down her dirty face and dripped onto the dusty floor as she collapsed in on herself.

They know. It's over.

Suddenly she was there again in her mind, glancing out of the second story window of her farmstead seven years ago. The sun was low, and the sky lit with a burning red glow as she caught the eyes of the man; his eyebrows raised in question. The outer door beneath the window she stood at creaked open and a tall, dark figure exited, making his way across the grounds to a waiting carriage.

The farm hand watched the man's retreating form and turned to look at her once again, an expression of understanding dawning on his face as he turned swiftly back to his task, wheeling a cart of loaded hay bales across the lawn and out of sight.

I'm so sorry, Ymira...

With a shuddering cry Historia bent her head, unable to stand the sight of this poor man's face, a man who had simply understood too much.

      What would you think... of me having a child?