The prison cell was completely silent except for the quiet tapping of fingers and the gentle clanking of chains. It was also damp, dark and dreary too. It was an unpleasant place, one that nobody in their right mind would want to be in, including him. The cuffs around his wrists were heavy and chaffing, any small movements caused them to ache. The cool stone cell walls sapped all the warmth out of his body from where his back was touching them. This wasn’t helped by his threadbare clothes that they had put him in.
All in all, it was not a very pleasant experience.
He threw his head back and sighed, irritated at the circumstances that he had found himself in, though he knew that he would be able to get out of it. He had before, after all. Truthfully, he didn’t even do anything that should have warranted in him ending up in this ghastly cell. Honest.
Tap tap. Pause. Tap tap. Pause.
The muffled sound of familiar footsteps came from behind the door, causing him to turn his head towards it. The door was dark wooden brown, but in the poor lighting of the cell far underground, it just looked like a blob with a small peak of light underneath. A grin stretched over his slightly yellow teeth when he realised who it was. Excellent, the show was finally starting to begin.
Pause. The tinkle of metal. The click of a key turning in a lock.
The opening of the door, and the creaking of the hinges, which showed off a tall man, with high cheekbones and a straight, thin nose. His hair, a warm dark brown, was neatly groomed and only just brushed the top of his ears. His icy blue eyes were piercing when they gazed upon him, and lacked any warmness that they may have had in the past.
Ah, his brother. Almost just how he remembered him. He had always looked like he swallowed a foul-tasting lemon.
His grin stretched wider on his face, showing off both teeth and gums. “Ah, it has been a while since we last spoke to each other, brother.”
Veli sneered, showing off his perfectly straight pearly white teeth. Isn’t he a delight? “You forfeited the right to call me brother when you betrayed us, Eeli.”
“I don’t go by the name ‘Eeli’ anymore,” he replied, sticking his tongue into his cheek, “I forfeited that right, the name’s now Kali.”
Veli scoffed, “Kali, a horrendous name for a horrendous human being. You spit on the traditions of the House of Axton and the grave of our father with the disrespect you have given to your birthright.”
Kali mock gasped, pretending to be hurt. “Me? Horrendous? I take great offence of that.” He tried to waggle his finger, though the cuffs didn’t give him much room to move. “My poor little heart will never recover from this injustice it’s received.”
Veli scowled at him, some kind of emotion lurking behind his eyes. The emotion in his eyes unreadable, though, even to Kali. “Your feelings about the truth won’t matter if you will be executed tomorrow.”
Kali blanched, feeling like he had just been dunked into a barrel of cold water. Executed… tomorrow! Last time they just threatened to lock him up for life. “You can’t be serious! Everything I have done has been completely justified, none of them is worthy of being executed.” Rage seeped into his voice, filling his entire being, leaving him shaking in it. He couldn’t believe what that would try to do this to him. He tried to lunge forward, but the shackles constricted around his wrists and stopped him in his movement. “You must tell them, Veli, tell them I’m innocent. Tell them that I did nothing wrong!”
Veli avoided his gaze and shook his head. “Innocent? That’s what you think you are? Your actions have proven that you are nowhere close to that. You’ve killed people, important people, and you must pay for the crimes that you have committed.”
“’Pay for my crimes’?” He repeated, completely incredulous. Nothing he did was ever a crime, who cares if it was against the law? The law is clearly wrong, not him. “Killing Monica Hadley or Errol Caddel wasn’t a crime; it was all completely justified. I’m not a criminal Veli, I’m trying to do what’s best for people. If it includes killing a couple of nobles that clearly deserve it, then what’s the issue?”
Veli shook his head, as if in disbelief in everything that he was hearing. He was still avoiding eye contact with him. “The best for people? What do you mean the best for people? This isn’t the best for people, our people, this is terrorism. You and your group have murdered so many innocent people with your attacks!”
Kali scowled, annoyed at how Veli isn’t listening to what he is saying. He, and everyone else involved, are doing things to help people and the loss of some people’s life is only to improve everything. “We are trying to fix this stupid system! And if it includes killing people like Stellan Cassidy then it is completely justified. Are you telling me that you wouldn’t do the same thing, try to help people?”
Veli stood there, keeping a completely measured façade, though Kali knew he was steaming with emotion inside. What emotion though? He had no clue. “Do the same thing? What you are doing is horrendous and vile and I cannot stand for it, nobody could ever stand for it. Your actions are why your being executed: the murders that you have committed, and other acts that the horrible group of people that you have decided to stand with, and support have done.”
Kali scoffed in disbelief. Killing him isn’t going to stop him or anyone from continuing doing what he is doing. “What? Like execution is going to fix everything? Killing a killer, how rich. You say that your ways are better, but you are still killing me for disagreeing with you.”
Veli was starting to lose his composure, Kali noticed. His jaw was clenched, and his lips were pressed together. He was probably angry, angry at Kalidas. “This isn’t a disagreement; it has and will continue to involve life and death. It is the consequences of your own actions that you are now dealing with, you knew what you would happen when you did what you did.”
Kali smiled, teeth clenched, no joy in his expression. He was starting to get annoyed at having to repeat himself so many times. “What I did is try to help people, I am helping people. If they can just see that they are being brainwashed to believe all the bullshit that you are saying. Your way of life isn’t helping people, it’s hurting them, you must see. Honestly, I just want to help people.”
With a slow shake of his head Veli answered, “I find that hard to believe when you just named three people that you have murdered. Nobody wants what you are trying to do. This isn’t going to help people; it’s just going to spread fear and chaos everywhere. If you continue doing what you are doing in the future, Kali, people are going to hurt, more than they already have.”
What? Kali was confused at what his brother had just said. How could he ‘continue’ doing something if he is dead? “What do you mean ‘If I continue’? I’m going to die tomorrow. You already decided that.”
Avoiding eye contact again, Veli said, “Because you have been a very vocal supporter of your group, if you tell everyone that you revoke all your actions you have committed in their name and you wish that you never joined you will be pardoned. Kali, you will be preventing others from joining as well. You will be keeping people safe and away from the influence that they have been trying to have on people. This would actually be helping people.”
Kali was confused. Why would they pardon him, they clearly wanted him dead. It made no sense; they wouldn’t be gaining anything from it. They would be gaining more by just killing him, so why would they want to pardon him?
Kali wrinkled his nose, not able to even fathom doing what Veli had suggested he do. “I’m not going to do that, I know that I made the right decision to join, and you cannot change my mind on this. I will stand by what I have chosen, and I do not regret anything. You can take that pardon and shove it”.
Giving a deep sigh, Veli said, “Then you will be hung tomorrow.” He didn’t seem surprised that that was what Kali had chosen, though Kalidas couldn’t really tell. He hadn’t seen his brother for years before today, and he was no longer as easy to read.
A silence hung in the air; Kali didn’t want to continue talking anymore. There was nothing that he could do to change Veli’s mind, if Veli couldn’t listen to reason then he didn’t have to continue trying. He didn’t even really care that he was going to die anymore, he would rather die right now then take a pardon like Veli was suggesting.
Veli just stared at Kali with his shiny, cold blue eyes as if waiting for him to protest. But Kali didn’t and instead he just waited for him to leave.
Finally, Veli got the hint and turned around, taking long strides towards the door. For a second it seemed like he hesitated before he opened the door, as if he may have turned around and said something. But he didn’t, so Kali must have been wrong in thinking that it might have happened. Veli closed the door softly behind him and left the whole room, which up until that moment had been illuminated by a light outside the room, back into the dark and dreary it was before.
Kali scratched at his eyebrow and sighed. The tapping that had paused by his brother’s appearance restarted.
Tap tap. Pause. Tap tap. Pause.
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