But first, you and I must come to an agreement. Shouldn't it be called The First Agreement of the Old-And-New Gods?" Valko smiled. The smile made his yellowed teeth like a child's. "Then I would be forced to choose between them. They cannot fight if I don't, I can be sure of that." "Well," Elle'dred continued, "I have two options. Either I bow to your wishes, and keep what's mine to keep—which includes the girl, you should know—and allow you to continue your plan to dominate the continent. Or I refuse, and keep you from any action, and your army will cease to be an army; your army will be crushed. Then you will no longer have any reason for a conquest." "There is a third option," Valko said, drawing closer to the edge of the wooden platform, almost resting his foot on the ground, "I can simply kill you right now. If you want to return to the woman's side, it's a pity you're too late. You still will be trapped with your body, though, and have no recourse of escape. You might as well die anyway." "And what of the girl? If you can't keep her safe, how can you promise her safety?" Elle'dred asked, speaking in more of an argumentative ruse than a plea. Valko continued to stare at him. When he did speak, he said, "She's not my—" "No. She's not your lover. She's your niece," Elle'dred interrupted. "She's in no position to be my niece," Valko retorted. "Then I'm sure it's just a coincidence that the two of you are siblings, isn't it? It would be remarkable, wouldn't it, that you and she are born only two hours apart?" Valko was silent for a moment. "When we were alone at the monastery, Valko," Elle'dred continued, "you revealed that you were, in fact, both responsible for the murders that were committed there. You didn't do it all by yourself; she helped. And after that, you murdered her. The monk didn't even have to look to know that you did it. He was too afraid to even stop you." Valko closed his eyes. Elle'dred continued, "Valko, you don't have to believe me, but it doesn't matter. I have proof; I have witnesses. Not even Denaos would contradict me." "You can't ask me not to believe you," Valko said, "because you already know the answer. I did it. You know it, I know it, the whole of Calavere knows it; you just don't know the motives. It doesn't really matter. If the proof were true, then it would be a noble thing to confess your sins, for as a man of Calavere, I know they're sins. Regardless of the motives, they are sins. But there are reasons. I've told you twice. You have none to deny." "I'm not going to let you do it, Valko," Elle'dred said. "I won't let you kill her." "Ah. Let me guess. The girl herself?" "Of course." Valko chuckled. "The question is," Valko said, "how is she to be safe, then?" "She isn't going to be safe until you give her back to me." "She's only safe with me, she'll never see you again, Elle'dred." "What?" "It's that or they do what I say," Valko continued, "you know it. Do you really think that's the best option for all of us? Do you really think that's what I want? To keep her safe? How can you think I would willingly give her up to those that are not my friends, and who are just as capable as the orcs of breaking her mind? If you think I'm not afraid, that I would have her killed simply because I'm a man of power and I make what I want, you know it's because you've not convinced me. I didn't kill the priest, but I have ordered it, and I am afraid. If I do that, I'm sending her back to them—to those that will break her mind, to those who will see her destroyed. If she must return to that," Valko said, his voice growing quieter, "then at least have her not return a monster. At least have her return as she was, when she was a child, before my niece was born. When my niece was still just a dream." "I'm not going to let it happen," Elle'dred said. Valko paused for a moment, then looked at him and said, "And if the humans come and the elves do too, what then? What will you do, Elle'dred, what will you do?" The knight could only stare back at him. "If the humans fight the elves, they will destroy the humans as they destroyed this city. If they do, do you really think I'm going to let them come to the south of the continent? Do you really think I would let them come here? Would you? Would you risk her sanity? Would you risk the girl's sanity? Why would you be so naive? I will not allow it to happen. Do you really think I will allow it to happen? Do you really think I will allow my niece to face danger, when I have no intention of standing in her way? Do you really think I would allow the girl to fall into the hands of the kind that would break her mind? I have done everything in my power to protect her from those things that are trying to destroy her. Don't you understand? You are not the only man in Calavere. I have friends who are with me. They're with me now. They are protecting the girl. If the humans come to war with the elves, it will be like last time. We will not let that happen. And even if we do, even if we fight the humans and the elves together, I would still keep the girl safe. Do you think I would have my niece murdered? Do you think I would let her be destroyed?" "Why?" Elle'dred whispered. "I can assure you, I have given you no reason to doubt my friendship. If I did, then there is no question you would not fear my judgement. If I did not believe that I would be wrong to trust you with her life, then you would not know that I trusted you." "I still have a witness to that at the monastery," Elle'dred retorted. "You have to die for you to return to your side, and I refuse to kill you." Valko said. "As a man of this land, I am the rightful ruler of the land." "Because you killed the priest?" Elle'dred retorted. "Because I wanted to do this," Valko smiled, "because I knew you would resist this, because I knew you would not believe that I would do it. The priest was too weak to stand up to me, Elle'dred; he had failed to realize that he had done nothing more than confirm the truth. You do not know what the truth is, because you have not seen it. But you have no right to stand against me. Because if you did, then I would be forced to do this. And I will kill you, because you will kill the girl and risk her sanity, if you do not let it happen. Let her die. You can't do that; you know you can't." Elle'dred looked to his side. The woman was there, with the young man behind her. The young man's presence was hidden, but Elle'dred felt a warmth, an awareness that it was there. A warmth that felt like life. It was the girl, his niece. He closed his eyes, opened them again, and looked at Valko. "I'm afraid I am not going to have time to return you to your side," the man behind the mask said. "Well then," Valko sighed, "that is where I will be." "Do you have a name, anyway?" Elle'dred said, still looking to the young man. "You can call me Riven," he said, standing over the fallen priest. Elle'dred was distracted by Valko as the two men walked towards the edge of the clearing, but the man who had spoken did not move. "If the girl is your niece," Elle'dred said, "is it because you are both from Calavere?" "I am," Riven confirmed. "My father was part of a delegation that left to ask the Emperor's sister—the Empress—if she could speak to the Emperor, so that he would hear the pleas for help the delegation sent. I was born two days later. Not," he said, looking over to the girl, "that the relationship is any more relevant to you than it is to me. Calavere sent a delegation to the Emperor's sister, asking the same favour as mine,