Chapter 27: Labar

Berin and a defiant, yet despondent, Labar meet.

Labar

Berin crept into the familiar hallway of the prison. There were many guards outside the door of the cells.

How am I to get past them?

Suddenly, from behind him, a door opened. Another guard, holding a tray of food, was coming through the doorway. He spied Berin, his eyes gleaming. He came closer to Berin, muttering something in his native tongue. Berin looked sheepishly at him.

“I do not understand you.” He gestured, pointing a finger to his head and shaking it. The guard responded with one word: hero. Berin’s face grew red.

“Yes, hero.”

“Labar?”

“Yes, yes, Labar.”

The guard motioned with his adunai for Berin to follow. They rounded the corner Berin originally hid behind and came towards the cells. Passing the other cells, Berin soon realised he had seen some of the prisoners before. They seemed to remember him as well, staring at his face with their mouths wide open. Berin faced forward, not glancing at the cells on either side, but on the one at the end of the corridor, the one he had been in not long ago. For in this cell was one man so vile and evil. It was King Labar, the Luster.

The other guards welcomed Berin into the depths of the hallway, patting him on the back and shaking his hand.

It seems everyone knows me now, a real hero. Maybe they will let me speak with him.

After a few moments of laughter with the men, Berin motioned with his body.

“I wish to speak with King Labar.”

Despite the language barrier, they seemed to understand his request. The door was opened, and Berin stepped into the familiar room to see a wild-haired man staring at him with bloodshot eyes.

“Greetings, your Highness.”

“Greetings. Who are you?”

“I am Berin.”

“Are you from Orguein?”

“No. I may look like I am, and my accent as well. No, I am from Vergara.”

“Ah, Vergara. How did you end up here?”

“It is a long story.”

Labar stepped backwards, keeping his eye on Berin.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to speak with you.”

“So speak,” spat Labar.

Berin paused, choosing his words carefully.

“You have ruined my life, King Labar.”

“I have ruined many lives. So what?”

“Your army has sent me running all over the world. From the moment my house was burned to a smouldering ruin and my family kidnapped, I have been running away, trying to save my own life and that of my kin.”

Labar sat down. He leaned forward, ears cocked.

“Many moons ago, I was at peace in Vergara. Then one night, I found the house of my friend burning. When we returned to mine, my family was missing. They were sold off as slaves in Akola to different parts of the known world. I have spent the entire summer and leafless liberating my children. I am still searching for my wife. All this time I had to avoid your army, for they set out to kill me from the very beginning.

“Yet my friend and I have stopped the war. We brought the sword of Aleutian to Xie.”

Labar sat upright.

“Is that so?”

“We stopped your army.”

“So?”

“What I want to know is, why? Why did you invade?”

“I have no need to tell a Vergaran peasant.”

“I am not a Vergaran peasant, not anymore! I am a beast killer, a slave freer, a storyteller, a hero! You must tell me or I will end your life here!”

Berin pulled a knife out from under his clothes. Labar stiffened, his eyes growing wider and wider.

“Wait, wait. What is it you want?”

“I want to know why you caused this war. Why you killed many innocent folk, raped many innocent women, and displaced so many people it will take generations for us to recover?”

“I…I…”

“I will not kill you if you tell me.”

“How did you get that past the guards?”

“Easy. I am the hero that saved Shuiku and all the world from the tyrant Labar.”

“Fine. I will tell you. Keturah is a small nation. We have many people fighting over a small amount of resources. We cannot venture north. The winters are far too bitter, and the beasts are too violent. We had to move southwards. The time was right. There was a man who told us when to attack. Melchiorre…”

“Melchiorre?”

So it is true, the traitor!

“Yes, Melchiorre promised to gather as many folk as he could at Ariquemes. That was when we attacked. Vergara was overrun in a few veros. If only the Manas Hu had not attacked us in retaliation, this would have been over.”

“You mean, the Manas Hu attacked you?”

“They attacked my army. We had to stop them by invading their land.”

Berin stared at Labar. Labar was licking his lips.

“I do not believe you, Labar.”

“How do you mean?”

“Those Manas Hu men were defending their land.”

Labar remained silent.

“You always intended to invade them.”

Labar’s head dropped. He pursed his lips.

“Yes, have you ever had someone kneel before you, begging for their life?”

It was Berin’s turn to remain silent.

“To have the power over life and death? It is…wonderful. Oh how I have longed since I was a boy to restore glory to the Keturah throne. My father never did. That power, it gave us back our pride. I am proud again to be a Keturah.”

“Not anymore.”

“Yes, I am. And I know you are a man of pride. How would it feel if I gave you power?

Berin looked away.

“Listen, I can make you powerful. I can give you all the land you desire, all the women you can satisfy. If you help me escape from here, I will place you second in my kingdom. I alone will have more power than you, no one else.”

So here it is. The man has placed his hand on the table.

“No.”

“No?”

“You deserve to rot here until your bones become the only thing left of your body.”

“You are not going to kill me, then?”

“Why should I? And for your information, I have stood over someone begging for their lives. Do you know what I chose to do? I chose to let him live. He defiled my daughter, selling her for intimacy to anyone who could afford. As her father, I had every right to end her life. I even had the sword of Aleutian to enact the deed. Instead, I chose to let him live. He has to face the guilt of his actions. You must do the same. You must remain here, forever remembering your vile actions. No, I will not kill you.”

“But you must kill me because I might escape. If I do, I will hunt you down and murder you in your sleep.”

“Escape? I have escaped from many prisons. I know the type who can escape. You are not one of them. I see it in your eyes. You are a man of all talk, but little action. Did you actually fight in any battles? No, you only came to fight against the Shuiku because you thought it would be an easy battle. You should have remained cocooned in your throne in Keturah. Imagine that.”

“Then the war would not be over.”

“Oh it would be. Trust me, it would be.”

“How can you be sure?”

“The sword of Aleutian.”

“Poppycock!”

“Labar, you are a man who will weep in here until there is nothing left.”

“Kill me!”

“No, I will not. Guards!”

Labar leapt at Berin as the door opened. The guard thrust forward his sword, collecting Labar on the shoulder. He winced in pain, dropping to the ground. Berin turned to him, stepping forward until he was standing right over Labar.

“May the gods have pity on you, Labar. I bid you farewell. I am leaving to liberate my wife.”

With that said, Berin left the hallway and out into the fresh wintry air.