Unconditionally

Chapter One

"I expect that you've received the news?"

Varian looked down, unable to conceal his tears any longer, and unwilling to let King Frederic and Queen Arianna see them. Two and a half years had passed-- the young, awkward teenager was nearly an adult now-- yet he still felt rather vulnerable whenever he was in the same room as anyone who had been around all of those years ago. He never felt more weak than he did in the presence of the king or queen, though.

Frederic had offered to "help" him-- whatever that meant-- but Varian had declined. Arianna often sent down notes and goods for him, but he never responded. He hardly even bothered to look at the stuff she had sent him.

When he had become Marcus's apprentice, though, things began to change for Varian. He was able to spend a majority of each day outside of that stupid cell, instead performing experiments with Marcus. There were times where he was actually allowed to stay with Marcus and work until he was too tired to do anything more. (Often, he just passed out on Marcus's couch).

After a year under Marcus's watch, Varian had been partially pardoned. He was given a room near Marcus's-- which was extremely generous, considering the fact that Varian didn't deserve anything at all-- and a guard detail. The detail wasn't with him all the time-- thank heavens for that!-- but they did have to check in on him hourly, even when he was in the lab with Marcus.

And now, nothing much had changed.

Except for the fact that Marcus was gone now.

"Yes, sir," Varian said quietly, trying to keep his voice from wobbling, "I... I have received word of... Of Marcus's passing."

The room became silent, and Varian found it harder and harder to keep from crying. He had lost yet another loved one, someone he respected, someone who actually treated him like an equal. Marcus had been like a father to Varian, a wonderful mentor and friend. He had taught Varian everything that he knew, and he had allowed Varian to pitch his ideas, too.

There was nothing that had seemed wrong with Marcus: he had been his usual self, looking strong and capable and displaying his constant sense of joie de vivre and enthusiasm... But, then again, everyone's time must come to an end some way, somehow. Death doesn't pick and choose who it takes; death doesn't judge. It just takes people, often without rhyme or reason.

Varian's resolve broke and he let out a strangled sob, a sound that resonated throughout the room. He was absolutely tired, tired of losing the people he loved, tired of life itself.

The queen gave him a sympathetic look before speaking. "Varian, we know how much he meant to you. But it's time we discussed what shall happen in his absence."

"Pardon?"

Varian didn't want to think about moving on. Not right now, at least. He had just lost his mentor and friend, and he didn't want to just... Move on.

"You heard me," Arianna said gently, "as much as you miss him-- as much as we all miss him-- we must not stay in the past. While there are some fond memories and some lessons learned, we must not dwell on what has been. There's a whole future waiting, Varian, and--"

He shot a glare at her. "What are you trying to get at here? Are you saying that the lives of all of the people I have loved and lost-- Mom, Dad, Marcus-- are you saying that they don't matter?"

"No! Of course not."

Varian looked about to retort, to shoot back some clever yet scathing remark, but Frederic held up his hands, successfully silencing the two. He looked at Varian, seemingly daring the young man to make one more rude quip. And then he looked at his wife.

"Arianna, he's mourning," he murmured, "let's give him that. Give him the time to recover."

She complied, nodding before folding her hands in her lap and stepping back. Frederic looked at Varian again.

"As for you, young man, please don't fight with us. Arianna means well; there's no reason to get angry."

Varian glared but said nothing more. Frederic gave a curt nod, satisfied.

"Good. Now, back to what we were discussing earlier. We know it hurts, and we know that you, more than anyone else, need the time to get over the pain of this loss. But, as Arianna inferred earlier, time must move on, and us with it. As you know, Marcus's post was an important one, one that not many people could ever fill."

Varian nodded, already sensing where this was going. While other kingdoms had their magicians, sorcerers, and wizards, Corona had its scientists and alchemists. Not many people who were currently alive, though, could master the sciences in the same way that Marcus Pfeiffer could. Only one person had ever striven to succeed like Marcus had, and that person was the only person to ever succeed at it.

And that person was, of course, Varian.

Frederic looked down at the young man. "And, of course, you were his apprentice. You know the work, and I must say that you're doing a pretty good job of it, too. Arianna and I would like it if you could take over Marcus's work."

Silence. The king and queen awaited Varian's next words, but Varian's mind was going numb. He did know the job, sure-- heck, he knew it inside and out by now-- but... He also knew that memories of Marcus would come back; even the good ones would begin to haunt him. And it seemed kind of disrespectful to just take over someone's job almost as soon as they had passed.

As if she could sense what he was thinking, Arianna stepped forward once again. "Varian, he wanted you to take over the position if anything ever happened to him. In my opinion, there's nothing that could honor his memory better than if you agreed to this, if you respected his dearest wish of the past three years."

This caught Varian off-guard. He wanted nothing more than to honor and respect the memory of Marcus, and he did feel like he should take the job-- and he wanted to-- but still, it seemed kind of contradictory to him. But he trusted Arianna, more than he trusted many people. He tried to take heed to what she had to say.

And that is why he nodded-- after five minutes of silence-- and looked back up at the rulers of the kingdom of Corona. "I-- yeah. I'll take the offer. For him."