Chapter 48
The Value of a Life
Muscles tensing, Rith twirled his wooden sword before hacking at a terrified trainee soldier. He beat at the fear-filled boy, letting out all of his anger and frustration through his blows. The youth barely managed to get his own sword up to block the commander’s. Sweat ran down Rith’s face and his teeth gnashed against each other almost uncomfortably as he tuned out the world and let his anger consume him. A growl of anger escaped him as he brought his sword down for a final time, knocking the boy’s practice sword from his hands.
His breath coming quickly, Rith looked up and finally registered the fright in the boy’s eyes, guilt washed over him.
“Go,” he murmured, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Just...go ask the arms-master if he needs help polishing any armor.”
Nodding dumbly, the trainee all but ran away.
“The heroic Commander Rith, beating the crap out of a fourteen-year-old boy,” a voice came from behind him.
Turning around, Rith saw Ytone standing nearby, a small smile on her face. As she walked towards him, she rolled her eyes and said, “It’s not the end of the world if you lose your temper. It happens to all of us.”
Rith shook his head. “I shouldn’t have done that,” he replied, angry with himself. “I should go apologize.”
A hand grabbed his shoulder as he turned to leave. Ytone’s blue eyes drilled into him when twisted around to look at her. “What happened, Rith?” she asked. “You’re no stranger to battle. So why did the attack last night shake you so badly?”
His shoulder jerked away and he refused to look into her eyes. Instead, he focused on the far gate and the line of trees beyond. “Do you ever wonder…” he trailed off. “Do you ever wonder…with all the ways the King tried kill the elves, all the lines he’s crossed…do you ever wonder if we are fighting for the wrong side?”
When Ytone did not reply, he continued.
“These creatures that we are fighting among, they aren’t natural. They’re dark and…evil. I’ve been a soldier all my life. I follow orders, most of the time without question. But this time…I’ve never really known why the elves are the enemy. All I remember was our attacking them and then them retaliating with an ambush like a vicious cycle that never ends. And the one day, Dearekk just betrays us for them. The elves! He was smarter than that, Ytone. He wouldn’t have just left without a reason!”
For a long time there was silence. A cold wind rushed through the camp and sent a shiver down Rith’s spine. Strange, with summer coming so fast, anything cold seemed out of place.
“We are soldiers,” the Scout finally responded. “We are the children of foolish men who believed that glory lay in death. We were raised to obey orders, not to think for ourselves. We were taught that the highest honor is to die for a king we never knew, fighting for a cause we do not even understand. We were trained to believe that we were insignificant, nothing more than sand on the seashore. Disposable,” she paused, looking into Rith’s eyes with sadness in her own. “Why should that change now?”
A snarl twisted the commander’s features. “It should have never been that way in the first place,” he hissed.
Ytone let out a bitter laugh. “You sound like my brother. His ideas were similar to yours. Declare freedom for every man and the right to live by the fruit of their labors. He believed that every life was, or at least should be, equal to any other. That a king should be just as important as a common farmer.”
“What happened to him?” Rith replied. She had never mentioned having a brother before.”
“Dead. Killed by a manticore trying to protect one of his men. I was fourteen.”
Shock hit the commander like a wave. “I’m sorry…”
“Don’t be. You see, Rith, there was a flaw in his philosophy. The soldier that he died protecting, he had no fighting experience, no leadership qualities, nothing that made him special. My brother was the Head Scout. When he died, our order was thrown into chaos and we almost fell apart. Do you know what happened to the soldier he saved? Dead within two weeks. It was all in vain because some lives are more important than others.”
Rith just stood in silence for a moment, searching for the words to fill the silence. His mind raced as he thought about all the lives he had seen taken in battle. Could it be true that some were worth more than others? No. It couldn’t be. He had seen the terror in each of those soldier’s eyes as they were about to die. He had seen the desperate, final attempt to cling to life. Sometimes, sacrifices were necessary, but that did not mean that one life was worth more than another.
“What are you saying?” he softly asked Ytone.
She sighed, covering her face with her hands. “Rith,” she finally said, her voice quiet. “You and I are the same. We are both soldiers, we were both made to follow orders, not question them. If you start to wonder if something is wrong with the King’s philosophy…well then your whole life has been a lie. You can question the King methods, even his purpose. But in doing so, you may lose everything you have; your position, your men, your life as you’ve known it, even me.”
When her eyes went up to meet his, the fear in them was evident. Gently, Rith touched her face. “I wouldn’t give you up for the world,” he whispered. To add emphasis to his statement, he placed a kiss on her lips.
“Good,” she murmured and buried her face in his chest.
The commander stood there, holding the blonde woman in his arms, letting thoughts race through his mind. Thoughts of Dearekk, thoughts of the elves, thoughts of the king…and he was left with far too many unanswered questions.
(A/N Sorry, guys. Short chapter. *winces* Yeah, really short chapter. Anywho, the next one should be something to look forward too! ;D Sorry for the very late update too, but what can I say? My weekends are spent looking forward to Once Upon a Time and then cramming all my homework in at 12 PM when I finally get off of tumblr. Remember to vote and comment! Feedback means the world to me! That's all for now!
~*~*~Ninja Out~*~*~)