Only half—
…………Oh.
Er…… I just thought of a really crazy theory, but…
I decided to say it out loud anyway. “Did both orders come…from my brother?”
Were those the two conflicting orders Hugh had received? No, wait, Sirius would never order anybody to get rid of Sil!
But the moment I asked the question, Hugh’s breath caught.
He…reacted?
“Answer me,” I demanded.
And after a faint moment of silence, Hugh sighed. He looked at me, his eyes filled with grief. And then he answered, “I received two orders—both from Prince Sirius. He gave me the second order after he met Lord Burks. It was to protect the young man with my life.”
Knowing Hugh, he surely carried out that order devoutly.
Then Hugh told me the other order. “The first order came from the former Prince Sirius.”
From Sirius…in the past?
“His order was, if he should marry another man and get an heir from his sister—if he were to take the same path that the kings before him had taken—that I should stop him. And that I should do so in such a way that nobody—not even he—could detect. That was his strict order.”
Sirius…ordered him to do that?
“Didn’t you feel at all…hesitant to obey his order?”
“Personally, you mean? We knights of the royal guard never put our personal feelings first. If our masters command it, we protect those we hate the most, and we kill those we love the most.”
But, Hugh…you put up a wall between you and Sil so that you wouldn’t get too close to him.
“I don’t hate Lord Burks as a person, but his presence here went in direct opposition to the former Prince Sirius’s order.”
“So that’s why you tried to get rid of him?”
“Wouldn’t that be the most pertinent?”
“Were you seriously going to go through with killing him?”
Hugh’s gaze cast downward onto the dungeon floor. “I reasoned…that my success or failure was out of my hands.”
So…he didn’t care if he failed? No…he wanted to fail?
When given two opposing commands, Hugh chose the one he wanted to choose… I think he was telling the truth when he said that, but I’m just not sure if I can take his words at face value.
…Something just doesn’t add up.
What if I were Hugh…? Yeah, let’s go with that. If I were Hugh, and Sirius gave me an order, I would do everything in my power to succeed at following it. It would be strange if I didn’t. It was a strict order.
And yet, when he set out to eliminate Sil, he didn’t seem to care if he succeeded or not… Why was that?
In other words, he was trying to carry out the order in such a way that it wouldn’t matter if he succeeded or failed… But why?
Sil survived—but only barely. And sure, you could pass that off as coincidence or luck, but in the end, you could say that our constant state of fear that Sil really was going to die came from Hugh’s convincing performance. He also clearly left openings for Sil to be rescued.
Is that…where Hugh’s true feelings lay?
Did he not care whether he succeeded or failed…because of what came afterward?
Did Hugh have a goal—completely separate from the command?
“Hugh…what was your goal?”
Just a hunch…but maybe he was doing this for Sirius.
“If I succeeded, I would have successfully obeyed the order Prince Sirius gave me in the past. And if I failed—the future would still change. My betrayal might make Prince Sirius have doubts about himself.”
But—
“But you didn’t want to tell my brother now what he ordered you to do in the past. Isn’t that right?”
Probably because if Sirius knew this was all because of a command he gave, it would break him.
“That’s because…he forgot he gave the order.” Hugh continued, “Do the personal feelings of a criminal even matter? My actions say everything.”
“Hugh—” An epiphany was starting to form in my mind. “Tell me the truth: Whether you failed or succeeded, you planned to end it with your death, correct?”
He tried to get Klifford to kill him without telling anyone his reasons. Which is why when he was pressed to give his reasons, he’d given half-truths in public, surrounded by soldiers, so that his half-truths would become the truth.
The only reason he was telling the truth now was because he thought we were the only ones there to hear it—that the truth would be buried in this dark dungeon.
“With the death sentence of the ringleader, you will be able to determine which of your own men are potential traitors. What else could I wish for?”
And that was Hugh’s perfect ending—an ending he stopped short of getting.
“But…you are missing from my brother’s side now.”
“He doesn’t need me. Nathan and Lord Derek can take care of him.”
“Are you saying that’s what you truly wish for?”
“Yes.”
But Hugh…
I turned around and called out to the man in the shadows. “Brother—”
With a start, Hugh looked in his direction, his iron chains rattling.
The sound of booted footsteps got closer.
“Did you hear our conversation?” I asked.
“……Yeah.”
Sirius appeared, dyed amber by the lantern light. He stood before Hugh’s cell. He was alone, unguarded, and not out of thoughtlessness, but purposefully.
“Hugh—” In a voice that could not by any means be described as bold, Sirius quietly called his bodyguard’s name.
Hugh closed his eyes in silent resignation.
And in time, Hugh knelt before his Prince, my brother.
“Is there something you’d like to tell me?” Siris repeated the question he had posed back in his study.
Hugh looked up. “My loyalty to you is steadfast. However—” He paused and slowly lowered his head. “Please, give your traitor the punishment he deserves.”
When I returned to my bedchamber, it was nighttime.
I left the dungeon immediately after Sirius’s arrival, so I don’t know what they talked about after I left.
I sat on a chair.
…I don’t know why, but it feels cold in here.
Reluctant to return to my room, I tried to carry out all sorts of minute tasks: I met up with Heller and Guy, who had returned from their decoy assignment; changed out of Irene’s dress and back into my own; got scolded by Klifford for the blood on my bandaged hand; and had the doctor rewrap my wound in a fresh bandage. But I couldn’t wander around the castle halls all night.
Ordinarily, Sasha would be there if I needed her—but no. I can’t call for Sasha.
I had asked her to take care of the dress Heller had worn. Sasha’s scream when he and Guy returned to the castle was epic.
Remembering the ruckus cheered me up a little, but the moment the spacious walls of my room confronted me, I fell into a daze. I shouldn’t feel so blue. I had the beautiful, luxurious room of a princess.