Some Truths are Best Left Buried

"Character counts most when duty calls."

How had everything come to this?

The last few weeks of Serilda’s life had been one giant pit fall after another, it seemed. Just when things were starting to look up, just when she was finally starting to feel like her old self again -- starting to feel better than her old self again -- everything appeared to be going right back to shit. First Arthas, then Gren, followed by Mythal suddenly giving her the cold shoulder. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. He still talked to her and treated her like a friend, but for some reason he was starting to grow distant with his affection.

It was really hitting her hard, lately. He told her it was just stress putting him out of the mood, but she couldn’t shake the nagging sensation that there was something more going on that he wasn’t telling her. Serilda was starting to wonder if she’d done something, or that perhaps Mythal was resenting her for the fact that the adoptive father that he’d believed dead for the past twenty years suddenly appeared out of the blue and visited her instead of him. She hadn’t the heart to ask him if that was the truth, because bringing Gren up was painful enough as it was. That, and she feared what his answer might be.

But then to top it all off was her most recent run in with a brand new demon named Ruzatz. In an awkward and painful turn of events, he’d revealed to her the true nature and identity of Arthas, the demon that had visited her twice previously that had also been stalking her sometime without her knowledge. According to Ruzatz, Arthas’ real name was Ozorith and the two of them were what was known as “Prime Sins”. Ruzatz had attempted to explain it to her as best he could, and she got the general gist. Ruzatz was the demonic embodiment of lust, the reigning demon and ultimate authority of that domain in Hell.

And Ozorith was of the same power and command, but for the domain of wrath.

It had taken Serilda some time to calm down from her encounter with the lust demon after everything that had happened. His magic had opened up a number of wounds, irritating scars both old and fresh, and she had reacted about as poorly as anyone else might in such circumstances. Only after she’d managed to finish her job, get home, and rest up for a day or two did the situation really start to tick in her head.

Ruzatz was a demon. He’d confirmed as much with her, and as such she didn’t trust him worth a lick. But there were some… inconsistencies that backed up his credibility. He had been exceptionally friendly, and once he’d realized how his magic had hurt her he immediately stopped using it, apologized profusely, and even took the initiative to leave rather than cause her more pain. It was odd behavior from a demon to say the least, and there was certainly a part of her that wondered if he was just deceiving her. However, it was difficult to fake real emotions, and the sorrow in his eyes when he’d understood the trauma he’d made her relive was something that even she was hard pressed to believe was fake.

And furthermore, his words had struck a certain cord with her though it had taken a couple days to sink in. He’d told her that Ozorith was drawn to individuals with deep seeds of anger. At first, this didn’t make sense to her. Serilda didn’t generally consider herself an angry person. Sure she had a bit of a temper at times, but for the most part she was highly disciplined and in control of her mind and her emotions. At first she could only understand his second time coming to her, when that dark guild had savaged her home town of Clover and killed many of her people. She had been beyond livid about that, and had stormed her way from Ace of Spades to Clover just to deal with the matter personally. Even Serilda could see how an agent of wrath would attune himself to her that day, because wrath was certainly was she’d been bleeding.

The trouble had come in thinking back to the first time she’d met Ozorith, back in Ace of Spades. He had come to her on a night when some nearby shops had been attacked by a few dark wizard hooligans, and Serilda happened to be in the area to help apprehend them. Sure she’d been upset and frustrated that her guild’s town had been attacked, but she wouldn’t exactly call what she’d been feeling that evening wrathful. But the more she thought about it, and about his words from that night in Clover, the more the pieces began to fit together and form a picture. He’d been following her not necessarily because she was actively showing wrath… but because she had the potential of showing it.

And when she’d apprehended those criminals in Ace of Spades, their leader had recognized Serilda and claimed that Hugo had been cheating on Serilda with her for the duration of their marriage.

Her words were things she’d instantly dismissed at the time. She had zero reason to trust the word of a crook, and Hugo deserved more respect to his memory than to start thinking such thoughts of him so long after his death. But now, there were thoughts in Serilda’s mind that made her even more uneasy -- thoughts that hadn’t really become clear until the accident with Ruzatz’ magic back in Hosenka. During that fiasco, she had relieved some of her most precious and intimate memories with Hugo side by side with her times with Mythal, and in comparison between the two her history with Hugo felt… well, lackluster.

She had reexperienced those time with Hugo, able to look in his eyes, feel his skin and breath on hers as if she had gotten a second chance to replay the moments with him. And there was something off about those moments. Hugo hadn’t had anywhere near the fire in his eyes and the passion in his movements that Mythal did, and a few of his behaviors that she hadn’t stopped to think about at the time were concerning to see now.

Was her marriage not what she’d thought it had been? Had he truly been lying her to the entire time, tricked her into thinking he cared about her just so he could use her for some reason? Serilda didn’t know what to believe, and she wanted nothing more than to deny everything but the reasonable part of her couldn’t help but think that maybe her memories of her marriage weren’t in line with the reality of it. That maybe, just maybe, that woman had been telling her the truth about her relationship with Hugo.

It was a terrifying thought, one that certainly would invite the potential for a great deal of anger in her. Had that been why Ozorith had appeared that night to help her? Had he wanted to make sure she ran into that woman, just to see what might happen if truths were revealed that Serilda wouldn’t be happy with? He had told her from the start that he wasn’t to be trusted, and now that she knew what he was about -- presuming that Ruzatz was being truthful -- a lot of things were starting to come together.

Ultimately, she decided that she needed to learn more. She needed to know the truth, one way or another, because she would never take the word of two demons over Hugo’s memory. So, Serilda had contacted her parents. She didn’t tell them what was going on, because she didn’t want to start any rumors or place seeds of unrest with her family until she knew without a doubt what was going on. However, Hugo had worked for her and her parents in the mines, and they still had plenty of employees there that had been close to him. She wanted to talk to one of them in particular: Colin Pearson, the man that used to be Hugo’s best friend.

Serilda had not talked to Colin in quite some time. Shortly after she and Hugo had wed, the two men had a falling out of sorts and grown apart. She’d never really learned what had happened. At the time that didn’t bother her, because she’d just assumed it was a painful subject that Hugo hadn’t wanted to talk about, but now looking back it was a bit suspicious. Colin had always been a very kind and well mannered man that cared very deeply for his friend. The idea that he may have done something to hurt Hugo was hard for her to buy.

She was surprised to learn from her parents that Colin was currently in jail. Her father apologized, thinking that he had informed her already. Apparently Colin had been caught red handed trying to steal some of the gems from their mines to sell for his own on the side. Again, more behaviors that struck her as odd given her interactions with the gentle man in the past. Serilda needed the truth, however, so she’d contacted the Rune Knight garrison stationed at Clover and arranged an appointment to meet with the prisoner.

It was strange to see Colin in jail garb, his hands cuffed together and his countenance low. The Knight obviously had not told him who his guest was, because when they shuffled him into the private room he looked completely and utterly shocked to see her. The guards had actually had to push him forward to his seat at the table because he had been so transfixed on the last person he’d probably ever expected to see visiting him in jail. He was stunned into complete silence, unable to take his eyes off her as the guards undid one of his cuffs long enough to try and secure him to the table.

“That won’t be necessary,” Serilda told them firmly, raising a hand in protest to the bindings. When they hesitated and wondered at the wisdom of the decision, she trained them with a stern look. “Do not forget that I am a full fledged wizard now. I can take care of myself, and I would be much more at ease if he were not chained up like an animal.” The guards nodded their understanding and removed the cuffs entirely before leaving them alone, the door locking from the outside.

There was a long silence as they just looked at one another, Colin baffled and Serilda uncertain. “Hello, Colin,” she finally said softly, giving him a sad smile.

It still took him a beat or two to find his voice. “Seri… I mean, Lady Serilda.” He quickly corrected himself, knowing that his predicament no longer gave him the right to address her so familiarly as he had once been able to. “This is… “

His words trailed off. “A surprise, I know. I am as surprised as you are, though mostly because I did not realize you were in jail. My father forgot to inform me.”

“Ah…” Colin averted his eyes, looking down shamefully at the table and rubbing the aches out of his wrists. “I suppose… you came because of what I did.”

“What exactly, did you do?” Though the question was a serious one, she asked it kindly. Serilda truly didn’t believe that he had stolen anything, and she wanted to hear it from his own mouth.

He shrugged a little. “I was caught smuggling some uncut sapphires out of the mines,” Colin told her, trying to force his eyes up to hers but not being able to hold her gaze.

It was strange, but for some reason she felt like he was lying. He said it too quickly, too practiced. Serilda gave him a suspicious look for a moment, and he turned a bit red and looked away again. A long silence drew out between them as she waited patiently for him to say something first. Silence had a strange and powerful way of pressuring those who were being dishonest into revealing more than they wanted. Soon enough, he did clear his throat a bit awkwardly. “You’re looking… well.”

“Thank you. You’ve looked better.” It wasn’t a harsh statement, though it was an honest one.

Colin chuckled a little. “I’ve definitely been better,” he admitted to her. “Was there something you wanted from me..?”

Well, it seemed he was going to stick to his story, at least for the time being. Serilda sighed internally but continued on. “Yes, though it has nothing to do with why you were locked up here.” It was her turn to sound a little nervous. Serilda was terrified to bring this subject up, afraid of what the truth might be.

She must have been stalling longer than she realized because he spoke up then. “Seri..?” Clearly Colin realized there was something troubling her greatly, enough so that he chose to revert back to using her nickname in spite of what propriety would call for in this situation. “What’s wrong?”

Serilda was moved by the compassion she saw in his eyes, and it gave her the strength she needed to press on. “A few things have come up recently, things I don’t know what to think about. And I think you may have the answers I need but… frankly, I’m afraid to ask the questions.”

She looked down at her lap, trying to decide where to start. Colin beat her to the punch. “This is about Hugo. Isn’t it?”

Something in his tone made her stomach wrench. He knew something. Serilda knew he knew something, even before her eyes lifted once more to meet his, where she saw the sorrow in his gaze. “What don’t I know?” she asked him quietly, already feeling herself fighting back years as she prepared herself for the worst.

“Seri, please. I can’t…” He turned and looked behind him at the door, as if paranoid that someone were listening. There was a great deal of emotion in his eyes when he looked back at her and whispered. “I can’t give you the answers you want,” Colin told her gently, practically pleading with her not to press the issue.

“You and I both know you didn’t try to steal a damn thing from my family,” Serilda replied, her own voice just as soft. “That’s not you, Colin. I may not have talked to you since whatever happened between you and Hugo, but I know you’re not a thief, and I know you’re hiding information that I need.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t. It’s not that simple. If I tell you what you want to know…” He didn’t have to finish the sentence for her to realize what he was implying. Someone was blackmailing him, maybe even threatening his loved ones. She could see it in his face, in the tears he was holding back and in the way his body shook from shame and frustration.

Serilda leaned across the table and took his hands in hers. Colin looked up at her slowly, unable to look away from the moisture that built up in her own eyes and fell slowly down her cheeks. “Colin, please. If you or the people you love are being threatened, I will personally see to it that you’re protected. But I need to know the truth, Colin. I need you to tell me about Hugo. Please.”

His face dropped toward the table, to where her hands rested on top of his. After a moment, Colin shifted the limbs until one of his was gently cupping the top of her much smaller hands, his thumb softly rubbing against her tender flesh. He drew in a deep breath to steel himself and let it out in a control sigh.

“There is a secret faction of the minors that have been stealing from your family for years, smuggling out raw gems and selling them in the blackmarket. I was… am… a part of that faction. And so was Hugo.” He gulped, unable to look her in the eyes as he continued. “He worked his way up the ladder so we could have someone in a position of authority that could hide our tracks, and when you took over the security force Hugo saw an opportunity to place himself in a better position of trust with your family. He didn’t… He didn’t care about you, Serilda. The entire time you were married, and even before then, he was seeing another woman.” Colin looked up at her, hating himself for having to tell her all this. “I’m sorry.”

She could feel her lip quivering as the tears threatened to come more heavily, and she fought them back with only moderate success. One of her hands pulled away from his to wipe her face. “Okay,” Serilda said, doing her best to push back the heartbreak and process the information with a clear mind. “So why did you two stop talking, if you were both in this together?”

Colin turned a deep red and looked down again. “Hugo didn’t want me around you anymore.”

“Why?” she asked him with a frown, honestly confused.

When he looked back up at her again, there was no confusion. She had only seen that look once before, from Mythal. Colin met her eyes with such an intensity that it almost stopped her from crying. He was in love with her, clearly had been for a long time, and Hugo did not want her to find out. “He knew my loyalties were wavering,” Colin told her carefully, his voice steady. “And he was afraid I was going to tell you the truth. So they cut me off and relocated me mines where I wouldn’t see you again.”

“Colin… I’m so sorry, I didn’t know…”

“It’s okay. I know you didn’t.”

Another long silence drew out between them as they both came to terms with the knowledge that had just been passed between them. Neither of them took their hands away, and in fact Serilda held his a little tighter. She felt so bad for him, moreso in that moment than she even felt for herself. “You didn’t try to steal anything from my family, did you?” she finally asked, looking up at him again.

“No. I was getting ready to turn myself in, and they figured it out so… they got rid of me, and have been having my family watched.”

“I’m sorry, Colin, but I need to know. Do you have any proof of this? Of any of it?”

He bit his lip. “I don’t, no. But your family does. They just don’t know.” She gave him a confused look and he continued. “Check Hugo’s grave. They slipped something inside before he was buried that incriminates all of us.” His hands tightened around hers firmly. “Please check it discreetly,” Colin begged quietly, and Serilda wouldn’t have to guess why he was afraid. If the others involved in this operation knew that he’d talked to her, his family might be put at risk.

She nodded in understanding. “I’ll be careful. And I will make sure you and your family are protected, Colin. I promise.”

“Thank you.”

Serilda stood up then and walked around the table, gently pulling him up to his feet and giving him a hug. He was surprised and a little nervous at the gesture but did ultimately return it, holding her close to him and knowing it was probably his only chance to do so. She pulled back after a moment and looked up at him, putting her hands on either side of his face. “Thank you, Colin. I will never forget this.”

Perhaps it was the overall emotion of the meeting, or perhaps it stemmed from something deeper, from the more firm knowledge that her marriage might very well have been a sham, or the fact that Mythal had been treating her lately like he wanted nothing from her but friendship. She would probably never understand why, but in that moment Serilda moved on an impulse and gently kissed Colin on the lips. It wasn’t a long, drawn out gesture full of passion, lasting only a couple seconds, but she couldn’t think of any other way to truly thank him for what he’d done and convey how deeply she understood the gravity of it, and of how he felt.

He kissed her back just as softly, his whole body trembling even as she pulled away. Managing a weak smile, he chanced one moment to cup her cheek and wipe some of the tears off while he could. With a final nod, Serilda parted herself from him and knocked on the door, and the Knights guarding it came inside to shackle Colin back up and let Serilda leave.

Hours later, she found herself at Hugo’s grave. She could tell from her magic that no one was nearby, meaning she was safe to do what she needed to do. Either way, she still acted discreetly. Serilda used her magic to search his grave, shame coming over her as she felt around through his bones and what was left of his flesh. Her heart stopped when she felt something that didn’t belong. A book of sorts. Carefully, she altered the item with her magic until she could pull it out from the grave and up into her hands without disturbing the dirt or the coffin within it. The item reeked of death from having been resting against Hugo’s rotting body for half a decade, but the coffin had preserved the item from the sun and the other elements leaving it relatively well in tact. When she opened it to see what was inside, her entire world felt like it came to a crashing halt.

It was a ledger.