----- ----- -----
14 hours (of good sleep) later

When I woke up, I felt... different. Not better. Just a little off-kilter. Must have slept into the next day. I gotta find Gentor and the High Minister. I have a few things to say.

As I approached the meeting, I began getting cold feet. Maybe I was being delusional and I just needed to go to the Ancient Pass and end myself. But something in me felt that this, right here, what I was doing, was right. Maybe it was because of what the High Minister said.

I didn't want to admit it, but she was right. Just like Mom was, all the time.
Here's the thing: being right all the time does nothing but make you a Grade-A ass. It just ices everybody else out from you. More often than not, detracting from someone else's point, whether right or wrong, is unhelpful and derogatory to the other person. I should know- I lived through that flame war.

Maybe that's why Dad decided to call it quits.

"-Excellency? Are you alright?" I stared at Gentor. He did the bow and curtsy and such, and said, "Sire, your directions were spot-on. We managed to nab some of the rebels stationed there. Others were... a little too uncooperative."

The High Minister turned in seething disgust. "So you and your cronies saw fit to murder them in cold blood?"
"Better to kill than be killed."
"Such a barbaric notion. I find you unbearably appalling."
"You find everything appalling. No matter what it is, all you do is see fit to hiss and whine until someone bows down to your whim. You'll do anything to create a perfect little haven for you, even if everyone else there is miserable."
"I deserve some compassion, do I not? For decades and decades, I have toiled day and night to ensure nothing but happiness for all the subjects of this kingdom, even at times, putting my person aside for other people. You would do well to consider other perspectives for once."

And we're back to our regularly-scheduled telecast. I raised my hand to quell the raging inferno of a discussion and said, "I would like to meet some of the rebels. Alone. Once I am done, I will send for both of you. There is work to be done at the Ancient Pass."
The High Minister scoffed. "My King. Surely you must condemn the loss of so many lives- innocent or not, they were our own subjects. We were the hands that fed them, not the ones that choked them-"
"My men were merely following orders." I chimed in, bluntly. The High Minister's eyes narrowed as she spoke once more, any courtesy in her tone thrown to the wind.
"Then I see no reason to continue my post as a minister. Not when my so-called superior has chosen to stoop so low. I suppose some souls are destined to be lost forever."

I rose from my seat. "Be that as it may, I make one last request to you. Not as your king, but... as my father's son. The Ancient Pass, at the stroke of high noon tomorrow. Exactly 28 hours away. It's a day's journey."

"I will be there, rest assured. I hope it is a swift execution." I lowered my head as I sat down.

...so do I.
----- ----- -----
This is the one. then. This is where they imprisoned that woman rebel.
"What do you want, tyrant?"
"A civilized conversation, if it's possible." I sit down cross-legged outside the cell wall. I know she can't see my face. It's for the best.
"He's coming for you. For your head. For your sins."
"I am well aware."
"Then you're aware of your ultimate fate."
"A swift beheading, after which he will take over as king?" I can't see her expression, but I know it's exactly what she wanted to say.
"...Yes." I laugh. Properly, for the first time in... in a while.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you something: why do you believe in him?"
"What?"
"Some random peasant nobody from your village decides to take up arms and rebel against the evil tyrannical king. And everybody just falls in line with that? Clue me in: why do you believe in somebody even though you have no reason to?"
She snorts in response. "It's something you wouldn't understand, asshole. It's called... hope. I hope he makes it here in one piece. I hope for a better future, one where good people like him are around. He isn't the best fighter, sure. He certainly isn't a perfect leader. But you know why I follow him? Why everyone in these cells follow his example? Because he has one thing you never will: a good heart."

"...You love him, don't you?" ...do you? Even now? Do you hope?
"What's it matter to you?"

I wiped a solitary tear off my cheek. At least it's not too late to admit it out loud. Not optimal timing, but...
"I...I had a wife. We were married for a few years. I first met her at a party. We got to know each other for a considerable while, and got married soon after. Throughout, no matter when or how I faltered, she always had hope, hope for me to be a better version of myself. She always hoped to bring out the good in me, the best in me. It... didn't work out too great." My voice began hitching, the words getting caught in my throat and choking me, but I marched on. "I eventually got scared that I was never going to be good enough for her. And I was right. She left me."

"It turned me bitter. I hated that I was right, and I hated more that I did nothing to change myself. And so, I ran away. Ran as far as I could, until I stopped and made a choice. I took a plunge... and here I am."
She gave no response.

"That's why it matters. Because he gives you that hope. And I realize... maybe, once upon a time, I gave people hope too." I got up and breathed. There was no weight lifted off my shoulders, for the burden of my mistakes was a burden I would bear for all my life.
...I did however, receive the strength to march on while carrying them.

For the first time, with utter clarity in both mind and sight, I said, "In a few minutes, I will be heading to the Ancient Pass, the entryway to my citadel. Your hero will also be there, along with some of my cabinet members. I will unlock the cell door. Should you choose to do so, you may leave on horseback when you please. Your hero and I shall do battle at the stroke of noon."