A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor
Chapter 1643 - 1643: The Unexpected - Part 4

"You've fought for the longest time," Nila said. "It's fine to relax every now and then, isn't it? At least around me. If I can be there for you, Oliver, when you need it, I shall at least be happy. If I can help you to relax, so that you don't always have to be so tense."

"You do that… already," Oliver said, in a muffled voice. "I shouldn't need any more."

"You need farrrr more," Nila said. "You've endured much, and you haven't given yourself a moment to rest. Be kind to yourself, Oliver. Promise me."

Oliver shook his head. It wasn't a promise he could make, but the tears flowed anyway. "I'm glad… we made it, though I still don't understand why… I'm glad, I can spend this time with you. I think it was you that changed me for the battle. It was because of you that I could be patient, and relaxed, as we lost everything around us. It felt like I was the wind, gently pushing at everything, without really moving anything… It was like Dominus' idea of the stream wearing away at rock, but I was the wind instead, escaping the notice of this mighty monster, moving without intention, waiting for the right moment… And then there was this storm… It felt right, but I don't understand it. I have no control over it, and I still don't… I dare not move now. I don't want to lose that wonderful feeling, where it feels like I have to do nothing – that doing nothing is the best thing to do. But I'm so pathetic for it, to stand still like this."

"You're a fool, Oliver," Nila said. "Even claiming that you are doing nothing, you have brought stability to Ernest. You don't need to try as hard as you realize. Just by existing, you do much already. Has Greeves not told you? Has Lord Idris not mentioned it? Even the Minister of Blades said how stunned he was that the captives were remaining so meek – and they all put it down to you, patrolling as you do, keeping them in order."

"I'm not doing anything though…" Oliver said.

"You don't need to," Nila said. "You are enough as you are. You don't need to try anymore."

"I wouldn't have won that battle if I had tried to control it…" Oliver said. "But it's scary, Nila. I don't like it. To sit still, it's so frightening. It's fine here, with you, when I can feel you near me, and there's nothing else but you and I. You give me a courage that I didn't know that I needed. What sort of fool must I be, to need the courage simply to relax? Damn it all, these cracks in my heart run so much deeper than I ever thought they did."

"If you need me, I will be there," Nila said. "I'm not going anywhere, Oliver. We have lived. There's no need for any more goodbyes. I'll be here with you, for as long as you need me to be."

"Forever," Oliver insisted. "I don't think I'll ever not need you. You're the antidote to whatever it is I am. I could not live without you – I certainly could not achieve without you. Without you, I would be dead on that field already, having failed in my duty."

"I don't think that to be true," Nila said. "But all the same, I'll be with you. I could not do without you either, I don't think… We've gotten far too close, Oliver, it's almost stupid. I was lonely before when you would go away to fight, now it's going to be so much worse. We've really made a mess of things, haven't we?"

"That seems to be our way of doing things," Oliver laughed, wiping the tears from his face. "A royal mess. Lord Blackwell said as much in his letters to us. He's giving us all sorts of commands, and has told us off aplenty. Imagine putting someone like me in the position that he has? It's a joke of the highest order. I have to laugh at it, even though I'm the one in the position… I'm just so ridiculous, it's actually contemptible."

"It's adorable," Nila said. "Your clumsiness is very endearing. There's a human side to you after all."

"Don't sound so delighted by that fact…" Oliver complained. "I could very much do without it."

…

…

"Prince Hendrick," Oliver said, greeting the man, as he marched in with a tray full of food.

The Prince turned languidly in his chair by the window. He'd only partly pulled the curtains open, and though the accommodations that he had been afforded were rich in decoration, one could hardly see them, for the lack of light that entered the room.

"Ah, Oliver Patrick…" The Prince said. "I see that you are as energetic as ever."

"They've been telling me that you're hardly touching your food," Oliver said.

"My value as a hostage is greatly diminished if I am no longer of this world," the Prince said with a small smile. "One hardly sees the value in eating more at that point. If I were a braver man, I would have skewered myself through already."

"We have taken care not to give you such implements that you might be able to do that," Oliver said. "But I suppose you are right. If you truly wished to end your life, you'd find a way. Through the window, or a noose made from the sheets on your bed. There would be a way. But that sort of death seems terribly final, doesn't it? You'd die a defeated man."

"An honourable death, however," the Prince pointed out. "My father would feel no need to continue whatever restraint he might be exercising. The Generals could gather, with fresh army, and fresh troops."

"And what of the troops that we already hold hostage?" Oliver asked.

"I would like to believe that you would not harm them, even if I were to perish… But the fact that I still remain alive shows that I suppose I am doubtful of that," Prince Hendrick said.