"What do you bring to me this late, Eore?"

Both Caydrick and Eore was bowing on their knees in front of the Queen herself. Caydrick's hands were shaking nervously and his heart was dangerously close to popping out of his chest.

He did not understand; For a simple slave execution, they would not need her Majesty's permission. So why had Eore brought him here?

"We had a little... incident in the Slave area, My Lady." Eore started with a strain to his voice. "A group of slaves got into a fight."

Caydrick heard the Queen's mild scoff. "And why should I care? I thought I gave you the job of disposing disobedient slaves."

Her voiced sound bored, tired really. This being the evening, she must have had a long day listening to peasants complain about their problems.

"You did, My Lady. I just thought you might want to hear about what happened," Eore replied, now a smirk forming on his lips.

The Queen sighed annoyed. "Give me one good reason, why I would use my time for this."

"Because I think you could recruit a new soldier."

Caydrick's heart skipped a beat.

A soldier? What was going on? Why was Eore saying he could become a soldier? What kind of soldier was he talking about? Surely not the kind the Army trained? What other soldiers was there?

"A soldier?" The Queen said, voicing Caydrick's disbelief. Her voice had suddenly peaked with interest, "My, my. You always know just what to say to a woman, Eore." She mused, as a soft chuckle escaped her lips.

This was the first time Caydrick had heard the Queen laugh; It was just as smooth and soft as her voice, only it made a shiver run down his spine. And not the good kind.

Eore chuckled along and stood up. "That is what they all tell me. So... interested, My Lady?"

"Spare me the details and go straight to the point," The Queen said, her voice changing back to normal. "I am awfully tired and wish to go to my chambers."

Eore gave her a brief nod, before speaking up. "Very well, I shan't bore you with the details. Bottom line; K here managed to outsmart two older slaves with skilled movements - the kind of skilled, fast movements that takes years to learn, for your young army lads," He added with an understated irony. "Not only did K here manage to come out unharmed, he also managed to bring down his two opponents without even laying a hand on them."

Caydrick thought it sounded so heroic when Eore said it, when in truth, all he really did was dodge their moves.

"So you believe," The Queen begun after a while, "That this slave, this tiny little slave, actually performed such actions?" Disbelief was dripping from her voice. "Even if it is true, do you think that it should be enough to make a man out of him?"

"Those were my exact words," Eore chuckled deeply. "I could not believe it myself, but the evidence was right there in front of me. K was unharmed and his opponents were tangled in limbs on a table. K is one of my hardest working slaves, My Lady. He has never disobeyed me or lied to me. Personally, I think he could make a fair soldier."

Caydrick did not know whether he should be touched that Eore complimented him in such manners, or be worried about joining the Army. He felt no urge to learn how to brutally kill.

But why was Eore speaking his case? Caydrick had thought he was pissed as bloody hell, and was going to execute him, but now he was trying to get him out of slavery? Why?

"A fair soldier, you say?" The Queen said after a short pause. "What was his name again?"

"K, My Lady."

"K..." She repeated. "It sounds familiar."

Did she remember him? No, it was not possible. It had been over two years, since their first meeting, and of course he had grown since then. And besides; She had better things to remember than a simple slave.

"Stand up for me, K," She suddenly demanded. It was déjà vu.

Caydrick did as he was told, and rose to his feet, breathing shakily as her eyes narrow on him.

"Oh yes, now I remember you. K," She said his name as though it was a lyrical poem. "You have grown a lot since last time."

Caydrick did not dare speak under her observing gaze.

"How old are you now?" She asked him, her voice becoming softer; The same voice she had used the first time they met.

He took a controlled breath before answering, "I have lived ten and seven years, Mistress."

"And if I should choose to make you a soldier, what guarantee do I have that your work will be to my satisfaction?"

Why should she make him a soldier? It was not his decision to make. So how could he answer the question?

"I work to my commander is pleased," Caydrick decided to say, hoping she would remember him saying those words a few years back.

Evidently she did. "Look at me, slave."

Caydrick never got used to that request. Granted it had only happened once before in his life, but it never seizes to surprise him.

He flipped his eyes up to meet hers, his past suddenly coming back to him; He remembered those gray steel eyes watching him the first time, and they had not aged a day. If anything, they had become stronger and grayer.

A slow smile spread across her lips. "Imagine you standing here tonight," She smirked, her voice nothing but a soft whisper. "If anyone had told me that scrawny little slave, from two years back, would become a soldier, I would have laughed and had their heads on a spike," She mused, raising a thin brow. "And yet here we are."

Caydrick stayed frozen in his position, looking at her uncomfortably, since he was not used to looking people in the eyes. Even looking at Mo at taken some practice.

- Poor Mo. He was probably crying on his pallet at this moment, thinking he was dead. If only he knew.

"So, K," She smirked at him, "Or should I call you... Caydrick? That is your name, if I recall, is it not?"

How could she possible remember? "Yes, Mistress."

"Trust me when I say, Caydrick, this is not something I do regularly. If I hear as much as one poor thing about your work in the Army, I will not hesitate to have your head," She warned him.

The warning settled good and hard in Caydrick's head.

Eore who had been quiet for a long time now stepped forward. "I will personally make sure he gets transferred in the morning, and gets settled into the barracks."

"Excellent," The Queen smiled and gave him an approving look. "I trust you will also take care of his punishment. After all, we cannot have the slaves thinking they will get promoted to soldiers, every time they cause a rowel," She mused and stood up, preparing to leave.

"It will be my pleasure," Eore smirked evilly.

Caydrick noticed how his hand fell to The Bloody Snake.

- He should have expected this, but for one short moment, he thought he might avoid it.

"Then I shall bid you good night," The Queen smiled, sending one last glance towards Caydrick, "Enjoy your new life."

She left the Throne Room with her maid servants following behind her. Standing behind was Caydrick and Eore, accompanied by two guards.

"Congratulations, K," Eore said, grinning viciously. "You managed to escape my services."

Caydrick was stunned. He could not believe what had happened tonight. This whole night had been surreal; He thought he was going to be executed, and instead he was about to begin a new life; A life as a soldier.

He had been a slave all his life, and now all that was coming to an end. His future could be anything; Wife, kids, his own house and home. Anything.

"I would be mute, too, if I was you," Eore chuckled, as they started heading out of the Throne Room. The two guards grabbed Caydrick by his arms and dragged him along. "If you think I did you a favor tonight, you are gravely mistaken," Eore informed him, as they headed back the way they came from. "The Army is much harder work than slavery. Your work will look like a fucking holiday compared to the Army's schedule, and my punishments are nothing, compared to how General Dane treats his trainees."

Caydrick had heard about General Dane; He was most famous for removing one of his trainee's eyes with a poorly crafted wooden spoon. He had a reputation as the hardest- and most viscous man in the country.

Caydrick knew now that Eore had done him no favor. Except for maybe freeing him from slavery. And in truth that was worth every eye-jabbing, craze-headed General in the world. He was free.

"However, before I let you run back to your precious slave friends," Eore said, as they neared the Slave Area, "I am afraid - or actually you should be the one who should be afraid - I am going to have to teach you some manners."

Eore stopped just before they entered the Slave Area, and instead headed into a room that was know as The Bloody Snake's Den; aka the punishment room.

Caydrick stepped into the room, knowing that this would without a doubt be the worst punishment he had ever gotten in his life. But knowing that it was going to be his last, coming from The Bloody Snake, somehow made it bearable.

The doors shut behind him, signaling that the punishment was in session.

-*-

The doors to the sleeping area slammed behind him, leaving him bleeding on the floor.

Eore had not held back, and this had eventually caused Caydrick to pass out from pain. He had been awoken by a splash from a bucket of ice cold, salted sea water, that stung ever so painfully in the fresh slashes on his back. Blood was pouring down his skin, leaving him exhausted and dizzy on the floor, on which they had thrown him onto.

Now the darkness of the sleeping area surrounded him, and he shakily made it to his feet - though barely managed to get a foothold, before someone swung their tiny arms around him.

"Caydrick!"

Caydrick hissed from the pain of Moteith's arms tightening around his back. "Mo! Careful!"

Mo immediately backed away and held his up, "Sorry! I could not tell that you had been-- Caydrick you are alive!" He exclaimed and made a joyful sound that probably woke a few of the closest sleeping slaves up. "I cannot believe it!"

"I am alive alright, but only just," Caydrick sagged, when the blood loss was affecting his balance.

Moteith caught him under his arm and supported him. "Come on, let us get you onto your pallet."

He managed to almost carry Caydrick to his pallet, before he collapsed next to him on his own, exhausted from his weight.

Caydrick groaned and arranged himself flat on his stomach, so that his back could heal without bleeding onto his bed. Eore had given no less than 40 whips, testing his ultimate limits of pain. The salted water would prevent the wounds from healing properly. He wound scar profoundly after this.

"What happened, Cay?" Mo asked from his pallet, sending him a worried look. "I swear by the mighty God, I thought I had doomed you by fetching Eore. I never think things through. I-I thought he would see things from your side and punish O and R instead b-but--"

"Calm down, Mo," Caydrick breathed. "You did everything you were suppose to. You are not to blame." Caydrick assured him. "What happened to the other slaves, by the way, after I was taken away? Did they get punished, too?"

Mo averted his eyes and looked down at his pallet. That was all the answer he needed.

"My God," Caydrick sighed and closed his eyes. They had been executed. He admitted that he had never liked them, but nobody deserved a death sentence. Not even bullies like O and R.

"But what happened to you, Cay? You were gone for little over two hours. I thought... well, I thought I would never see you again," Mo whispered quietly. It was obvious by his puffy eyes that he had cried, just like Caydrick had predicted.

"You will not believe what I am about to tell you, Mo," Caydrick said soberly and sent him a glare. "I can hardly believe it myself."

And then he told him every word that has been spoken in the Throne Room. When he reached the part where Eore had suggested he should become a soldier, Mo gasped.

"A soldier?! But-- What?!"

Caydrick finished his story, and when he was done, Moteith's mouth was hanging wide open.

Caydrick waited patiently while he got over the shock.

Finally after a minute or two, Moteith closed his mouth and swallowed dryly. "So... you are to become a soldier?"

Caydrick nodded silently, the action making his spine hurt.

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning." Eore had pulled Caydrick aside, right before he was tossed into the sleeping area, and had told him that he would be transferred already tomorrow at dawn. He had to say goodbye tonight.

Mo was shocked, but just nodded silently in response, perhaps because he did not trust his voice anymore. After a moment though, he opened his mouth again. "So that guy, General Dane... he will be your new commander?"

Caydrick nodded. "Yes."

"I hear he is tough," Moteith said, sending him a worried glare.

"I know. But I think I will manage," Caydrick smiled, trying to cheer him up a little.

"You always do, Cay," Moteith replied and smiled bleakly. "I do not know how I will myself, being without..." His voice died down, when the sentence became too hard to speak.

"You will manage great without me," Caydrick encouraged him. "We both know you never really needed me. You are strong, Mo, do not let anyone push you around." Caydrick sat up on his bed, ignoring the unbelievable pain that was shooting through his body. "Stand your ground and earn their respect. Promise me you will?"

Moteith slowly sat up on his bed too, nodding bleakly after quickly wiping away a tear. "You are my best friend, Cay. You are my only friend."

Caydrick felt a lump lodge in his throat. A friend. He had a friend in his life- no, he had a brother. Moteith was his only family in the world, and he had to say goodbye to him.

"I will miss you terribly," Mo said, when Caydrick had not spoken yet. "Who will sing silly songs with me on the patio now?"

Caydrick could not help but smile. "You got us into so much trouble."

"But if I had not, we would never have become friends," Mo pointed out and tried for a bleak laugh.

"That is true," Caydrick nodded and looked at him. "Thank you for troubling me."

"Any time."

Another silence fell over them. Moteith was the first to break it again; This proved that he was so much stronger than Caydrick. Right now, he could not even think about what tomorrow might bring.

"So," Mo said, after clearing his voice. "I guess this is... goodbye."

That word stung worse than every lash from The Bloody Snake. It hurt a thousand more times, to even think of the meaning of the word.

"I do not want to say it," Caydrick got out on a hoarse voice. "I think I could not bare it. You are my only friend too, Mo," He said soberly and looked at him. "You are like the little brother I never had."

A wide grin tugged on Mo's lips, as the word brother seeped from his lips. "Listen to us. We sound like two maidens on their monthly bleed. Someone should send a search party out to look for our balls."

Caydrick burst into a short laughter, the trembling making his wounds stretch. This was Moteith in a nutshell. "You are right, let us stop this sappy song, and get this over with," Caydrick chuckled and took a deep breath. "Let us not say goodbye."

Mo grinned broadly and raised a brow. "Then what should we say, dear brother?"

"You are my brother. Let us not say goodbye, but let us stay that way."

Mo chuckled a little again. "You know, we will probably never see each other again," He pointed out. "You will be in different circles and I will be cleaning those circles."

"It does not matter," Caydrick smiled and let his hand fall onto Mo's shoulder. "One day we will meet again, and we will continue from where we left off."

They both laid down on their pallets with grins on their lips. Caydrick could not have wanted a better goodbye. He closed his eyes and slept peaceful that night, despite not knowing what tomorrow would bring.

- After all, how hard could tomorrow be, when you knew you had a life-long friend in your life?