Yuki stopped and so did Atila.
"I have three whys bothering me."
"Will you let me know which ones?"
"Yes. You're the only one who can clarify them for me. Why does a prince study medicine?"
Attila's eyes shone with emotion.
"You're the first person who wants to know. I've been fighting battles since I was a child and I've always seen men dying on the fields of war. My best friend fell from the wall we were climbing to conquer the city for the Great Pharaoh. I went down to help him. He asked for water." Atila looked at Yuki. "He died shortly after I let him drink a liter of water. That made me realize the obvious. All the soldiers needed to know what to do to help others."
"And you put them all through medical school?"
"No, Yuki. That would be impractical. I do the training myself before the battles. I teach the soldier how to kill quickly."
"What?"
"When they fall, all they can see afterwards is dishonor. They become ineligible to be a soldier again and our people, all those who have been raised to the edge of warriors, see this as the worst of curses. Killing them, when they can no longer defend themselves and become a burden to all, is something that demands great compassion."
"I'm not going to discuss ethics with you, Tykar. But it disgusts me."
"All right."
"I might have expected a giving-up attitude from the people of Durin, but... Was I mistaken in believing that you care about people's lives?"
Atila took a deep breath.
"I tried to save all the wounded on the battlefield, but... While I was dedicating myself to each life, a hundred wounded were added because I wasn't providing help where I was really needed. I'm good at saving lives, but I'm much better at taking them away. Over time, I learned to control my eagerness to save everyone, and focused on winning the battles and since I made that decision, never again has a battle been lost under my direction."
Yuki looked disappointedly at Atila, but he didn't mind her reproachful look.
"And the second 'why'... What caused this war? Why are you enemies of the Ice people?" she asked after a brief battle between their eyes.
"Yes. That's an interesting question, since we all know that the love stories between our people and the Ice people are legendary. My mother was a citizen of the Ice People and they didn't like it when the Great Pharaoh stole her away for himself. She was a princess of her people and unlike the laws of the Fire People, she was the heir to the throne. She was raised on the outskirts of this palace, without ever being allowed to enter even this garden. The people expected her to grow up and return to take her place in the Royal Family. But she was in love with the Great Pharaoh. That love wouldn't allow her to give him up and... If the Great Pharaoh had married her or taken her to be one of his concubines... the people wouldn't have hated him so much, but he just used my mother. He... People say that he wasn't kind to her, since she wasn't Farida, it didn't matter how he treated her and he took her to a house of pleasure and paid her visits. When she managed to escape, after giving birth to me, taking advantage of everyone's euphoria and distraction at having born two heirs to Pharaoh, she told her true story. And all the people of the Ice revolted at the way their princess was treated."
"I think I heard a slightly more romanticized story of Pharaoh's relationship with his mother... She was already part of the family of fire, right?"
"Some believe she was the daughter of the Great Pharaoh's younger brother."
"Uhm... Aren't the children of concubines considered Pharaoh's heirs?"
"Yes, but they are not considered sons. They have the magical blood of the Pharaohs, but that's not what makes them gods. That condition has always been related to Farida. The child god is always the son of a Farida."
Yuki laughed.
"You think that's funny?"
"For a people who are used to killing little goddesses when they are born, it shouldn't be a difficult task to defeat any nation that sets itself up as an enemy."
"The death of Pharaoh's first-born is not something common for us, Yuki. I've only heard of it happening once, and it's been more than three centuries."
"It doesn't matter if millions of years pass, Tykar. It will always be called murder in the society I come from. And if you're right, then that means Durin made the wrong choice. I don't possess the gifts to beget a god."
"You're wrong, Yuki. Pharaoh's marriage is what lends power to Farida. That's why we shouldn't choose our wives lightly. Just like any ordinary man, it creates an invisible bond that unites him forever with his wife."
"Sean certainly didn't believe that. His marriage proposal was... Impulsive. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"You can't be sure of that until he says it to you in full. I suspect he's always kept you close, because he fell in love the first time he saw you. But his pride and laziness didn't allow him to see that."
Yuki laughed again.
"I guess that's the romanticized story you're going to adapt in your children's books, right?"
"The story of this royal family is too macabre for a child's ears." Atila said, watching the guards trying to get closer to them in the hope of hearing what they were saying.
"But... Back to your mother... If she was from the Ice People and was the heir to the throne, you're their king now, aren't you?"
Atila looked sideways at Yuki.
"You mustn't show your intelligence in front of Sean, Yuki. He'll consider you his rival and not an ally."
"But if you're the heir to the Ice throne, why are you fighting your own people?" Yuki retorted, ignoring Atila's compliment.
"Is that what you think I'm doing?"
"I've only been here a few days, but I've heard stories about horrible things... Horrible things that are done to prisoners of war, and if torture is taking place in the dungeon of this palace, I can't believe that Durin is torturing his own people."
"Think, Yuki. You'll soon come to the conclusion of this mystery on your own."
"Have you met any other relatives, uncles, cousins, on the Ice family's side?"
Atila remained silent. Yuki waited for a while and when it became obvious that he wasn't going to say anything on the subject, she decided that she would rather he stayed silent than lie and moved on to her final 'why'.
"Tykar... Why do I feel that you don't look at Selytha as if she's just a patient who needs help and attention? It's almost as if she means something... Bigger to you."
"Yuki, I'll answer that question, with a story and just like the second 'why', I'll leave it to you to come to your own conclusion."
"Four years ago, two young heirs entered Ice Island to each fulfill their mission and then enjoy the pleasures of a maiden for the first time in their lives. However, one of them had not saved himself for that day and his task was much more arduous to complete, and meanwhile, his brother, who because of his discipline had finished his task long before his brother, took advantage, and in addition to his maiden, also enjoyed the pleasures of the maiden who had been chosen for his brother, making this act become that heir's first act of rebellion. The problem was that after the ritual, both girls had to be sacrificed. Offered up and thrown into a volcano. That land was already hostile to the people of fire, and Pharaoh ordered that this should be the last ritual performed on that island, and that once it was over, there should not be a single trace of any kings of the people of fire ever having walked those lands. But one of the offerings escaped. That heir's crime became clear when he met the young woman who knew neither his identity nor his face, some years later. She ran away and gave birth to a child. This child must be the daughter of one of the gods or heirs, however you want to classify them, but this will only be known when the young woman remembers whether she was touched more than twice by the man she was waiting for, as this could indicate that after the first heir left her, the second heir took his place. And so she gets the answer she's been looking for. The paternity of her own daughter is the answer she's been looking for, even to find out about her family and her real parents." Atila winked at her. "When she remembers, will she reveal her secret to me, Yuki? I hope that's my 'why', after all I've just given you four 'whys', if you give me the answer to just one 'why', I'll feel rewarded. Do you believe that you and your daughter will be able to stay safe somewhere hidden?" He asked and left.
Tears streamed down Yuki's face. She turned to leave and found her host staring at her with a surprised and anguished look.