I'm confined to a room without windows or light. The walls are scratched by the senile fingers of a prisoner who has moaned in solitude for too long. The floor is sticky with transparent residue. Although there is a chair and a wooden slab for a bed, I do not rest but stand in the middle of the room with my back to the wall. They stripped me of all I had, leaving me with the shirt on my chest, threadbare pants, and my faithful boots.

I'm given time to layout a thoughtful plan as to how I'm going to gain the Capital's favor and stop the Nights from attacking their walls. I don't know when Han is going to strike, but since he must know I've left with the intent to return Nari, he will attack before I have the chance to inform the Capital. The problem is whether they will believe me, if I even get the chance to explain.

For two days they keep me in that cell. I have little interaction with human life save for the man that brings me food and water twice a day. They don’t starve me, but they don’t satisfy me, either. From how they secure me, they do not know whether I am a man to be trusted or a man to be questioned.

Time is running out. If I don’t say something, the Capital will be ruined forever. So when the man comes to bring me food, I warn him.

“The Nights are coming.”

His head jerks up at this as he slides a plate of food underneath the bars. It stops at my feet. Without looking at it, I stare at him intently and repeat, “You have to protect the Capital.”

He opens his mouth to talk, closes it, and opens it again after searching for eavesdroppers. “We’ve already done that. Besides, you’re a Night yourself. Who do you think you are, to think we will believe you?”

“Why would I give myself up to be captured?”

“All part of the Nights’ plan, I presume.”

“Would they really do that, after knowing that you are well aware of who I am?” I step over the food and grab the iron bars. He staggers back. “The same lie never works twice.”

“You’re a Night – “

“You’re a fool.”

He scowls. “No one will trust you.”

“They don’t have to trust me. They have to believe me.”

“Either way, it won’t happen.”

He’s beginning to irk me. “Give me the Capital’s daughter.”

“Have you gone insane already?”

“Bring me the Capital’s daughter. Please. I will convince her.”

“Those within the top of the hierarchy do not belong in this filthy place.”

I grab his collar and pull him against the bars. He squirms, but I have pinned his arms to me. “Bring. Her. Here.”

“I’ll tell them you attacked me.”

“This isn’t attack.” I release him. He falls to his knees. “This is defense.” Leaving him be, I pick up the plate of food and eat. By the time I am finished, the man has left, and I can only wait and hope that someone reasonable will reach me before the Nights reach the Capital.

I have no sense of evening within the jail except for the number of times a day a man brings me food. Through those deliveries, I can gauge how long I have been confined. When I hear footsteps echoing throughout the stony premises, I assume it’s dinner, but when I turn, I see that it was a sound caused by the feet of a guard, the man I threatened, and the Capital’s daughter.

“How long have you been here?” She asks. She’s dressed as she normally would, in a silver gown that sweeps the floor with a collar line that drops far lower than what I’m accustomed. Her short hair is pinned behind her ears with sparkling ornaments that compete with the glow on her cheeks. Next to her, I must look repulsive, and entirely unattractive.

“Almost three days.”

“Why didn’t they tell me?”

I comment with a smile. “Perhaps they didn’t think that your previous bodyguard’s welfare was worthy of your concern.”

She steps forward. The guard beside her stiffens, but she keeps him at bay with a curt twist of her hand. Her clean fingers roll over the bars. Through the space, her plump lips mumble, “Why did you come back?”

“Because you were here.”

I’d kiss her if we were alone.

“I’m here to warn the Capital that the Nights will come back. I’m here to guide and prepare those who were trained to protect this home. There are many of you, Nari. But you saw. There are many of us, too.”

“Thy won’t release you.”

“They can keep chains on my hands, if they wish. Guard me, if it comforts their hearts, but I am not lying, Nari. Not this time. This is the truth. You know that.” With my hands an inch above hers, I lean in and say, “They will attack.”

She swallows. I can see her shiver plummet down her dress. If only these bars did not divide us.

“Guard,” she says. “I want you to call my father.”

“He’ll be busy – “

“Right now,” she sternly responds. “Come back with keys. And chains.” Fleetingly, her hand covers mine, and then she turns around. “Go.”

We wait together without exchanging a single word. Her hunched shoulders remind me of my purpose. When the guard returns with the Capital leader and two other guards beside him, I unclench my fists and offer my hands.

“I won’t resist,” I say. “Chain me.”

The guard uses a key to enter my cell, and then he quickly ties my hands in fear that I will go back on my word. I am still not trusted, which is no surprise. He pushes me toward the Capital leader, who stops my advance with a raised hand and gazes over me with betrayed eyes.

“Why did you come back?” His voice is clear and measured. He glances at the chains that now withhold my wrists. “You knew this would happen.”

“I did.”

“Yet you returned.”

While looking at the nape of Nari’s neck, I answer, “This is redemption.”

“You betrayed your people.”

Unwarrantedly, a tiny bubble of laughter blows past the gates of my lips. “I was never your citizen.”

His eyes dim and his shoulders slump when I say this. I watch the strong leader turn into a vulnerable old man. And I watch Nari finally face us with worried eyes that implore me to be gracious.

If I’m choosing to protect Nari, then I’m choosing to protect her family.

“Follow me, Tao,” he orders. “Guards, take Nari away.”

“One of us will stay with you.”

“No,” the Capital leader briskly replies. “I go with him, alone.”

“But – “

“Come with me, Tao,” he begins to walk away. My chains loudly clank against each other as I follow. I would easily be found if I tried to escape.

“I’m taking you to my study,” he tells me, having sensed my mental question. Kindly, he opens a door and holds it out for me. “No one will bother us there.”

I don’t know for what reason he would want such privacy, but I reckon it’s important enough that only I should hear. However, I can’t guess what news he could possibly tell me that I wouldn’t know already.

We reach a low door with a surface as plain as the surrounding walls. Using a key, he unlocks his study and pushes the door. It opens with a creak that wails along with my chains.

Inside, there is only a desk, a chair, and walls lined with shelves of books. Thick velvet curtains that carry the dust of the room in its heavy creases mask the windows. The floor is riddled with a million holes that mimic the pattern on his coat. He sits down, adjusts the tail of his coat, and folds is hands.

“I’m sorry I don’t have another chair.”

“It’s all right.”

“I rarely allow visitors in here.”

I scan the books. They, too, have dust settling into the crevices of their pages. “I can see that.”

The Capital leader briefly closes his eyes. When he opens them, it seems to reflect the bare sentiment in his mind. “I have something to tell you, Tao.”

This is my opportunity. “I do, as well. The Nights – “

“Do you know the history of the Nights?”

His question tests my knowledge of my own people. I respond confidently, “We’re a league of trained warriors.”

“You’re a band of mischievous rogues who kill to conquer,” he corrects. “But it wasn’t always like that. Years ago, they were mercenaries for hire. They were independent, and belonged to no one. In the past, the Capital itself had hired them for jobs our trained troops could not accomplish. Even in government affairs, there is law breaking.” He coughs. The dust that was floating in the air is shoved away. “They were silent travellers. Only those who could find them were allowed to offer them a job. Even then, they could always reject it. More often than not, they did just that.

“One day they were hired by a band of rebels. They were offered good money, and so they took the job. Their order was to find the Capital leader, and because he was a naïve young man who didn’t know how to lead, he was caught. Easily.” He coughs again. “At the time, the leader had his wife and son with him. The wife was killed during the attack. The leader and his son were captured. Nearly all of his guards were dead. The royal lineage could have ceased at that moment.

“But the Nights had a proposition. If the Capital leader wanted to be alive to govern the Capital, then the cost would be to give up his son to the Nights as ransom.” A bitter smile scars his lips. “He was afraid. That was the day the Capital leader turned into even more of a coward.”

“I don’t understand why you deem this story relevant to me,” I interrupt him.

“Clearly, you don’t.”

“The Nights are going to attack – “

“What is the name of your leader, Tao?”

I clear my throat. “I have no leader.”

“The leader of the Nights, Tao. What is his name?”

“Han.” I furrow my brows. “Why do you ask? The entire world knows his name.”

“Of course they do,” The Capital leader says. He matches my confused gaze with a relieved sigh. “His full name is Sui Han. Do you know that?”

I don’t, but Han doesn’t like talking about himself.

“He was the child the Nights stole from the Capital leader during that ambush many years ago.” He unclasps his hands, lays them on the table, curls his fingers. “And he’s my son.”