Empires of Ashes Reboot

Mordred nods “How long were you a fighter then?”

Ket: "Because you were vulnerable. In that armour, with a blade like that." He gestures at her, then her sword.* "You're unstoppable. But without it, chained down. Thats how everyone else feels, facing you. Helpless."

Hakon: "I did not count the days. I did not count the fights... Nor did i count scars, or kills. Men who do that go mad, down there in the dark."

Mordred once again nods “I see...”

she looks down at the sword, silently

Hakon: "I don't think you do. You fight for glory."

Ket looks at her, waiting for her to look up again.

she reaches up, removing her helm

Ket puts a hand on hers as she reaches up to it. "Not out here. Neither of us do that."

"You hide your face because of your ways....I do because I wish to."

"You hide it because it is your strength. A wise man once said, it is easy to be brave behind a wall. A mask is much the same."

"No. It is not my strength. I am uncomfortable without it"

He takes his hand away. "Comfort and strength, go hand with hand."

Mordred: “Glory, prestige, and duty. Whereas you fought to survive”

"what kind of strength hides its true self? How is that strong? It's but a shell. A masquerade. An act. The truth is weak."

Ket: "Maybe... Only the mask is a warrior. Because the truth is too weak to kill."

Hakon: "Yes... But so did they."

*she takes the helmet off*
"Am I too weak to kill like this?"

Ket: "Too weak to kill without regret. Kill a man, eye to eye. And you never forget it."

"I dont forget with the mask on"

Ket: "I try to forget."

"I cant. I remember them all."

Mordred: “Then you were stronger......”

Ket: "I said try."

Hakon: "Yes... yes i was." He walks back over to his pile of armour.

"...hm."

Mord: “Thank you...I have far more to learn than I realised”

Ket: "But some day... I intend to stop killing."

Hakon doesn't reply, simply starting to replace his armour.

"...how long ago was it? Your first."

Ket: "The first i saw, or the first i caused?"

"First you caused"

Ket: "I was eleven. My uncle sent a man to kill me, i heard him come into my tent, i slept with a knife after... well. I stabbed him in the back as he tied the tent door."

"Mine was five hundred and thirty three years, four months, two weeks and five days ago. Cymrai soldier. Couldn't have been more than fifteen. The cymrai were getting desperate then, recruiting anyone who could hold a weapon to hold the empire back. He dropped his shield from the formation. It was too heavy for the boy. I ran him through as he scrambled to pick it up, with this sword. Right to the hilt. I still remember his face. The terror in his eyes."

Kets jaw works for words, but none are forthcoming.

she looks at him
"Something wrong?"

"...I... No... wha... that..." He starts, over and over, trying to make the words fit in his mind.

"...prince?"

"...Fi...Five hundred... thirty three?"

"...yes"

"but... but thats....Thats impossible...." He smiles beneath the veil, then speaks like he's about to burst out laughing. "Okay clavae... you got me.... Very good... very good."

"....I am five hundred and fifty two years years and one day old.... yesterday was my birthday"

Ket stands up from kneeling, and looks left and right, as if there is some joke he's not privy to. "Bu.. no.... wha..."

she looks at him, dead serious

"You can't be... no thats not... no... no."

"It is the...changes we go through. We stop ageing at twenty."

"You are... actually... immortal?"

"I don't know. I've never known one of us to die outside of battle."

"...But... thats... thats insane. How... how are you still... how can you keep going?"

"...in body or in mind?"

"mind...? It's... I can't... Couldn't."

"...you are right. It is...hard. When I am fighting, or maintaining my equipment, or with the consul, I am fine...but when I am not...I remember things...things I do not want to remember."

"It is the nature of soldiering... In such positions as we are."

"mm.... it is too long between fights"

Mord: “Should you grow bored, our arena is always open should you want to fight”

Hakon: "Still much to learn..." He kneels down, covering his head, hunched again, and replaces his helmet.

Ket: "Fighting is what you remember, yes? How will more killing help?"