Shortly after the episode with the nymph, Jyri became dead-set on finding some sort of water source. They'd wandered aimlessly for what felt like miles.
"There's got to at least be a river somewhere," Jyri said.
Faye winced, stopping to rub at her sore leg. "Can we just give up on it?"
"No! I've never been this filthy in my life. If I don't get clean soon, I'll go insane."
To be fair, Jyri did look dirtier than Faye had ever seen him. His hair was greasy, and matted, now that he no longer had a hair brush. The clothes he wore were covered in dirt and sweat stains. Of course, Faye looked no better, and wouldn't say no to bathing as well. "If we had followed Nephele, we could have-"
Jyri pointed his finger at her. "Don't you ever bring her up again! We'll find something. This forest is huge."
Ran voiced agreement about the forest being huge as they continued walking. "It reminds me of all the times we went camping. With Torf. I miss it."
"As do I," Jyri said, picking at the dirt underneath his nails. "I also miss showers."
Camping. Faye remembered Jyri telling her about how he used to go camping. That must've been when he brought up Torf. Yes, she was surprised that someone like Jyri would willingly go camping. Especially given how much he complained about being dirty.
"Before you make a smart comment about me enjoying camping but currently complaining about being dirty, I will have you know that I only spent a couple days in the dirt instead of weeks."
"Good to know, rich boy." The memory of that day at the lake came back to her, where they had rested after escaping from the Arlua. And she somehow managed to successfully get Jyri to talk about himself. Which led to a conversation about an old friend. An elf friend. Faye rubbed at her jawline. "I remember you telling me about how you enjoyed camping, and that must've been when you mentioned Torf."
Jyri nodded. "Makes sense."
"Didn't you say..." Faye swallowed, and looked at Ran. Ran had his attention on her. Jyri must've had his reasons for lying. As always.
Jyri stopped walking, as did Ran and Faye, and gave her a nervous look. "What did I say?"
"Yeah," Ran chimed in. "What did he say?" He raised an eyebrow at Jyri.
Faye opened her mouth, then closed it. She grabbed Jyri's hand, and pulled him away so they were out of earshot from Ran. Ran took a few steps forward, but Jyri shook his head at him. He turned his head back to Faye questioningly.
"I'm not the least bit surprised," Faye said, "but I would like to know why you are lying to your brother about Torf."
Jyri snorted. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Like how you have no idea what happened to Torf, when you told me he died after getting caught by Lyon. Or was it me you were lying to?"
"I told you that much?" Jyri closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead. "I don't want to discuss it with you. Ran doesn't need to know what happened." He made a move to walk away, but Faye grabbed at his arm before he could.
"I think he deserves to know."
"It would break his heart. He was in love with him."
"Which is why he should know."
"The truth of what happened would kill him," Jyri said. Something in his voice cracked. "He'd... kill me. Odis, what have I done?"
Faye watched him sink to his knees, grabbing at his hair in a dramatic fashion. And found herself wanting to kill him for being so difficult all the time. It made her wonder why she even bothered to meddle in the affairs of the two brothers. No, she should drop it. But watching Jyri wipe away tears sparked curiosity. What had he done?
"What's wrong?" Ran had appeared at her side with a scowl on his face. "What did you do to him?"
"I didn't do anything," Faye said, but Ran was already squatting down, comforting Jyri.
"Ran, I should..." Jyri glanced at Faye before continuing. "I need to tell you something that you're not going to like. You should sit down for this."
Giving Jyri a curious frown, Ran took a seat cross-legged on the dirt next to him. And Faye sat on his other side, making a circle between the three.
"It's about Torf," Jyri said.
Ran focused his attention on the ground. "He's dead, isn't he?" Jyri nodded, and Ran wrapped his arms around his knees, pulling them up to his chest.
The three sat in complete silence for several moments. Ran studied the ground while Jyri studied Ran. Faye shifted awkwardly, wondering if she should get up and leave the two alone to mourn. Off in the distance, a bird chirped.
Ran rubbed his eye, and looked up at Jyri. "How'd it happen?"
"I don't know, exactly how to tell you this." Jyri rubbed the back of his neck, attention focused on the tree next to him. "He got captured by King Lyon, and was... assigned to someone."
Ran rested his chin on his knees, eyes closed tight. "Who was he assigned to?"
Jyri, of course, did not answer. A sinking suspicion hit Faye. One that would explain a lot. And Ran must've had the same feeling.
"Please," Ran said, "please tell me it wasn't you who experimented on him."
"Nobody experimented on him. I made sure of that."
"Then how did he die?" Ran asked.
"Painlessly. Now, let's get moving." Jyri made a move to stand up, but Faye yanked his sleeve, pulling him back down.
"Lie to me all you want, but he's your brother. Tell him the full story!"
"Yeah," Ran said. "Tell me the full story!"
"Do you really want to know?" Jyri asked, sounding slightly miffed.
"Not knowing has been bothering me a lot," Ran said. "Ever since he left, I've wondered about him."
"You're not going to like this."
"I didn't expect to," Ran said, but Jyri ignored his remark with a sniffle, and continued on.
"The things Lyon wanted me to do... He... I couldn't. I couldn't do it. I'd rather he have died, than to put him through such torment."
Ran met Jyri's eyes with a stony expression.
"Torf agreed," Jyri said hastily, setting his hand over Ran's. "I swear, he did. We both knew it was the only way."
"Wait... You killed him?" Ran's voice wavered as he pulled his hand away. "On purpose?"
"What do you think King Lyon would have done if I refused to experiment on him? He would've given him to someone else, and punish me for going against his orders."
"And killing him didn't!"
"It spared him the pain-"
"YOU MURDERED HIM!" Ran shouted, getting to his feet.
Jyri did the same, throwing up his hands. "He would've died anyway!"
"You could have helped him escape!"
"Escape in that place is impossible!" Jyri shouted, gesturing wildly. "His death was going to be an accident. I was able to excuse myself while King Lyon was occupied with inspecting the body. I was gone before he could realize what I had done. None of that could have happened if Torf was alive. There's guards at every corner. They wouldn't let me wander the corridors freely with an elf at my side."
Ran crossed his arms, glaring at him. "You could've pretended you needed to take him somewhere-"
"Not all the way out the front door. The guards would've called for Lyon, and there's too many of them to fight off. And it wasn't like a carried weapons on me. Even so, they wear all that protective armor."
"But-"
"It was his idea. We had a thorough discussion about other options, and we both agreed attempting escape was too big a risk. His death was painless. All I did was inject a potion. It was like going to sleep." Jyri gave him a wistful smile. "He thought of you, before he died. He said he missed you."
Ran sat back down. And then, burst into tears. Jyri sat down next to him, patting his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Finally, all of Faye's questions had been answered. Everything clicked into place, and she understood why he had been so secretive. Assuming he was finally being truthful, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Having to walk around knowing he killed his best friend had to have been horrible, even if it was for noble purposes. As she watched Jyri continue to comfort Ran, a memory surfaced. That Dr. Kirksen had killed an elf, but Lyon didn't seem to care. He said their elf supply was unlimited. "Why would Lyon care so much if you killed an elf?"
"Because Torf liked men, in that way," Jyri said. "It made him rare. King Lyon was curious to know if it could be changed."
A loud sob came from Ran at those words. Faye felt a sudden sickness in her stomach, like she needed to vomit.
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