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Five grips the handle of her favourite knife that is always holstered in the leather strap she wears across her chest. Pulling it free, she studies it closely before finally speaking. “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
“Plato?” I ask, thrown a little by her response. It’s weighted and layered with meaning that I’m not in the frame of mind to pull apart right now. Especially not after everything that’s happened.Fuck love.
“No, Rumi.” She dips her head, tucking her knife back into it’s holster. It’s only then that I realise she was expecting my reaction to be one of anger, and that holding her knife in her hand guaranteed her safety.
She’s not stupid, but really there was no need to be cautious. Five has earned her place as a trusted member of our household. She’s invaluable to us and that’s why we haven’t already slit her throat for obeying Thirteen’s orders to revive Zero. Her role, as much as anything, is to protect the Numbers, and that’s what she did.
I can’t blame her for it.
“So you believe in the legend of The Weeping Tree, is that what you’re saying?” I ask her.
“I believe that there are many unexplainable things in this world that are beyond our comprehension. I also believe that truths can be twisted to suit another person’s goals.”
“Unexplainable things?” I shake my head. “We aren’t ruled by some invisible force. We are the masters of our own fate.”
“If I may talk freely?” Five questions.
I wave my hand. “Yes.”
“Do you believe evil exists?”
“You’re askingmethat question? There’s a fucking severed head nailed to the wall over there,” I say, pointing to the Baron’s head.
She nods. “I’m well aware. Please answer the question, do you believe evil exists?”
“I’ve seen the worst of what a human is capable of doing, experienced it myself. So, in answer to your question, yes, of course it exists.”
“And do you believe you are evil, that your brothers are?”
“We are our father’s sons. I don’t deny it.”
“This is true. Then let me ask you another question. Do you believe goodness exists?”
“It’s not something I’m very familiar with.”
“But you believe it exists.”
“I guess it must if the opposite is true,” I reply begrudgingly.
Five nods, folding her arms across her chest as she regards me. “Good and evil are social constructs. Dividing lines, if you will. They’re designed so that a human being can more easily comprehend what is right and what is wrong by a certain set of rules they’ve been exposed to or chosen to live by.
“Okay, but what has this got to do with The Weeping Tree, with unexplainable forces, with fuckingfate?”
“The Weeping Tree is a legend that’s personal to your family, is it not?”
“True.”
“And you believe that Marie’s kindness all those years ago started a chain of events that led to you and your brothers being the men you are today?”
“Yes, that’s common knowledge within the walls of the castle.”
“You believe that Marie’s kindness,” Five continues, “Hergoodness, eventually lead to a perpetual turn of events that has infected your family line for generations.”
“You make it sound like a disease.”
She sighs, but doesn’t deny it. “You believe that kindness, goodness is wrong, abhorrent.Youbelieve it’s a disease,” she repeats. “Why?”
“Because it is.”
