[Author’s Note: We've returned to Daryl and Karkov, right after the events of episode 58.]
“So, I guess you did find Rin after all,” Karkov began. “I won’t ask how, but I am impressed with your tenacity. Most people can’t find her even once, let alone twice. Of course, it could be argued that only an idiot would try. And I suppose now you’re here to kill me?”
“It would seem not,” Daryl observed.
Karkov failed to suppress a laugh. “I admire a man who accepts his circumstances.” He lit a cigarette and thought for a few moments before speaking.
“You probably don’t think I’m a very nice man.”
Daryl shook his head. “I know what you did to Rin. Why did you pretend to be the victim?”
“I think that’s a bit unfair.” Karkov politely exhaled smoke to the side. “I never claimed to be a victim. I simply neglected to correct your misconception. Remember who told you that story in the first place. If she wanted you to think that, it wasn’t my place to undermine her.”
“Undermine her? You imprisoned her.”
“Buried her alive, actually.”
“You buried her alive?” Daryl gasped.
“Well, I had to. She couldn’t die.” Karkov seemed puzzled by Daryl’s sudden anger. “Besides, I don’t see why it’s any concern of yours. That was a private matter between a man and his wife. It’s best not to get involved in domestic quarrels.”
Something about Karkov’s sanctimony infuriated Daryl. The man had been so much more likable last time. Of course, last time they weren’t enemies. Nonetheless he felt wronged, even if he could not precisely say why. He was unsure which frustrated him more: his situation or his inability to legitimately fault his captor.
“I trusted you,” was the best Daryl could muster.
Karkov shrugged and ashed out his cigarette on the table. “The timeless plaint of fools.”
He looked at Daryl, took a knife out of his pocket and slid it toward him. “Here. Feel free to hit me, stab me, whatever you like, if it will make you feel better. Believe me, it can be quite cathartic. Just … mind the suit.” He bent his head back, exposing his neck for the blade.
Instead, Daryl just slumped back in his chair.
“No?” Karkov raised an eyebrow, retrieved the knife, and delicately folded the blade before replacing it in his pocket.
“You may think I’m your enemy, but I’m not. For one thing, you came here with Rin to kill me. That’s not exactly friendly. An enemy would not have responded so gently. Yet here you are.”
“In a torture chamber,” Daryl noted.
“I don’t see any torture. Just two old friends talking.”
Daryl scowled. “I’m not your friend.”
“But I am yours, and I’m going to prove it. You see Darrouil, you can choose whom you are friends with but not who is friends with you.” Karkov stood to leave.
“What is going to happen to me?”
Karkov turned. “That is up to you.”
“I won’t betray Rin.”
“Oh I never would ask you to betray her. You can’t betray her. She’s too busy betraying herself. And you. She will betray you too. No, you simply must choose whether to allow Rin to kill you or not. That is, after all, why you are here.” He smiled at Daryl’s stunned silence.
“I see. You didn’t know. Well, we’ll chat more when I return.” Karkov donned his hat and banged on the door, but just as a guard opened it he stopped and waved the man away.
Returning to his seat, Karkov removed the hat and scrutinized Daryl more closely. “No, you deserve a better explanation than that. I owe it to you, never mind why. Do you know what Rin intends to do with you, once this little matter is concluded?”
“I expect she will kill me,” Daryl replied calmly.
“Don’t toy with me, boy,” Karkov snapped, and for an instant Daryl was afraid. The man acted so even-tempered and genteel that a flash of anger was more sobering than a punch. A moment later, Karkov had returned to his previous calm.
“I’m sorry, Darrouil. I forget that you have been manipulated and are confused. Are you parroting my words? Are you saying this just because it is what you think your captor wishes to hear?”
Daryl nodded, and Karkov smiled. “Very good. I understand the instinct to do that, and I respect your attempt to humor me. But this is important. Let us pretend we are not enemies and that I know something about the woman you love. You love her, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” Daryl admitted with a candor which surprised even himself.
Karkov laughed lightly. “You are an odd fellow. You do know that I’m her husband? It’s not the sort of thing a man should freely confess to a husband, I imagine.”
“You were her husband,” Daryl corrected.
“One does not stop being married just because some time has passed. We had different vows back then. Ours were more … permanent. I don’t believe in all that nonsense, of course. But, gods or no, Rin and I always will be married. Nothing can sever that bond.”
“Burying her can.”
Karkov chuckled. “You sound just like her. Are you sure we’re not married, you and I?” He leaned in with a lecherous smirk. “In such a long life, I’ve tried everything.” He sat back and lit another cigarette. “No, it would turn the stomach.”
Realizing his rudeness, Karkov clarified. “Not that you’re unattractive. Rin has excellent taste. It just would feel too much like being with myself.”
Daryl didn’t understand, but Karkov made no effort to elaborate. Instead, he returned to his original line of questioning.
“You love Rin, but does she love you?”
Daryl shrugged. “I don’t think she loves anyone.”
“That is both cruel and untrue,” Karkov rebuked, rather sharply. “And it’s ungrateful. She has done a lot for you. There is no reason to be ungrateful just because she intends to kill you.”
Daryl was silent.
“Do you disagree?” Karkov demanded, staring at him with something which easily could be taken for hostility.
In response, Daryl shook his head.
“Good. So, I’ll ask again, does she love you?”
Daryl shrugged. “I doubt it, but I don’t know her well enough to be sure. And yes, I know she intends to kill me. Or at least I suspected she would eventually.”
“The important question is why. I’m sure you can imagine many reasons, and there are others which you probably think would appease me,” Karkov noted quietly. “It is important that you actually believe what you are saying, and that what you believe is right. So I ask you: why will she kill you?”
“Because I want to kill her. I told her so up front.”
Karkov snapped his fingers. “Nope, that’s not it. She’ll be happy to give you as many tries as you wish. You can’t, you know. She probably never told you, or maybe she told you and you didn’t want to hear it. You can’t kill her or encumber her or even make her feel pain.”
“She felt pain before. I saw it when she killed Sree.”
A very ugly expression flickered on Karkov’s face but quickly passed. “Are you sure you heard her say that? She killed Sree? It wasn’t some other name? Maybe she just was talking about doing it.”
Daryl shook his head. “I was there.”
Karkov’s eyes were fierce. “You helped her?”
“No. Sree helped me find Rin. I wanted to save her, but Rin struck without warning. I was very angry. I really liked Sree. She was different.”
“That’s putting it mildly. She was the only one of us who did not deserve to die. So Rin’s that far gone and really doesn’t care. She even killed her own damned sister.” Karkov’s face had changed, and he seemed to be reconsidering.
“Sister?” Daryl’s voice strained in confusion, but Karkov was lost in thought and it was some time before he even registered the question. Then he simply stared at Daryl, unblinking, for a few seconds before replying. “That horrible creature. She didn’t tell you that? Not even after she made you an accomplice?”
Daryl still didn’t fully understand what Karkov was talking about, but the man’s rising indignation troubled him. He wasn’t sure why he needed to speak for Rin, but he felt he must.
With a shrug, he attempted as dispassionate a response as he could muster. “Isn’t that what Rin does?”
Karkov contemptuously turned on him. “Is this how you were ‘very angry?’ You led Sree to her death and were ‘very angry.’ How noble of you. Not angry enough to stop Rin, not even angry enough to leave her, just ‘angry’ like some petulant, self-serving coward. Then, after your moment of self-indulgent resentment, you immediately leashed yourself and offered to help her kill someone else. A man who only has helped you.”
Acutely aware of his danger, Daryl hastened to explain himself. More than that, he felt a reinforced urge to defend Rin. Perhaps Karkov had many reasons to hate her, but this would not be one of them.
“Rin did not want to do it — that much I could tell. I’d never seen her hurt before. I love Rin, and that means loving her even when I don’t understand her.”
Karkov’s anger passed, and his voice softened. “Yes, I suppose that is what it means to love her. I do understand her and I still love her, so I’m the greater fool. It won’t do for the greater fool to blame the lesser one, especially when the lesser one is but a pup.”
Daryl didn’t relish being referred to as a pup by yet another immortal but breathed a sigh of relief at the change in tone.
Seeing this, Karkov smiled sympathetically. “Your fear wasn’t misplaced. I would have killed you. Slowly. And I would have done it myself. But I see you were not to blame. With that damned woman, you are as much a victim as anybody else.”
He relaxed back into the chair with a languid air, and returned to his original train of thought. “As for you, she wouldn’t kill you just because you wish to kill her. In fact, that’s probably part of why she hasn’t killed you yet.”
“Then why?”
“As they say these days … it’s complicated.”
“But she does want to kill me?” Daryl asked.
Karkov shook his head. “No. She does not want to kill you. But she will.”
“And you?”
“I don’t want to kill you, and I won’t.” Karkov thought for a second. “Probably.”
“No, I mean what does she want with you?”
“She does want to kill me, but won’t.” He considered this. “Or can’t. Maybe can’t. I’m not sure. In the end, it’s the same. All that matters is what actually happens. ‘Can, but doesn’t’ ultimately is no different from ‘can’t.’”
“Is it?” Daryl wondered aloud. “I imagine the two feel quite different, especially for an immortal. You can directly experience ‘does’ and ‘can’t’, but ‘doesn’t’ only can be experienced through the persistent absence of ‘does’. It seems like this would be far more burdensome, because you constantly must resist action.”
The perspicacity of Daryl’s response clearly caught Karkov off guard, and he just stared at him before suddenly bursting into laughter. “Well, aren’t you full of surprises. Yes, I suppose you are right. Or would be. Except that I’m not the kind to worry.” He stood and gestured at Daryl. “And neither are you, it seems.”
Karkov put his hat back on. “Thank you. You told me quite a bit. There is one thing that does bother me, though. Why is Rin trying to kill us? Not me or you, but the rest of us.”
Even now, Daryl felt he had no clear understanding of this. But he hesitated to share even Rin’s vague explanation with Karkov. Perhaps there had been more meaning in those words than he realized, a meaning which more astute minds or those better versed in such things could glean.
Daryl was still pondering how to reply when, to his relief, Karkov put up a hand. “No, don’t tell me. If I want to know, I should ask her myself.”
“You’re going to meet her — even knowing she’s trying to kill you? Why?”
“I thought that was obvious. I’m going to save your life.”
“You’ll let me go?” Daryl remained doubtful, but allowed himself a sliver of hope.
Karkov examined him. “Not right now. That wouldn’t save your life at all. You love Rin and believe that I am lying. If we continued chatting, you’d just keep humoring me. I could torture you, I suppose. But what good would that do? I don’t need anything from you.”
“Then why am I here?”
“Well, that is the question, isn’t it? Did you even bother to wonder about it? You don’t need me to prove anything to you; it’s right in front of you. What use could you possibly be to Rin?”
Daryl was about to respond, but Karkov waved impatiently. “I’m sure she had some grand plan and it made sense at the time. Or maybe it didn’t. Surely, you were of no use to her on these missions. She never needed an assistant before, so you should be flattered. But that was different. From what you described, she never truly put you in harm’s way. But splitting up when facing me is nothing short of irresponsible. She hoped that I’d spare her an unpleasant duty.”
He smiled at Daryl. “And you know what? I will.”
“So you are going to kill me, after all.” Daryl tried to put on a brave face. He couldn’t help but feel he was letting Rin down. Even if what Karkov said were true, which he doubted.
Karkov grinned. “On the contrary. As I said, I’m going to save you. I never said from whom.”