Excerpt: The General's Secret

“You’re trying to get me on side,” Arkin accused me. “Do you think I will forget that I’m enslaved in my own city, or that you’ve kidnapped my king and taken my lands, even if only temporarily? Or, which is more important, that you work for a being who is an offense to the gods?”
“You mean King Blaze?” I asked stonily.
“Yes. I do. You must know that immortals are agents of Sune, the god of lies!”
“Your religion is very different from mine,” I replied, trying to remain civil. “I am aware of the Rethsunian view of immortals, as is my king, but I have seen no truth in it.”
“That is because their lies are clever. They make it sound like the truth, but all of the time they worship Sune and Sune alone. There is a place for both truth and lies, but immortals worship Sune as if he had no brother. They ignore the balace the Twins represent!”
Arkin’s zeal for the topic riled me. “If you believe that,” I snapped back, “Then you clearly have no idea of what immortality entails.”
“What your king has told you is lies,” Arkin insisted.
I shook my head angrily. “Rethsunianism, as a religion, is only a few centuries old. King Blaze is over fourteen centuries old. Other immortals are much older. Thousands of years old, even. Your whole argument is flawed.”
“And who told you that?” Arkin demanded smugly. “Your king, an immortal. He was lying. How can we, as mortals, possibly know how long an immortal has lived, or how long people have worshipped Reth and Sune?”
“Your logic is flawed. You’re using the assumption that immortals are agents of Sune to prove they are liars, and vice versa. There is no root to it.”
“This knowledge is ancient, and has been passed down from Kalbad himself, the mortal son of Reth.” In his fervour, Arkin’s voice seemed to rise in pitch. He looked smug and superior, and I knew I would be able to think of no argument which he would not be able to counter with the accusation that “King Blaze” was lying.
“You seem an honourable man,” Arkin continued, more calmly now. “But you follow a liar. You fight wars at his instruction which he may claim are for one purpose, but are really to further his own power and control. He may claim he opposes slavery, or supports one thing or another, but do not be persuaded by his lies that he is an honourable as you are.”
“You will not talk me into betraying my king,” was all I could think of to end the conversation. “Do not bring this up again.”
“Why not?” Arkin asked. “Are you afraid I’m right?”
“No,” I replied. “Merely disturbed by the huge error in your beliefs. Trust me when I say this, but about immortals, you are wrong.”