Endings

"Look into his eyes," was the cold whisper. "See the fear."

"No!" the man chained to the wall cried. "No! Not him! He's just a boy!"

"He's not just a boy," was the mocking reply. "He's your boy."

"Don't! I'll do anything, anything! Just let him go!" The man in chains was desperate.

"Too late."

The sound of steel piercing soft flesh ripped through the dungeon. Then a gurgle, and the thud of a body falling limp to the ground.

"NO!" the man wailed, then collapsed against his chains, sobbing. "Curse you! Curse you to hell!" His tormentor only smiled mockingly. "Why me? Why us?" the man sobbed out.

His tormentor kneeled before him, then pulled off the hood he was wearing.
The man gasped and recoiled in shock.

"You know why, father." The grin on the executioner's face was evil as he raised his dagger.

The boy on the ground sat up, grinned, and wiped the fake blood from his face.

The dagger glinted as it came down.

And the curtains closed.

* * *

The crowd was still in shock as it exited the building into the moonlight.

"That was the worst ending I've ever seen," Wytcliffe complained. His companion, Rihan, frowned.

" Enigmatic, certainly. But why the worst?"

"Because it's inconclusive. You've no idea what happened in the end."

"Why do you say so? There were plenty of clues in the play about what happened in the end."

"Yes, but the clues pointed to five different endings! Five! Again, inconclusive!"

"But I think that's the point. We're supposed to decide for ourselves what the ending is."

"But that's so.... unsatisfying! There must be a pointer towards one of the endings that we overlooked."

"You think so? Well, let's run through it again, then. The play opened with the scene of Zelhar's birth. It was obviously a happy scene. Tara and Rolan were proud parents. Then they showed Tara's death, which Rolan blamed on Zelhar."

"Wait, remember the confrontation just before that? Between Tara and Rolan? It sort of implied that Rolan was cheating on Tara."

"Yeah, so maybe Rolan blamed both Zelhar and himself for Tara's suicide."

"And Zelhar blamed Rolan and hated him."

"Maybe, but anyway Rolan couldn't stand to live with Zelhar anymore, and exiled him."

"Remember the scene of Zelhar with the portrait of his father? Obviously he wanted revenge."

"But the conversation between Zelhar and the stranger implied that Zelhar understood and forgave his father."

"Possibly. But I still think Zelhar wanted revenge."

"Ah, we'll never know for sure. Anyway, Rolan married the other woman, Selia. Their marriage scene implied that Selia was his former mistress."

"Yeah, and also that Selia's son was his bastard child."

"Who loved him. Remember that scene of the Festival of Dreams?"

"Yes, but maybe that love was superficial. Remember the farmhouse scene?"

"I think that scene just showed that Caith didn't like Rolan's dominating personality."

"Or maybe it showed that Caith hated Rolan for taking away his mother's love and relagating him to a bastard's standing?"

"Could be. But anyway Selia's murder proved that something was amiss."

"How can you be so certain that Selia was murdered? Selia's conversation with Caith before that seemed to show that they knew what was coming."

"True. But did you notice that Rolan wasn't too aggrieved about Selia's death? Maybe Rolan murdered her himself."

"That's stretching it a bit."

"Maybe you're supposed to. But anyway Zelhar had a part in it."

"True. But what I don't understand is how he suddenly reappeared after it seemed so certain that he was killed. Rolan positively identified the body."

"Maybe Rolan was lying. Also, remember back early on, the comment that Zelhar looked a lot like Rolan's long-lost brother? Maybe it was Rolan's long-lost brother who was killed."

"Or maybe it was Zelhar who was killed, and Rolan's brother the one who came back to haunt him."

"Arggh! That's true! Man, this is so confusing!"

"It's supposed to be, I guess. Forces you to think a little. Recall how the play ends?"

"Rolan and Caith kidnapped, Caith supposedly murdered, Zelhar or someone who pretended to
be him revealed, then Caith wakes to see Rolan at the brink of getting murdered? That's doubly confusing."

"Quadruply. The way I see it, there are five possible explanations. Either Zelhar wanted revenge, teamed up with Caith, who was also angry, and murdered Rolan and Selia..."

"Or Caith, Selia and Zelhar played a big practical joke on Rolan to make him see the error of his ways...."

"Or Zelhar died, and his uncle, Rolan's brother, murdered Selia and Rolan for cheating on him, with the help of Caith, who was actually the child of Selia and Rolan's unnamed brother..."

"Or Rolan murdered Tara, Zelhar, and Selia, and Caith and his uncle, Rolan's brother, took revenge..."

"Or Zelhar used Caith, who thought it was just a big practical joke, to take revenge on Rolan and Selia."

"Haha, maybe. The last one's pretty far-fetched, though. I prefer the first explanation."

"I don't think it's that simple. I prefer the third."

"Well, to each his own...."

And thus the two friends continued arguing as they walked in the moonlight.