Angelo's POV
It's cold. That's one feeling that I've come to associate with prison cells, the cold and the eerie silence. The bars seem worn out and yet so clean, the thousands of hands that had felt them, pleading their innocence yet still end up dying at the end. The surprisingly large window at the end of the wall was barless, showing a 100 feet drop into a rocky, shark infested ocean.
The Thaynians must think their actions clever, having freedom so close yet so far. This line of work has taken me to a lot of countries and into a lot of prison cells. In the city of Aeria, to the west, death row convicts are drugged and have the key to their cells surgically implanted in their stomach, they are then put in jail and locked then told they have a week to escape. If they can bring out the key they'll walk out a free man. Now that was a city with a sense for imagination and cruelty.
I stood up and took a look outside the cell, two guards lounged around looking back at him. I could simply break out, yes... I could break out and run to the East, where people are more sensible. Where civilians aren't put in jail because of simple lies. Normally I don't think much of lies because I have lived with them throughout my life. To me the concept of lies and truth are irrelevant, for they are one and the same. In every lie there's a truth and in every truth there's a lie. Sadly as I just recently realized I can't convert everyone. I heard the sound of feet approaching the gate and I knew my time had come.
Michael POV
Being head of the Thaylen church means I've seen my fair share of unbelievers, heretics and straight up mad men although I haven't seen anything like this. He dresses and talks like a priest but he doesn't seem to have anything he considers holy. I've checked the archives and there isn't anything relating to the things he preaches about anyways.
How can there be anything like the truth in lies? Such idiocy, at least that's what my religious mind says.
My intellectual mind on the other hand, though I won't say it agrees with his concept it does at least sympathize with it.
Sometimes the lies can be the truth and the truth can be a lie, but if you ask "what is a truth?"
All you'll hear are lies..
Such words from a child would earn him a sound beating, from a man he would be rewarded with the gallows.
I reached his prison cell and I saw him standing so tall as though his future didn't scare him. Was that confidence a truth or a lie? With the guards around me I can't trust my intellectual mind to talk lest I reveal what I'm thinking and be in a cell of my own.
With my religious mind came a great sense of disgust looking at such a person, a person who doesn't only believe there is no such thing as truth but has the liver to proclaim it on the streets. I decided that at least he needs to be greeted for his confidence.
"A great day to die, isn't it heretic?" I began with the most leering voice I had.
He regarded me and smiled "What is a heretic?" he asked.
"Someone who doesn't believe in god." I answered back. He stopped for a moment and replied "You mean someone who doesn't believe in your god." "Well of course, for my god is truth." He then smiled and asked "What if your god isn't real then?. Who'll be the heretic?"
I was stunned, the guards shivered and quickly did a warding sign of crossing their hands and marching 3 times. My intellectual mind was ticking at what he said, what if my god isn't real, am I the heretic? Then all the things I've done in the name of religion.
My religious mind shunned such thoughts, my god has to be real, he said, he is after all the truth. I had to reply to the convict cause it seemed everyone was looking at me expectantly.
"I commend you on your confidence in facing your death-" "Oh I won't die today" he interrupted me. " Actually I'm sure I would live much longer than you. The name of Angelo would last as long as truth itself". He seemed out of breath,"Let's go." I'll see how far your truth would go.
Angelo's POV
I guess I'm not getting out of this one, I concluded in my mind. As always for this kind of offense the court is an open one, the general public can watch as I am ridiculed for my beliefs. Then after a fake and atrocious trial, I'll be dragged and executed. He looked at the Jury, all of them stone faced except for the blonde man that picked him up from prison earlier, he seemed to be contemplating something.
"Sir Angelo, Sir Angelo....., Sir Angelo!!!" I came out of my thoughts. I looked at the woman reading my 'crimes'. I didn't hear a word of what she said though. The judge rapped his staff on the floor and asked "How do you plead?" I straightened myself and rehearsed my lines.
It's showtime " Of course I'm not guilty" Everybody gasped, they expected me to beg for mercy like they've seen so much before. The judge eying me suspiciously asked "Why claim innocent, even with all the evidence piled against you?"
I looked around and all eyes were on me, even those of the blonde jury.
I realized this is the best time to drop the bomb."I claim innocence based on the fact that this entire court session is a lie." The reaction I got was just what I hoped for, the gasps and murmurs were deafening. The judge lost his composure. "What do you mean it's a lie" the judge screamed. I smiled "Well it's clearly a lie because of the history. Let me ask the people, of all the cases you've witnessed, how many of the supposed culprits have been proven innocent."
The faces were blank, no voices were heard.
"There were none proven innocent, because they were all guilty!" The judge screamed. "They were all guilty, but none is as guilty as you. The trial is officially over, I sentence you to death by hanging." He hit his staff and turned away, that sealed both mine and his faith.
Michael's POV
How could he do something like that? The crowd was speechless, it seemed even the pagan was shocked. Although his shock slowly turned to more determination.
He riled up the crowd again. Saying different things, things that sounded like both a truth and a lie at the same time.
Guards came to rush him out, and the crowd's patience just broke at that point.
They were standing up from their seats, chanting "Lies Lies Lies!!", it was total chaos.
The pagan was taken to his cell, where he would stay till his dying rope was ready, so I decided to go visit him.
At the cell, he was just lying down staring into space with an off smile on his face. "Can't a lowly pagan spend his last moments in peace?" He asked me
"Why did you pull such a stunt? What were you hoping to achieve?" I asked
"Nothing actually", he replied "I already knew my fate was sealed. You didn't actually think I had a chance of freedom, did you?"
I kept silent, he sat up and looked at me.
"Wait, so you thought by some miracle, your people would have let me go. You poor unfortunate soul." He shook his head "Your lies have become your truth."
The guards came to carry him off for his hanging. "Remember what I told you earlier on.. about how My name would be forever. Listen to it now..." In the distance I could hear the crowd roaring. As I looked through the window, I saw them.
Millions of people all gathered outside, this amount has never gathered before.
It seemed that every man, woman and child had come to witness if this man would be hanged.
"You know one thing that is always true? Death."
I watched him go down to the platform, I watched as he put his head through the noose. I watched as he told the crowd his name, screaming "My name is Angelooo-", it was cut off as the trapdoor opened under him.
He died instantly, the rope cut his gullet and broke his neck. I watched the crowd boo, the church and I watched as some violent ones even broke the windows with stones.
I watched all these things happen when I was 35 and now at 87, I'm reading it. It was published in a book which became a bestseller. "The Lie of Angelo''.
In the end I smiled at how the one sentence I believed most to be a lie turned out to be true. His name has been immortalized.
