What Happened to Bilge

　　According to his death certificate, Bilgewill Porter was executed by hanging on the twenty-sixth day of the first month of the one-hundred-and-thirty-first year of the Recrudescence, the twelfth year of the First King Benewick`s reign. The certificate was signed by the King of Iridan himself, as it was for all enemies of the Kingdom, and a clerical error indicated the cause of death to be "treason" as a consequence of "execution by hanging". Only the file clerk on duty the day the certificate was signed noticed, and it gave him a much-needed chuckle.

　　The official reports indicated that Bilge had aided the enemy the night of the attack on the Nellywing Opera House by Du閚 guerilla forces, though the details were scant. According to the report, "necessary deployment of coercive persuasion" upon the (alleged) traitor yielded no information that furthered the Guard`s investigation. So, after weeks of legally sanctioned torture, the report finally made it to the Brigadier of the Guard - or to his desk, at least - whereupon it was probably read by the Brigadier (or maybe his assistant) who authorized the execution with a check mark in a box and a squiggly, illegible signature.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

　　Few members of the Guard would remember the hanging. It was all rather low-profile, which was odd, considering the nature of the accusations against him, but people were still distracted by the Black Widow and sightings (or rumors of sightings) of actual Du閚. Perhaps if they had known that Bilge was formerly a member of the Guard, it would have provoked a greater ruckus, but those records had long been scrubbed and incinerated, leaving no trace of his old life for anyone to remark upon. He had been laying low for long enough that most of the military had rotated out, and few of his comrades in arms remained in the system. The ones who did were likely promoted and dealing with papers on their own desks, and on paper, Bilge bore no resemblance to the man who lived in his body before him.

　　And thus ended the story of Bilgewill Porter, who left behind no legacy to speak of, succeeded only by his reputation as a liar, a cheat and an opportunist. Iridan would never know of his heroic sacrifice at the opera, just like they`d never know who really saved those dozens of lives from the fire and artillery. All credit for that went to the Guard. Bilge faded into obscurity, remembered fondly by nobody except the two elves on Arbiter`s way, the only people who truly counted him as a friend, and not just a contact, a customer, or an accomplice. But at least he had that, he thought to himself one lazy afternoon as he procrastinated on washing the dishes. It was more than he could say of his last identity, anyway. It seemed to be a sign of personal growth, a phenomenon with which he was not well acquainted, but he found he actually rather enjoyed. Maybe there was hope for him yet. Only time would tell.