A Letter from James Dopis · Napoleon's Prison

Dear William,

To pen a letter that may never meet your gaze is a haunting endeavour. I find myself uncertain if these lines are meant for your eyes, or as a confession to soothe my own troubled conscience.

This is not the end we envisioned when we first took up the colours. We did not enlist for the sake of our own names, but for a cause that loomed larger than any one man. Bonaparte's designs are vast. If we cannot see the shape of them, it is only because we are but soldiers, and it is not our position to question the sun for its heat. We are born to obey.

But you, William... you have allowed your light to flicker and stray. I am loath to call you a 'traitor', yet I cannot remain a silent witness to your sedition. For the sake of the empire, and perhaps for the sake of your soul, I must see you brought before the emperor's justice. Let him be the arbiter of your fate.

I pray that, in some more honourable time, we might stand shoulder to shoulder once more, in a world where the line between friend and foe is not so tragically blurred.

Your humble servant and friend,

James Stewart