A Most Dangerous Weapon

Chapter 44: My Story

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

Marcus slaps my hand away. "I'm fine." He pushes off the crate to help himself stand. He stumbles a few times and blinks constantly, almost as if he was trying to refocus his blurry vision. My brother was never one to admit when he was impaired.

"Just sit down, Marcus."

"I can't. I have to go find Bailer."

He staggers forward towards the door.

"Arlo is waiting on the other side of that door. He'll knock you out again if you dare open it even a smidge." I warn him.

Marcus inadvertently places his hand on the back of his head once more. He winces has he remembers the pain.

"You're not getting your hands on Bailer, and you're not leaving this shed until the two of us lay everything out." I tell him as I grab him by the forearm, steadying his balance as he walks back to the crate. "It's been almost a year since you were kidnapped from Kent. Aside from our brief encounter in my honeymoon suite, I have no idea what you've been up to... not really. A few venomous words from a fake Princess and the silent ravings of our father's former Doctore are not enough to fully explain what you're doing here as a Galacian assassin."

He plops down with a thud, mumbling under his breath in frustration.

"And just because I've been in the public eye since I exposed myself in the Capital arena doesn't mean that you know what I've been up to. So I'm going to tell you my story, and then you're going to tell me yours. Deal?"

He doesn't seem ready to expose himself. After looking me up and down for some time, debating his next move, he finally leans back to relax as he basically orders, "You tell me your story, and then we'll see how I'm feeling about this tit-for-tat conversation."

"So if you don't like what I have to say, you're just going to shut down?!" I ask in disbelief. "You came to the palace to save me, but now you're just going to abandon me?"

"That all depends on which side you're on. I gave you the benefit of the doubt at first, but things changed when you refused to leave the palace when I came for you. So you tell me what you've been up to, and then I'll decide if your story is believable, let alone worth my forgiveness."

"You're being a stubborn asshole!" I bark, stomping my foot as my hands clench into fists.

He's unconcerned with my tone. "Tick tock, sister." He retorts mockingly.

I want to smack him for his attitude, but it wouldn't make this any easier. If I stood any chance of finding out what happened to my brother, I would have to defend my own actions and prove that I wasn't aligned with Maximus, as he assumed.

I begin, "The last time I saw you in Kent, you were yelling at me to go find Grams as you fought off a Galacian soldier..."

"Correct. So what happened next?"

"Grams was already dead by the time I got home." I admit, dropping my tone to express my condolences and apologies. I was afraid that he would blame me for her death, but he only cleared his throat uncomfortably, trying to supress his grief, as he waited for me to go on. He didn't want to dwell on Grams' death any longer than I did, so I obliged. "I got hurt during the raid so I was out of commission for a few days. When I was strong enough, I left Kent to find you. I figured my best chance was to disguise myself as a boy, and I stupidly used your name as my own for motivation."

He chuckles cruelly. "I bet you're regretting that choice now. Had you just remained as a girl-"

"I don't regret it." I state defiantly, finding more truth in the words than I expected to. I go on, "I thought I did once, but then I thought of the alternative. There's no telling what would have happened to me if I remained as a female. Maybe I would have been captured as a slave or whore by Galacian soldiers, and then I would have been brought to the same place as you. Or maybe it would have been easier to cross the border as a girl because I wouldn't be seen as a threat." I muse aloud before shaking my head in rejection. "But would I have been strong enough to rescue you if I ever found you? Would someone recognize me as the former fiancée to the Prince? What would happen if the Galacians got their hands on Augustus Calpurnius Galeo's twin children? You see, Marcus, I don't regret becoming a boy because it made me the girl I am today. I'm stronger, smarter, braver, and more remarkable than I would have ever been if I had made the more... let's call it, the more rational choice. And in the end, I was able to find you. So where's the harm in what I chose?"