A Most Dangerous Weapon

Chapter 47: Sail Away

My feet begin to stomp forward without my permission. He spots me instantly. Sensing something in my stride and demeanour, he grabs a sword from a fallen soldier and holds it at the ready.

I stop a few feet away from him.

The words come tumbling out... "I thought you were on my side! I trusted you! How could you do this to me?!"

"I am on your side... I've always been on your side."

"This isn't how it was supposed to end. We had a plan! Why would you do this?! What point were you trying to make?!"

His voice is commanding, despite his shaking hands. "Revenge is a tricky thing, Candra. You should know that better than anyone."

"I never should have brought you along. I should have known that you would let your own selfish desire for revenge get in the way."

"Don't say that-"

"It's my fault, I suppose... I should have forced you out. I don't know why I gave you this chance..."

"You're jumping to conclusions."

"Tell me you didn't do it."

"I'm surprised you would even ask me that."

"That's not an answer."

"We're all just monsters hunting other monsters. I am no exception, and neither are you. It's hard to decide who is meant to win."

"I refuse to accept that."

"I tried to warn you, Candra. As much as we both wanted this, you knew that there would be a heavy price to pay."

"I was prepared for losses, but not like this..."

"I gave you an opportunity to change things. I wanted you to see things my way for once. I wanted you to follow my lead."

"I told you that I couldn't do that. You and I..."

He frowns at me with tired eyes, "You really think I did it, don't you?"

"You were supposed to let me go. You promised me that you wouldn't hold on! I thought we moved past this?!" I'm enraged by how unaffected he seems to be.

"After a lifetime of revenge and justice, blurring the lines to kill when you think it's right, you don't get over it... you get used to it."

"That's what I was afraid of."

He clutches the crown tighter in his left hand as he raises the sword a little higher in his shaking right hand.

I raise my own sword in preparation for the upcoming slaughter. "Tell me you didn't do it..." I repeat venomously.

"Do what you have to, Candra. We both knew this day was coming."

"I'll kill you..."

He sighs, "Shall we begin?"

~*~*~*~

My eyes shot open from the nightmare. I was looking up into the starry night sky, lying flat on my back as the floor gently rocked me back and forth. The full moon danced from left to right amongst the stars as my head swayed. I began to feel sick from the motion, but I still couldn't take my eyes off it. I was afraid that looking away would break my concentration as I replayed the development in the nightmare.

This new knowledge, combined with my suspicion that I was currently on a small vessel on the water, led me to the identification of my kidnapper before I even saw him.

I wasn't tied up or confined. I pushed myself up to brace my weight on my elbows. I was lying on the deck of a small boat, similar to the one Marcus and I crashed into earlier that day. There wasn't much to crowd the space; the boat was emptied of non-essentials before departure. In one corner, there were a few crates of food and barrels of fresh water, just enough for a short journey for a handful of people. We would probably be docking at another port before boarding a larger vessel for a longer voyage out of the Empire. I was merely guessing, but it wasn't hard to do so given the motives of my captor.