Heart to Heart

Chapter 29

The two of us headed up to where Gortash's room was. We were being quiet along with being quick with getting up there. For an attempted murder situation, we both thought Gortash would have the entire Steel Watch roaming around the fortress. Maybe he was expecting us to get out. Or maybe he thinks we'd rot in the prison under the fortress itself. Whatever was going on in his head, he was arrogant about it. We reached his room and just as the fortress wasn't crawling with Steel Watch machines, nothing was stationed outside of his room.

"He's either a fool or arrogant," I said, walking towards the door.

"How about an arrogant fool?"

"That one works well, too. Alright, Karlach, I have an idea."

"Alright."

"I'll go in and talk to Gortash, kind of let him think nothing of it. Once he is caught off guard, that is where you come in. There is a secret room connected to his. The door to it is on the other side of the hall. Once you're in there, wait for my signal."

"What is your signal?"

"You'll know," I said.

She nodded her head and ran down the hall, entering the secret room that connected to Gortash's. Turning to face his bedroom door, I grabbed the handle and slowly opened it up. He was no where to be found in the main part. As I slowly walked around, I was scanning each other room I came across. From the looks of it, he was going to be in his bedroom, which was not where I expected him to be. The room Karlach was in was no where near his bedroom. So much for the plan. Walking over to the wall of books, I searched for one that could be misplaced. Finding it, I grabbed it and a portion of the wall swiveled around, causing Karlach to fall into the room I was in.

"Where is that bast--?!"

"SHH!" I placed my hand over her mouth. "He's in his bedroom, which is farther away from this room I told you."

"Oh, ok."

"Let me go in first, take a look at what we're dealing with. Just hide for now, but make sure you can still see me, alright?"

She nodded and followed me to where his bedroom was. The sound of running water could be heard, which meant we had enough time to scope out the area and possibly corner him. 

"Karlach, against the wall. When the door opens up, it'll cover you. I'll be standing here so he can see me first," I said.

"Got it," Karlach walked over to the wall and stood there. "Shadow-lach."

I turned and faced her. There was a wide grin on her face. I smiled as well, trying not to laugh at what she just said. Karlach, being Karlach, quietly laughed, which almost ended up making me laugh. The running water stopped and Karlach stood straight up like a statue, almost as if she was on guard duty once more for Gortash. The door opened and I ducked down, using the bed to hide me from his line of sight. He walked out of his bedroom and towards the area we first came in. I got up and followed him, but I made sure Karlach stayed put for now.

"Well, well," I said as I walked out. Thankfully by now, the butterfly antennas disappeared and my horns were back.

"You," Gortash turned and faced me. "How did you escape?"

"I pleaded with the Steel Watch and asked if I could speak with you. I want to apologize for what I have done. I did not mean to create such a wreck of things, but I couldn't help but feel some of the things Karlach felt."

"And what were they?"

"Her betrayal. She trusted you. She trusted you with her life and what did you do? Sell her to Zariel. Did you think about how she felt during that? How she woke up one day and was then sent to Avernus with no explanation from you? I'm sure you'd feel the same thing if you were put in that situation."

"I was, actually. I was sold to slavers when I was a young boy because my family was in debt. And the only thing they thought that could pay off that debt was to sell me."

"So you of all people should know what it felt like to be betrayed by people you thought you could trust. Or were you just money hungry that you sold Karlach to the highest seller?"

"While Zariel did pay handsomely for Karlach, there was another reason as to why I sold her."

I knew Karlach was on edge listening to this. She was finally going to get answers as to why Gortash betrayed her.

"Being?"

"Her infernal engine. Zariel needed a strong test subject to experiment on. Once she caught word of Karlach, she wanted nothing but to get her hands on her."

"Zariel took her heart, you know that, right?"

"Do you not understand that I knew what the process was? Seems you had a hand in it."

"I did, but I was too scared to do anything about it."

"Are you scared now?"

I stood there, shifting slightly. The way he looked in my eyes, he knew there was something I wasn't telling him.

"So that's why you fucking sold me!" Karlach walked out from his bedroom, flames erupting around her. "I trusted you with my life! It was my job to protect you! No way he'd ever betray me was what I thought when I ended up in Avernus. But it turns out you were evil from the very beginning. I was just too fucking naive to notice."

"Ah, Karlach. So nice to see you."

"Shut your trap. I don't want to hear that bullshit."

"Your friend here looked like she was about to say something."

"Y/N?" Karlach turned and faced me. "What's wrong?"

I grabbed my sword and pointed it at him, "You took everything away from Karlach. Not only are you going to be subjected to her rage, but also the rage of someone who once knew and looked up to her."

Karlach's gaze met mine. It looked like she was going to cry, but she turned and faced Gortash, raising her axe high before letting out a battle cry.