Secret Keepers

Chapter 14

As I sat in Cutter's room on the bed, I hugged my legs and rocked back and forth. Cutter and Runner had worse back stories than I ever imagined. They both were savage and obviously relentless, but somehow they hid it in their facial expressions. I whimpered and sobbed, crying quietly. I couldn't tell if I was crying out of pity for them, or if I was just afraid of them.

Suddenly the door opened and Cutter came walking in, soaked with water and blood on his shirt. He sighed and put his cloak on the hook, hanging up his mask before looking at me. "What's wrong, Shadow?"

I shook my head. "I was just worried. Where were you?"

He sighed and took off his shirt, during himself off with a towel. "Caught in the middle of a storm interrogating the guy who followed us here. He worked for one of the nobleman looking for us."

I cocked my head, but he didn't say anything else. He tossed the towel into the chair so hard it made me jump. He looked furious and a little unstable so I sat in silence. He shook his head and mumbled things to himself and as he turned, I noticed how he was wearing a necklace made from a leather string. On the end was what looked like a bird skull. I gulped and dared spark up conversation. "How long have you had that necklace?"

He glanced over and I saw his eyes were bloodshot. "Ever since I was fifteen. I got mad at a bird and killed it, but out of pity, I carry its skull on the string as a way of letting it travel again." Fifteen. The age he had to run from home. I nodded and pressed myself up to the pillows, burying my head in my knees. It got quiet and I turned to see Cutter staring at me from across the bed. His expression was both questioning and harsh. "What's the matter? Am I scaring you? Do you not feel good?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm just a bit tired."

He narrowed his eyes. "No. There's more going on in your mind than tired. Now what's wrong?"

I sighed and let my legs stretch out. "I asked Runner about your past and I guess I'm just a little shocked is all."

I waited for him to explode in anger or scare me in some way, but all he did was drop his head. He sat beside me in bed and pulled the bird skull off his neck. He opened it up like a locket and showed me a drawing done of a very nice looking girl. "Her name was Tyra. I told Runner she was a barmaid, but she was actually a prostitute. But I thought i was falling in love with her. When she was just playing me like a fool. When I got her pregnant, she insisted I pay her money to care for it, but when I offered to marry her to care for it, she turned me down and told me I was nothing but a stupid love struck fool who didn't belong in a decent woman's bed. It hit me wrong. I lost it. I guess you might say I Raged on her. I'm sorry if you don't trust me now. But my heart was broken and I feel like it never healed right. And then you followed me in the woods that night and I felt it shift back into place. But I turned you down because I was afraid to get hurt again. And then you needed a place to stay and I let my heart win."

He took my hand and squeezed it and as I let my fingers link with his, I could feel scars across each one of them. He was scarred inside and out by the things that had happened to him in the past. As I looked at his face, tight with grief as tears ran dwwn his cheeks, I couldn't stand it anymore. I leaned over and hugged him, kissing his cheek. He looked at me with questioning eyes filled with tears. "What?"

I shook my head. "I don't care what happened before. And I don't care what will happen in the future. All I want is for you to be happy." He smiled and held me to him, hugging me strongly. "I love you." I smiled and kissed his cheek. "I love you too. Now I think we deserve some rest. It's been a long day. A lot has been done and we've all had songstress and emotional moments. Let a just go to sleep." He nodded and laid down beside me, falling asleep fairly quickly. Sleep didn't come so easily for me. I laid awake for quite a while before I started to drift. But as soon as I was almost out, Cutter jerked in his sleep. I glanced at him and his face was contorted in panic and terror. "Shadow? What did I do wrong?"

His voice was barely above a whisper, but I heard it clearly. I didn't know what to although. He was clearly having a nightmare and I didn't know how to stop it without waking him up. "Shadow? Please!"

Out of desperation, I took his hands and kissed his forehead. "Nothing's wrong. It's okay. I'm still here and I'll always be here."

He relaxed and smiled in his sleep, cuddling closer to me. Luckily he quieted down for the rest of the night and I managed to sleep peacefully. But before the end of the night, I was rudely awakened by someone's hand on my mouth. I gasped and opened my eyes to see Cutter sitting over me, keeping me quiet. I stared up at him, not knowing what was going on or why. But then someone hit the door hard. It shuddered on it's hinges and I gasped. "Get out here, Martin! We know you're here!"

He looked down at me and held up a finger to his mouth, picking me up and putting me in the wardrobe to the side, tossing the painting to the floor. He whispered urgently to me. "Stay silent. I won't let them get you. Now if I don't come back here to get you, know that I love you okay?"

I nodded and as soon as I did, he closed the wardrobe and I heard the door splinter. Yells filled the room along with pain filled screams and the sound of furniture being bombarded violently. I tried to stay silent, but I was nearly in tears and every time the wardrobe shook I gasped or grunted. I kept relatively quiet until it eventually stopped.

I waited. And waited. And waited some more. But Cutter didn't come back.

I sobbed and opened the door to see that everything in the room had been upset and thrown somewhere different. Luckily they hadn't moved the wardrobe. I walked out into the hallway and saw blood on the floor, but I also saw pieces of armor scattered around. I walked towards the entry tunnel and I could hear heavy breathing. I cautiously came around the corner to see a bloody mess of people on the floor. There were at least five royal guards, all dead, surrounded by the Secret Keepers.