The Assassin and the Murderer

Chapter 6

"Where's Spencer?" Oletha asked the next morning, when Laurel exited the room alone.

"Gone. He's gone." She said coldly. "Probably forever."

"Oh my god, he left?" Oletha said in surprise. "Where did he go!? I just can't believe it! I'm so sorry, Laurel!"

"It's fine. I'm fine. I don't care what happens to him." Laurel snapped. "If he gets himself killed, it serves him right for leaving like an idiot."

"Oh..." Oletha said, but she knew better. She could see right through Laurel's anger, because Oletha had noticed the swollen and bloodshot eyes from a night of crying.

~

Spencer stood on the boat that was just leaving Tyrell. He had somehow managed to find a ship with a crew that didn't recognize him from his mugshots plastered all over the town, although it didn't matter anyway. They could drag him right to Althalos if they wanted, because this time, he was walking right into the belly of the beast. He was on his way to Erilan.

~

Gavin was really feeling the stress of ruling over a country as large as Erilan. The war against Althalos Montfort and his followers was not going well. Gavin had lost many soldiers, and the numbers were dropping with each hour, each day. And worse yet, he hadn't heard anything from Charles in the past few days. He knew in his heart that he didn't want to have left this gaping hole between them, but he didn't know what else to do. He just hoped that he hadn't sent his love into battle without even telling him the truth.

~

"Laurel, I need to talk to you." Gabriel said that night, when everyone was settling down to go to sleep. "I know you're mad at me right now, but I don't care. Let's go."

Laurel sighed, and followed him across the meadow to a place that was more secluded.

"What?" She asked, flopping down in the grass lazily.

"Listen, I need you to know that despite the fact that you don't like mine and Letha's decision to have a baby, you're my sister, and I'm not going to watch you mope around all depressed like Sam." Gabriel said.

"I'm not depressed." Laurel snarled, looking angry. "This is completely different. Jemma is dead. Sam has every right to mourn. I'm not upset that Spencer left. I'm livid."

"Laurel, listen." Gabriel said, but he let her yell, because he knew she needed to let out her anger.

"No! I'm pissed right now! How could he walk out on us like this!? How could he walk out on me!? After all we've been through! And now where is he!?" She screamed. "He could be dead already, and I'll never know! And I just... I just..."

But Laurel couldn't finish, because she was sobbing into Gabriel's shoulder, in complete disbelief of what had happened.

"I'm so sorry, Gabriel. This is all my fault."

"Shh, shh, shh. This is not your fault, okay? Listen, Oletha's really upset."

"Of course she is! I was so insensitive and stupid! I mean, I've never been good at dealing with emotions, but this was just..." Laurel couldn't finish, and was crying again.

"Laurel, she's not upset because of what you said. She's upset because she thinks it's her fault that you and Spencer even had that fight in the first place." Gabriel explained.

"Why would she think that? We were bound to have it one day or another." Laurel choked.

"She said she thought this would happen. She knew that the two of you would have conflicting views on the matter, and she's upset that she didn't bring it up to help you guys through it." Gabriel said.

"That's stupid. It's not her fault." Laurel hiccuped.

"Alright, but you need to promise me something, okay, Laurel?" Gabriel said.

Laurel nodded.

"When we finish what we're doing here, I need you to swear that you will hunt that boy down to the ends of the earth, because you will never find anyone who looks at you the way he does ever again." Gabriel said. "He loves you, and I know that you love him too. Don't let that slip through your fingers."

Laurel sobbed and nodded into his shoulder, and they just sat like that for a while, worrying about everything and nothing.