The Kingdom Thief

Chapter 17

Kane stops at the edge of the dark and soundless city and pulls the bike behind a building where it can't be seen. We continue the rest of our travel on foot.

"What could Jack possibly want to do with a book of past rulers?" I ask aloud, completely puzzled to what the answer could be.

"You should stop calling him Jack" Kane says back in a stern voice. "Names can lead to you growing sympathy for him".

I roll my eyes. "What do you suppose I call him then?" I ask.

"The mission target" he answers.

"I'm not calling him that" I state firmly.

"Why is that I wonder?" Kane asks in mock curiosity.

I stop in front of him so that he can't step forward. "Changing what we call him won't change that he is a person. I'm not going to pretend that the enemy is a machine that can be disposed of easily, the enemy has a beating heart. We're not taking down a weapon Kane. This is a person you are wanting to kill, just remember that"

Kane's eyes suddenly get wider as he takes a step back and groans. "No, oh god, don't tell me you and that bastard-"

"I was living on the streets trying to support me and my mother" I defend myself, answering his unasked question. "He offered me food and shelter. Nobody would decline that offer".

"Of course!" Kane exclaims, throwing his hands into the air. "Of course I decided to go on a mission to take down the very threatening enemy with the one person in the castle that was a past love of the guy".

"I can't change what I did in the past" I shout back angrily. "I did what I had to keep the people I loved alive".

"And of course what you had to do involved the one person that has a chance of killing the prince" Kane snaps back angrily.

"You're right, at one point I did care for Jack" I say back, anger boiling my blood from his accusations. "Hell, I even loved him. But the past isn't the present. I can't change what I did and even if I could I wouldn't want to. I guess that's just the difference between the two of us" I pause, looking over at his chest where right above the uniform is the top of the bloody hands tattoo he had, marking him as an unfortunate. "You run from your past while I embrace it".

Kane moves in one swift movement, taking his gun out and aiming it towards me. I laugh at the barrel in front of my face.

"You don't think I'll do it?" Kane seethes.

"Oh, I know you'll do it" I reassure him. "I just didn't think it would come down to this".

"Turns out nothing really seems to go according to plan does it?" Kane bites back, his fist slightly shaking from gripping the gun so hard.

I laugh bitterly. "If Jack has been able to turn us against each other than we've already lost. Mason has no chance of living"

Before Kane can either respond or pull the trigger, a dark shadow flies through the street and tackles him to the floor.

As the two figures wrestle on the ground I recognize the glint of a gold earring in the figure's ear, snapping me back to the memory of a friend I hadn't seen in a long time.

"Milo!" I shout towards him. He looks up at my voice, allowing Kane to throw a punch that lands on his temple, throwing him off of Kane.

"Stop!" I scream before racing towards the two of them and standing in between. I pull Kane up by his shirt and grip it tightly so he can't get by as Milo stands up behind me.

"Leave him alone, he's a friend!" I shout, but this just seems to make Kane more restless. 

"Any friend of yours is an enemy of mine" he spits back.