Killing On Command

Chapter 5

Zack

It was strange to say the least. 

I'd always thought of myself as being more devoted to my work than anything else. More focused on getting the weaponry out of the door on time, or on looking out for my Father, who had been injured. I was the worker of the family - well, the only person well enough to work now. My mother was three years dead, and my brothers had left home years ago, while my father had injured his leg and found it difficult to move around as ably as he used to. And my sister... Well... She was long gone now.

Oh how I despised being the youngest. 

It wasn't until today that I finally realized it though; that things finally clicked for me. I'd always thought that I'd take the same path as my brothers have done, and have a wife picked out for me, even if it didn't suit me. For years, I was fine with the idea, and now I've come to realize that its wrong. Very wrong, and I didn't agree with it in the slightest.

Alex looked so hopeless. She knew what was going to happen, and even if Scarlotte was to marry one of the Millers, it would mean that e could never see each other again. I couldn't be the hero this time; because being the knight in shining armor wouldn't work, because I knew for a fact that the Miller's were no family to be messed with either way. A noble family would not allow her to see me again, and I hated that I had to accept it. I knew that the second she messes up is the second she'd be sent to the dungeons and I may never have even the slightest chance of seeing her again. That, I knew couldn't happen.

I felt sick just thinking about it, and felt more lonely than ever. It just felt like a piece of me was missing when Alex wasn't around. I couldn't help that though, because we've been friends for longer than I can remember. I just hoped to keep it that way for as long as I could. Maybe its the companionship that I was missing so much, or it could be the fact that I could show off about my fighting skills being better than her own, even if its only by a fraction.

Or maybe its something more.

The voice in the back of my mind hadn't left me be since the Cheshire's left for the manor. I was more scared for Alex's life than I am for the others'. Grogg may have been a friend of my Father's, but he was no friend of mine. He treated Alex like dirt, and it made me sick. Scarlotte may be a pretty face, but that's her only quality. She always has, and always will be as thick as a plank otherwise, and she should probably invest in some less revealing clothing. Alex was so different.  She was like nobody I've ever met before, and I wished I could have told her what was on my mind when I had the chance, because I knew that I would never have the chance again. I'd have gave anything to have had her there, just to tell her everything she needed to hear.

I did something I'd been wanting to do for years that day though. I couldn't quite believe that I had the guts to actually kiss her. Why I tried to make myself look more decent, I didn't know, but it would have felt odd with her dressed up in such a beautiful ball gown if I had just work my workers clothes. I don't even care that Scarlotte saw us and had probably told her Father about it. But she really did take the hint, because she kissed me back. Not just out of not knowing what to do, she ran up to me and kissed me. I was frozen, like that moment had paused. I couldn't make sense of everything going on around me, and it was amazing. It felt right.

On my way home that evening, I passed two men dressed in black. I knew when we'd seen Enoch and his guards earlier that we were nowhere near safe, but this time it was different. I felt like I knew them, and strangely, I believed that I did. I nodded to them, and they tipped their rugged hats in appreciation. I didn't understand what had been going on, but my head wouldn't let me stop it from  drifting to the images I had seen in the past few days.It was as though people were changing because of the war; like the usually peaceful villagers had become untameable lions. I rubbed my eyes, then looked up. That was when I saw him.