𝗖𝗨𝗣𝗜𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗬 ➳ 𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝟮

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟔.

"You know you don't need to stay," Eleanor repeated the same words for the fifth time in that hour. She rubbed the rag covered in gun oil over her revolver, cleaning the blood off of the weapon along with dirt and grime. Hosea had left, returning to their camp wherever that was. She was curious to why none of them had told her or at least let it slip accidently. They were probably afraid that she would handle matters herself other than following Arthur's plan. She had been here for a day now, Charles had gone out to do some hunting for her while she stayed hidden. 

The man stood lent up against a wall smoking a cigarette. She looked at him, raising an eyebrow in questioning. "Did you hear me?"

"Yes," he answered with a sigh. "But like I said the many times I've answered, I know. My answer isn't going to change," he grunted. Eleanor knew he was hanging around in fear something would happen to her once he was gone after promising Arthur he would keep her safe. Eleanor huffed with annoyance, she hated being watched over. She hated being protected, sure she loved feeling safe which she felt, but she likes to look after herself. She is not a child or some worthy woman made of gold and jewels. She was just a no good thief and killer, like many others. The only thing that made her different to the rest was being the daughter of a legend. Eleanor had a love-hate relationship with her Father, she loved him because he cared for her and always did his best to keep her and her family safe. But she hated him for who he was which got him killed. She knew that because of who he was it was the reason of her becoming who she is. 

"I'm okay if that's what you're afraid of, Charles," Eleanor explained. The man looked at her as she talked. "Being hunted by assassins is something different but I'm okay."

"I'm not worried about your safety," Charles jumped in. "I'm worried about your sanity," he corrected. Eleanor stared at him, frowning. What did he mean by that? Her mouth opened to demand answers but Charles quickly jumped in. "Yesterday, you seemed pretty shaken up after you killed that man."

"I'm fine," she reminded him with a sterner tone. "Killing is never easy but if it's a life and death situation it will be done."

"Of course," he nodded. "But there seemed to be more to it," he blew out a cloud of cigarette smoke before walking over to the table she sat at and took a seat across from her, the same seat Hosea had sat in the day before. Eleanor focused desperately on her gun to get her out of the situation of opening up to the man while he seemed to open his ears to her. She scrubbed harder, Charles watching her in concern before the woman finally dropped the gun on the table, releasing a sigh. 

"I'm sick of killing people," she confessed. "I'm becoming more and more like my Father. Those stories almost portray him as someone to look up to but he really wasn't. He did horrible, horrible things. Unspeakable things. He was a bad man. After killing Charlie, seeing what Charlie would've seen with my family..." Eleanor paused, looking at the gun with Otis's last words engraved into the barrel. "It's made me think. I'm nothing but my Father's daughter. I ain't as bad as him, I ain't do the bad things he's done. But I'm becoming him slowly but surely. It makes me sick to think the only way I can get myself out of trouble is by becoming the judge, the jury and the executioner."

"I don't know anything about your Father," Charles spoke out honestly. "But there is good in you if you can see that all of this is wrong," he shrugged before leaning back in his seat. "Just from that I can say you're nothing like him." Eleanor chuckled, flattered by his comfort but shook her head in denial.

"If only I could see it that way too," she sighed. "You're a good man too, Charles. Both you and Arthur. I never asked either of you to risk everything but here you are," she nodded at him. Charles chuckled.

"I just don't like seeing innocent folk get hurt for no reason," he answered. 

"I'm not innocent in no way," Eleanor corrected him.