“Don’t look at me,” I hear over my shoulder.
I remain where I am, staring down at the water. Willem’s voice brings me an unnatural sense of ease. I am not alone in this. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that our friend is no longer himself. We won’t be able to talk much, so listen carefully. Keep the dagger close. There’s a possibility he hasn’t learned you have it. Keep it that way.”
Keep my head down, I talk quietly through my teeth. “My father said it can’t be detected by magic, which is why it looks so ordinary.”
I sense his departure before I see it. My eyes naturally shift to Kane, or whoever he is now. The handsome features of his regal face now holds a sense of malice that was never there before. Impassive, yes. But never such harshness. I brush my fingers along the bruise on my collarbone. It forms the shape of a hand. Kane was never violent toward me. His anger came in the shape of meanness, never physical harm.
“The blood of a thousand kills could not satisfy me the way your pain does,” Drogaem whispers into my ear. Ice-cold fingers graze my thighs as I conceal Redemption behind my back. I allow him to kiss me, to taint me with his treachery for the last time. This is his deliverance and mine as well.
I consider Willem’s warning and slip away to strap the dagger to my thigh. It hides well under my trousers, but I wish I had a skirt to change into. Kane announces that we’ve reached land. I exit the cabin, eager to get home to the castle where I can come up with something useful. We drop anchor and step onto the docks. “We have to get the horses and provisions for the journey home. I’ll need all my strength for when we travel through the hostile territories.”
Kane’s husky laughter now causes bile to crawl up my throat. “Briar, everywhere I go is now a hostile territory. But get whatever you need. There will be no one to object.”
I sneer, unsure of his statement. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He storms off without giving me an answer. I slip into one of the shops to acquire supplies. With food, water, fresh clothes, and a few other necessities, I exit the shop. I stroll along the road, smelling the scent of baked breads and...blood? No. That isn’t right.
Tortured screams fill the air and I run toward the sound. A deafening roar forces me to my knees. I cover my head with my arms as black clouds obscure the sun. The familiar yet unusual chill of Kane’s shadows sweep over Frothvein Port.
When the screaming stops, I stand up.
There’s a particular type of silence that follows a great act of violence. It’s the sort of silence that is, in reality, not quiet at all, but louder than anything in the natural world. I walk slowly, looking down at the bodies that are left in the wake of Kane’s power. These lifeless eyes will haunt me until the end of days and beyond even then. Kane stands at the center of the town, grinning from ear to ear as if he is proud of his work.
“How could you?” I ask on the verge of tears.
“I got the horses,” Willem says from behind me.
Kane’s smile never falters. Willem walks over with the horses in tow, face pale and impassive. I still don’t know what his motives are, but I don’t care. I know the look of someone reliving their worst nightmares.
Kane claps him on the back and takes his horse’s reins, pushing up into the saddle without sparing even a look at me over his shoulder. “Get on your horse, Briar, or else I’ll leave you here with these corpses.”
Tears fill my eyes before I can help it. I mount my steed and follow Kane and Willem out of Frothvein Port. We reach the outskirts and come upon a shack that was untouched by Kane’s power. A young boy runs out of the flapping doors at the sound of hooves on the sand. I fear the worst as Kane sets his sights on the boy crying out for his mother.
He raises his hand and I maneuver my horse in front of the child. “Don’t. Please.”
He cocks his brow and snickers. “Are you willing to die for him?”
“I am,” I reply without thought.
“Why?” Kane asks.
For a moment he seems genuinely curious.
My eyes flicker to Willem and back to Kane, confused as how he can even ask that question. “Because it’s the right thing to do. Killing him is pointless and cruel and it’s….it isn’t you, Kane. I know you. There is so much good in your heart and you would never kill someone unless it was justified or to restore the balance.”
Kane nods his head and we turn our backs on the child. I feel a sense of relief that the child will live even though he’s sad and abandoned. At least the poor child has a chance at living a normal life. He cries as we ride off into the distance. My stomach drops when Kane turns around suddenly. Before I have time to act, Kane’s arm thrusts out and his shadow blade strikes the child. I look on in sheer horror as the boy crumples to the ground.
The laughter to my left unfurls something inside of me and I want to drive my dagger into his heartless chest. Willem keeps his eyes forward and I am envious he did not witness such a despicable death. I do not question Kane for his actions nor do I show any sign of my pain. An impassive mask that rivals Willem’s falls over my expression.
Emotion clogs my throat, but I do not let the tears fall from my eyes. I wait until Willem passes before I follow once more. I can’t stand to look at Kane. An innocent soul is lost forever because of his need
