The King's Remorse

Hey, No Hard Feelings, Alright?

The Guard and Soldiers stand where they are for several moments, blank expressions all around. It's at least a minute before any of them move in the slightest. "I-I... Wait, I-. You don't want to be a Soldier or the Dust Devil?"

"Yes."

"Are you, like, possessed or something? What's going on? What's happened to the Dust Devil that we knew? You know, the King of Ragdon's righthand man?" 1 of the Soldier's curls his lip.

"I'm not possessed. I'm still Luke. I'm not the Dust Devil, and I'm not a Soldier."

"You TRAITOR!" The Soldier rushes me, hand holding onto his sword in a death grip. His eyes flash as his gaze hardens. I take a step back and dust rises from the ground. With a flick of my fingers, the Soldier's sword flies out of his hand and clatters to the ground. He jumps back, skin paling. Is that how much power I have? With such a small movement, I can render them virtually defenseless?

The Guard and Soldiers take a step back, watching me. Their faces flicker with mixed emotions. "Hey, sorry. No hard feelings, alright?" The Soldier puts his hands up, voice tight.

"No hard feelings?" I repeat. It takes everything in me not to shake my head and let the tears slowly roll down my cheeks. No hard feelings? Do... Is that really all they have to say? No hard feelings? The pain, and it's just no hard feelings.

"Yeah, no hard feelings." The Guard chuckles. "Just a misunderstanding, Dust Devil."

"Don't call me that! I'm Luke, not the Dust Devil or a Soldier." I know it's wrong, taking out my anger that's been stewing for so many years, but it's boiled over and I can't stop it. All they have to say is just no hard feelings.

"Our apologies, Dust Devil. We won't keep you any longer. If you'd please excuse us, we will return to tracking down the pewter pendant." I bite back a sharp response to hearing Dust Devil again.

"Do not go after the pendant." My blood runs cold, and I snarl the words, spitting them out like they leave a vile taste in my mouth. Which they do. Why can't they just leave the pendant alone? But it doesn't take a genius to know why.

"So... you're not going to get the pewter pendant..." A Guard points to me.

"Yeah." I nod.

"And you don't want us to get the pewter pendant..." He points to the rest of his group.

"Yeah," I repeat.

"So who's gonna be capturing it? Cuz it's not gonna capture itself, genius."

"No 1's capturing it. It's staying with Clap." Weight is melting from my shoulders as I finally say the words that had been cooped up inside all those years, the 1s I thought I'd never be able to say. I ignore the dread that's seeping in to replace it.

"Yeah, screw that. I'm not breaking orders." A Soldier tries to shove past me, but I catch him around the throat and throw him back. He tumbles down the hill and doesn't get up. The snake snickers at the sight of the still Soldier, while my stomach churns. I force it back. Keep the pewter pendant safe. If facing off against the Guard and Soldiers in what seems to be a pretty 1-sided fight for a while means Clap and Brook can get further away, it's worth it.

"Don't go after the pewter pendant," I sigh. "Please, just leave. I really don't want to do this."

"Yeah? Well, we're not gonna disobey our King of Ragdon. And I'm sure you know full and well what happens to traitors." Hands tighten around weapons, eyes flash, and muscles tense as the Guard and Soldiers adopt fighting stances.