A Touch Of Darkness

18 || Lies And Love

"Leave him."

Its speaker strides towards us, the pale shape of a cloak flapping out at her side. A sword points downwards in her grip, longer and thinner than the ones the men hold, with a wicked point that glints in the filtered moonbeams. A lantern, the source of the sudden light, dangles from her other hand, flame thrown to and fro as it swings. Her skin doesn't properly take on the light, wrapped in shadows. Every angle of her demeanor exudes authority and confidence.

My nails dig into my hilt's leather. Fire has broken out around it, circling the black smudges that remain there from Camdyn's final battle. I leave it for the moment. If I draw it back, the action might steal the strength needed to block the next attack, from whatever source it comes. This newcomer looks no more friendly than the others.

"I'll take him," she adds, her silent steps halting only an arm's length from us.

One of the men, the first one I encountered, wheels on her. "Why, exactly? We found him first. He's ours."

"Yours to waste?" Mockery coats her words. "Stand down, Aiden."

There is a heavy pause. Aiden's gaze rests on her, then flicks to me, his face twisting. Before I can react, he is thrusting his sword towards my neck, its hilt jamming against the wall as he holds it over me. Breath flees. My spine protests as I press myself into the panels, frantically dodging out of the blade's path. It only needs to move a single inch. I cling to every particle of air that maintains the gap.

"You stand down," he snarls, glaring over his shoulder at her. "Or I'll kill him. Then neither of us get the prize."

Or he ends up dead, and I'm a monster again. I grip my dagger harder. Is there a way I can get it underneath his sword and push the threat away? Or would that only hasten the path of my flame?

"Like I say," she continues, voice dry and unfazed, "yours to waste."

"Aide," the other man whispers from off to the side. "Aide, she's right. We're done for if you kill him."

Aiden growls under his breath. For a terrifying second, I'm sure he is going to ignore them and attempt the act regardless. But then he wrenches the sword away. "How do we know you won't misuse him?"

"We are on the same side, aren't we?" She tips her head sideways, light cutting sharply across her face. "If we can't trust one another, then who is left?"

"Then why don't you trust us?" He folds his arms, the sword sticking out at an angle. His companion glances at him nervously, waving his own blade closer to me. I return the gesture with no real focus. She commands too much of our attention.

"I'm smarter than you," she says simply. "Now go. Leave the boy with me. And for the kingdom's sake, get Slade some help so he'll stop moaning away down there."

Slade scowls in response. It merges with a grimace as Aiden reluctantly turns away from me, resigned to following her orders, and begins hauling him upright. The lantern deepens the scarlet seeping through his formerly grey clothing. An identical colour streaks my dagger. Guilt ties knots in my stomach.

I begin to turn my gaze downward, but as I do so, I catch a glimpse of my glove securely balled up in his fist. A gasp tumbles out along with my words. "Wait. I... I need my glove back."

His stare is piercing as he whips to face me. Slade falls from his grip, stumbling into their third companion. "Not a chance," Aiden snaps.

The woman sighs. Wordlessly, she leaps forward, ripping the glove from him before I've even noticed her come nearer. I flinch as she turns on me, but she only tosses it in my direction. Fumbling with it, I scoop it into my chest, relief trickling through in warm waves at the newly familiar touch of leather.