Chapter Ten: What I Could Say
The Queen paced in the throne room, her hands clasped behind her back as she stared at her hurriedly back and forth feet. Her lips were pursed in thought, her eyebrows cinched together. She was mumbling under her breath a steady stream of curse words, her thoughts finally escaping her mouth.
"Lillian, I know you didn't want to see the kid die, but maybe –" Hammer began to try and console her friend for thousandth time that night, but the Hero would have none of it.
"No, Hammer, it means something. What other reason does Reaver have to come waltzing into the castle and shoot someone? Target practice?" The Hero shot back, her curse words faltering for a second as she stopped pacing to communicate with the Strength Hero.
"She is right, Hannah," Garth chimed in, but he knew better then to get too logical on the woman he knew could throw him down in a fight easily.
"Look, all I'm trying to say is that this is what he probably wanted to happen. He wanted you to lose sleep over something he sees as no more then a game," Hammer continued, shooting the wizard a pointed look. Garth smiled nervously, winning over the monk and she relaxed. Sparrow shot a glance between the two.
"You really think so?" She asked, stopping in her tracks and standing to face them both. Hammer nodded, Garth shrugging with her.
"Lillian, what does this man hate so much about you?" Walter asked as he came into the room, the grand doors slamming shut behind him. He walked down the middle aisle, reaching the three Heroes and standing next to Hammer.
"It's not what he hates, it's what he likes. I never told you guys this," Sparrow began, walking back to the throne and taking a seat, "but to get him to join us on our quest, he wanted some rather… embarrassing things out of me. He said I could choose one or the other, and I chose the latter. I think he still wants more then just a sacrifice to the Shadow Court," Sparrow stated, hesitation in her voice as she told this story to Walter. She could see the anger in his eyes and she knew him well enough to know that he was silently cursing himself for not being there to protect her. But, he managed to keep his anger under wraps in the presence of the other Heroes.
"So you think this is a personal thing?" Garth asked, but then preceded to answer his own question, "It very well could be. In Samarkland, he never shut up about returning to his old house in Bloodstone," Garth almost growled, obviously not too pleased with the memories.
"W-wait, you mean the mansion?" Sparrow leaned forward in her chair, looking to Garth intently. The man nodded, looking to her quizzically as the others joined in on his confusion. Sparrow leapt out of her chair, blowing past the Heroes and Walter without even an explanation.
"I think I know what he wants. Damn it!" She cursed as she blew out of the room. A few seconds passed before Walter was rushing after her. He was the first to reach her, both now in their room with Hammer and Garth coming up the stairs. Sparrow was already changing out of her formal red dress, pulling on her adventuring clothes. She had also grabbed a ribbon and was trying to pull her now-messy curls into a ponytail.
"Sparrow, Sparrow, slow down," Walter rested his hands on hers as she got frustrated with the ribbon. She looked to him, her intent clear in her eyes.
"What, Walter?"
"What does he want? And why do you think you get to do this alone?" The part of 'I'm-coming-with-you-no-matter-what' was left unspoken, but Sparrow could read between the lines.
"It's nothing you would understand. It was something…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "Never mind that. Look, I have to go alone. He'll kill you the instant he sets eyes on you, if you're lucky enough to have the grace of looking at his face," Sparrow spat, finally succeeding in getting her hair into a ponytail. She placed the crown in Walter's hands, rushing into the armory to grab her sword and gun.
"Sparrow, wait a second. How can you expect us to just sit still and watch you walk to your doom?" Hammer was holding her friend still now, the girls pulled close together as they looked each other in the eyes. Sparrow was determined, her eyebrows arching in almost-anger.
"I don't expect you to watch," She mumbled. Hammer nodded her approval, letting the Hero go. In a whirl of movement, Sparrow had hit all of them over the head with the butt of her gun, watching as they fell to the ground, now unconscious.
"I'm so sorry," She mumbled, running out the door and heading on her way to Bloodstone.
"Reaver!" Sparrow called the thieves name angrily, storming inside of the mansion. She hadn't lived here in years, but she technically still owned it. That was part of what she figured Reaver wanted back. But, she wasn't going to sell for just any price.
"Ah, my little minx, you finally connected the dots, I see," Reaver greeted as she stormed into the main room. She cringed as she remembered all the people he had slain her just for the sake of his vanity.
"You killed a man in my ballroom because you wanted your house back?" She snarled, nearing the thief with determination and anger in her eyes. He laughed, wrapping an arm around her waist. To his surprise, she had a gun pulled on him in the same second. He let his arm go limp around her waist, his other lifting up in a surrender motion.
"Hmm, well, that is the rather… bland way of looking at it. I prefer to look at it as though I was simply dropping hints for you," He smiled that annoying, cocky smile that fit his smirking face so well. She rolled her eyes, shoving the gun further into his face.
"Give me one god damn good reason why I shouldn't just shoot you where you stand," Sparrow demanded, severe evil glinting in her eyes for the first time since she chose the Sacrifice as her wish. Her Halo had even diminished some, although she could admit that she was a bit happier about the halo vanishing then others were.
"Well, I could say so many things, but I will stick with the things I am sure you will listen to," He lurched forward, snapping her wrist up and knocking the gun to the ground. He had her whirled around, her arm pinned up in the air as her other was twisted behind her back. He then pressed his body flush up against the back of hers.
"I could say that I know exactly who your lover is, where you live, where precious Hammer and Garth now live as well. I could say that I also know your most precious treasury is under your personal guard, although I have no use for the money. And I could say that I am a Hero of Skill and could shoot you where you stand, probably without you even noticing that I had reached for my gun."
He pulled her closer, leaning in and nipping at her neck. He licked down the skin there, biting her earlobe hard enough to draw blood. She lurched, only to cause her arms to bend at even a more impossible angle.
"But instead, what I will say, is that you still owe me a… favor. I did after all drop everything, watch my precious ship get destroyed, and almost get killed myself for your own selfish 'help-the-world' nonsense. So, in short, my little minx," He kissed down her neck, sucking at her collarbone as she protested with all her might. Instead, she was left with a red mark already throbbing. "You still owe me more then you would care to admit,"
"You're a monster, Reaver," She spat as she was whirled around and pressed to his chest. He winked, pulling their faces closer together.
"I've been told so before, my dearest Queen. Although, then it is more in the context of the bedroom activities," He smiled, pulling her in for a forced and very rough kiss. She fought through all of it, but somehow she knew she wouldn't win this night.
So, she submitted and hoped that he would get his fill sooner rather then later.
Author's Note: So, instead of torturing you with brutal Reaver, I have left that up to your imaginations. You can take it anywhere you like, if you have a mind to write it. Just, please, be sure that you either give credit for the set up to me, or link people to my story. That would be really nice.
Also... I don't know about you, but I can see a really... love-sick-triangle starting to form. How about you all?
Hope you enjoyed!