(I know, I know...
finally)
The man stood up from his spot in his chair and Kate's first thought was that he was shorter than she expected him to be.
He stood only a couple of inches taller than herself, a few shorter than Rick, his face long and narrow. He was dressed well, his narrow shoulders and slim frame fit snugly in his ensemble of black silk and wool. He had dark brown hair, nearly black, slicked back away from his face, almond shaped gray eyes looking at her unblinkingly.
And he had a sword attached to his hip.
Kate stood up straighter and the man smirked at her.
"What?" he said, "You aren't excited to see me?"
Kate's hand clenched around her sword.
The man laughed slightly, moving around his chair to stand behind it.
"I must say, I'm quite disappointed in you…" he stopped walking and put his hands on the back of his chair, "… You've been in my castle for nearly half a day now and you are just now introducing yourself to the lord? I thought a Princess would have better manners than that."
Kate's eyes widened, then her brow furrowed.
"You couldn't have known we were in here."
He laughed at her.
"Oh Katherine," the man said condescendingly, supporting himself on the chair, "I've always known where you've been. After all…" he looked her up and down, "… you're my biggest threat."
He took a step away from the chair, moving slowly about the room.
"You really blew that crowd away with your duet in Ashley, didn't you? Sharing a room with your troubadour in Kyra… Did you kiss him there? Or did that only happen in that quaint little village in the woods where you stayed with the lovely Physician from the 7th? It certainly is a step down from what you're used to…"
"That's enough," Rick said cutting him off.
The man stopped, cocking his head into the side and looking at the two of them before he chuckled.
"Well," he said, his tone satisfied, "looks like our runaway lovers ploy wasn't too outrageous."
He moved back toward the chair, leaning against it again.
"Regardless of what you've been doing these past two months, now you are here, in my castle."
Kate clenched her jaw, "It's not your castle. It's mine."
The man just shook his head, "It looks like I'm the one in charge here."
"But I'm the one with the birthright," Kate countered, taking a small, calculated step forward, "You don't have anything as long as I'm alive."
The man hummed.
"Who are you?" Kate finally asked, realizing she didn't even know this man's name.
The man shrugged, "Irrelevant details, dear. We won't know each other for long…. I will tell you this though: I'm an only child, my parents died when I was young in a raid, and I built myself up into one of the most powerful men in my city. I'm from Vulcan…" he said, looking around at the room, "… but I must say I'm quite taken with it here… I think I'm going to stay."
Kate stood up straighter, her hand trailing toward her sword.
The man noticed her movement and glanced pointedly at her hip, moving back toward the chair he was sitting in to begin with.
"I see you've come prepared for a fight."
Kate nodded, "Whatever is necessary to get back what's mine."
The man nodded.
He put his hands on the back of his chair.
"You know what I hated most about killing your father, Katherine?"
Kate blanched, the sudden shift in questions throwing her off balance.
His hands flexed around the back of the chair.
"He just wouldn't –"
A breath.
"- scream."
The man gripped the back of the chair tightly, grabbing it and pushing it roughly along the floor away from him, towards her and Rick, pulling out his sword from its scabbard.
Kate easily avoided the moving chair, drawing her own sword as she followed the man's movements.
He charged at her and she met him halfway, blocking his attack easily.
He came at her again, swing his sword at her side but she dodged it, shifting to his unguarded left side but he followed her quickly. This time Kate struck first, just barely missing his arm. They shifted parries, a thin sheen of sweat breaking out over her face as they fought. He swung and ripped a hole in the torso of his blouse, grinning at the small victory. He lifted his sword to crash down over her head and she blocked it, crossing the two swords far too close to her own face for comfort before she grunted and pushed him off of her with everything that she had, jerking the sword from his hands.
She fought to catch her breath. He was stronger than she expected him to be. And in much better shape. Doubt flashed in her mind. She didn't think she was going to be able to beat him.
He looked at it for only a moment before rejecting the thought in his head, moving his hand to the other side of his belt and pulling out a long dagger out of it. Kate stood up straighter and the man moved closer to her. Kate got into her fighting stance, but the man stopped walking suddenly, twisted on his heel and kicked her directly in the chest. The impact knocked the wind out of her and her eyes went wide. She felt herself fall to the ground, her sword falling from her hands, her hand moving up to the spot on her chest where his heeled boot had just hit as she crashed into the groaned with a silent gasp of pain.
She inhaled, trying to get the air back into her lungs but it wasn't working. It was as if her lungs were rejecting the air she dried to swallow past a bubble in her throat that just wouldn't pop.
The dagger still clenched in his fist he looked at her, looking slightly frazzled, but his eyes shining with blood lust. She shifted away from him, still hardly able to breathe, staring at him defiantly but he advanced with her, his breathing heavy, nostrils flaring as he moved forward, lifting his dagger in preparation.
She dropped her hand down to her leg, fumbling blindly to try and get the dagger out of her boot that she had hidden there because her sword had flown somewhere across the room and he was moving closer to her and she just couldn't get the damn blade off her leg.
The monster raised his own blade higher, ready to bring it down on her as he stood a few steps away from her.
And then Rick jumped in front of her.
She blinked. She had forgotten he was here with her.
She watched as he put an arm out, knocking the man's strike off course. The man looked shocked, obviously forgetting that Rick was there as well, but quickly recovered, shifting his attention to Rick, deciding to get rid of her back up before taking her out. He turned towards him, but Rick was ready. He pulled his arm back, throwing a fist straight into the man's nose. The man staggered back, but didn't cry out, giving himself only a moment before returning to the fight, his nose bloody. He blocked Rick's next punch easily, sending a hard jab into Rick's own ribs. She heard him inhale sharply and she felt the air start to come back into her lungs, but he kept defending her, moving to throw another punch at the side of the man's head. The man ducked around it. Before Rick could move his arm out of the way, the man lifted the dagger still in his hand and stabbed him.
The man plunged his dagger into Rick's arm, and Rick grunted in pain. She heard the sickening sound of a blade twisting in flesh, saw Rick's knees buckle as he sank slowly to the ground, holding his arm.
"Rick!" she cried.
Apparently the man thought that he had incapacitated Rick enough for the moment, because he pulled his dagger out of his arm, stood up straighter, tensing his shoulders, and moved to turn back around and face her. She quickly scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain in her chest, finally managing to get her own knife out of her boot and she gripped it tightly, her vision going red.
When he finally turned around, his dagger covered in Rick's blood, raised to bring it down on her, she stabbed him, her own dagger plunging itself straight into torso with a cry.
He froze, his eyes going wide as Kate tried to catch her breath, backing away from him. He dropped his dagger as he looked down at the blade sticking out of him. She watched as he brought his hand to the blade between his ribs, touching the area around the wound. He pulled his fingers away from it, looking fascinatedly at the red on his hands. Then, he looked back up her.
And then he laughed.
Full out laughed, shoulders heaving, stomach muscles clenching around the blade that was still sticking out of him.
Kate watched, horrified, as he pulled her dagger out of himself, clearly not worrying about saving his own life anymore, mumbling something to himself before his eyes narrowed. He swayed on his feet, and slowly moved the couple of steps back towards Rick. Kate watched, hopelessly confused.
He was going to kill him with her dagger.
The man raised her knife above his neck.
"No!" she cried, running across the small space. She pushed the man out of the way, and he collapsed into a heap on the ground. She hovered over Rick who was curled into himself, gritting his teeth, his fingers wrapped around his wound. She could see the blood seeping out of his fingers and panic seized her heart.
An arm wound wouldn't be fatal, right? She had never heard of anyone dying due to a stab wound to the arm. He would be fine. He had to be.
But he was just bleeding so much.
Why was he bleeding so much?
Kate wrapped her hand over Rick's, squeezing it tightly to try to add more pressure to stop the bleeding. He groaned in pain.
"Shh…" she murmured, her eyes filling up with tears, "… it's me, Rick. It's going to be fine."
He opened his eyes and looked at her, lighting up visibly when he saw her.
"Kate?"
She nearly cried in relief.
"Yeah, it's me. I'm here."
"You're safe?" he breathed.
She nodded, smiling, "I'm safe. And so are you. I'm going to take care of you, okay?"
"You just…" he rasped in pain, "… want to see me shirtless."
Kate laughed in relief, but before she could respond she heard a slightly shifting to the side of them.
She looked over quickly, seeing the man had lifted himself so he was leaning half upright against a wall.
He had blood still pouring out of his torso, one of his hands limply trying to stop it, blood falling from his nose, his legs bent at an awkward angle on the ground. His eyes shone with undisguised hatred.
"Your father," he wheezed, "… was an… awful… king…" he coughed, blood dribbling out of his mouth, "… and you… will be, too."
Then, he smiled at her.
"Your screamed," he said, almost as an afterthought, his eyes starting to cloud over.
He didn't wait for her response before he spoke, a smirk finding its way onto his bleeding lips.
"Alea iacta est."
He went absolutely still, but Kate couldn't have cared less in that moment.
She looked back down at Rick, but his eyes were closed.
"Rick?" she said quietly.
He didn't move.
"Rick," she said again, her voice slightly more panicked. She moved her hand to his cheek, slapping it lightly a few times but he didn't respond.
"Rick!"
Still nothing.
She stood up quickly, throwing the door to the bedroom open quickly, the heavy wood slamming into the wall behind it. She bolted down the hallway, ignoring Royce's body still lying on the floor, running towards the servant's stairwell.
"Carter! CARTER! HELP!"