37

"Hello, Sasha," he said softly.

I stood there in shock, unable to speak, unable to even think. I just stared in utter disbelief, trying to make sense of it. Someone had pulled the world out from under me. Shock eventually gave way to confusion and bewilderment, which gave way to a dreadful feeling of hopelessness.

Tarick laughed and gave me a hard shove forward. I lost my footing and stumbled on the slippery rock floor, falling to my knees in front of Falx. I winced in pain and closed my eyes tightly, and let out a gasp as tears begin to roll down my cheeks.

"Be careful," Falx said sharply to Tarick. "There's no need for that."

Slowly, he knelt down in front me and rested his elbow on his knee, and gently brushed my hair out of my eyes. I tried to understand the look on his face. No shame, no guilt, perhaps just a hint of regret. He looked like a man who knew he was doing something terrible, but he didn't feel guilt about doing it.

"How could you?" I whispered, finally finding my voice. I could feel the tears dripping off my chin.

"It's complicated," he replied.

"Greed isn't that complicated."

"There's more to it than that," he said. "The ebony was just a bonus."

"Then why?"

Falx looked at me for a few seconds, and I tried to see something in his eyes, something that might remind me of the man I had known, the man I had cared for. And if I tried hard enough, I could see it. But it was deep down, buried under a tangle of other emotions, hidden away like a secret he wanted to keep. There was just a little bit of tenderness, just a fragment of kindness. But other than that, all I could see was cold resolve.

"I've spent my life serving the Legion," he said, his voice hard and bitter. "I've done everything they've asked of me, even if I didn't think it was right. I did so because of their promise of a better life, the opportunity to accomplish great things. The Legion is a force for what is good and right, they've always told us. But that's a lie. You know that as well as I do."

"So what?" I pleaded. "You could have been better that them."

"I've served the Legion for too long, and I've sacrificed too much," he went on. "And to repay me for my loyalty, what did they do? They sent me here, to this godforsaken wasteland, to keep watch over all the soldiers that they didn't know what else to do with. The rejects, the troublemakers, the washouts. At first, I thought maybe I was stationed here to whip them into shape. But then I realized that I was just another reject as far as they were concerned."

I shook my head. "And so you've gone and proved them right?"

"The Legion only cares about this island because of the ebony. This land doesn't even belong to them, it belongs to the Nords. They've forced there way here in order to strip this land of its wealth, all to make the East Empire company rich, and in turn, make the throne rich."

He angrily got to his feet and walked over to the ebony, picking up a huge chunk and holding it in his hand. "I've spent my life serving their greed. Maybe it's time I got to be the greedy one."

I struggled upright, getting my feet under me and standing up unsteadily. "And how many men have died because of your greed?" I said through clenched teeth. "How many innocent people had to die? How many more do you intend to kill? You can try to justify it all you want, but you're nothing more than a thief, and a murderer, and a liar."

"And what about you?" Falx said. "You think you can take the moral high ground? You're a liar too, aren't you? And you're a thief. And what about the people you've killed?"

"I've never betrayed anyone," I said, glaring at him. "And the only people I've ever killed were people trying to kill me."

Falx tossed the ebony back on the table and brushed his hands off. He walked over to me until we were almost face to face. "It all depends on your point of view," he said. "I'm sure there are people out there who would call you a murderer. You never told me the truth about your background, but I can make a pretty good guess. So don't act like we're so different. You fought for what you believed in, and now I'm fighting for something too."

He sighed and the look in his eyes softened, and he reached up to touch my face. I tried not to recoil from his touch as his hand wiped away my tears. "We don't have to be enemies," he whispered. "I don't want to hurt you. You have a choice. Stay here with me and I can make things better."

"How can I possibly trust you?"

"I saved your life," he said. "Why do you think I sent you off on that stupid errand the day we attacked the fort? I was trying to keep you safe."

"What difference does that make? You think I can forgive you?" I asked incredulously. "You think I can just forget what you've done?"

"You still have feelings for me. You and I could have been something wonderful, and we can be again. Admit it, you still care for me."

"No," I said weakly, shaking my head. "The man I cared for is dead."

Falx didn't react, and then he looked at the floor and pulled his hand away. He walked away from me and picked up a sword from the pile by the wall.

"Tarick," he said. "Cut her bindings. Set her free."

"Are you sure?" Tarick asked.

"Just do it."

Tarick came up behind me and cut a knife across the strip of leather tying my hands. I pulled my arms apart and held them against my chest, rubbing my wrists. Falx looked at me carefully and then down at the sword in his hands, and then tossed the sword onto the floor, where it clattered at my feet.

"Go ahead and pick it up," he said. "I'm not armed. If you don't care about me anymore, then pick it up and kill me."

He stood before me and spread out his arms. "Come on, go for it. I won't try to stop you. I know how good you are with a sword. You could probably kill me and Carnius and Tarick before the rest of the men finally took you down. You think I'm a monster, so go ahead and kill me, take revenge on all those that I've killed."

I let my arms hang at my sides and just stood there, staring at him. I could have done it, I could have killed him right then and there. Maybe he wanted me to. But I wasn't going to throw my life away for no reason. I wasn't going to sacrifice my life for him. He wasn't worth that.

After a few moments of tense silence, he lowered his arms, walked up to me, and picked the sword up from the floor. He tossed it back in the pile and then turned to face me, taking my face in his hand again, but this time more roughly. His eyes seemed to blaze with emotion now, as his controlled exterior began to fade. He stared at me longingly, and I felt his desire, his pain, his lust, his guilt. A swarm of emotions, barely kept in check.

"I'm giving you a choice," he said forcefully. "But this is the only time I'll offer it to you, so think long and hard about it. You don't owe the Legion anything, you don't owe the people on this island anything. You can just forget about them. Say you'll stay with me, and when we're finished here, we'll be so rich that we can go anywhere and do anything we want. We can be together, just you and me."

"What's my other option?" I asked coldly.

"You can choose to die here," he said. "I'll hand you over to Tarick and his men, and let them do what they want with you. Those are your choices. Me or them."

"How about you just kill me yourself?" I dared him.

"I can't do that," he said. "Now choose."

I looked him right in the eye and I could almost see his heart breaking. Falx was a sick man, a very sick man. Seeing him like this, I wondered how he had managed to hold it together for so long. He had certainly fooled me. But now, I could almost see the cracks from the emotional strain. It was tearing him apart. And I knew that I wasn't even the cause. All of this was set into motion long before I ever came to Solstheim.

His voice dropped to barely a whisper. "Please, Sasha. Do the smart thing."

I looked at him and shook my head in disappointment. "I wouldn't give you the satisfaction," I said. "You're no better than they are. It's not much of a choice at all, really. At least with them, I'll die quickly. Staying with you would be just a slow death."

I swung my hand up and slapped his hand away, and he stared at me in stunned disbelief, unable to grasp what had just happened. Finally, his expression hardened, and I could see his emotions slip back into hiding, leaving no trace of guilt or sadness or love. There was just the callous, ruthless man now.

Tarick grabbed my shoulder and I spun around to knock his arm away too. He growled and slammed his fist into my stomach. I crumpled to the floor, gasping for breath.

"Well?" he asked excitedly.

Falx looked at him with a blank look on his face. "She's all yours," he said. "Get her out of here."

"All right," he snickered victoriously. "Come on, princess. It looks like you're coming with me."

I decided that I'd had enough. They thought I was unarmed and defenseless, but they didn't know about my knives. Falx probably didn't even know that I carried them. I had been waiting for the right moment, and this was the best chance I was going to get.

I drew a knife from my boot and then leaped upward, pushing Tarick back and swinging the blade across his throat. His eyes bugged out and he staggered back, slapping his hand across his neck as blood began to spurt from his severed carotid artery.

I heard Magius shout something, but I was already spinning on my heel, ducking away from Tarick's flailing body. I hurled the knife with all my might at one of the guards by the entrance way. It struck him in the eye, and he shrieked once before toppling over backwards, his body going limp.

"No!" Falx cried.

I was already jumping forward, Magius stumbling to grab me. The other guard, momentarily frozen in surprise, suddenly reacted and swung his sword down at me. As the guard with the knife in his eye collapsed, the sword in his hand slipped from his dead grasp.

In one fluid motion, I plucked the sword out of the air and swung it up, just in time to deflect the clumsy strike from the other guard. I knocked his sword away, pushing him off balance, and then swirled around and swung the blade down, cutting through his arm at the wrist.

The severed hand, still holding the sword, flopped to the floor, and the man grabbed at his stump and screamed, blood squirting from the bloody wrist. He screamed in horror and fell back, tumbling into Magius.

"Stop her! Stop her!"

I was already running through the passageway and bursting into the other room, running as fast as I could. A man rushed into the room, sword drawn, and I slammed into him, driving my sword right into his stomach. He hit the floor and I jumped over him, immediately turning left to run for the exit.

Magius was screaming behind me, "Stop her! Kill that bitch!"

And I could hear Falx shouting too, "Sasha! Stop!"

I bolted down the narrow tunnel and could hear the rumble of footsteps behind me, as the entire cave full of soldiers stormed after me. Up ahead, I could see the cave exit. It was now a swirling white mass of snow, as the storm reached its peak. The cave opening was like a magical portal leading to freedom.

Two more guards in wolf-skin cloaks rushed at me, but the cave passageway was too narrow for both of them. One of them had to push the other aside, and I ran at him full speed, leaping forward with my sword outstretched. He tried to block it, but he only deflected it slightly, and it slipped between his ribs. My momentum carried both of us forward, and I tumbled over his body, doing a somersault as I yanked the blade free.

The other man tried to slash down at me, but his sword struck the cave wall and he missed. I rolled back onto my feet and just kept going, as the shouts and roar of pursuit filled the cave.

I hit the exit and took two steps onto the ledge, and then I leaped out into the storm.