"I'm bleeding out, so if the last thing that I do is bring you down, I'll bleed out for you." –Imagine Dragons, "Bleeding Out"
-o-
The field was chill and dark. All the birds had flown to their nests, and the animals had retreated to their burrows. The summer night was punctuated by rustling choirs of grass and the light padding of footsteps in damp earth. The moon was full, a perfect white eucharis in the starry sky. The only scar upon the scene was the skeleton of a house, the charred black timbers pointing at the heavens like accusing fingers, and two simple wooden crosses. As Jacqueline stepped into the field, she drew her sword and let it hang loosely in her right hand.
"Hello, Assassin." The voice behind her was steady and confident. Jacqueline turned to face her opponent. Richard L'Enfant was tall and frankly evil looking. He had a trimmed goatee and a severe face creased from years of frowning.
"Hello, Templar." She greeted in kind.
L'Enfant drew his sword, and there they stood. The blades gleamed, twins, in the moonlight. "So, this is where we shall stand, yes?" He began to circle, and she moved with him to stay opposite. "I've heard much of you, Assassin, cutting your way through my associates, leaving a bloody trail across France."
"I did not expect you to remember me, L'Enfant, but you have proven me wrong." Jacqueline gestured at the place where they stood.
"Do not take me for a fool. I put the pieces together rather quickly, after some investigation of my own. You're that brat from the Sauvageot family, come for revenge, I assume."
"You would assume correctly. Did you think you would not face the consequences of your actions eventually?"
"Usually, when consequences find me, I swat them aside. A man such as myself has no time for the petty side of life. In fact, the only reason I'm facing you here is because you're an annoying insect who will not fly away until swatted." On the last, sharp word, he stabbed the soft soil with his blade.
"Your pride will be your downfall, L'Enfant. I will defeat you and avenge the deaths of my parents."
"Will you now? You're but a child. How many years of training and experience do you think I have on you? Fifteen? Twenty?"
Jacqueline set her jaw. "Tell me where Rousseau is and I will spare your life."
"Such arrogance. You really think I will be so easy to defeat? You toss your accusations around as though you could stand by them in a heartbeat. I suggest we place a bet, like my old friend Pascal, who I heard you have already reached."
"What are the constraints?" Jacqueline asked after a pause.
"They are simple. If you defeat me in our duel, I will tell you all you want to know of Christophe's location, and then I will die with honour. But…if I win, I will not kill you. I will take a limb of my choosing, and then send you off to tell your Assassin friends to quit this revolution of theirs. France belongs to the Order, and it will remain that way. Does this sound fair?"
"I accept."
The opponents shook hands and took their stances. Jacqueline dispatched his pose in the seconds they stood across from each other: L'Enfant was likely stronger than her and had the advantage of upper body strength, although she had the advantage of nimbleness and speed. He stood firmly and held his sword aloft, suggesting attacks to her arms and torso. He was left-handed.
The Templar took the first step, a solid pace forward, and raised his sword an inch. She also advanced and pointed her weapon. L'Enfant dashed the steels together experimentally, and the ringing sang out into the night. A few more ginger taps followed, pinging and scraping lightly. The atmosphere was electric, charged with adrenaline and anticipation and an underlying current of bloodlust.
Jacqueline made the first real strike, a straight shot to a gap in his mail, which he deflected with as much ease as she had Léon. As the duel picked up speed, they parried and bounced back and forth on their heels in the tall grass. Their swords now banged together, falling away and magnetising together again in a complicated flurry.
Though she had made the first move, she also took the first blow. A clean cut across her upper arm was the result of a slow defence. L'Enfant clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Sloppy."
Angry, she struck out at him recklessly. They were clumsy blows, but L'Enfant was genuinely taken aback and had to quickly parry to avoid having some fingers chopped off. A huge swing, straight down to aim at his shoulder, made her stumble forward when he sidestepped. Jacqueline roared in pain when he drew his blade across her back, leaving a long, deep cut from her shoulder to her hip.
The Assassin fell to her knees, biting her cheek to hold back tears. Blood flowed down her back, seeping into her stockings, soaking into her clothes. L'Enfant stood over her, shaking his head. "Ready to accept defeat?"
Jacqueline sucked in a breath. "Never!"
She hurled her sword at him and landed a scratch to his arm as he dodged. She yanked a curved hunting knife from her belt and lunged at him, the dagger glinting silver, faster than the eye could follow. Richard tried to deflect the fast blows, but settled on dodging instead.
Circling the Templar, her blade held out, crouched in the grass, Jacqueline realised she had fallen into her mother's shoes. The thought made her confident, but even so, she was still losing.
Richard struck aside a blow and, panting, declared, "Is that the best you can do?!"
Jacqueline realised he was toying with her. This was a game to him, a game she could not afford to lose. She blocked a swing at her neck, pulled her pistol from her belt and shot him in the chest.
-o-
L'Enfant laid in the grass, stuttering in disbelief. "That was cheating." He declared sourly, pacing away from her. "Treacherous snake."
"It was not. You never specified that the duel had to be won with swords." Jacqueline cast her hands out. "Now, I believe we had a deal."
"Very well, Assassin. Christophe resides in a fortress in the far north of this country, on an island known as L'Ilette. He is not I—he is retired, and elderly. He will wait for you to come and kill him. But I must ask, Assassin. What do you hope to accomplish with this task you have set for yourself?"
"I want revenge, as you said. It is time I achieved closure."
"Closure achieved by killing five men, and anyone who stands in your way. You think you're better than us? You're nothing but an animal."
"No more of an animal than you, L'Enfant." Jacqueline pressed her lips together tightly.
Richard scoffed, amused. Blood sputtered at the corner of his mouth. "I hope you find him, Assassin." He muttered. "I hope you find him, so he can tear you apart. By the time you reach your death, I hope you learn that determination does not mean victory. So go on, then. Do what you set out to. Kill me."
Jacqueline frowned down at him. "Tell me one thing, first. What was your role in the murder of my parents?"
He smiled cruelly, his eyes already growing dim from his fatal wound. "I was the man who laid the torch to the foundations of that hovel and burnt it to the foul soil it stood on."
"Reposez en paiz." Jacqueline threw out her hidden blade and let it meet his throat. "Bastard."
-o-
"Now, hold still, please." The kind healer instructed. She dabbed bandages with a greenish salve and pressed them to Jacqueline's back.
The Assassin tightened her grip on the sides of the white-clothed medical table and spit ever swear she had learned on the Aquila. The salve in her newest wound burned like fire under her skin. When her back was securely wrapped up, the woman patted her shoulder. "Okay, my young friend. That should hold, but I'm afraid it's going to leave a scar."
"Thank you." Jacqueline said hoarsely, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. It had been a long time since she'd slept.
"It was my pleasure." The healer rinsed her hands in a basin of water. She was Johann's wife, a Frenchwoman with laugh lines and dark hair with streaks of silver. She was heavily pregnant, and had to waddle around the cramped room. Her name was Sou. "How did you get that nasty wound?"
"A duel." Jacqueline pulled on her camisole and then the long-sleeved red shirt she wore between layers.
"It must have been some duel!" Sou exclaimed. "Oh—I still need to tend to your arm."
Jacqueline sighed and stripped again. Sou dabbed the cut on her upper arm clean and bandaged it with the same stinging salve. "Yes, my opponent was very skilled. I suppose I won a bit underhandedly."
"Oh? How so?" Sou tied the bandage off and patted it with a smile, although Jacqueline grimaced at the pain.
"Well, it was a duel with swords and…I shot him." She admitted, a bit sheepishly.
Sou laughed heartily and rubbed the large swell of child that bulged under her apron. "At least you won. Ooh!" She flinched and looked down. "The little one's been very active recently."
"Oh…erm…" Jacqueline began dressing again, unsure of what to say. "How…far along…are you?"
"Just about ready now." Sou lovingly rubbed her pregnant belly. "Johann's been so anxious, but I'm just excited! Do you have children?"
The question took her by surprise, and Jacqueline blushed. "Oh, no, no. I've not put much thought into a family."
"Surely you've thought about it, though?" The healer packed away her supplies. They were in the infirmary section of the sanctuary, and the cupboards were packed with medical supplies that the various petty-officer-level recruits had brought in. "A pretty young woman like you must have some man on your mind."
Jacqueline coughed, embarrassed, and buttoned her cuffs. "I, ah…I don't think Connor is ready for children yet, either."
"Ah, but you have thought of it." Sou wagged a finger.
"Not…in depth. I cannot afford to bring children into the life I lead." She rubbed a bruise on her cheek. "Perhaps…eventually. When we have stopped hunting."
"Having children is the best thing to happen in your life. I have two wee ones already, twin girls, and they're a joy." The older woman beamed. "If you ever have doubts, take my word for it. You'll never regret it."
Jacqueline nodded and hopped off the table, cringing and holding her back. She bowed with one fist across her chest. "Thank you, madame, but I should be going."
"Leaving so soon?"
"My journey isn't over yet. There's still something I must do before I return home." She observed her blade, still stained rusty red, and put it back in its sheath.
"I left my home once, when I was about your age." Sou waddled here and there, cleaning up the supplies and straightening things. "My favourite saying is, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder," because that's just how I felt. When I got back home, I looked at everything in a new light. That's when I married Johann, when I returned, because I realised something: I just couldn't be without him again. So make sure when you get back, you appreciate what you left behind."
-o-
-I totally love the name Richard when it's French, because the "ch" is pronounced like "sh" and it's just lovely.
-So this chapter was pretty short, disappointingly so, actually, because the fight was originally combined with the last chapter, so fast update.
-I enjoyed the contrast between the fight in the first part and the more…gentle (?) section later with the expecting momma Sou.
-Review for swordfights!