Chapter Thirty Eight

Blood on My Hands

ELSA

Elsa clenched her jaw as she followed Hans down the hallway of the hotel. She was quite certain that if it weren't for the guards stationed in the building, she could possibly make a run for it. But how far can I make it? There are thousands of Exonian soldiers outside preparing for battle. Sorcery or not, I can't make it through that.

Servants were nowhere to be found right now, only soldiers dressed in the muddy red uniforms that bore the colours of the Exonian flag. They saluted as Hans walked past, and Elsa could see the hints of a grin playing at the corner of his lips. He's enjoying this, she noted with a clenched jaw.

They came to a wide staircase furnished with polished banisters, and went down six flights of switchback stairs. Down below, it was darker than above, and smelled mustier. Elsa had been in enough hotels and palaces to know that the basement was where the more menial tasks were carried out by the servants. Laundry was done here, as well as the maintenance of equipment and upholstery.

They passed by broom closets and service doors, and as they went deeper into the basement, Elsa could smell food being prepared in a kitchen somewhere. Her stomach growled from having not eaten in the past two days, and she realised how weak she felt on top of the headache that was still plaguing her skull.

No, I have to hold on. Elsa told herself firmly. My friends will come for me. I just have to stall for time.

It was here in the basement that she realised there was no military presence. No Exonian soldiers, and certainly no hotel staff or servants either. Instead, men in brown cloaks moved about, hoods pulled over their heads. This was the first time she was seeing the brown cloaks, having only heard of them from Janus, Venetia and the Warden. It was exactly how she expected them to look like though.

Simple brown cloaks that hooded their features, loose fabrics hanging freely around their bodies to give them shapeless figures that were drawn tight at the wrists and pooled around their feet. Even their hands weren't visible, being clad in black gloves, the only shade darker than the rest of their garments. They didn't exactly cut the most imposing figures, but no one could deny that they were mysterious.

"In here, please." Like a gentleman, Hans held open an ordinary looking door that looked like any other.

She stared at him with such hostility that would make anyone else flinch or falter, but he only remained impassive, the tiny smirk on his face a permanent fixture. Walking into the room, Elsa found that it was nowhere near as spacious as her previous accommodations had been. It was more like the dungeon that she had envisioned earlier.

A room shrouded in darkness, with only the faint light of a candelabra burning in the corner to illuminate the room. The walls were made of stone, and there were no windows or anything leading to the outside world. She honestly wondered why Hans hadn't just tossed her in here in the first place. Probably part of his love for theatrics and showmanship.

There was a chair in the centre of the small room that Elsa guessed was meant for her. Adjacent to where the candelabra had been set, a man in a brown cloak sat in the corner on a low stool, hands in his lap and the excess portions of the cloak neatly folded, with the remaining bits hanging around his ankles. Similarly, his features were concealed by the darkness.

"Have a seat." Hans said, and snapped his fingers.

Two more brown cloaks entered quickly. They both had ropes in hand, and they set to work roughly tying each of her hands to a chair leg. Smart, Elsa grimaced as the ropes chaffed at her wrist as they bound her tightly. Keeping my hands separate in case I can find a way to free myself. The damn villain had thought of everything.

"I apologise for the discomfort." Hans said after the two brown cloaks had left, leaving only himself, Elsa and the mysterious man seated in the corner in the room. "But I believe its necessary."

"Whatever you're going to do, just get on with it." Elsa steeled her expression.

"As you wish." Hans walked over to a table at the side of the room where a leather case lay. Popping open the hatch, he threw the lid open to reveal an assortment of old tools that bore an alarming amount of rust. Hammers, pliers, knives…

Swallowing, Elsa tried not to squirm as her heart began to pound more quickly in her chest.

"What do you recommend we start with?" Hans cast a lazy glance over his shoulder, fingering a particularly nasty looking tool. Then, with a chuckle, he turned away from the table and stalked back to Elsa. "I'm just getting you riled up. We won't be doing that today. Not yet."

Eyes narrowing at Hans, Elsa internally heaved a sigh of relief. But what else could her wretched captor have up his sleeve?

Taking a deep breath, he fixed her with a serious expression, the smile on his face disappearing like summer lightning. "I'm going to give you one last chance. Normally, I would take my time with these sort of things, but I'm a little on the clock here. As you know, a battle will be starting very soon. The Coalition is no doubt forming up to prepare to lay siege to Korynes. I don't know about General Hydrech, but I know a lost cause when I see it. The Coalition's numbers will overwhelm the Imperial Horde, sooner or later. This city will become ground zero to bloody urban warfare soon enough.

"I don't have a lot of time to get what I need, so I assure you, I will do whatever is necessary to get what I want." He bent over so that he was eye level with her, and leaned in closer, danger flitting in his eye. "If you're smart, you'll cooperate. I'm in no mood to play games. Not this time."

Elsa levelled his gaze, but remained silent.

"Where are you hiding the League of Sorcerers? This is your last chance, Elsa. So take it. Or don't."

Elsa stared directly into his eyes. "You already know my answer."

Giving a slightly exasperated sigh, he stood up. "Very well," Hans said blandly. "I can't say I haven't expected this." He lifted his voice in an authoritative tone. "Bring them in."

The door opened once more, and two figures were roughly manhandled into the room with bags over their heads and wrists bound behind their backs. Four brown cloaks escorted them in and forced them to their knees across the room from where Elsa was seated. The two new captives were dressed in simple greys, baggy shirts and trousers that left their features undefined.

Hans nodded at the four brown cloaks, who filed out of the room and shut the door behind them with a metallic clang. The cloaked man in the corner still sat there, quietly watching everything unfold. His hands were still in his lap, and he hadn't made a noise or any movement since Elsa had arrived, and she was beginning to have a very strange feeling about it all. It didn't help that there were now two more mysterious guests in the room. She felt very uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"Who are these people?" Elsa asked sharply.

"I'm glad you asked." Hans walked behind the two kneeling figures and ripped the bags of their heads at the same time.

It came as a double punch to the gut for Elsa, who stared in disbelief. Her heart lurched for a moment, and her blood grew cold and drained all the way down to her toes. She blinked, as if it would correct her vision and make what was before her change. But it didn't. Her mouth gaped open slightly and she tried to make a sound, but found that her throat had gone dry. This can't be happening.

"Would you believe it? Fate brought me the two people in the world you love most." Hans paced behind the kneeling prisoners. "Your fearless, intrepid sister, Anna, and your ruthless mercenary lover, Janus De Vesques. No doubt they were snooping around, looking to rescue you from me. Look how that turned out."

Elsa stared in dismay. Anna looked like she had just been through hell, her red hair tangled and matted, and skin coated in grime and dirt, as though she had been dragged through less than favourable conditions. Her eyes glistened with tears as she looked up at Elsa through strands of loose red hair.

Janus was no better, but in fact looked far worse. Bruises on his unmasked face told of a beating he had taken beforehand, and blood trickled from his lips and mouth. Grease and black powder had been smeared on his face, as if his head had been pushed into the sand. His usually tousled hair was in complete disarray, and sweat dripped onto the ground. Janus opened one good eye, and gazed at her. There was no fear on his face, but he looked like he wouldn't be able to endure another beating.

"Please," Anna begged. "Help us."

"No, no, no." Elsa whispered like a mantra, her eyes wide. After the initial shock and denial had settled in, anger began to take over, submerging all other raging emotions. She glared at Hans with such hatred that it would have bored holes into his skull. "How dare you-"

"I don't have time for this." Hans said curtly. Elsa could sense that he wasn't playing with her anymore. He would normally toy with her to see her squirm, but this time he really seemed to be desperate for answers.

"Let them go. They have nothing to do with this," Elsa strained to lean forward. "It's me that you want. You want to hurt me. Not them."

"You know how this works." Hans ignored her. "Or do I have to explain it to you?" He pushed aside the flap of his overcoat, and fished out a flintlock pistol. "Tell me what I want to know, or their blood will be on your hands."

"No!" Elsa shouted, trying to get up, but the ropes that bound her to the chair kept her restrained.

"Where are you hiding your precious sorcerers?"

"Let them go!" Her anger was turning to despair and fear for the safety of Anna and Janus. "Don't you dare hurt them! Hans!"

Stopping behind Janus, Hans raised his pistol and pointed it at the back of Janus' neck. "Don't test me, my dear." He warned her dangerously. "I'm not playing games. Not this time. I will shoot them. Believe me, I will."

The ropes chaffed her wrists painfully as she struggled against them, but to no avail. Panic surged through Elsa, and her heart hammered like thunder in her chest.

Anna and Janus are going to die if I don't give him what he wants, Elsa's mind raced as she saw Hans thumb back the hammer of the pistol. Hans very clearly had no qualms about killing her loved ones. There was no hesitation nor remorse on his face. Only a quiet desperation, one that she hadn't seen on his face before. He really meant business this time.

Elsa knew she couldn't let Anna or Janus die. There was no way she could. Anna. Her sister and best friend. The one who believed in her, and was the light to her darkness. Anna always believed in doing the right thing, in finding a way out of every dire situation. And yet, here she was on her knees, waiting to be shot.

And then there was Janus. The one man who made her believe in love. He understood her, and loved her for who she was, in spite of her abnormal abilities. Janus had been her rock, always by her side ever since he had turned his back on the Empire for her. And he was going to die if she didn't give in to Hans.

No! Elsa's face twitched as she refused the possibility. I can't give the sorcerers up. There'll be no turning back. The League of Sorcerers would be in grave danger. Everyone she had worked to protect and rescue over the past months, the hundreds upon hundreds who trusted and depended on her to lead and keep them safe, they would all be gone in one fell swoop. Men. Women. Children.

The mantle she had been charged with. The responsibilities. The trust. She couldn't betray that for anything. It all came down to this. The two people she loved the most in the world, or the hundreds of lives that depended on her?

"Last chance, Elsa. Where are you hiding the League of Sorcerers?"

"I…I can't." Elsa glared helplessly at Hans. Her eyes were growing hot with fresh tears, and she allowed them to well up as she turned to Janus as guilt overwhelmed her. "Janus, I'm sorry. I love you. But I…I can't."

She watched him as betrayal set in, followed by resignation, and he opened his mouth to speak. But before Janus could utter a word, a bright flash and a bang filled the world, echoing throughout the room.

Elsa shut her eyes as the flash and the report of the pistol went off, deafeningly loud and chiming like a bell in her head. It screamed her betrayal. Her inability to save him. Her decision to give Janus up after everything they'd been through together.

"NO!" Elsa screamed, her own voice distant in her ears as she tugged and struggled against the ropes. Her wrists burned as the ropes remained unbudging, chaffing her skin as she tried to get up.

Janus' body had fallen to the ground like a broken toy, blood pooling on the ground. Sticky crimson coating the dull cobblestones. Elsa's vision went blurry as tears manifested themselves, and her world swirled about in her head.

"That's one down." Hans said, tossing aside his spent and smoking pistol. "What a shame. You were willing to sacrifice your lover, but what about your dear little sister?"

"You bastard," Elsa hissed hoarsely, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. "I promise you'll pay for this."

"Last chance." Hans snarled, placing his hands around Anna's neck, who gasped breathlessly. "You want to protect a bunch of witches and monsters who aren't even your family? Or do you want to save the only remaining person in the world that you love? I killed your lover, and I won't hesitate to kill your sister. Is protecting the League really worth the cost?"

Furiously blinking away hot tears, Elsa continued to glare at Hans, seeing crimson on the floor from the peripheral of her eye. Is protecting the League really worth the cost?

"Please." Anna rasped.

"You're running out of time." Hans hissed, fingers adjusting their grip on Anna's neck. "Where are you hiding the League of Sorcerers?"

"Go to hell." Elsa choked, her voice shaky but resolute. She immediately felt guilt rushing through her veins, poisoning her heart and mind. Closing her eyes, she waited for the crack of the pistol.

"Stop." An unfamiliar voice came from within the room.

The pistol never went off, and Elsa opened her eyes. It took Elsa a moment to realise it was coming from the cloaked man in the corner. He had finally spoken, and even Hans turned his head to look at him. The man stood up gingerly, cloak still hooding his features.

"Enough. You've failed to break her, Brother." The man said. He spoke in English, but his voice was heavily accented and gravelly.

"No, I can still do this." Hans insisted.

"Wrong. She's made up her mind. She is stronger than we anticipated and will not crack. Not like this." The man shook his head. "Your task is a failure. There is no more need for this."

Hans paused for a moment and then relaxed, his hands loosening their grip on Anna's neck. "I suppose you're right." He said with a defeated sigh. Then like lightning, he drew the knife from his overcoat pocket and slashed her throat in one swift motion.

"NO!" Elsa screamed as she watched Anna fall to the ground with a dull thud. The world stopped around her, and she could feel everything going blurry, and for a moment she thought that she was dying too.

She closed her eyes tightly, a storm seeming to brew across her mind, clouding it over. And then all of a sudden, whatever had been oppressing her lifted and cleared like passing clouds.

Opening her eyes, Elsa blinked away the tears. Then confusion came over her, replacing her grief. The two figures that lay motionless before her weren't Anna or Janus. No. Lying in two separate pools of blood were two faces she didn't recognise.

"What-" Elsa stuttered, voice still shaky. "What the hell is going on?"

Hans glanced at the man in the cloak, who shrugged. Shaking his head, he returned his attention to Elsa.

"I suppose I should introduce my friend here. Meet Dreambinder." Hans waved a hand at the cloaked man. "Strange name, I know, but I'm not the one who makes up the names."

"I don't understand."

"Dreambinder here has a demon inside him. As do all the assassins." Hans explained. "He can make you see what he wants you to see, unleash your greatest fears and make them become reality before your own eyes."

A wave of relief came over Elsa as she realised Anna and Janus were unharmed. In fact they were somewhere safe, probably plotting a way to spring her from captivity. She instantly teared up and blew out a shuddery breath. But then guilt gnawed away at the back of her mind. Two people had still died because of her. She didn't know them, but they had died needlessly all the same.

"And it was a chance to see you despair. I had hoped that you would crack under enough pressure." Hans seemed truly disappointed as he stood before Elsa.

"Maybe you underestimated me again." Elsa said, trying to keep the waver out of her voice.

Something wild flickered Hans' eyes, and he lurched forward. Leaning forward, he aggressively grabbed her shoulders and squeezed, and Elsa could feel his breath hot on her face. As uncomfortably tight as his grip was, she tried not to flinch, staring straight into his green eyes overcome with madness.

"Why did you have to make this so goddamned hard?" He snarled. "Do you know how much trouble you've caused me? Do you have any bloody idea what's at stake here? Why couldn't you just play along?" His grip tightened and she resisted letting out a whimper of pain. "I ought to kill you, right here and now."

"Then do it," She narrowed her eyes, which were still red and puffy after crying. "Stop posturing. Kill me."

He paused, lingering, as if he were considering it. Elsa could almost see the gears turning in the back of his mind. She knew he wouldn't.

"No." He growled. "Not yet. You've made me fail here, and I will make sure you suffer for it. Physically, mentally. Slowly, and painfully, the way you deserve." He released his iron grip on her shoulders and stepped back. "No. I have other plans in store for you."

"Do your worst."

His lip curled maliciously. "Don't worry. I will."

A knock came outside the door, knuckles rapping against the steel.

"What?" Hans snarled loudly enough for the person on the other side to hear.

"The Coalition. They're coming over the hill."

Running a hand through his hair, Hans took a deep breath and straightened up, adjusting his overcoat and flicking away specks of blood. "Have the men clean this mess up," He ordered as Dreambinder followed him to the door. "I have other business to attend to."

"Of course." Dreambinder said blandly. "I expect His Eminence will be greatly displeased by your failure here today."

The door clanged shut and the key turned in the lock.

Alone in the darkness, Elsa heaved a sigh of relief. She was safe for now. The siege had already begun and soon she would be reunited with her friends. With Janus. With Anna.

Her loved ones were safe. Shutting her eyes, Elsa tried to forget about the two figures lying dead in their own blood in the very same room. The sacrifice was worth it, she told herself. Two lives for hundreds. But she still couldn't shake the guilt which clung to her and refused to let go.

No matter how I justify it, I still have blood on my hands.