HER CHOICE

Knock, knock.

I looked up with a start from the report I was been reading, and frowned at the door across the room. It was too late for courteous visits and no one had any reason to come to my quarters at this hour.

Unless…unless they had found her.

“Come in.” I called out to whoever that stood behind the door.

The door opened to reveal Rogg, he stepped into the room and quietly shut the door. I watched him walk to the middle of the room with an unreadable expression and stand with his arms folded across his bloodied shirt. After having him work for me all these years, I knew he would not speak until I did or until he was asked to.

“Is the blood on you yours?” I inquired.

A slow grin crept across his face, “Not all of it, sir.”

I rose from my seat with a deep frown, I had not expected the task to be a bloodless one but it was clear Rogg had enjoyed the fight a little too much.

“You’re going to get yourself killed one of these days.” I remarked as I moved around the table to stand in front of him.

“I’ve looked death in the eye too many times to fear it.”

“Very well,” I sighed. “Did you find her?”

“Yes sir.” He nodded. “We were able to get them all, she and her crew were hidden at the base of the mountains.”

“Hmm, just like he told us,” I muttered and turned my gaze to the window to see a dark, starless sky. “Since what he said was true, you can have them release him.”

“I didn’t think you would truly let him go, even if we found them.”

I turned back to him with a raised brow, “I don’t lie Rogg, you should know that. And besides, I have no need for him anymore.”

He gave me a sharp nod in response. “Now,” I reached for the holster on the table that held my gun. “Take me to them.”

Rogg watched me with obvious distaste as I strapped on the holster. “I don’t know why you use those things.”

“They work.” I replied. “And I don’t have to be close to you to use them, unlike your blades.”

He snorted, “That’s until you run out of bullets.”

“Well, that’s why I also carry a dagger.” I responded. “Shall we?”

Rogg huffed and sauntered over to the door, his walk had a sight hobble as a result of one of his many combats over the years. With each step he took the undried blood on his shirt dripped off onto my carpet, leaving behind a trail.

“You should have seen a healer and had a change of clothes before coming here and spilling yours and others blood all over my carpet.” I grumbled as walked through the door he held open for me.

He chuckled as he shut the door behind him. “My apologies sir, I’ll do so next time before coming to report to you.”

I only offered him a grunt in reply because we both knew he would repeat the same thing the next time.

I slowed down as we walked down the hall to allow him to get ahead since he would be leading me where he had left them, it made no difference to him as he continued on in his timely pace telling he wasn’t in a hurry.

Some servants of the manor still hurried about, even at this late hour, carrying out their various duties. They paused only to give us greeting, then went on with their business.

We got to the front doors that were guarded by two brazen men, they nodded solemnly at us then swung open the doors. The cold night air blew in and chilled me to the bone, if any of the other men noticed the breeze, they didn’t show it.

We continued our journey out the doors and down the stone stairs, they went down to the walkaway that led to the front yard. Ahead of us, at the front yard, was a closed wagon surrounded by three armed guards Rogg had left to watch it, all three were in the same state as Rogg, the now prisoners had certainly put up a fight. No sound came from the wagon, had I not known any better, I’d have thought it to be empty.

“Open it up!” Rogg shouted.

One of the guards removed the thick board that secured the wagon shut, and with a nod at the other two he flung the doors open. The other two immediately unsheathed their swords and leaped into the wagon, weapons first. The prisoners, on the other, remained on the wooden floor, not bothering to attempt an escape.

The soldiers began lifting them and throwing them out of the wagon, first came a few young men, then a frail looking girl, and then her.

She let out a groan as she hit the ground, her vibrant red hair lay disheveled around her as she tried to pick herself up off the ground. I hadn’t expected such long or bright hair from a trained killer, it’s a wonder she hadn’t been identified before now.

After her came a younger boy, his fall looked just as painful as the rest but the girl immediately forgot her own pains and crawled over to see if he was fine.

Now they were closer, I could see how battered they were, which is to be expected as they had been heavily outnumbered. And Rogg and his escorts weren’t known to be gentle fighters.

When the wagon was empty, it was boarded up and the guards took a stand around us.

“I would like to speak to the girl privately.” I turned to Rogg and added, “In the second ward.”

Rogg immediately went over to her and picked her up, she tried to put up a fight but her strength failed her, and he began taking her to the ward.

To my surprise the others watched silently as she was taken away, maybe they assumed she could fend for herself. I turned to the nearest guard, “Keep them in check until I’m back.”

“Yes sir!” She saluted. With that, I headed to the ward to join them.

When I came into the empty room, Rogg was standing at the corner with his eyes fixed on the girl, who knelt on the floor with her head down.

I stood in front of the door, thinking of what way to handle this. Someone like her wouldn’t waste time beating about the bush, so there would be no point in wasting time.

“What’s your name, girl?” I began, strutting away from the door.

She looked up at me with hatred radiating from her dark eyes and didn’t give an answer.

“Alright, I can always give you a new one as we go along.” I shrugged. “Now, as I’m sure you’re aware, I have a guild of people who have gifts like yours, and I want to you to join them.”

“And why would I do that?” she rasped.

“So, I wouldn’t kill you. I assume you’d like to live.”

She scoffed, “I’m not afraid of death, that’s not going make me work for you.”

“Hmm, let’s test that, shall we?” With a move of my hand, I whipped out my gun and aimed it at her.

She stared at me unfazed, almost like she was daring me to shoot. Rogg watched us anxiously from his corner, shuffling his feet as I stepped up to her with my gun aimed for her head.

I stopped a few feet from her, “Do you really want to do this?”

“I have nothing to lose, you’re gaining more from this than I am.” She stated.

“Fine, you have three seconds to have a change of heart.” I replied. “One.”

She continued to stare back at me, now with a smirk on her face, like she was mocking me.

“Two.”

She didn’t think I would do it, the confident way she knelt there made it apparent.

“Three.” I whispered, then pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A scream escaped her mouth as the bullet blasted into her lower thigh, blood immediately began to soak into her tunic. She clumsily attempted to use her hands to stop the bleeding, letting out a string of curses as she did so. I heard Rogg let out a deep groan, but remained where he was.

“Remarkable.” I muttered. “You really have no care for your life, that will come in handy later on.”

“I’m going to kill you!” She swore.

“You’re not the first one to say so, and yet here I am.” I replied offhandedly. “And I’m certain you won’t be the last.”

I placed the gun back in its holster and swatted down to her, she was still applying pressure to the injury to stop the bleeding.

“You will not get what you want from me.” She seethed.

“I will,” I reassured her. “You may not care for your life, but there is something you care about.”

“I have nothing.”

“Everyone has a weakness.” I whispered.

“Not me.” She insisted.

I grinned at her, almost manically. “I said everyone.”

I got back up to my feet and headed for the door, “Rogg, get her, we’re going back to the other prisoners.”

I heard her protest as Rogg picked her up once more, and followed me out to the yard. The other prisoners sat upright on their positions on the ground, surrounded by the three guards, when they saw us coming. Their eyes remained fixed on the girl and blood the dripped from her leg.

I scanned through them as Rogg dropped the girl on the ground a few feet from where I stood, until I found the person I was looking for. The younger boy now sat in the middle of them, the look in his eyes as he stared at the girl betrayed his fear.

“You,” I pointed at him. “Come.”

He hesitantly got up and walked over to where I stood. I gripped him by his arm and turned briefly to the girl, who watched us with nervous curiosity.

“Earlier,” I began. “You were all roughly thrown out of the wagon, and judging by how high that wagon is, the fall would have been a painful one. While the rest of you tended to your aching bodies, the girl ignored hers and immediately went over to this young chap to see if he was hurt.”

The girl shifted restlessly where she sat, either from the pain of the bullet wound or from concern of where I was going.

“Now, by the looks of him,” I continued. “He seems too young to be her betrothed or companion, so I thought he might be a brother, but with his pale hair and her red one, and the overall lack of resemblance, I doubt that. So, I’m left with one conclusion.”

I turned back to the girl and pulled out my gun, and held it up the now trembling boy’s head. “It’s likely he is someone you have sworn to protect, perhaps you made an oath to a dying mother that you would keep him alive. And by the looks of things, I’d say the whole team promised to do the same, since they were just forming a little human shield around him a while ago.”

“So, young assassin, you have a decision to make.” I went on as I stared down at her. “Work for me or I will shoot him here and now.”

My little theory could be wrong, but that wouldn’t matter as I had nothing to lose by testing it out. However, the look on her face told me I was right.

She bit down on her lip as tears began to flood her eyes, she had been caught between a rock and a hard place. Her hands went back to the leg I had shot, squeezing it as her gaze continued move between the two of us.

“Ruby…Ruby,” The boy whimpered. “It’s okay, you don’t have to do this.”

Ruby? That was her name? It certainly fits the hair, not her line of work though.

“You have three seconds.” I voiced. “One.”

Two options, have the boy die right before her eyes.

“Two.”

Or save his life and work for The Duke.

“Thr-”

“I’ll do it!” she screamed.

Ah, I was right after all.

I smiled and lowered the gun, “Very good.”

I shoved the boy to the ground and turned to Rogg, “Get some more guards to take them to the dungeon, make sure they’re treated well, they’re our guests after all.”

As Rogg walked off to carry out the order I called out, “And get a healer for the girl.”

“Very well, sir.” He replied.

I strolled over to the girl and knelt next to her. The look on her face told me if we had been alone, she would have tried to carry out her earlier promise, even with an injured leg.

“I told you,” I whispered. “Everyone has a weakness.”

“And I will find yours.” She hissed.

“Don’t bother,” I smiled. “I killed mine a long time ago.”