Too much love is Violence

As Rhane raced through the hallway, he held onto the tiny thread of hope that Jenna hadn't left. He wanted to believe it, that she was beginning to see he meant well and would decide to stay back and find out.

"Rhane, wait," Kali called after him from behind, trying to keep up. "I know where she—"

Rhane wasn't listening. He pushed the door to Jenna's room open and walked inside, his eyes glazing the entire room, waiting for Jenna to maybe step out from the bathroom and give him that look, a frown, a smile. At this point, he would take anything.

It meant she felt a little bit, even tiniest of what he felt and had decided to stay back.

"Master?" Rhane muttered softly, the thread of hope slipping from his grasp as he walked further into the room and found it empty, the towel Jenna had around her body on the floor.

The meal he had prepared was still on the table. Aside from a plate soiled with oil, as if someone had grabbed a bite, everything else looked the same.

Rhane walked in further into the room, and knelt beside the bed. His hand moved blindly under the bed, and he picked up something. Reading through what was written there silently, Rhane exhaled tiredly. His shoulders sagged in defeat. He slowly sat on the bed, his eyes blankly staring at the rumpled piece.

He had seen Jenna earlier, even her attempt to cover up by showing her body. Rhane had seen it all. To him, Jenna was like an open book, years ago and still now. But for a moment, when she spoke to him, he felt she was beginning to see his true intentions, even after he had bared himself for her.

Rhane thought that confessing his true intentions would melt something in Jenna so she would at least look at him without prejudice. Not as Gerald's half-brother or as The Scourge, but as a man, Rhane, in love with a woman.

"Rhane!" Kali dashed into the room, holding her knees and panting breathlessly. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have. I was the one who asked her to leave."

Rhane smirked, flicking the parchment between his fingers. "You didn't," he replied with a dull voice that matched his hazel eyes.

Kali raised her upper lip, confusion marring her face. "Huh? No... she didn't want to leave. I got everything ready and then—"

"She had a choice, Kali. She had a choice to stay or leave." Rhane dropped the parchment on the floor. "She chose to leave. It wasn't you. It's what she wanted."

Kali blinked. This wasn't the reaction she expected from her brother. "You... you're not going to go after her?!"

"What if I scare her?" Rhane replied softly. "She's been forced to do things against her will for so long. She craves freedom. What if in my attempt to..." His voice trailed. He finally raised his eyes, looking at his sister without blinking.

"Kali, I worry that too much love is violence."

Rhane squeezed his palm together, his heart breaking into a thousand pieces when he thought of Jenna choosing between him and freedom, and the choice she had made. It meant she didn't choose him then, and she would never choose him. Ever. To Jenna he was just another horror waiting to unleash. That dreadful thought shattered Rhane's entire existence.

"Rhane..." Kali took a step closer to her brother. "I... maybe... you never know. Maybe she wanted to stay and I had—"

Rhane let out a dry, aching chuckle, his eyes filled with dejection. "I hope she can come back home to me too, but hope has always been a disease. One that has made me dream for years." He stood up quietly, picking up the parchment, and walked straight to the candelabra and dropped it.

"Let's go and continue with the meeting. It seems the council has a lot to say. And go find Gerald, he must be drinking somewhere in the mansion."

Kali watched her brother leave the room. No anger. No violence. Just defeat.

"What have you done, Kali?" she asked herself, ruffling her fingers through her hair. She'd thought that separating Jenna from Rhane was the best option to get everything right.

The woman would leave with her servant and the troubles they came with, while Rhane would focus on his life and be who he'd always been. How wrong she was. The love she had for her brother was about to ruin everything.

"I'm the one with a violent love," Kali concluded. She paced around inside the room, thinking of how to get things right again without ruining things. Kali wanted to help her brother, who always watched over her in his own way.

Rhane had always put others first before himself, even while they were growing up. Rhane risked his life almost threw his life away just to get their freedom. And when he wanted something the most, she had destroyed it. She had taken it away from him.

Kali inhaled deeply. She was about to leave when she heard a noise. It was soft, almost dismissible but it happened again. A soft whimper.

"Who is there?" Kali asked. She listened closely and heard the noise again. Detecting where it was coming from, Kali moved toward the closet and dragged it open.

The old woman that had been with Kali earlier fell out, covered in blood.

"Nan!" Kali pulled the woman up, making her rest on her chest. "Why are you here... what... did she hit you before escaping?" Kali knew it was absurd, but she couldn't think of anything else at the moment.

The old woman opened her mouth to speak, but her jaw looked loose, like she had been hit so hard.

"Uh... uhh..." the woman mumbled incoherently, her hand pointing at something, but because she couldn't move, it remained on the floor.

Kali leaned closer, trying to make out what the woman was saying. "What? What happened? Who did this to you?"

"Water..." the old woman mumbled again, this time with heavy breath because it was too hard for her to say.

Kali narrowed her eyes at first, but when she realized what the woman said, she nodded. "You want water?"

"Fish," the woman said again.

Kali closed her eyes and exhaled. "Nan, you need to make me understand. What water... what fish?" Seeing that it was going to be hard, Kali said,

"I'll get the physician to look at you. Tell me then, after you're recovered." She tried to stand up, but the woman gripped her shirt.

"Too late..." she breathed in heavily. "Gerald... meat. She took a lamb cut."

Kali frowned. "What… lamb? Gerald took the lamb?"

The old woman's eyes fluttered, barely open. Kali stared at the blood on her dress, the trembling fingers, the half-mumbled words. Lamb cut. Gerald. Her eyes darted across the room. The untouched food. The towel. Jenna's clothes were still in the closet.

"Meat. Lamb cut. Gerald had been here. She took… she took... No. No, Jenna didn't take anything." Kali's throat went dry. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

Jenna didn't leave... she was taken.

"Oh gods."

Kali stumbled back, covering her mouth, a swirl of guilt and wild relief sweeping through her.

She chose Rhane. Jenna chose Rhane.

"And I almost ruined it." Kali whispered to herself.