KINGSLAYER

♕ 7 | 9 ♕

Act 1 Chapter 79
ALEXANDER

Alexander had a new hatred for sea travel. Perhaps it was just that he'd done it too often lately, but the rocking of the boat under his feet no longer gave him the thrilling sense of possibility that it used to. Now it just made him feel sick.

The other revolutionaries onboard did not share that sentiment. They were visibly excited by his presence, knowing Alexander held the key to their kill shot on the Queen. Were they waiting for him as he spent those weeks slaving his days away in that factory believing it was all over? Were they planning to get him out all along? He supposed they did save their own. Nearly everyone did.

Alexander went above deck, believing the fresh air may relieve the strangling feeling still hanging around his throat. The iron collar was gone, cut off my a skilled blacksmith sworn to secrecy, but its weight remained like a brand. The fresh air still tasted stale, as most things did these days.

Yeleshev thought he was being covert, sneaking up to him, but Alexander always knew who was behind him. He let him. "You alright, Khan?" he asked, head tilted.

"Yeah."

Another one of Daggen's lackeys sidled up to Alexander on the left, propping his arms on the railing. Caging him in. "You agreed rather quickly to rejoining us."

"Did you think I'd lost my nerve?"

"After you skipped out on the deal for Houissons, we thought we'd be ordered to slaughter you."

"Gaining information too good to pass up came often enough, even after Houissons. But the Queen can only be killed once. After that, we're going in blind."

"Really," the man on his left drawled, "Because we thought maybe you'd been getting too close with the bitch for your own reasons. You let her kill all those men at Le Tempellé du L'exalté. Their deaths are on you." He stabbed an accusing finger into Alexander's shoulder. "We lost good men that day."

So Alexander's trick had been successful. "I don't give a fuck," he said blandly. "I made the choice to gain insider information over killing her, which seems to be valuable enough to your master. You're nothing but his dog. So act like it and heel."

"You're nothing but her dog," he spat, eyes raging. "You couldn't even manage to kill her on the first try—what made us so sure you'd do it at all?" His voice dropped into a condescending cadence. "I think she got one over you. She got in your head, made you believe she was worth it. What, was she that good a fuck?"

"Now why would I do that?" Alexander faced him for the first time, allowing him to see the deadness of his eyes. "I've murdered a thousand people, each who likely thought they were worth living too. I am a professional. You, on the other hand, are projecting. I'll be sure to bring it up to your master when I'm giving him the valuable intel I gathered."

He still glowered at Alexander, but had nothing more to say. "Run along, little dog." Alexander turned away, still gripping the railing with both hands.

When he'd left to angry mutter to a few of the others, Yeleshev asked, "Did anything occur with the Queen those many weeks we were not watching?"

Alexander's gaze stayed on the gray horizon. "I hate that woman as much as you do. If you think for a second that I fu—"

"Not that. I meant...if she laid hands on you—and you let her because you still sought her secrets, I would not be surprised."

Alexander snorted. "If you think I'm desperate enough to let anyone hit me just to get what I want, you're far stupider than I took you for." Liar.

Yeleshev simply shrugged. "It runs in her blood."

At that, Alexander had to hold back a laugh. A good, long, cynical laugh at the idea that he hated Aegeus Imperator as much as he hated Jaylah while he worked for him. They were all willing to die for Daggen's cause, not knowing that he was the same man that burned Navrikan families in their homes, that had their children whipped in the streets. Imperator was a genius, really. He had them all blinded by their own hatred so far that none of them could see he wasn't actually on their side at all. Not completely. He'd sooner tear them apart than aid them in any other endeavor. 

Alexander remained quiet. They would find what really ran in her blood when his work was finished.

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The meeting place was not as Alexander recalled it. It was on the outskirts of a modest little city, easily the biggest building there. One entire wing of its roof was blown off, a jagged wound in the otherwise perfect interior. Under his feet, the grass was seared a milky white, as if shot though by a thousand strikes of lightning. The sky remained low with clouds.

There were several checks from Imperator's men to be sure the newcomers were who they said they were. It seemed even he wasn't immune to traitors in his circle, but he'd clearly learned his lesson the first time. They asked Alexander nothing. His presence was obvious enough. The recognition felt off after being no one for so long.

From there, the group split. Alexander was taken away by a few attendants to meet with Imperator himself. Up two flights of stairs. Past a series of hurried revolutionaries. As he memorized all the details around him, Alexander readied himself, gathering every last shard of iron in his mind. 

They were permitted into a room with closed gilded doors when he uttered a deep, "Enter," revealing a dining room. He sat alone at the head of a table studded with jewels, but there was no feast upon it. The attendants abandoned Alexander at once, leaving only the two men in the room.

Alexander looked into his face, scarred and disfigured by his own hand. How insane did one have to be to do such a thing to themselves just to remain hidden? And furthermore—would Alexander go that far to hide himself from the slavers?

He took in Imperator's black eyes. I know what you are. They were so like Jaylah's, but ringed with more white, as if trying to see everything in his vicinity all at once. I know what you did. His mouth was pressed in a thin line, ringed by a neatly clipped beard and mustache. You damned us all just so you could be the victor.

Opening his hands, he said, "You claim to have valuable information?"

Alexander wasn't expecting to feel so stricken by being in front of him while knowing too much, but then again, he did always seem to flinch when people raised their voices at him. Old habits.

Imperator had several layers of clothing to brave the Navrikan chill and so did Alexander. He would be alright.

Alexander took the seat at his left. "I would not have left her alive for so long if it wasn't the key to destroying her."

"So tell me." He leaned forward in his chair, unexpectedly curious. "Will you tell me about my daughter?"

Alexander began to speak.