Crooked Hearts

Episode 15

EMRYS

I stand behind the bar as Mathilda sits in front of it, and I take her soft hand into mine, applying an ice pack wrapped in thin cloth against her bruised knuckles. Kenny appears out of the kitchen carrying Arnica plants with a mortar and pestle before grinding it on the bar.

Arthur and Nana are standing over Junior, who has his hands tied behind his back, with the dead assassin right next to him and several unconscious thugs they brought huddled together in a pile. Some patrons disperse in clutters, helping Evander with the overturned tables and chairs, while one or two sweep broken glasses into dustpans.

"Why'd you do it, Junior?" Arthur's voice seems casual, though the air around him burns with anger.

"I had to."

"We're your friends; you turned on Nazeer. Why can't you turn on Big Mouse?" Junior turns his face away, refusing to look him in the eyes. "Have you nothing to say for yourself?" Arthur draws his knife, walking around to stand behind him. "No begging for your life?"

"Is resorting to murder the solution to everything?" My eyes flicker to Mathilda; for once, there is someone who feels the same as I do. That all this fighting and killing leads only to a never-ending cycle of violence. The Outer Districts are lawless, but it doesn't have to stay that way.

"You have no voice here, Mathilda." She is taken aback; Arthur's tone is as cold as his eyes. "Maybe the Enforcers care enough about Lumina, but they don't care about us out here. Here, it's survival of the fittest." He turns his attention back to Junior. "And Junior should've died for his betrayal."

A strum of tune grabs all of our attention; it is a troubadour in the corner playing his flute. "Sorry." He smiles awkwardly as he realizes and puts down his lute; his eyes swollen from the fighting. It is good to know that there are people willing to fight alongside us. Evander and Kenny are great fighters, but there is strength in numbers. Things could have gotten bad without the patrons' help.

"That's right, betraying Nazeer was one thing. But he tried to kill us, tried to kill Miche." Nana points to Miche, lying down on the floor, with a tinge of red on the bandage wrapping around his stomach. "We're safer with him buried six feet under."

"If I turn traitor again, who will trust me? You're better off killing me." Arthur slices down his knife; Junior's eyes widen in surprise as he looks at his hands. Arthur has freed him. "What are you doing, Arthur?"

"For old time's sake. Next time, you die."

"You're letting him go?" Nana protests, reaching for her own knife. "This isn't the same Junior Arthur; I would know. He's lost himself since he left."

"Nana has a point; releasing him is unwise. I suggest we hand him over to the Enforcers." Arthur pays them no mind, and Nana tenses as Junior stands up. The air would be tense with silence if not for Kenny's relentless grinding to turn the Arnica into paste.

"Put this on her knuckles." He offers me, and I apply them to her knuckles.

"Big Mouse will want his revenge; he'll hire more expensive mercenaries to take you out. I won't help you fight him, but I can get you within a knife's reach of him." Junior turns to Arthur. "If you can take him out, maybe I'll just live picking up scraps...but if you can't. Then you're all doomed."

"I'll take him out."

"Make sure you force Soraya's whereabouts out of him before you do." Arthur's hand snaps to his collar, dragging him close. "I lied because I thought it would be easier on you, but maybe you can save her when I couldn't."

"How do you plan on getting me close to him?"

"He is throwing a private party soon, and all his friends would be there. I always bring my people inside for both enjoyment and protection."