Leading Aegis

Chapter 33

The knock that sounded on the door of his room at the inn startled Wyatt out of his trance, as he’d been sat on the bed staring at the curtained window for some unkept amount of time. However long it had been since he’d arrived, however long since he’d been staring, empty-minded, it didn’t feel like long enough. He still felt outside himself. Still wanted that to be his primary state, as it kept him from feeling the pain in his jaw, and in his chest.

But he couldn’t leave the knock unanswered, and so he gave a half-hearted, “Who is it?” as he stood and started over.

“It’s me,” Rue’s voice replied.

He opened the door for her, and she slipped in and shut it behind her, and after directing the white whippon on her shoulder to perch elsewhere, she immediately threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

“You crazy bastard,” she laughed, “I can’t believe Carolina didn’t kill you.” When he gave no reply, she pulled away just enough to look at him. “Wyatt? What’s wrong?”

He stared at the ground for a few moments before shrugging, and then hesitated for several more before mumbling, “I’m just,” he gently removed her arms from his neck and gestured toward his head, “empty.”

“Come here,” she said, taking one of his hands to lead him to the bed. “Sit down.”

He did, and she sat down beside him, reaching one of her hands up to massage the back of his shoulder. But, as much as he wanted her there, her touch was like sandpaper, and it sent a flurry of painful tingling up his nerves and into his head, and he shrank away without thinking. Rue dropped her hand onto her own lap without a word, and it was only once the residual itch faded that he worried how she’d take it.

“I’m sorry,” he said, but he was still so overwhelmed with emptiness that he couldn’t find the words. “It’s not that I- I just can’t- I…” He sighed heavily.

“It’s fine, Wyatt,” she said, “you don’t have to explain.” She adjusted on the bed, pulling one knee up and turning so that she was facing him, but also putting enough space between them that there was no contact. “You just let me know when you’re ready to be touched again.” He nodded, sighing again with relief and gratefulness. “Do you need quiet, too?”

He considered that for half a minute and nodded once more, and Rue gave him a small smile and then fell onto her back, folding her hands behind her head. He’d been sitting in silence since the moment he was done cleaning the blood off his hands, and he fell back into it almost involuntarily. He stared down at a crack in the wood floor, but he wasn’t seeing it, and he wasn’t really sitting there in silence.

Because even though his mind was empty, the events from earlier in the night were on repeat outside his head like some indiscernible voice echoing it over and over and over. Changing the events based on things he could’ve done differently. Mending the situation if only he’d been braver, or faster, or stronger.

It was only after another long, hollow stretch of silence that he was able to blink it all away, if only briefly enough to have a few intentional thoughts. He couldn’t sit there outside himself all night, nor did he want to anymore, but he’d fall right back into it if he didn’t do something to stop himself.

So he reached over to Rue, who almost looked as if she’d fallen asleep, and set his hand on her knee. She picked her head up to look at him, and he patted his thigh and murmured, “You could lie here, if you like.”

She sat up just enough to turn around and lay her head on his lap. She still didn’t try and touch him, but she let him run his fingers through her hair, and it gave him something to focus on. He brushed his hand down the length of it, twisted a lock around one finger and gently set the curl aside, and massaged her scalp for a couple seconds before doing it all again. And slowly, by grounding himself in her and in the moment, he began to return to himself. Began to feel present in the room .

The low, numbing buzz in his head disappeared, and instead of hearing the night’s events, he was able to take in the other sounds in the room. Like the hushed flicker of the flame from the candle on the nightstand. Or the deep, distant bass from the music in the tavern downstairs. Or Rue’s satisfied sighs every time his fingers pressed against her head.

When he’d finally returned to himself enough to form another thought, the first one he had was, “How’s Carter?”

Rue opened her eyes to look up at him. “He’s good,” she answered. “Ophelia gave him Catorix. He’s resting in the brig.” He nodded, and a few more seconds went by before she asked, “How’s your jaw?”

He flexed it back and forth and groaned at the jolt of pain. “Like I was hit with a brick.”

She huffed a laugh at that, but her smile disappeared quickly as she said, “I thought I was going to have to give us away. I thought she’d kill you.”

“Lucky for us both, she has self-control.”

Rue hummed and continued to stare up at him while he ran his fingers down the length of her hair again. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked eventually.

“About what?”

She shrugged. “Whatever it is that’s upset you so much. Is it because you almost lost Carter?”

“That’s part of it,” he answered. He drew in a long, deep breath through his nose and released it in a heavy sigh. His hand stopped stroking her hair as his eyes began to lose their focus, but he shook himself out of it. “I’ve been in so many fights, Rue. I’ve seen blood. I’ve seen death.”

“But?” she asked.

“But I’ve never seen someone beaten the way Simon did to John,” he said, blinking away the threat of dissociation and looking down at Rue instead. “He wasn’t even fighting back.”

Rue swallowed hard and turned her head away from him for several long seconds before inhaling deeply and looking at him again. “Carolina’s free, Wyatt.”

His brow furrowed. “What?”

“The spell Ophelia did, it worked,” she explained, “it was just delayed because they hadn’t really made amends.”

“But they have?” he asked .

She nodded. “Simon won’t Ascend now. Carolina doesn’t need to find it anymore. It’s over.” He considered what that could mean, but Rue added, “You should join Omen,” and he couldn’t help but look down at her in shock. “Carolina is so happy right now she’d probably say yes to anything. You could leave Sovereign.” She paused for just a moment and smiled. “You could be with me.”

He almost shared her smile. Almost. “I can’t, Rue.”

“What?” she asked, pushing out of his lap to sit up and face him. “Why?”

And though she may have been trying to hide it, her hurt was severe enough that he noticed the downward turn at one corner of her mouth, and the way her eyes glistened.

“I want to,” he said, reaching out to set his hand on hers. “More than anything, I want to, but Simon knows where you were heading next.”

“John told him,” she sighed.

He nodded. “Carolina may end her search, but I don’t believe Simon will. Someone has to do something.”

“He’ll kill you.”

“Maybe,” he agreed. “But I can’t live with myself if I don’t try.”

“This isn’t over,” Rue said as she shot off the bed to stand before him. “And you won’t be alone.”

“I can’t just bring you aboard Sky’s Honor,” he told her.

“You won’t have to,” she said. “If I tell Carolina this, there’s no way she won’t do something.”

“What do we do?” he asked.

She stared down at her feet for half a minute before looking back up at him. “We’ll give Carolina the night to enjoy her freedom. Come to Omen tomorrow morning and be there when I tell her all this. Be a part of whatever plan we come up with.”

“You think she’ll let me?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “But if she didn’t kill you tonight, then she won’t kill you in the morning.”

“Right, then,” he said, and gave a toothy grin that he knew looked ridiculous as he pointed at his face, “how long could she really stay mad at me, anyway?”

Rue laughed, “Are you ready to be touched again?” He nodded, and she immediately stepped forward to stand between his knees and set her hands on his face, still smiling as she gave him a long, gentle peck. When she pulled away, she set her arms over his shoulders and leaned back to look at him, her smile fading. “I don’t want you to go back to Sky’s Honor.”

“Why not?”

“Because no one is there to stop Simon from killing you,” she answered.

He hummed, glancing downward as he processed the probability of that. “Yeah,” he agreed. “But someone needs to keep an eye on him.”

“Why can’t Piers do it?” she asked.

“Simon would be less hesitant to kill Piers than he would me.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because he said as much,” he told her. “We tried to help John,” he added, sighing heavily and shaking his head at the memory. “Simon threatened to kill every one of us if we interfered.”

“And he nearly did kill Carter,” Rue murmured. “Carolina and Ophelia will have an idea of how to stop him, I’m sure of it.”

He nodded and hoped that was true, but he didn’t want to think about it anymore, and reached up to set his hands on her hips. “Can you stay?”

“Not for much longer,” she answered, fingering the hair at the base of his skull, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” he said, and was immediately distracted by movement on his right. He’d completely forgotten the whippon was there until it adjusted to settle deeper into the pillows on the bed, but he couldn’t help smiling at it as it curled into the cushion. “Who’s this?” he asked Rue.

“That’s Ribbon,” Rue told him as she dropped her arms from his shoulders, and at hearing its name, the whippon perked its head up. “She’s Carolina’s.”

“Hello,” he said to the small creature, and gave his lap a gentle pat, “come here.”

The end of Ribbon’s tail vibrated with delight as she crawled on her belly across the bed, until she set her head on his thigh. He smiled and ran his hand down her head and back, and the wag of her tail traveled through her whole body as she wiggled farther into his lap, until she’d shimmied herself up his chest to press her head under his chin.

“Aren’t you the sweetest?” he chuckled, hugging her gently.

Rue was grinning at him as she reached out to scratch one finger against the side of Ribbon’s neck, and said, “She’s a good judge of character. ”

“They always are,” he agreed. “And naughty, too,” he teased, scratching under Ribbon’s chin, “I’ve heard about how you sabotage ships, you clever little thing.” Ribbon chirped at him, pressing herself against his hand for harder scratches.

“What about your mistling?” Rue asked. “I saw it back on Remigan, right?”

“Maple,” he said with a smile, “she’s on Sky’s Honor.” He scooped Ribbon away from his chest and set her back down on the bed beside him, gesturing toward the pillows. “Alright, go and lie down.” She skittered back up the bed, spinning in a few tight circles before dropping heavily back into the pillows. Wyatt returned his attention to Rue, taking her hands in his and rubbing the backs of them with his thumbs. “I won’t keep you longer than I need to.”

“I’ll see you in the morning,” she said.

He nodded, and reached up to cup her face when she leaned toward him, returning the long, deep kiss she gave him in parting. He couldn’t help humming into the end of it, and as she pulled away, said, “Nevermind. Don’t go.”

She laughed, grabbing the hand that was cupping her face and pressing a kiss to his palm. “I wouldn’t if I didn’t have to.” She let him go and took a step back. “Come on, Ribbon.” Ribbon launched off the bed and landed on her shoulder. “First thing in the morning,” she told him.

He nodded. “First thing in the morning.”

“Goodnight, Wyatt,” she said as she headed toward the door, and she lingered just long enough to look back at him and smile in parting before heading out.

He sat there for a few moments in the new silence after she was gone, wishing he wasn’t alone but at least cheered up enough by her visit that he wasn’t in danger of losing himself again. Though it took him a while to fall asleep, he slept soundly when he did, and promptly headed for Omen as soon as he awoke. He was nervous the very moment he reached the ramp, but ascended regardless of how he felt, only to be stopped at the very top.

“Hold it,” a pirate ordered, holding his arm out to stop him. “Who are you? What do you want?”

But Carolina must’ve seen him coming, because he didn’t get to answer before she came down from quarterdeck with Ophelia, Rue, and Berkeley at her side, mumbling, “Not this kid again. Why are you here?”

“We need to talk,” he told her .

She gave a high-pitched hum as she reached him, shaking her head. “No, not really, I don’t think we do. I think you need to get your friend and stay the hell away from me and my ship before you bring more trouble.” She looked over at Berkeley. “Go and get Carter.”

“Carter’s not coming with me,” Wyatt said. “I’m going back to Sky’s Honor.”

“Your funeral,” she said, waving, “have fun. Bye.”

She turned to walk away, and he blurted, “Simon will go to Wallowford,” and it got her to stop. “That’s where you were heading, right? Before your curse broke. Highland Sails.” She didn’t turn around to face him, but she didn’t keep walking away either. “He knows it, and when he realizes that you’re no longer leading him toward Ascension, he will pursue it on his own.”

All three of her companions looked at her, waiting for her response. Wyatt waited too, for a handful of long, tense moments before she finally inhaled a deep breath and looked upward, groaning to the sky.

“Come on, then,” she grumbled, and picked up walking again.

He followed her and the others to the captain’s cabin, where she gestured them all to her desk and closed the door behind them. Ribbon had been perched in the corner of the room, but when she saw him, she dove off her spot and onto the desk, stretching toward him in greeting. He picked her up and hugged her to his chest, and it helped ease the remaining nerves he had about provoking even more of Carolina’s ire.

Carolina gave Rue a look, and Rue shrugged and said, “Don’t look at me, she’s your pet.”

“Sorry,” Wyatt mumbled, giving Ribbon one more squeeze for his own comfort before he set her down on the desk.

For half a minute after that, Carolina just stared at him, and not a single one of them said a word. He didn’t know how to break the silence, because he didn’t even know what any of them could do about Simon. All he knew was that he couldn’t do it alone and he didn’t know how to ask for help.

Eventually, Berkeley whispered, “This is getting uncomfortable.”

Carolina sighed and leaned over to set her palms on the surface of the desk. “It’s not just your crew anymore. It’s Vinson Penny’s, too. What do you expect me to do?”

“I don’t know,” Wyatt admitted.

“How many crewmembers total?” she asked.

“Ninety-three. ”

She blew a hard breath through pursed lips. “How many with magic?”

“Simon and Abner,” he answered, “and there are five Alters on my crew. But I don’t think the bounty hunters will join this fight.”

She nodded, dropping her head to stare down at her hands, and she stared for another half a minute before Berkeley said, “Carolina, we still can’t fight that.”

“I know,” she said.

“We’ve always run against those odds,” he added.

“I know,” she said again.

“But we have to do something,” Rue said.

Carolina simply nodded, and another minute passed before she said, “Maybe we can sabotage Penny’s new ship and take the fight to the sky.” She finally looked up at Wyatt. “You know which one it is?” He nodded. “We’ll still be outnumbered.”

Wyatt hummed his agreement, because the bulk of that ninety-three was made up of his own crew, as there were only thirty-one on Penny’s.

“What kind of Alters on your ship?” she asked him.

“The standard,” he answered. “Two air, and one fire, water, and earth.”

Carolina nodded again, was quiet for a few moments, and then looked at Ophelia. “You’ve been quiet. Thoughts?”

Ophelia pursed her lips, drew in a deep breath, and said, “I think… I think I have to do what Sovereign trained me for.”

“No,” Carolina said instantly.

“ You mean assassinate him? ” Berkeley asked.

Ophelia nodded, but Carolina said, “I said no.”

“It’s the only way, Carolina,” Ophelia told her. “If I don’t do this, you could lose too much of your crew.”

“I’m not losing you ,” Carolina argued.

“You won’t.”

“You don’t know that. If you fail, he’ll come after you.”

“I have to try. It’s the best way.”

“I agree with her,” Wyatt said.

Carolina glared at him. “Nobody asked you.”

“Carolina,” Ophelia murmured, setting a hand on her shoulder.

“Just,” Carolina shook her head and returned her palms to the desk, hunching over it. “Just give me a second. ”

None of them said anything for the next thirty seconds. He wasn’t sure if Carolina was trying to come up with a better plan, or the best plan for Ophelia to get to Simon, or if she was simply coming to terms with the whole thing, but they all let her think. Eventually, she exhaled deeply, nodded, and straightened up.

“If you’re going on that ship,” she said, “you need an escape plan. One that doesn’t involve you summoning something.”

“Fair,” Ophelia agreed.

Another handful of moments passed in consideration, and Wyatt said, “Maybe Carter can help with that.”

“How?” Carolina asked.

“His draken, Kip, is in the stables,” he said. “He can sneak in and be ready to retrieve you.”

“You think he’d agree to that after what Simon did to him?” she asked. When he nodded, she told Berkeley, “Go and get him.”

Berkeley paced out the door, and Rue asked, “How do you expect to be able to assassinate him?”

“I’ll go tonight,” Ophelia answered, “while he’s asleep.” To Wyatt, she asked, “Where does he sleep?”

“There’s a guest cabin on middle deck, near the galley,” he answered. “Though, if he’s taken command of my ship, it’s possible he’s usurped my cabin as well.”

“Are either of those rune-protected?”

“My cabin is.” He reached into his pocket with a smile. “But I have a key.” He pulled it out and extended it to her.

“Can’t I come with you?” Carolina asked.

But Ophelia shook her head. “I’ll be quicker and quieter on my own.”

“We can stay ready,” Rue suggested, “on the docks as backup in case anything goes wrong.”

“But we also need to be ready to run,” Carolina said. “If Carter agrees to helping you escape, then everyone but us needs to be here on Omen, ready to take to the sky the very moment you’ve either succeeded or failed.”

“I agree,” Ophelia said.

Berkeley returned with Carter then, and when they walked in, Wyatt couldn’t help but return the grin Carter was giving him. Carter hurried forward and pulled him into a strong hug, and he hugged him back happily.

“You look healthy,” Wyatt told him .

“They fixed me up good,” Carter said, clapping him once on the back and then letting him go. “Are we leaving?” Wyatt’s face sobered as he shook his head, and Carter looked around at the rest of them and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Ophelia is going to attempt to kill Simon tonight,” Carolina told him.

“Alright,” Carter said, “what does that have to do with me?”

“We need you to sneak aboard and have your mount ready,” Carolina explained. “We need you to help her escape and get her back to Omen as quickly as possible.”

“Oh,” Carter breathed. He went quiet, and the rest of them stared at him for a few seconds before he inhaled deeply and let it out in one quick huff. “I’ll do it.”

“That’s it?” Carolina asked as Wyatt clapped him proudly on the shoulder. “You’ll risk going back to Sky’s Honor, just like that?”

“Well, I’d be lying if I said the idea didn’t terrify me,” Carter admitted, and then shrugged. “But Miss Parker saved my life. On my honor, I couldn’t possibly deny the opportunity to return the favor.”

“Thank you, Carter,” Ophelia told him, and he smiled and nodded at her.

“So, what’s the whole plan, then?” Rue asked.

Instead of looking at Carolina then, they all looked at Ophelia. “Right, um, you send a small group to go and sabotage Penny’s crew,” Ophelia told Carolina.

“Slip forty-seven,” Wyatt told them.

Carolina gestured around at Berkeley and Rue, and said, “The three of us will do it.”

Ophelia nodded. “Meanwhile, Carter and I will head for Sky’s Honor. I’ll make myself unseen and sneak aboard, where I’ll open the hatch for Kip.”

“Fourth lever from the left,” Carter told her.

She nodded. “Wyatt, you’ll return to Sky’s Honor once we’re done here. Find out where Simon is sleeping.”

“How will I alert you?” Wyatt asked.

Ophelia thought about it for a few seconds, and then said, “If he’s taken the captain’s cabin, then stay off main deck tonight. I’ll know by your absence that he’s there. If he’s still in the guest cabin, then leave the door of the captain’s cabin open.”

Wyatt nodded his understanding, and asked, “Is there anything else I can do to help? ”

Ophelia hummed and looked at Carolina, who was also quiet before saying, “No, and I don’t want you to get involved. I think you’re most valuable as part of Sky’s Honor crew. If you can get Simon to trust you, or at the very least to accept that you’re staying, that’s where I want you.”

“What if a fight breaks out?” he asked.

Carolina hesitated and watched him intently, her eyes wandering from his to the darkening bruise on his jaw before finally saying, “Keep your cover, just try not to kill any of my crew,” and he nodded.

Ophelia said, “When darkness falls, I’ll summon something small to come and find you. Send it back once Simon has retired for the night, and we’ll know it’s time.”

“It’s a good plan,” Rue said, nodding. “It has to work.”

“Good luck,” Wyatt said to Ophelia.

“You too,” she told him.

Carter reached over and pulled him into another tight hug. “Be careful.”

“Same to you,” Wyatt said.

He passed a small wave around at the others, and then left them behind to make his way to Sky’s Honor. When he reached his own ship farther down the docks, he paused at the ramp to swallow down his rising unease, but that was easier said than done. His mind raced as he stepped onto the ramp, and every pace up it the cold pit in his stomach grew, tempered only by the anticipative fire of rage in his chest.

When he reached the top, he stopped to search the deck, only to find that every crew member around had frozen to stare at him. Though he didn’t know exactly what they’d been told, he assumed they’d been told that he was no longer in charge. The bounty hunters were on deck too, and Piers took a step to start walking over to him only to be stopped by Gerald grabbing his arm. Wyatt discovered why only a moment later, as Simon crossed the main deck to stand before him.

“Mr. Kim,” Simon said, and a shooting pain went through Wyatt’s jaw as he clenched it. “I didn’t expect to see you again. Where have you been?”

He inhaled deeply, fighting back the whirlwind of emotions in his chest and muttering, “Making sure Carter survived the night.”

“He survived then?” Simon asked, and hummed as he made a show of looking over Wyatt’s shoulder. “Where is he?”

“Staying as far away from you as he can get. ”

Simon didn’t say anything for several moments after that as he simply studied Wyatt. And Wyatt knew he looked as furious as he felt, because he was doing nothing to mask his hatred and anger, but all it did was put a smile on Simon’s face. That made Wyatt seethe, so that they stood there for half a minute staring at each other, his own white-hot fury increasingly stoked by Simon’s smugly growing grin.

Eventually, Simon seemed to grow bored of their stare down, because his smile disappeared in an instant and he asked, “Why did you come back?”

“Because,” he said, not bothering to hide what they both knew was true, “at the end of the day, as much as I hate you, I’m still a Sovereign soldier.”

Simon hummed again, watched him for several more seconds, and asked, “Any news from your contact on Omen? Why haven’t they left yet?”

“No,” he answered. “And if they know you killed their friend, we might not be getting any more information from them at all.”

Simon huffed, “Fine.” He began to pace away, but stopped to turn back and say, “You can make yourself comfortable below deck with the rest of the crew.” Then he disappeared into the captain’s cabin.

Wyatt glared after him for several seconds before his rage cooled enough for him to even move, and then he stomped below deck to find somewhere private, where he could get control of himself and wait for whatever creature Ophelia would send to him. And he hoped more than he’d ever hoped for anything that she was successful.