Content Warning: violence, implied assault, blood

Her blade was quick and ready held firm against the man’s throat. She did not speak. The only sound came from his quickened breath. She could taste his fear. For a moment, she imagined their roles reversed. She felt the cold blade against her throat imagining his hands on her as she held herself still. If he had that power, would he show her mercy?

She did not expect so. He never did before.

His eyes, wide and wet, watched her. The mask she wore made her a mystery, a small phantom in the dark, that offered no solution. She pressed the blade forward. A thin line of blood appeared as he whimpered. That dark thing deep inside her smiled.

Then the other was there. She felt his presence, a wall of heat beside her. His hand, heavy and warm, resting calmly on her shoulder. Her blade didn’t move but she leaned into the hand its warmth still new and lovely. “I could kill him,” she whispered. “Leave him to rot in this place.”

“His fate is sealed,” the other spoke and she could hear the cries in the courtyard. The walls had been breached. There was no escape.

“Then why am I here?” she asked. “I thought this was for vengeance.”

“It is,” the other spoke and she turned to him, dropping the blade from the man’s throat. The man staggered back, his eyes still wide and afraid. “See him, as he is,” the other said. “No power left. No last escape. He has nothing. Soon, he will be nothing.”

There was the sound of shattered glass and broken wood. The man screamed. Called for help, but no one came. Her dagger had already ended his guards. The voices that came spelled his doom. There was nothing left of him for her to kill.

“Take me from here,” she whispered. “He is already dead, and I am satisfied.”

She felt the other’s arms around her, wrapped in his dark embrace, and then there was silence.