The Court - Finished!

Lorraine
I was confused, almost breathtaken by what I was seing. Was it real? Kayla sweet, head over heels in love Kayla standing next to the rogue. And I oculd tell Jas was as shocked as I was.

"What's going on?" Jas asked.

"Whether he is going to kill her or he is about to dance with her" I said, still unsure of what was the answer.

But we watched how both them walked to the center of the room, the Rogue suddenly taking her hand.


***will finish later**

The Rogue:

He stood up swiftly, offering his hand to Kayla. She placed her hand gently on top of his and he led her to the floor. The music started again softly and picked up. He and Kayla twirled along with the others, they were a great pair. Dancing in tune and smoothly.

"My, my Kayla. You are quite the dancer." he said.

The girl flushed, bow slightly and returned to her seat. The Rogue returned to his seat, his fingers snapping at a little slave girl in the corner.

"Wine, now." he barked.

The girl ran off in a hurry, a limp in her leg obvious. He sat down fluidly in his throne as the girl scrambled back. Running up the stairs of the platform, her limp got the best of her. She hooked her foot on a step and flew into the throne. The wine slashed all over the Rogue's nice tunic, staining it a deep red. The Rogue blinked slightly and turned his head to the girl who had scrambled up, her forehead bleeding. Her face was red and her eyes watery, her foot already swelling.

"Guards." snapped the Rogue silently. "Kill her, please."

The little girl screamed and tears ran down her face as an armed guard grabbed her and placed the dagger on her throat.

His hand trembled slightly, as the girl sobbed out pleas and apologies.

Krissy:

I watched curiously as the crowd shushed down and Kayla was led to the dance floor, her face was obviously red. They danced smoothly, much better then Krissy could but it didn't matter. The song ended and everyone returned to there seats. The Rogue snapped something at a limping girl.

"Poor kid." I whispered to Maria, motion with a nod of my head to the child.

"Yes, I can't bare to see children in slavery." said Maria, her eyes following the girl.

I turned my eyes to Daniel, watching his anxious expression. He looked up at me, and smiled.

"When we gonna get this show on the road?"

"Soon enough, we just wait for the right time." I promised

Just as I said that, a scream broke through. I whirled my head to see the poor slave girl squirming in a guard's arms. The Rogue's white tunic was stained with red.

"Kill her." he ordered blankly.

My eyes widened as the guard pulled out a dagger.

"We have to do something." I breathed

I lay on my stomach and pulled myself over the rafters. I paused to look quickly. The guard's back was trembling, his head shaking. Don't do it. I urged him in my head. I saw Jas stand up quickly and march over to the guard, taking out her own dagger.

"If you can't stand murder, get out of this Court" she shouted, her words running over one another.

She must be drunk or something. I couldn't let her do this to a little girl, not another little girl.

I grabbed on firmly to the rafter and swung down onto the table below me. The height of the jump sent a little shocked through my legs but I stood up straight on the table.

"Leave the girl alone Jas." I hissed.

Jas whirled around, and smiled wickedly when she saw me.

"Ah Krissy, you finally joined the party? Here's a little present for you." she said mockingly, and she slashed her dagger at the girl quickly. "Just for you." she repeated.

"Damn it Jas. I should of sent you to hell when I had the chance." I said, pulling out my daggers.

I felt my hidden daggers in my sleeves. Don't let me down now I prayed as Maria and Daniel jumped down behind guards. I watched as two guards fell and I smiled at Jas.

"You brought help, I see." she hissed.

Jas

"Of course," Krissy said. We stared at each other for a long moment. A horrible hush had descended on the room. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lorraine and Kayla pushing through the crowd. This wasn't their fight, though. I was going to finish this girl off myself.

Krissy lunged at me, knife flashing. I let the blade get dangerously close to my throat before jerking back, playing it up for the crowd. There was an appreciative ooh as I slashed at her. She blocked it before returning with an attack of her own. For a few seconds our knives were blurred as we fought, and then we broke apart. Panting, we began to circle each other like wolves. The crowd had formed a loose oval around us. Kayla and Lorraine were hovering at the edges, clearly unsure whether or not they should try to help.

"Getting tired?" I jeered, tossing my hair over my shoulder. The little girl's blood was sticky on my hands. Now wasn't the time to feel guilty, though.

"Not at all," Krissy answered, eyes flashing.

Behind her, some ugly boy with messy hair was slaughtering the guards. That ticked me off. I leapt at her, and we began fighting again, slashing at each other savagely. I nicked her arm, drawing a little blood, and she yanked a second dagger out of her pocket. Swearing, I backpedaled and my hip bumped against the food table, knocking it over. Wine spilled on the floor at our feet, making everything slippery. Krissy stabbed at me again and I spun away at the last second. Someone in the crowd clapped, though I couldn't tell if they were cheering for Krissy or admiring my maneuver.

"Enough of this," the Rogue's voice called over everyone else's. He sounded bored, almost. "End it now, Jas."

His words echoed in my head as I slashed at Krissy again. She was good, but I could easily win. Would win. For the Rogue...

I suddenly slipped in the spilled wine and went down hard. Gasping, I rolled away as Krissy stabbed at my neck. My knife was in my hand, and she was closer than she should be. It would be easy to finish her now, and that was what the Rogue wanted, of course.

But was it what I wanted? All the death and killing... for a man who probably didn't even care if I died in this fight or not?

I hesitated for a second too long, and Krissy took that opportunity to stab at my stomach. I flung myself to the side, but, for once, I was too slow - her knife sank into my side. I fell back on the wet floor, gasping as pain shot through me. The spell broke and the room erupted into chaos.

"I hope you die a slow and painful death," Krissy said triumphantly over the screaming and shouting of the crowd.

Not likely - it wasn't really even that deep a wound. Still, I was panting as I forced out, "You stupid bitch. Do you really think you'll win?"

Krissy

I sneered at Jas, trying to hide my heaving chest. She was good. I'd gotten lucky, if it were for her fumble I wouldn't of lasted much longer in such close range combat. I was a knife thrower, a thief. I fought to save my life, not to take one. I looked down at her, blood spreading over her shirt and mixing with the wine. I spit beside her and wiped my face. I felt pity to see her moaning slightly, clutching her stomach. No matter how much I hate this girl, I was no murderer. I was going to hell no matter what I felt though. Lorraine and Kayla hissed at me, pulling out weapons. I smiled at them,

"I hope Jas here will die the deaths of all her murders. You girls will too."

Daniel snuck up behind them and bashed Lorraine and Kayla in the head, hard. They fell forward, catching themselves weakly. Maria had snapped out her daggers and ran at the Rogue. He blocked and turned around pulling out a short-blade sword. I ran to the platform, slashing at the Rogue with Maria. He looked at us blankly as he fought.

"Something is wrong with this guy." I panted to Maria.

She nodded and slashed at him again, this time slicing into sleeve of his tunic. Blood slipped over but I saw the flash of silver in his shoulder. I smiled wickedly,

" I left my mark I see." I wheezed.

His head snapped to me, "It was you."

I nodded and flipped out my dagger at his throat. He threw himself backwards, into his throne. He fell into it and me and Maria whipped out our daggers at the same time. Both pointed at his throat, and we smiled to one another.

Maria

We finally had him down. My daggers were pointed directly at his throat. So were Krissy’s. We glanced at each other and smiled. Then there was a scream to my right.

“No!” Kayla. I turned and looked past Krissy. Kayla was standing there, her knife poised to be thrown. I watched it leave her fingers, aiming directly for Krissy. Young, engaged, happy Krissy. “Krissy! Look out!” I shouted. But even as I yelled I knew it was too late. I dropped my daggers and leapt forwards, shoving Krissy out of the way. The knife slammed into my left side. I let out a scream of pain and fell onto my back. Red blood blossomed from the wound, staining my shirt. My body convulsed. Searing agony tore through my frame. My breath came in short uneven bursts, each one heaving my chest off of the floor. It was so difficult to breathe... I felt myself beginning to die.

The Rogue climbed to his feet and held up a dagger that I knew well. He smiled his sick twisted smile and walked over to me. He kicked me in the side where the knife was; hard. I screamed again as it dug into my flesh a couple more inches. The pain was unbearable. Chills raced through my body. “Now Maria, you die.” He said softly. He held up his dagger and prepared to plunge it into my chest.

Jas

This cannot be happening I watched in horror as Kayla and Lorraine went down. Kayla quickly got back up and ran after Krissy, but Lorraine just laid there, far too still. Slowly, painfully, I dragged myself over to her, leaving a trail of blood on the floor.

"Lorraine," I said. She was still breathing weakly. Blood trickled from her head, and I gasped. "Oh, god, Lorraine!"

Someone screamed, shrill and full of agony. I looked up in time to see the Rogue kick Maria brutally in the side. He needed help - my help. Lorraine would live, maybe, but the Rogue needed me more right now.

I staggered to my feet, gasping as the pain in my side intensified. I managed to go a couple more steps, then sank to my knees, panting. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it. Right now, when it mattered the most, I was going to fail the Rogue. He was going to die, and all I could do was kneel here and watch.

Daniel
Seeing his only sister bleed and cry of pain was not a pleasant picture for him but he knew that if he hadn't done that, his only love might have been killed by now. And Maria, he cared for her, he wouldn't let anything happen to him.
And as he watched Lorraine's tears mixed with the blood form his forehead, he heard a painful scream that rung in his ears as a howl. The pain and suffering behind it was terrible. He turned to see who it was and saw Maria, at the floor and bleeding.
His eyes popped open and saw across the room towards Krissy and then Maria all seemed to move so fast that he could bare recognize each face.

In an act of pure adrenaline, he left this sister there and ran, ran as he had never done before, taking his dagger out. That dagger that he inherited from his father, he took out swiftly and ran. Before he knew he was standing behind the Rogue, throwing the dagger to his hand and making him throw what he had in his hand. He saw the Rogue's hand bleed because of Daniel's dagger.

Krissy stared at him with wide eyes, while Maria gasped of pain. He did it, he knew he hadn't killed him though, instead he looked at Krissy as in a sign, telling her that it was time to finish this.

Krissy

I scramble to my feet, my sight faulting me. When the room finally came in focus a scream of agony pierced through my heart. Maria. I whirled around, to find the Rogue standing again, a dagger poised to plunge into my dearest friend. Everything went so fast. I felt myself flip out a throwing dagger from my sleeve, cutting a nice gash in my arms as I did so. The dagger left my hand more quickly then I could realize. It followed it's path and planted itself in the Rogue's throat. I watched helplessly, praying. He blinked a couple of times, before stumbling backwards and falling. My eyes spread in choke, a second dagger had found it's way to the Rogue's chest. I spun around to find Grayson, on a table, with an empty throwing hand. My heart raced,confused thoughts whizzing through my mind. I turned away from Grayson who hung his head slightly. I ran to Maria's side, tears rolling down my face. Her breathing was getting weaker, her chest heaving. I had to do something to save her. Anything.

"Come Maria," I sobbed. "Stay with me."

Jas

Kayla screamed as though the dagger had stabbed her, not the Rogue, and rushed to his side, crying. I had only eyes for Grayson, though - traitorous Grayson. I had trusted him, counted him as one of my best friends, and he had just murdered the man we had pledged to serve.

Unshed ears blurred my sight. I blinked rapidly, but they spilled over, and suddenly I was kneeling in a puddle of my own blood, sobbing my eyes out. I wasn't even sure who I was crying for - the Rogue, Lorraine, or maybe even Grayson and the friendship he had betrayed.

Everything that I had thought was a fixed part of my life - the Rogue, Grayson, even my own stupid illusions of invulnerability - were gone, and there was nothing left. Nothing but the tears the Rogue had never let me shed in front of him. He would be furious if he saw me now, crying like some pathetic fool - but he would never yell at me or hit me again, would he? Grayson had made sure of that, the traitor.

Kayla was still crying, saying the Rogue's name over and over.

"Shut up, Kayla! It's over, you stupid bitch!" I called, but I wasn't angry. I was just tired, more tired than I'd ever been. "It's over."

Daniel
It was over, finally, that cruel man that had destroyed everything for him was dead, paying for the sins he had done. But Maria, Maria was bleeding too much, she was gasping, moaning because the pain was unbearable. Suddenly tears began to fall down her eyes.
"Maria, stay with me, just stay" Krissy said, pleaded, almost. Daniel's heart broke and hurried to her side. But nothing could ease the pain.

"Maria, don't go, Maria" he whispered to Maria who was almost gone, but still fighting, fighting hard, she wa such a fighter. "Maria come on" He said again, his voice breaking. But he couldn't be like that so he hugged Krissy with all his strength.
All of a sudden, the figure he had never expected, Grayson, kneeling beside Maria, caressing her face softly.
Krissy and Daniel, stared at him with disbelief but were grateful.

"We have to help her" Krissy said in between sobs. "please" She said turning to Grayson.

"We have to get her out of here!"
Daniel had to do something, he knew it so he got up and covered his face with hands, preventing the tears from falling. But all of a sudden as he was walking trying he saw Lorraine, bleeding. His sister, after all she was his sister and he had a pain as he had never had before. Her ran to her, who was almost unconscious now and lifted her head.

"Lorraine, Lorraine. Damn it!" and the tears finally went out. "Lorraine come one you can do it"
But there was nothing, nothing just a faint beating that he knew was soon going to be over. He couldn't just leave her there, she was too badly injured. There couldn't be that much hate in him, not towards his sister. Her face, so hurt but still had that hidden peace that resembled that of his mother before she joined the Rogue.
"Lorraine, come on" He said before taking her in his arms and going back to where Krissy and Grayson where. It was hard for him to believe that he actually discovered the love he had for his sister in such situation.

Maria

They were begging me to stay alive; I heard them faintly. "Don't go Maria." Involuntary tears slid down my face. It hurt so badly, so very badly... my vision flickered. Breathing became even harder. Just let go Maria... maybe you'll get to see Mason again. I was tempted, and I think they saw it. Krissy broke into a fresh wave of tears.

"No Maria, don't do this t'a me." She begged. My eyelids fluttered as someone else came into my field of vision. He looked down at me tenderly, a tear running down his face. He reached out and gently rubbed the side of my face as I let out another whimper. Grayson... I was getting weaker, my life mingling with the blood that was dripping- no, pouring down my side. I clung tighter, almost desperately, to the life that was steadily leaving, like water from a faucet.

I can't do this much longer...

Daniel
He reached Maria, but in his arms, was his sister, suddenly couhing, opening her eyes slightly. There was a part of his heart that jumped when it saw her open her beautiful green eyes.
He put her down as fast as he could and lifeter her torso up.

Krissy

Tears blurred my vision uselessly. I lifted my head to Grayson who look down tenderly and Maria's tortured expression.

"We have to do something." I whispered, my voice thick.

"I will and you'll help." he said softly, his eyes not leaving Maria. "People will hear that the Rogue is dead. It wouldn't surprise me if half the town already knew. I need you to stay here. Guard the throne with everything you have. We can't allow this possibility of a bloodbath to happen."

I shook my head, I didn't want this. I didn't want to be the Rogue.

"Look at me Krissy. Set the past behind you. Do this now and you can save Maria's life and the life of the stupid idiots who want this position." he said, lifting Maria's gently into his arms.

I sobbed and motioned to the door. Grayson nodded and ran out the door, trying with all he had not to shake Maria. I took a deep breath and got up slowly, repositioning my daggers. I turned to see Daniel clutching at his sister's almost limp body. I jogged over, wiping the tears away roughly, if people did come they would definitely challenge a crying girl. I kneeled by Daniel's side, Lorraine's eyes fluttering to my for a moment before returning to her brother.

Maria

When Grayson picked me up the pain intensified, and I let out another moan. I gathered my willpower. "Grayson... it hurts..." I whimpered.

Grayson looked down at me. "It's okay Maria, I'm going to save you."

My vision continued to flicker. "Grayson... y-y-you already h-have." He tightened his grip on my heaving frame as he ran. Every time his foot hit the ground it sent a sharp spike of pain racing through my body. The chills that I was feeling were actually beginning to drown out the pain. I broke out in a cold sweat.

GRAYSON

A single hot tear burned down his cheek and landed in her hair.

"Don't say that like you're dying," he said softly. "Don't you dare."

She turned her tortured expression into a small smile. Grayson swallowed the growing lump in his throat.

"You WILL live, understood," Grayson growled.

Maria let out a weak moan. She seemed beyond listening now. Grayson closed his eyes tightly, letting two tears leak from the corners of his eyes. He swallowed once more.

"You know," he whispered. "I've spent my whole life trying to cease the heartbeats of so many and now....and now I would give anything to keep yours beating."

KAYLA

She sobbed into the Rogue's still chest. "He-He's dead!" She screamed.

"Damn it, Kayla!" Jas roared. "We've realized that! It's all over!"

Kayla just sobbed harder. "I-I-I trusted h-him! Grayson! I trusted him above a-all others! He killed him!"

"Not to mention Krissy," Jas spit. Kayla stood up.

"You're the only one alive that I can trust now, Jas," she said, eyes blazing. "Ironic that we've always hated each other before. But I will kill Grayson. I will torture Krissy and I will seek revenge for the Rogue if it's the very last thing that I do!"

Kayla wobbled a little and sank back down to the Rogue's side. "I swear it, my love. I will kill the traitor...both of them."

She kissed his still warm forehead. Then both of his cheeks and finally let her lips brush against his. "I will do it for you!"

Kayla stood once more. "Jas I'll need your help. I plan to revolt!"