Young Writers Society

Megara, deciding to play into her ‘good guy’ role more thoroughly, wrapped a comforting arm around Jacob once Fidel has finished his work on her wounds.

“It’s alright,” she said, imitating the soothing tone her former-lover has used on her a few times, “We’re not from your world, remember? We can’t use anything you say against you, and I promise I won’t let Skull hurt anyone. Alright?”

With a helpless sniffle, Jacob nodded.

“But I promised...” he whimpered.

“I know,” Megara assured, “I know, but we’re trying to help you, see? If you tell us we can see what we can do to get your death taken off the schedule. Do you understand?”

He nodded slowly, then threw his arms around her, almost knocking her over into a huge, sobbing bear hug.

She stiffened, then forced her body to relax. If there was any situation in the world worse than torture, it was this. She glared at the back of Jacob’s shaking frame as she returned the hug. She had a role to play, regardless of how unsavory.

I had glanced back towards the bed when I heard Megara comforting Jacob, but now I quickly looked away. I was never supposed to be a comforter - I was just supposed to be the intimidating one. Cult member, ghost, human with the powers of possession, and now a robot; all of those things had one thing in common.

My inability to play a role that wasn't "bad".

I told myself it didn't matter. If I accepted that it did, I'd just be self loathing disguised as a poor imitation of a person. But it did matter, and that was what frustrated me the most about seeing how easily Megara was accepted compared to me.

A second later, I felt arms envelop me in a hug.

I turned, startled, to see that Kirux was hugging me. My mind scrambled for an explanation. I wasn't even worried about running the act - I just couldn't understand why a stranger would be so friendly when even the people I knew well kept their distance.

"You looked sad," Kirux signed when he finally pulled away. "Hugs always make me feel better when I'm sad."

Jacob pulled away, blinking away what Megara hoped were the last of his tears.

"I cannot tell you," he repeated, more calmly than before, "I am sorry."

Megara had to put a great deal of effort into not attacking him right then.

"Can you tell me who you made the promise to?" she asked, still maintaining that calming tone. It felt like a betrayal, using this tone for manipulation. Her former lover had always used it genuinely. Megara using it like brewing a lethal poison out of roses grown to be passed between lovers. Just, wrong.

Still, she could pretend to be unbothered. Sometimes it was all she could do.

Jacob had spent the time Megara had spent guilt-tripping herself mulling over her question.

"The prince," he said finally.

He finally gave us the answer that I had been looking for, and it had been what I figured out the moment he said he took the prince. This guy didn't have the guts for kidnapping; if Jacob was going to "take" him, it would have had to have been through another way.

"Well," I said, pulling away from the door - and offering Kirux a very, very quiet thanks - and walking over to him, "it sounds like your prince isn't exactly the best guy around."

I glanced over at Kirux, who looked shocked that I had insulted Jacob's lover. He crossed his arms and gave me a disapproving look, signing quickly that I was being mean to Jacob again.

I plopped myself down on the bed.

"Love is great and all, but if he really was a good prince, he'd have gotten you out before us - or even prevented that from happening in the first place. Who lets their lover get executed?"

I crossed my arms, almost mirroring the position that Kirux was currently in.

"It sounds like someone's too afraid of what his dad's going to think of his love, so he swore you to secrecy instead of facing the music," I concluded, looking over at Jacob and Megara with the best look of disbelief my robotic face could do.

Megara thought about her own former lover. She'd tried to get Megara executed, and that hadn't even been what ended their relationship.

With that in mind, Megara made the decision not to judge.

Jacob shook his head furiously, "No! It is not like that! He cannot do anything! He cannot!"

Megara returned with that traitorous tone, "Why can't he?"

Jacob just shook his head.

"He's a prince," I protested. "Next to the king and queen, he'd have to be the most powerful person in this entire place - he should be able to stop your execution."

I had dropped the act by now - it had been dropped the moment he gave me what I was looking for. I knew I was still coming off as some horrible person thanks to Kirux's reactions, but it irritated me how blindly this guy was following his love.

It reminded me a little too much about how I had once felt about Bickerstaff. Not romantic love, of course - that would be disgusting, even for me. But I had once trusted someone as blindly as he was trusting his prince, and that hadn't ended well. It was the reason I ended up haunting my skull even after kicking the bucket.

Jacob continued to shake his head, "No, no. He cannot! He does not know! He cannot know!"

He was on the verge of tears again, but Megara wasn't jumping at the opportunity to comfort him again. She instead busied herself replacing her sheathe of throwing knives on her leg.

Fidel glanced between them and gestured for Megara to scoot over. She rolled her eyes but did as she was told so he could take over comforting Jacob to keep him from another breakdown.

I raised my metaphorical eyebrow.

"He doesn't know?" I asked. "What kind of boyfriend are you?"

Jacob looked frantically around, his eyes landing on Megara, pleading with her. But she wasn't looking, and she didn't plan to anytime soon.

"He cannot know..." he whimpered.

Fidel took on a soft tone of his own, the kind of voice a doctor uses to deliver bad news, "Why not?"

Jacob shook his head, "Too dangerous for him. I have to protect him."

Megara lounged back on the bed and tucked her arms behind her head, "Keeping him in the dark 'aint protecting him sweetheart," she said, finally dropping the sweet, kindly act.

Jacob jumped and stared back at her in shock, and maybe betrayal. She didn't bother to look him in the eyes.

"His father does not want him to know," Jacob said, then put a hand over his mouth, eyes wide.

So Megara had finally dropped her act - I knew it was only a matter of time before she decided to. And she had picked the worst time of all to do it, too. It was a good thing Fidel was there to play comforter. Kirux might have if he had actually been able to communicate with him, but Jacob didn't seem to know sign language.

I crossed my arms.

"That's not fair to your lover," I said. "If his dad doesn't approve of it and he wanted to hang out anyways, it looks like he's willing to take a few risks for your relationship. If there's anything I've learned, it's to screw the way things are supposed to work and do what you want to do instead."

I paused and thought for a moment.

"If you die, and he doesn't know it, you're just going to seem like a bad boyfriend," I pointed out. "He'll think that you left him, and he'll spend the rest of his life thinking that you're going to come back."

It was only when I spoke the words that I realized that I had done the same thing. Not to my nonexistent boyfriend - to Lucy, who was probably the closet that I ever had to having a friend.

Jacob shook his head. Megara was beginning to think he wouldn't stop shaking his head.

"He cannot know!" he repeated, "His father is the king. The kind knows what is best for him. His father does not want him to know."

He was so very insistent that Megara was almost inclined to believe him. She rolled over and got to her feet, then went to the large, black and silver wardrobe that stood next to the bed. If she could get out of this corset that would be a godsend.

Fidel gave Jacobs shoulders a comforting squeeze, "Why wouldn't his father want him to know that you were going to die? That just makes him a bad father."

Jacob shook his head. Still shook his head. Ever shaking his head.

"The king knows what is best."

I groaned.

And then I thought of an idea.

I crossed my legs, resting my hands on my knees as I looked him right in the eye. "Your boyfriend's going to be the king someday," I said. "What makes you think his opinion is worth any less than his dad's? All that separates him from being in charge is that his dad hasn't kicked the bucket. If you miraculously don't die in the near future and saw him become king, what would your lover say you should do?"

Jacob looked like he might cry again.

"He would tell me he never wants to see me again," he said, breaking down into pitiful sobs.

Kirux, who had rejoined us near the bed, frantically shook his head in denial.

I was inclined to agree.

"No, he wouldn't," I said. I rested my hands on his shoulders - not in a threatening way like before, but like I was trying to get through to him. Jacob was frustrating. There was no doubt about it. And, try as I might to deny it, I knew exactly why I couldn't stand his excuses. "Stop giving yourself a pity party - he cares about you. He loves you. It's hard to find people like that, and you're about to throw it all away. Have you even stopped for a minute to put yourself in his shoes? Dying means things are over for you, but it's not for the rest of us."

I pulled my hands away.

"If you want to talk about responsibility, be responsible enough to let him know what's going to happen," I said. "You don't have the right to put him through the heartbreak that's going to follow your death."

Jacob only cried harder.

"But he already said that!" he exclaimed before dissolving into a mess of tears and sloppy sobs.

Fidel redoubled his efforts at comfort, tell him those sweet little lies everyone hears when they face rejection. 'It's okay' 'there's no need to cry' the like.

If anyone had said those things to Megara after her big breakup, there would have been absolute carnage. She hated being lied to.

Jacob didn't seem to have the same view. That powerful arm of his was only being used to wipe at his running nose and to press at his crying eyes. Megara worried for his vision for a second, then went back to digging around in the wardrobe. There was a mix of men's and women's clothing, none in her size.