Obliques

"I wasn't expecting to see you," he says.

I shake my head in disbelief. Prance.

He stands to his feet, straightening out his velvet suit. His opal eyes gaze over me. I feel my body tremble. No, he couldn't have...

"What are you doing here?" I murmur.

My hands shake too much. My shut gun slips in my sweaty palms.

"You're here to shoot me?" he looks at me with a cold stone glare.

I don't know what I'm here to do.

I watch him approach me with slow steps. I think I'm dying.

"D-don't move!" I shout.

He can't be king. I can't shoot Prance.

"Why are you fighting this war, Sage?"

No, don't say my name. You were supposed to forget me.

"I said don't come any closer," I order.

His chest hits the end of my gun and he stops. My finger is on the trigger, but all of me is a statue. My eyes sting with boiling tears.

"My father was assassinated a while ago. I had to take his place," he reveals.

"You said you didn't want to be King..."

"But you left," he says bluntly. I feel like a knife is ripping me open. "So I didn't have a choice."

I grit my teeth together. What do I do? How can I kill Prance? I watch his hand push down the gun I hold, shortening the distance between us.

"Prance..."

"You don't have to fight."

I take a step back, my knees feeble. I don't think I can do it. I'm not strong enough. My eyes close, letting the tears fall down my face. I'm angrier with myself than anything. What is stopping me?

"Come back with me, and you won't have to worry about any of this."

I shake my head, "I'm an Outlier."

"I'm trying to save your life," Prance says, gripping my arms.

I can barely push away.

"You need to save my people's lives."

I stare into his eyes, trying to conclude my feelings. Up until now, I've only thought about my own well being, my own freedom. I can't think like that anymore. I have people counting on me. But freedom costs too much. I have to let everything go.

"You don't want to be with me?"

"No," I say.

"Then this is it."

Suddenly, the back doors blast open and two Sentries appear, shooting. Behind me, the Oblique soldiers appear for a counterattack. Prance escapes with his guards. I falter in the background. My weapon drops out my hands. Somebody drags me out of there and we go running outside. Everything is worst than I imagine. The sky is dark, filled with jets and helicopters that drop bombs over our heads. Dead bodies lie everywhere and I'm forced to step in pools of blood. The firm grip on me belongs to Kier. Us and the other soldiers run out from the scene. Finally, I'm thrown into a truck with the rest of soldiers.

I watch Kier yell into his radio again.

"We're calling retreat! Tilt, get your men back here!"

A soldier in the back of the truck says to Kier in a panic, "They won't make it back in time. If we wait, we'll all me blown to bits!"

Kier violently grabs the soldier's collar. I jump at the sudden move.

"I'm not leaving without my men!"

Anger is not the word to describe it. The soldier goes pale in the face. Feeling sick to the core, I lean my head out and vomit. Eventually, the last few soldiers, though badly wounded and bleeding all over, make it into the trucks. We drive at full speed, trying to escape Polaris' death trap. Pain surges through my body, but I try not to pass out. I know I failed my mission. Kier wastes no time glaring my way.

"I lost 50 men, including my father, because of you!" he points to me, "You had one mission!"

I cast my eyes to the ground. I'm ready for more attacks on his part. But Tilt pulls Kier back, resolute.

"Hey, it's not her fault," Tilt defends.

"You're right. It's my fault, for trusting someone so weak!" Kier shouts towards me.

I think I'm going to vomit again...

"This is no one's fault!" Tilt raises his voice, "We both knew there would be casualties. We underestimated Polaris' army. You need to calm down, Kier."

Kier pulls away briskly from Tilt. I clutch onto myself, afraid my body parts might fall apart. Thankfully, Kier doesn't look at me.

He walks over to the front of the truck and sends a message through the radio.

"Let's focus on getting back to Badok. It's unlikely that Polaris will chase us down now. Let's take a detour, just to be safe."

I feel my eyes drooping. The other trucks register.

The truck wobbles side to side. My anxiety never ceases. My rickety fingers try to cover my mouth, but blood comes up. Kier walks up to me and lifts my arm. The sudden move forces a shriek out me. New pain splits through me. He kneels down to me, opening my coat. I slobber some incoherent words out of my mouth.

"You're shot," he confirms my fear. He raises his eyes and finally meet mine, groaning. "Why didn't you say something?!"

My side spills blood through my clothes. I wince at his heavy sigh. He readies himself to do something about it. I close my eyes.