Chapter 10: Deception and Fool
The alley was quiet enough that you could hear blood dripping.
Lucian stood beside the Baron's body, looking at his own blood-covered hand. That hand was small, slender-knuckled, the kind that belonged to a six-year-old. And yet warm liquid was dripping off it now, one drop, two drops, three, each one punching a small dent into the dirty ground below.
He breathed in, and turned.
Lakyus was already on her feet. The red, swollen palm print across her face was jarring to look at, and the blood at the corner of her mouth had dried to a dark, thin line. But her eyes were bright. Brighter than they had ever been.
"Onii-chan..."
Her voice was very soft, as if she were afraid of disturbing something.
Then she smiled. The kind of smile Lucian had seen before. The kind that was meant for her brother alone.
"Onii-chan is so amazing!"
She stumbled toward him, every step pulling at the injury on her face, but she seemed to feel none of it.
"Onii-chan defeated the demon! I knew onii-chan was the greatest knight!"
Lucian opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
There was something lodged in his throat, hard and rough, blocking everything he had ready to say.
Say something, he urged himself.
Get Lakyus to leave first. Just say you need to handle the scene. Just say this is what a knight must do. Say anything at all. Once she's gone, you stage the scene, and it's done.
"Onii-chan?"
Lakyus tilted her head, those pale green eyes full of worry.
"Onii-chan, are you hurt? Does your hand hurt?"
She reached for his blood-covered hand.
Lucian pulled back instinctively, but the small hand had already closed around his. Warm. Soft. With a child's particular warmth. The blood smeared onto her fingertips, but she didn't mind. She just held on, gently, with careful deliberateness.
"Onii-chan killed the demon and saved everyone," Lakyus said, completely seriously. "Onii-chan is a hero."
Lucian looked down.
He looked at the small hand holding his. He looked at that earnest little face. He looked at that red, swollen palm print.
Come on. Say it. He cursed himself.
Say it! Get her to leave! Let her go on ahead! Then you can do what you planned! You already worked this all out, didn't you? SAY IT!
He opened his mouth.
"Lakyus."
"Mm?"
"You... take that little girl and go first."
The words came out light, almost floating, and completely unlike what he had meant to say.
Lakyus blinked, a little lost.
"Won't onii-chan come with us?"
"I... have something to deal with."
"What something?"
Lakyus's eyes went wide, full of confusion and worry. She gripped his hand tighter, as if she thought he might bolt.
Lucian looked at her. He was quiet for a second.
Then he opened his mouth again.
"Though the demon has been slain by your brother..." His voice shifted, gradually taking on a solemn register that Lakyus recognized from the knight novels she loved. "...the demon's soul still wanders the mortal realm."
Lakyus's eyes lit up all at once.
"Your brother must cleanse the demon's evil spirit." As he said it, Lucian was cursing himself inside. He was actually using this to fool his little sister.
But Lakyus took every word of it.
She released his hand, straightened her small shoulders, and responded in a register just as solemn:
"In that case--"
She stepped forward and stood beside him.
"--I shall stand with my elder brother. Together we shall face and purify the demon!"
Lucian: "..."
He stood there for a beat.
Since when did she stop following the script?
In every knight novel she had ever loved, this was the moment when the knight received the commander's order, took the innocent party, and fell back to safety. Wasn't it?
Lucian breathed in and worked to keep the solemnity on his face.
"Lakyus."
"Yes!"
"Your mission..."
He paused, his gaze moving to the small figure still curled against the wall, still trembling. The girl had been there since this started, huddled like a startled animal, making herself as small as she could. She glanced over at them occasionally, her eyes full of fear and confusion.
"Your mission is to protect the innocent." Lucian's voice came down a little. "Take her away from here. Keep her clear of the demon's reach."
Lakyus followed his gaze and found the little girl. She paused. A complicated expression moved across her face: sympathy, responsibility, and something that might have been a small hesitation.
"But onii-chan by himself..."
"This is an order."
Lucian's tone sharpened slightly.
Lakyus pressed her lips together.
She looked at Lucian. Then at the little girl. Then back at Lucian. Something struggled in those pale green eyes, but it was quickly replaced by something more settled.
"As commanded."
She gave a solemn nod, then went to the little girl, crouched down, and held out her hand.
"Don't be afraid. I'm Lakyus. I'm here to protect you. What's your name?"
The little girl raised her head. Her tear-streaked face was full of disbelief. She looked at this girl who was about her own age. She looked at the red, swollen palm print on her face. She looked at the clean small hand held out to her.
"I... Siel. My name is Siel."
"Come on then." Lakyus took her hand and helped her up. "My brother is cleansing the demon's spirit. We can't disturb him."
Siel was pulled up on unsteady legs. She looked back once at the depths of the alley: the fat body on the ground, the boy standing beside it, the bloodstains that looked almost too bright in the daylight.
Then Lakyus was pulling her forward, one step at a time, toward the alley entrance.
The light grew brighter.
At the entrance, Lakyus turned around.
"Onii-chan!"
Lucian raised his head.
Lakyus stood in the sunlight, the hem of her light blue dress lifting slightly in the breeze. Her face still bore the red, swollen palm print, and the dried blood at the corner of her mouth was still there, but her smile was brighter than the light behind her.
"Be careful!"
"Mm."
Lucian nodded.
Lakyus smiled, satisfied, then pulled Siel with her and disappeared into the brightness at the alley's edge.
The alley went quiet again.
Lucian stood there, looking at the empty entrance, listening to his own breathing.
Sunlight came down through the sliver of sky above and fell on him, but it couldn't reach the depths of the alley. The Baron's body lay at the base of the wall, that heavy frame twisted into a strange angle, the wound on his chest still seeping.
He looked down at his blood-covered hand.
"Feeling relieved?"
He asked himself.
He had clearly chosen the riskier path. Framing the little girl had clearly been the more rational choice.
He hadn't done it.
"You're a fool too," Lucian said, quietly.