CHAPTER 10: THE UNRAVELLING

"Well, well...What do we have here?" Ruella smiled viciously at both the stunned Kane and elfin faery. Anyss followed right behind Ruella.

Kane gazed from the sorceress to the incriminating evidence in his hands as he tried to recompose himself. After all his hard work, he couldn't believe it was all going to go down the drain. He knew the sorceress would be able to feel any magick within the vicinity and that was the reason he never used his powers. Even though the magickal powers of the fair folk were fairly limited, the appearence of the elfin faery had very obviously alerted her. Kane was hoping that it would be too minimal for Ruella to detect but apparently not. He racked his brains for a suitable explanation.

"My lady, you are just in time. I was about to bring this little spy to you," he explained as he held the faery up for Ruella. It was now a situation in which certain sacrifices had to be made in order to preserve the bigger picture, he reasoned to himself. He couldn't let himself be implicated together with the elfin faery.

Ruella frowned. She hadn't expected this. Oh sure she expected him to deny it but she never expected this. He wanted her to believe that he had caught the faery and was bringing it to her? What fool did he take her for?

Ruella laughed mockingly. "Is that the best you can come up with?" she scoffed.

"What is going on?" Anyss asked, her eyes still taking in the scene before her.

"Oh come on, Anyss. Are you still living in denial? Here's proof that your man, Kane, is nothing more than a cowardly spy," Ruella told her.

"My lady, I know you hold a grudge against me but I can assure you that I am most definitely not a spy," Kane said in haste. "How can I be? My intentions were only to bring this spy to you..."

The elfin faery gasped at Kane disbelievingly. Her huge round eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. "B-b-but my Lor-"

Before she could say anything though, Kane quickly tightened his grip around her, "Silence, you creature!" he admonished as he squeezed her till she let out a little yelp and fell unconscious.

Ruella watched the scene in quiet fascination. She was actually enjoying the ruthlessness that was being displayed. The desperate measures one goes to to preserve one's own life. And all along she thought she was bad. This Kane is really full of surprises, she mused. She could get to like him given different situations. But at this point in time, she was just delighted seeing him fall and scamper around.

"Anyss..." Kane turned towards the bandit queen. "Anyss, you know I would never do anything to hurt you. Surely you do not doubt my loyalty?"

"Shut up!" Anyss yelled. "I only believe what I see."

Anyss didn't really know what to believe though. She eyes darted from Ruella to Kane and back to Ruella again. She was hoping that Ruella would say something. That the sorceress would give a sign as to what her next move would be. Did Ruella believe Kane? Was that why she hadn't struck at him yet? It was certainly out of character for Ruella. The sorceress normally struck first and worried about questions later. But Ruella was instead letting Kane explain himself while all she did was just stand and smile away.

Kane knew Anyss was his only way out of this mess. If he could get her on his side, maybe the sorceress would be relenting.

"Anyss..." he took a step towards her, the faery still in his grasp.

Anyss hastily drew her sword. "Do not come any closer," she warned.

Ruella placed a hand on the bandit queen's shoulder. "Anyss dear, lets not be too hasty. Maybe we should hear out what he has to say...Give the man a chance, as they say," the sorceress waved her hand nonchalantly.

Both Kane and Anyss stared disbelievingly at Ruella. Ruella merely smiled at them. She had decided the best way would be to let Anyss deal with Kane herself. Even though Anyss was now back by her side, she couldn't be certain whether or not the bandit queen still had a soft spot for the man. And if it were Ruella to strike the first blow, Anyss may hold that against her and she certainly didn't want that.

Kane narrowed his eyes. He had an uncanny feeling he knew what the sorceress was playing at. Ruella was going to let the bandit queen decide if he should live or he should die. He knew he had to play his cards right or all would be loss. Not to mention, his life.

"What do I have to do to prove my loyalty, my lady?"

Anyss looked at Ruella again, hoping to catch a glimpse of some support from the sorceress. She knew how much Ruella detested Kane and it would certainly make the sorceress happy if Kane disappeared from the face of this land altogether. She looked at Kane, her sword still pointing at him, and recalled the fun times they had together.

She immediately shook it out of her mind. Truth was, since she withdrew herself away from Kane, she had begun to tire of him. In fact, she had already been thinking about carrying out her promise to the sorceress. Whether or not he was a spy did not really concern her. She was planning to get rid of him anyway.

"You know," Anyss began. "You really are such a bore...' And with that, she lunged her sword at Kane.

Kane, even though caught by surprise, deftly side-stepped her thrust. The inevitable had happened. Anyss had already grown tired of him. Kane knew that no matter what he said now, nothing would be able to save the situation. When the bandit queen made up her mind about something, there was nothing that was going to get her to change it.

His only chance of survival now was to fight back with whatever he had. In the blink of an eye, Kane raised his hand towards Anyss, disarming her of her sword.

"So," Ruella remarked, interrupting their fray. "I see we are of the same kind..."

She raised her hand and let off a blast towards him. Kane quickly raised his and sent a blast towards her direction too, deflecting her blow.

"We are most definitely not of the same kind..." he said.

"Oh, I don't know about that..." Ruella simply smiled.

By that time Anyss had picked up her sword and was once again striking at Kane. "So, you know magick. Unfortunately that's not going to be enough to save you," she uttered in between blows.

Kane raised his hand about to send forth a blast of energy at Anyss when another blast hit him at full force. In the confusion, he had entirely forgotten about the sorceress. The blast threw him a couple of feet back. Kane fell to the ground, throwing up blood.

He knew he was never going to make it out alive but he still had one final card up his sleeve.

"Say goodbye, Kane," Anyss stepped up to him, ready to sink the final blow.

Kane looked up and smiled at her. "Tell me Anyss, did you enjoy that night we spent together? Who's better in bed? Ruella or me?"

"You bastard!" Anyss yelled and swung her sword at his neck. Kane's headless body slumped backwards with a thud.

Anyss then quickly turned to face the sorceress, apprehension written all over her face. Ruella was looking at her searchingly, "What did he mean by that?"

Anyss desperately wanted to explain to Ruella. She knew though that whatever she said would only break the sorceress' heart. She opened her mouth, ready for the words to fall out but all she could say was, "I think I'm going to be sick." With that she clasped her hand over her mouth and collapsed to the ground.