The Once and Future Merc

When Elisa agreed to share a bed for the night, she could’ve sworn she caught Kael fist-pumping the air out of the corner of her eye.

Elisa rolled her eyes and climbed into bed first, pulling the covers up just enough to claim territory.

“Enemies one hour, lovers another. You are so cruel.”

Kael hesitated for a moment—then, with all the exaggerated dignity of a man who just won an invisible battle involving his ego, slid in beside her.

There was a moment of quiet.

A pause where neither of them moved too much, testing the space between them.

Then—

“Kael… Now that I thought about it for a little, our situation’s not so bad.”

“How so?”

“Well, for one, Pauline seemed surprised by the fact the Lycan carriage was destroyed at all. Whatever plan she had banking on my memory loss failed, and whatever backup plan she scrambled together so we’d buy enough time to kill… well… you, didn’t work out either.”

Kael shifted so he could ponder the intricate murals painted on the ceiling. “Hmm…”

“Does that sound like a stable rebellion to you? It seems cooler heads evidently did not prevail when I left the Obsidian Tide. Which means… we have an opening. Last time I was around we had a strict policy to only recruit people who we knew would trust the process. Now they recruit anyone with a chip on their shoulder with you. Assuming this, of course.”

“And here I thought we were doing well by them by supplying running water to 90% of households!”

“We don’t measure progress by increased comforts, you dog.”

“I think I see the vision. Mercenaries, right? Hire them to blend in… gather information. Of course, the selection process is probably more vigorous than you let on; someone probably needs to know someone to let you in. But there is no way to know if the mercenaries are also in on the rebellion. On the other hand… we have humans on our side as well, in places like Midtown, so it might be better to try than not try at all. Ugh… A headache whilst in the same bed as my lover when I could be ravishing her instead… what a waste!”

Elisa snorted. “You’ve had your fair share of me, you dog. At least treat me to a spa first.”

“The last time I suggested I bring in the Bath Consorts you laughed and made fun of me, as you often did.”

“Wait, those exist? And I said no?”

“You were very grumpy.”

“I always knew I could count on myself to sabotage myself.”

“Well, we could keep talking sweet nothings the rest of the day, not that I mind. Or we can figure out how to stamp out those damnable upstarts.”

"Actually, now that you mention, I think I have one. Honey, did you know I kept a mercenary in the basement?"

Silence. Kael blinked. Once. Twice.

"I—I'm sorry, what?"

"Figures..."

Kael’s expression went flat.

"You’ve been keeping a mercenary in the basement. For years. Without telling me.”

"Hey, I'm learning about this at the same time as you. And how do I know you are not tricking me by playing the fool?”

\\

It was almost amusing how every time he spoke his beard ruffled like a Christmas tree. Elisa didn’t even know they could do that.

“Torture me. That’s what you are here for, right? Well, good luck with that. I’ve tortured myself enough with these thoughts of mine. And what’s the bossman doing here as well? Came to finally finish the job?”

The castle dungeon was the kind of place where even the stone seemed to sweat. Naturally, given how Highcliff’s climate could get.

It wasn’t intention on Kael’s part. Just a natural byproduct of how the humidity worked here. Maybe if he invested in some damn Eorean tech in the future that controlled the air or whatever. He never was the most tech-savvy person, even amongst the traditionalist houses.

The prisoner shifted behind his cell, eyes flickering between them. "So… what’s it going to be? These days it’s like I’m a stranger to you. You rarely visit anymore, girl. What happened?"

To that, Elisa winced.

Kael exhaled, crossing his arms. Of course he didn’t know the inner workings of his castle enough to know she was chatting up a wanted fugitive on both sides of the conflict. "Elisa, you combed through our records just to find this guy?"

Elisa tilted her head. "A lot of homework went into how the Concordant was so badly resupplied during the Invasion."

She stepped closer, studying the man behind the bars.

"Macel ‘Slithering Deadeye’ Bilicci here’s a prime suspect."

The prisoner scoffed, but Elisa ignored him.

"Did his job as a merc too well. Picked his clients very poorly, too—seeing as he tried to play both sides. And now here we are. Twice a turncoat, for both major players. Demons and humans alike. Now that’s impressive."

The man let out a low laugh, rubbing his wrists where the cuffs had dug in. “Had… vested interests in seeing people from both sides die an ugly death. Elisa, it’s like you wiped your memory of me; you know this.”

She huffed. “Well, I did, in a way. Amnesia.”

“Oh.” He started. “I see. That’s a… that’s a damn shame. I’m sorry that happened. So you don’t even remember when we first met?”

Elisa shook her head.

“At the prime of your youth too. The years where you can make mistakes and learn from them, gone. It’s been what, half a decade?”

Kael, for his part, looked positively ecstatic.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we have the Deadeye Bilicci? In our damn basement? I’d have remembered a name like that had you told me. He killed some of my cousins, twice-removed. Though… I can’t say I shed a tear when they passed.”

“They were monsters,” Macel said.

She took it from his grim expression that Kael agreed.

Things settled in a lull as Macel tried to take in all this new information.

"You… you used to call me uncle, y’know," the merc finally said. "Back when you’d come down for our little meetings. You made me realize a lot about myself. Things I’ve had time to reflect on."

Elisa sat on the cold bench opposite him, arms crossed, expression unreadable. She wasn’t sure what answer she wanted.

"So you regret what you did?"

The merc let out a breath, shaking his head. "No. Never. They had it coming." His voice was steady, certain. "The reward my nation got for fighting back against the Concordant was a massacre. Indiscriminate, no two ways about it."

Elisa studied him, tilting her head. "After you seized territory from your neighbors and cut them off from their ports."

His eyes flicked to her, sharp but not angry. "It was illegally occupied Kingcrater land, girl."

She scoffed. "And the bit about Kingcrians calling themselves the master race? What gives?"

"Ehh… semantics. It was to rally the disparate populace, unify them into one entity."

"Right," she muttered.

The merc exhaled through his nose, tilting his head back against the stone wall. "Call it what you want, but it led to a disproportionate response. They slaughtered nearly a third of our youth." His voice dipped lower, quieter. "The folks high up in the Concordant love to boast about peacekeeping efforts in an unstable region. But I see them for what they really are."

The dim candlelight cast deep shadows over his face, accentuating the lines carved by time and regret.

A pause.

His fingers curled slightly in his lap. "The only thing I regret," he admitted, "is the way I did them in. I was so goddamn angry. Ends justify the means, all that. I kept telling myself I was doing the right thing, even when I saw their faces at the end of my crossbow. The ones under them. Around them. Caught in the crossfire of my crusade."

Elisa tapped her fingers against her arm, watching him.

"Earlier, you said I used to come down here often. Why? We have so little in common."

The merc gave a dry chuckle. "You’d be surprised. I say the only reason you kept me around was because we are so similar. Two sides of the same coin, you and I. We all feel like we’ve betrayed someone."

Elisa’s fingers twitched slightly where they rested on her arm. She wanted to dismiss it—brush it off as the ramblings of a man who’d spent too much time in a cell.

But the words lingered, not that Kael made a comment now. She was pretty sure he came to finally realize the truth of her 'murder' attempt the past few days, if only to avoid the awkwardness of talking about it all.

She didn’t have to ask who he thought she had betrayed.

Macel raised an eyebrow. "Whatcha going to do, then?"

Elisa let out a slow breath, rolling her shoulders before leaning forward.

No use dwelling.

"Letting you out."

Macel blinked. "You’re serious?"

Kael made a noise of disapproval. Seemed more annoyed by the fact he hadn’t made use of such a potential asset than anything.

“Just so you are aware, you are in a privileged position for a sharpshooter merc.”

The man snorted. "Yes, that’s all I’ve been from the very beginning. A mercenary." He sighed, rubbing his face. "Not that it matters. I’m wanted dead in both regions now. There are very few places outlaws can stay these days."

His eyes flicked to Elisa. "Bar the tree-huggers in Highcliff. No offense."

“You’d be an outlaw that’s been long presumed dead,” Kael said. “If people saw you, they’d just think you are his doppelganger. The beard forest helps too.”

“People forget that easily?”

“Nah. Just that our assassins would have ensured your death by now.”

“Oh.”

“So, here’s what’s going to happen…”

\\

The prisoner exhaled, considering.

"Look, I’ve got my boys back in one of the Jags. It’ll be a process, but we’re confident we can get this done, gather forces in the Concordant, then trekking here.”

A pause.

"That is, unless most of the population is already in on this insurgency. Touch wood."

“Gods, I hope not,” Elisa laughed. “We don’t want the humans in this manor to be in the minority.”

Elisa’s fingers tapped the iron bars.

"Then let’s hope you’re as good as you say you are."