Vega- Assassination

Vega couldn’t get another word out. His throat felt restricted, closed tight as if held by some invisible force. He clawed at his neck, fingers scratching the skin, trying to sever whatever constricted him but finding nothing. The sensation was sickening, an invisible noose around his throat, tightening as he struggled. He wanted to shout, to scream, but Hector had silenced him utterly. He took a step forward, grabbing Hector by the shoulders. He tried to mouth the word please, but all that came forth was spittle.

Vega’s eyes widened as he felt something cold and sharp in his gut. He felt it cut through his flesh, burying itself among his internal organs as the blood flowed out around it. Hector’s face contorted with both horror and sadness, eyes red with tears.

“Getting rid of Vincent,” whispered Hector. “Did you think you could keep me in your debt forever? You’re just like the others, Vega. Worse: you’re a two-faced serpent. You belong on the seabed with the other bottom-dwellers.”

Hector stepped back, as Vega, still spluttering, looked down. In his hands the Boarlord held an arrow, its beautifully crafted silver head slick with blood. Where had Hector got it from? It doesn’t matter now, thought Vega, his fingers fumbling over his stomach as his white shirt turned crimson.

Ringlin and Ibal stepped forward, the fat one giggling quietly as he handed a burlap sack with an attached rope to the tall one. Ringlin lifted the rope over Vega’s head, a noose that fitted snugly around the count’s neck. He pulled it tight before releasing it. Vega instantly staggered at the weight of the sack, recognizing the unmistakable clang of the heavy balls of shot from the Maelstrom’s cannons.

Hector snapped his left hand shut, black hand vanishing out of sight, as Vega struggled to breathe with the sack around his throat. He wanted to beg Hector, ask him to stop the madness, apologize for whatever wrongs the lad imagined the count had done him. But he didn’t get the chance.

Hector nodded to his henchmen, who stepped forward and grabbed Count Vega, fearsome captain of the Maelstrom, Pirate Prince of the Cluster Isles and terror of the White Sea. They gave him a hearty shove, sending him flying back over the aft rail of the ship.

B3 P4 C6