The Fires of Summer (first draft)

All the way through the streets there are people screaming and yelling. People point at Axel in horror as he runs past with Haley. Nobody dares to step near to the King-killer. A guard catches up to them and grabs Axel by the shoulder, only for the changeling to swing around and gut him with his dagger, the weapon carving through the armour like it's clay. Haley stares wide-eyed at the guard as he drops, a hand trying to clutch at his huge wound, but Axel drags him away quickly. His mind lingers on it, and then it flashes back to Corvus, presented to the crowd on his spear and torn open. His guts shone with a golden hue with all the blood saturating them, making him look every bit as royal in death as he had in life. Axel had watched with eyes more intense than anything Haley had seen before. The sky is growing stormy, black clouds gathering and rain beginning to pour from above. There's a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder but Haley is too numb to register anything at all.

Haley is barely conscious of anything he'd learned from Corvus. Nothing feels real. For a moment he wonders if this is all another elaborate nightmare, if maybe he'll jolt awake in a minute back in the cell or on Pirate Island in Axel's arms. He feels the hand clutching his and stares at it as they run towards the shore, squeezing it. Sure enough, there's pressure, the feeling of skin on skin, Axel's bony fingers entwined with his.

"We're going to steal a ship," Axel hisses urgently as they approach the dock. Haley looks between each of the ships and spots a sloop, so he takes the lead and steers the changeling in its direction.

The people onboard scatter at the sight of them. Most people rush past, trying to get as far away from Axel as possible, but a few brave men stand at the top, their weapons drawn. Axel lets go of Haley's hand and brandishes his dagger. Haley just watches as one man lunges for Axel and ends up with his throat open. The other quickly realises this isn't a fight she wants to risk and drops her weapon.

"You're going to do as I say," Axel demands, pointing his dagger at the survivor, who just nods and backs away nervously. "Stay here."

Axel turns his attention away from her and scowls down at the body at his feet, then picks it up and throws it off the side of the ship.

"Come help me with the ropes," Axel returns to Haley, walking back to the dock to untie one of the ropes holding the ship in place.

Haley follows him, but as he works at the ropes everything starts to flow back to him. He freezes, his hands ghosting over the post.

"What's wrong?" Axel asks when he notices, his hands not once stopping. A soft look crosses his face when he looks at Haley, one that the pirate can't stand.

"You killed her," Haley says quietly, his vision blurring as he stares at the bottom of the dock where the water laps at the ship. His hands are trembling.

"Pardon?" Axel frowns, throwing the rest of his rope back onto the ship before coming to join Haley, taking over.

Haley turns to look at Axel, at his bloodstained face and hands. "You killed Ellamia."

"...I think today's had a toll on you, let's just get out of here," Axel says, looking away and finishing up with his task. He stands, his tail sweeping idly across the floor, as if he hasn't just been accused of something serious, but his ears are twitching.

"No," Haley shakes his head, stepping away from him. "Don't say that to me. I'm thinking perfectly straight. You killed my wife."

Axel is silent for a few moments. When he speaks his voice is quiet. "Can we talk about this later? We need to leave."

"You want to get me on the ship so I can't leave you," Haley snaps, backing up further.

"You can't leave, not after all of this," Axel protests. He takes a step closer to Haley, but he just steps back again, threatening to break away and run back into Gore. Axel realises and stops, looking between him and the ship. "Haley, please."

Haley's black eyes are cold. "Admit it."

"Fine, I killed Ellamia," Axel hisses, his hands balling into fists. "Now let's go."

"I'm not going with the man who killed my wife," Haley says, his body trembling. "Do you know how much it hurt me to wake up on that boat without her? I see her in everything, wondering what could've been between us if she hadn't been torn away from me. I never got to say goodbye to her or kiss her one last time. And you had the gall to keep up the lie that it was Corvus to get me on your side."

"You chose this by yourself," Axel argues. His ears are tilting downwards and he too seems to be shaking. Haley can't tell if it's with anger or fear. "Ellamia is gone, but you have me now. I thought you were getting better."

"Getting better?" Haley spits, raising his voice. "Getting fucking better? I woke up barely a month ago and I've been forced to rush through the stages of grief like they're nothing. All of the way you've been hoping I'd just forget about her, haven't you? I haven't even gotten used to not having her, Axel. I wasn't ready for any of this, I should've been allowed to grieve like everyone else, you should've known. Didn't you grieve when you lost your wife?"

Axel's tail lashes hard. "Don't you bring her up like that. She didn't do anything to you."

"Neither did Ellamia!" Haley yells. Everything feels cold around him and his fingers start to turn hard and black. The wood beneath him starts to rot. "Neither did I!"

"You made me fall in love with you!" it's Axel's turn to raise his voice. When he yells all Haley can hear is that boy in the temple, crying out for mercy. It makes his chest ache and he wants nothing more than for it to stop. "All my life I've waited for you, and she was stealing you away from me. It was the only way!"

"You killed her because you were jealous? Are you fucking kidding me?" Haley wishes he'd never been fished out of the ocean. He wishes he'd never fallen for Axel. "You're a monster."

"Your hormones are getting out of control," Axel bites back.

"My hormones? Are you fucking kidding me?" Haley laughs. He's on the verge of walking over there and putting his fist in Axel's face, but he refrains. He doesn't want to stoop to that level. "You think I'm upset that you killed my wife because of hormones? I'm leaving."

"You can't leave me," Axel sounds more desperate now, "you're carrying my child."

"So this is how you're going to force me to stay with you?" Haley protectively rests a hand on his stomach, as if shielding it from the man. "You're going to use them like that?"

"You can't take them away from me," Axel says, taking a deep breath, as though trying to calm himself.

"You don't deserve them," Haley turns away. He takes a step.

"No," Axel's voice is suddenly flat and empty. Haley feels a chill creep along his spine. "Get on the ship, Azrael."

Immediately Azrael's stomach drops. He freezes in place. Three forces pull at him. One is his Archangel obedience, unable to resist a command from his bonded, tugging at him to go back and get on the ship. The second is his mating bond, a force even stronger, begging for him to give in and walk back into Axel's arms, to apologise and cry and seek out comfort in him. The last is Haley's own will, fighting desperately to keep him on the path he's chosen. But two are stronger, and unable to control himself he turns back to Axel and slowly walks up the steps to the ship. When he's there, he can't do anything but watch as Axel lifts the steps, opens the sails, and tells their hostage to sail for Wolf's Rest. Thunder rumbles all around them. All Haley can do is curl in on himself.

Haley can't do anything but watch as Gore gets further and further away, disappearing with his chances at freedom. There's nothing he can do now. Axel knows how to command him and he's shown he has no aversion to doing it now Haley wants to leave.

He cries for a while. There's nothing else he can do. He's trapped with his wife's murderer, on the way back to his home. He tries to think of something to be excited about, but right now not even thinking about Kallisto can make him feel any better about this. What am I going to tell everyone? he wonders, staring out at the water. What is Axel going to tell everyone?

Probably lies, he figures, looking across to where the man sits, wiping the dry blood off his face and hands. He'll need a good soak to get it properly out, and it'll definitely stain his clothes. Haley looks down at himself and sees where Corvus' blood splattered on his body. He'd been so close to him when he'd been commanded to rip himself open. Corvus had looked so afraid. It reminds him of Soren, beaten on the ground, crying and begging for mercy. More than ever he realises that the entire royal family are people just like everyone else.

He wonders if Corvus even deserved to die. Haley can't find it in him to advocate in the killing of anyone and suddenly he finds himself considering whether any of this was right to begin with. He'd been driven solely by the rage of Ellamia's death, and now it turns out Corvus hadn't even been responsible for it. Even if he did deserve to die, the method in which Axel had made him take his life was beyond brutal.

Haley is no stranger to killing, but he never seems to be able to get used to it. The first time he'd killed a man he'd been on the crew of a pirate ship. The Sanguises had attacked their ship, and they weren't in the best state, at least not until the boarding happened. Then they'd been at an advantage, their fighting skills outweighing the navymen, and they'd taken back control. Haley had run his cutlass through the chest of a man and watched him topple to the ground, his life emptying out of his body. Haley didn't sleep for the next few days, the man's face stuck in his mind. Since then he's tried to keep killing to a minimum, for his own sake and for theirs, and it's never gotten easier.

When Haley takes up his spot in the crew's quarters, Axel doesn't come to try share with him. Neither of them will be comfortable tonight, and he's fine with that as long as it keeps that murderer away. He finds himself unable to rest, Corvus' terrified face plaguing him like a sick daydream, the sight of the corpse vivid in his head. Haley tosses and turns for a while, the time seeming like it just won't pass. Eventually he risks a journey up top, and he's relieved to see that Axel isn't there.

He stares over the side of the ship for a while, watching the waves lap at the wood. They're far enough from Gore that the stormy weather has mostly disappeared, leaving them with just a strong breeze and choppy waters. To most, the storm would seem like well-timed coincidence, but Haley knows the truth. His brother Michael always chooses the perfect times to strike. A storm from him is a certain sign of bad things to come: war. Haley can feel it in his bones.

As he stands there, he feels the bond tug on him. He tries to force his feelings down but they just won't seem to go. His stomach feels so heavy and his mind clouded until all he knows is that he needs to be close to Axel.

You can't, he tells himself, but he finds himself wandering to the door of the captain's quarters. He stands there for a while but doesn't enter. Instead, he sits down in the corner where the wall of the room and the stairs to the wheel is. Very slowly sleepiness creeps up on him, so subtle that he doesn't notice himself getting drowsier and drowsier. His eyes start to close on their own. He fights it for a little while, but eventually succumbs, his body slumping and allowing him some rest.