Enemy

Ekliptik woke up captured.

They kept their eyes closed and didn't move even a bit, assessing the situation.

They were sitting on an uncomfortable chair with their hands tied behind their back. The position was painful because they were hunched over, pretending to still be unconscious, but they didn't feel any injuries. Their head was hurting, but their mind was clear. No concussion. They knew what those felt like. They didn't have their cape anymore. There was only one other person breathing in the room with them.

Location unknown.

They couldn't have been out for longer than five minutes, though. They'd feel far worse if they were.

Conclusion: an abandoned place somewhere nearby. Alberic won. They could hear him quietly hissing in pain somewhere in front of them. They felt around the knot with their fingers. They could get out of this...

They could hear him drinking something and putting it away. Sounds of clothes being put on. Stench of blood as he approached. He raised their head and opened their mouth, keeping them in that pose for a few moments before gently putting their head down again. Next he took their boots off and turned them upside down. Four daggers loudly clanged as they hit the floor.

"Bloody hell kid, how many do you have..."

They could hear him bending over to pick them up.

Opportunity.

They opened their eyes and threw a precise kick at the bloodiest part of his shirt, right in his side. He let out a pained scream, rolling himself out of their range and taking the daggers with him.

He was trembling on the floor, holding onto his injury. Ekliptik couldn't enjoy the sight properly, focusing on the rope instead. It loosened-

Alberic grabbed them by the collar, pinning them to the back of the chair.

"Listen to me very carefully, before I am forced into doing something regretful," he quietly said. "You attacked me. You followed me. I am decently sure you know who I am. Currently, I am only interested in talking to you. If you try to kick me again, however, I will have you arrested. And then things will start to get really interesting for everyone. Do you understand?"

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit-

They nodded, thoroughly terrified. They needed to find some way out! Any way! They were trembling in their seat, tightly holding onto the ropes so he wouldn't notice they were partially undone. He will need to leave if he planned to fetch the guards. There was no way he'd walk through the city with them tied up in broad daylight, right? He was a prince!

And princes can do whatever they want.

The aura of anger and hostility faded. He visibly relaxed and let them go. It seemed violence really wasn't something he planned to use now that they were captured, so that was nice. He was still frowning as he was stepping away from them, holding onto his injury. They managed to slice his upper right arm and his left side by the ribs. They intentionally didn't try to kill him, so none of the wounds were deep. His shirt was properly bloodied, though. He raised it to check on his side and they saw he already managed to bandage himself up. Also, his hair was long again, and his face looked as before. He took off whatever disguise he had, clearly not at all concerned about being seen or recognized later. That... was really, really bad.

"You really must be one of the biggest annoyances I've had to deal with lately, you know? And that is quite an accomplishment."
"Didn't expect t' get stabbed?"
"Didn't expect to get caught?" he snapped back. He saw them flinch and let out a sigh. "How old are you, fourteen? Fifteen? Who the hell sends a child... Ah, well, what else am I to expect," he mumbled. He picked up the daggers from their boots and put them with the rest, on a small messy pile on the table. "Thirty-seven. Half your weight is in daggers..." He picked up their cloak and started going through it, carefully searching for even more hidden pockets. Opportunity. They started working on the ropes again.

They stopped when they heard the sound of paper. They only had one paper.

Their heart was beating in their ears as they looked up to see the prince reading a permission Lord Secretary wrote for them, and Rosamund approved. They were allowed to go anywhere, and if they were somewhere there was probably a reason for it and guards were not to stop them. They got it after that assassin nearly killed Rosamund and always carried it around now that Lord Secretary decided to have them work together.

Alberic smiled, folded it up, and put it in his pocket.

Now he had proof. Proof of what? Rosamund's secret agent attacked him. Shit. If they say they're not working for Rosamund, next question is - who are they working for. Nita? The pirate's assassin attacked the prince. It was self-defense, he put a sword to their neck!

There is no self-defense against a royal.

They were beginning to panic. They couldn't focus on undoing the ropes as the only possibilities kept banging on in their head. Betray Rosamund and Nita. Stay silent and die. No, even if they don't say anything, the evidence was there. They will all go to the gallows. They needed to escape along with their permission slip. Or kill the prince- no. Even now, as frightened as they were, they could clearly recognize an astonishingly terrible idea. Nita will be so disappointed. Nita will die. And Rosamund- they already saw how angry he can get. What if he attacks them? They didn't want to get beaten by him- they just wanted to help-

Alberic snapped his fingers, breaking them out of their thoughts. "Hey, hey, are you even listening? I'm not used to being a boogeyman for little girls, damn it... At least when it's Lord Governor, we're on equal footing..." They were crying in absolute silence. The prince seemed uncomfortable, turning his head away to give them some space. He looked around the dirty little house they were in and went to get a rickety little stool. He sat down on it, leaning forward and holding onto his injuries. He was considerably less imposing now, looking up at trembling Ekliptik from a distance. "Is this better? It should be. Listen, I see you aren't really planning for things like this, and I know you don't have any suicide poisons on you. I get it, you're not high up, nobody will care if you die." He winced. Why did he sound as if he was relating to them? "Just answer a few of my questions and I'll let you go free. No guards, no gallows, I'll even overlook that you have been stalking me since I entered the city. And that you slashed me. Twice."

They shook their head.

"Come on, at least hear me out, hm? Ekliptik, am I saying your name right? I really didn't think I'd catch you like this, but I did hope I'd manage to find you soon. I found some questions you answered for Lord Governor about recent events in the world. I hardly had the time to investigate thoroughly, to be honest-" Heh. Talking was hurting him. "In either case. I need to know what Lord Governor wants from Mercanti di Morte."

Oh. Oh no.

"I- I'm not wi' Mercanti!" they shouted in panic. "I'm not!"
"Right, and I'm a Karpathian baron. If it's not them, who are you working for?"

The Pirate Queen.

And they attacked him. Oh gods, they can't answer that. This was bad. This was terrible. This was only getting worse by the moment. The man was all wrong, the truth was even more dangerous, and even if they told him how wrong he was, there was a chance he wouldn't believe them because it all already made sense in his head. They were so thoroughly, completely, absolutely screwed. Saying anything will just make it worse. Maybe- maybe Rosamund can talk his way out of this. Alberic was wrong about them being with Mercanti, and Rosamund surely wasn't speaking with them either. So, he could surely talk some sense into him, all without revealing the actual treason they all planned to commit.

But if they speak, the plans fall into water.

There was only one way out. They ruined everything... both for Nita and for Rosamund, and all this after they gained his trust and got Khamil locked up. They were such a failure. They were the worst.

"Just kill me," they quietly begged.

Alberic let out a sigh, putting a hand over his eyes. "Bloody hell..."