l0okitsvan

[amethystpath-writes]

A Gentle Blade Part 19

Part 18 here

I lied. The dinner will be next chapter. In the meantime, enjoy the tension pre-dinner.

@tears-and-lilies

******

"Have you thought up a new plan, Your Majesty?" Sir Guard only said it to prevent himself from acting gleefully when he saw Leera behind the queen. She was okay. She wasn't limping, wasn't groaning or moaning in pain. The assassin was okay.

Rennera ignored him, telling her walking captive, "You will walk over there, take the seat beside my future king and you will not utter a word until our feast has begun." Sir Guard watched the assassin make a confused look. He wondered what it meant, what the two discussed when the queen left him here.

As she spoke, the queen scanned the table. She bit her lip then said further to Leera, "If there should arise a time that my company speaks to you directly, you are to only say things that will be in my favour. If-"

Leera paid no attention, Sir Guard could tell. She met his eyes and they remained locked there.

Both parties of the stare felt relief. Both were a little more at ease seeing the other unharmed, or at least for the most part. The prince's hair was still wet from when Rennera dumped a tankard of water on his head. He was still adorned with the gilded rope, still uncomfortably tied to the chair he sat on.

On this note, Sir Guard broke the two's eye contact, looking at the assassin's free wrists, ankles, throat, any and everything that could be decorated with chains, rope, leather, or shackles. Leera was entirely free, so why wasn't she attacking? Only her lips had to be sore right now. Sir Guard figured maybe they tortured her while he was unconscious from the poison, but...Well, the assassin walked fine. There were no winces, no gentle touches to sensitive spotted bruises, no signs of complaint. Leera was perfectly fine, except maybe her lips. She hadn't spoken yet, and she was still at the other end of the table so Sir Guard couldn't tell if her mouth was still pained.

He glanced at her eyes again only to see hers had never left his own. It suddenly became very clear why she hadn't tried to leave already. A part of Sir Guard naturally assumed it might have been because she was out of practice, unsure if she could successfully take anyone down. This wasn't it, though, and he knew that now in her gaze. Leera wasn't going to leave him. The prince didn't deserve her- in whatever way he had her. The two weren't an item. He didn't think so anyways. Either way, Sir Guard didn't feel worthy of her friendship- or whatever it was they shared.

"Go. I told you to sit." Leera nodded at the queen before walking around the other end of the table, coming to Sir Guard's side where she eventually sat. They didn't look at each other now, and they wouldn't dare do as such until there was a distraction.

The queen tutted. "That won't do. Guard," The prince's attention snapped up to her and he shook his head.

He wasn't a guard, not anymore. He had no need to respond to that word except by Leera's mouth. Sir Guard, he thought to himself and almost laughed aloud.

"How many generals will there be?"

"Only two, Your Majesty. Then two kings and a..." The crooked guard who straddled Leera and taunted Sir Guard searched for the correct word. "An emissary, of sorts, I suppose."

"An emissary? What king is so cowardice that they'd send an emissary my way?" Rennera dug her nails into one of the decorative chairs around the table. She was still at the other end, but she was making her way to the head seat of the table now. All of the chairs were noble looking, with their brightly coloured fabricated cushions. They could almost be considered thrones. The queen's guests will sure feel welcomed, the prince thought.

"Thharewood, my queen." Crooked answered. "Their king is sick, has been for weeks now. The journey would surely kill him."

It took all of Sir Guard's might not to react. Thharewood. That was his home, his kingdom. He swallowed, listening.

Rennera took her seat with a hum. "Has he no heir to send away instead of an emissary? I feel offended."

Sir Guard swore he could feel his heart beating out of his chest. His hands were becoming moist with sweat. Despite his efforts not to, his eyes darted around the room. He looked between the empty tankard on the table in front of him, to the table itself, to the queen, and to his lap. The prince shifted in his seat, readjusting his shoulders against the chair and beneath the rope.

"The only heirs are a missing prince and two young princesses, Your Majesty."

"Missing prince, you say?" The queen admired her nails. Leera looked to Sir Guard; he felt her gaze like a soft whisper on the back of his neck. He never told her he had siblings. "I wonder what happened." Rennera hummed, letting Sir Guard know she didn't truly care. He felt relieved.

"Some think he drowned in the floods in the western valleys," Crooked explained. "Others think he killed himself after finding the lover he was meant to run away with dead in the woods."  After a long awkward pause, he finished, "That is all I know of the matter, Your Majesty "

The prince scowled for two reasons. The first was this; he didn't know there'd been floods in the valleys. The seasons must have been changing again. It seemed like a quick change, and if people believed he died in those supposed floods, that means surely enough people suffered that the rumour was believable. Sir Guard wished he could have been there to help. Was it better to help one person through misery you caused or help many through a natural disaster? The prince felt more guilty than he already did for suggesting the former. He moved on from that, giving another reason to his scowl. This was that people believed he had a lover, even more so that he would kill himself for said lover. Sir Guard never took up lovers. It was too dangerous. Loving anyone meant putting them at risk. The world was filthy and enemy kingdoms liked to hold ransoms. No, he didn't have a lover.

Who would have guessed the prince went missing to punish himself for a silly mistake he should have known not to make?

"Two generals and an emissary," the queen said. She laid her head in her hands, elbows on the table. Rennera was thinking.

Does she not have a plan? Sir Guard wondered. The queen sure as hell couldn't tell everyone they were lovers, not if she intended on keeping him tied up like this. And he knew Rennera wouldn't release him. She didn't trust her future king not to do something, anything. Maybe the queen feared he would try to kill himself again.

The prince shook his head. He hadn't meant to almost die. His liquid tipped finger had so little on it that he thought it would only hurt, and he deserved to hurt for everything he put Leera through. Of course, putting the poison on his tongue was also proof of allegiance. He was so afraid Leera would think he sided with the queen that poisoning himself was the only way he could think to show he only wanted to protect the assassin. But, he knew if Leera had been able to say she believed him, he still would have consumed the poison. Again, he deserved it.

"-should stay in that seat. He is the future king, Your Majesty."

"Hm, I suppose you are right."

Sir Guard was thinking long enough to himself that he missed what the queen had been saying.

"Bring four wooden chairs then, instead of five. Two for the generals, one for the emissary, and one for my dearest assassin."

"Yes, my queen."

Wooden chairs? Two other guards in the room were collecting the throne-like chairs and dragging them away, while Crooked left to fulfill the queen's demand.

Two for the generals and emissary. Sir Guard had been so impressed that Rennera would be treating her guests nicely, all like equal royalty. Now, though...There was no way she had a plan, unless it was to piss off the generals and non-royals. Well, Dogars won't care. The prince's friend would expect it from this kingdom. The generals, though, would be quite offended at seeing how they were thought of as servants, rather than political icons.

His mind whirled back to Dogars. He never thought about his father assigning his best friend to do political business in his absence. If he'd have thought about it, Sir Guard would have actively hoped the king of Thharewood wouldn't do that. It wasn't that Dogars couldn't handle himself; it was that politics were terrible. No matter what you did or said, you were always doing the wrong thing. And to be in a meeting with so many other kings and generals, there were bound to be more mistakes than there were against just one person.

And what would Dogars do when he saw his very own prince tied up in golden rope, in their largest enemy's palace? What would he do when the queen said they were betrothed? How would Sir Guard respond?

Double-edged blade, my ass. This was an infinitely-edged blade. It was a sphere made of needles and everyone would be tossing it to one another tonight.

Crooked returned with the wooden chairs. Leera stood completely on her own, without the queen or the guard's instructions. Crooked had smiled at her, one side of his mouth lifting while his nostril flared. He set the chair down and the assassin took her seat as soon as possible.

Rennera commented, "Look how great my dearest assassin is behaving." She sighed. "I might actually let you eat a full meal today." Leera said nothing.

Soon after, a guard opened the dining hall doors, telling the queen that representatives from Eliaph, Harcose, and Termine had arrived and were directed to guest rooms before the dinner.

No Dogars yet.

Just as he thought it, the message delivering guard said, "The emissary from Thharewood was spotted a village away and should be here soon. Would you like for the others to be escorted to this room now, Your Majesty?"

"Not yet, but I do need you to take my assassin and have her bathed. She may choose whether she bathes herself or has a female servant do it for her." Rennera looked over to her two captives, "And Leera, dear, make it quick. We have little time, but I will not allow you to insult our guests with your stench."

"Might as well have our cell cleaned, as well. You are lucky neither she or I have become sick from the close living proximity of our own bodily waste." If he weren't restrained, Sir Guard would have taken a fake sip out of the tankard in front of him. "Not to mention I need a bath as well. You do a poor job taking care of other humans. I hope you don't intend on having any children." He heard Crooked take a step in his direction. The prince smiled as Rennera motioned for him to stand down.

"Very well. Send a servant to the assassin's cell and have it cleaned." Then, "Be sure my betrothed receives warm bathing water."

The guard who came in about the representatives began walking over to Leera, who stood as he approached.

Sir Guard didn't stand, not only because he was still tied down, but because he wouldn't have stood yet to begin with. "And for Leera?"

Laughing, the queen said, "She will get what is most easily accessible."

"I want her to have the warm water. Give her mine." He said this to the guard standing behind Leera.

"Excuse me, you are in no position to make demands," Rennera said, and her voice edged on anger.

He turned his gaze to her. "Well I know my arms and legs aren't heavily available," He wriggled beneath the rope for effect. "But my mouth still works. I think that's position enough."

It was fascinating to watch the queen's face twist in aggravation. He couldn't tell if she was acting or if she was really becoming irritated. Perhaps both.

"If you continue to be smart, I'll have you gagged again."

"Gagged?" It was the first time Leera had spoken since she came into the room. All attention went to her. Her eyes were wide, as if she were shocked and scared of her own action. Nevertheless, she continued, "You never said you gagged him, or that you would do it again." The assassin spoke slowly, and Sir Guard finally took the time to notice that her lips were still swollen, but much less than they were before. They looked more healed, but by Leera's slow speech, he could tell they were still sore.

Crooked stepped forward and this time the queen didn't stop him. His hand fell on Leera's shoulder and she stiffened.

"There's no harm in what she just said. Leave her alone." Tensions were becoming too high if Leera was getting thrown into the mix. Sir Guard decided he needed to mellow out, stop antagonizing if only for the assassin's sake. "I'll keep my mouth shut. Just don't...don't do anything to her. Please." He'd been trying to make the queen angry with him, not her.

The guard didn't release Leera until the queen nodded. "If either of you act out again, I promise that you will regret it." She hummed. "And if that isn't enough to convince you, think about each other." Rennera smiled, and Sir Guard could imagine venom dripping from her teeth.

Sir Guard opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. It was a simple question, a confirmation, but would she hurt Leera for it if he asked? Now that he thought about it, he had two questions, not one.

"Go ahead. Speak, my future king." He hated that endearment.

"You'll give her clean water?"

"Of course. It'd be exhausting if she got an infection somewhere or became sick."

He nodded, waiting for further permission to speak, so as to not harm Leera. Rennera urged him to go on. "I want to know what is allowed versus what is not ahead of time. You got upset with me for being 'smart' though you never explicitly said I couldn't. What are our limitations?"

This made Rennera think. "My dearest assassin knows her limitations already, I trust?" Sir Guard turned to see Leera nod. She took a deep breath as she did so. "So it is only you who is unsure."

The queen went on to explain that Sir Guard was only allowed to speak to 'my dearest assassin', unless Rennera specifically addressed him to speak. That meant if a guest asked him a question, he was to remain silent until prompted by the queen. He wasn't to complain about anything, even if someone asked what he disliked about his stay. Sir Guard doubted he would receive this question once they saw him wrapped in rope. They would know his stay was involuntary.

***

The assassin finished bathing and dressing quicker than the prince. This fact was mostly due to the fact that she had old and cold water. She believed it was regular temperature for some time, but they'd made her wait to get in until they found her change of clothes. The water was freezing by the time she slid in. Having said that, she slid out just as quickly. She wanted to wait, just stand in the sunset-lit room, but guards and servants ushered her out as soon as she dressed. Leera sat at the dinner table for nearly fifteen minutes alone with the queen and her new personal guard, alone, before Sir Guard finally arrived.

During her wait, Sir Guard had a very pleasant experience- physically. Otherwise he felt miserable knowing some rough handed servant was probably shoving Leera's head beneath the water to rinse it through. They were probably half-waterboarding her. All the while he got to lay in a tub, in a room, all alone. His guards waited outside...He had to shake himself of the terrible thoughts of Leera's treatment. Rennera had told the two that unless one misbehaved, the other was safe, and Sir Guard had been civil while he was escorted to his bathing room. There was no reason Leera would be in pain, only possibly cold from unwarmed water.

When Sir Guard walked into the dining room, he noticed Leera already sat in her seat. She looked at him, looked down, up, down. Was she apprehensive of him? Why? Nothing was different about him except that his brown hair- which likely looked black before- was perhaps a bit fluffy. He wore royal clothing instead of rags. Other than those two things, there was nothing even relatively shocking.

The prince peered behind himself, thinking maybe- just maybe- Leera had been nervous about something else. Maybe a guard was about to knock him on the head so that they could secure him to the chair again without fear of struggle. But there was no threat behind Sir Guard. Another guard, sure, but she was no danger right now. Her face was stern, but it didn't scream 'I'm going to club you in the head with the butt of my sword'. What was the assassin anxious about?

Sir Guard sat semi-cautiously, expecting every one of the queen's Guard to launch at him with shackles and chains, gilded ropes and dirty rag gags.

They didn't jump at him per say, but with the queen said simply, "Restrain him," they wasted no time in grabbing either wrist and forcing them behind the throne dining chair he sat in. He winced as the bruises from before made contact with the edges of his seat once again. Sir Guard was thankful, at least, that they didn't gag him.

Soon after, the queen called for a guard to bring in the guests. Sir Guard never found himself praying before, but he did now.

******

Part 20 here