Honor Requires It (So I Must Obey)

Hey guys~! Agh, I meant to have this up yesterday… But for fuck's sake, my iPod can be such a bitch. Notes, which is where I write all my stories, glitched out, so I lost the contest results, which I'd only just written, so I still remembered them, what little I had of this chapter, which was shit, so I'm kinda glad I got the chance to rewrite it, and my *plans*. All the plans I had for this, poof. On the bright side, though, I got to add a lot more shit to them, so now, depending what people think of this one, I've got three more stories in the works for this AU. So that's a plus. But then it happened again yesterday. I had to do a complete restore of everything, which is why this wasn't up earlier. But now I'm using this new app called Notemaster which seems to be working great so far.

So, for the contest, the winners so far are Dalasport, who guessed that Dangeld was an anagram of England, and mimi-chan and aliling-chan, who guessed that Siarus was an anagram of Russia, so keep an eye out for those oneshots. Keep guessing, you guys!

"But that look ain't you. It's not who you are."
-James Kidd
Assassin's Creed: Black Flag

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Kiku learned fast.

As Yao watched, the slender manservant picked his way through the piles of clothes to place the dish of food on the prince's bedside table, not even flinching as Alfred's pet eagle screeched softly at him. The boy tugged open the curtains and whistled sharply, forcing Alfred to shoot up in bed and throw his hands over his ears. "I'm up, I'm up!"

Kiku bowed quietly. "Good morning, my lord."

"Ah, Kiku! Good to see ya this morning! Where were you yesterday, anyway?"

The boy blinked. Yao did as well. He'd told the prince repeatedly that the day before was his new manservant's day off. Kiku shook his head. "…It was my day off, my lord."

Yao stepped forward, coughing softly. Kiku turned around, those mesmerizing dark eyes widening in surprise and… fear? But he calmed just as quickly, bowing low. The bodyguard gently reached forward to stop him. "You don't bow to me, Kiku~aru. Only to the royal family and lords."

"Y-you're not?"

Yao's amber eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Gods, no! I'm just Prince Alfred's bodyguard! Being a lord would be nice though…" he mused, resting a hand on his chin.

Alfred laughed, sitting up. (Kiku, Yao noted, blushed and turned away when it became clear the prince wasn't wearing a shirt.) "You're a knight, isn't that enough?"

"A-a knight?!" Kiku squeaked, turning to look at Yao. The older man nodded, humming thoughtfully.

"Yes~aru. I started training about… oh, sixteen years ago now?"

The manservant looked up at him with something similar to awe. "Sir Yao…" he mused. "It… It suits you." He glanced down, blushing slightly. Yao chuckled.

"You're so sweet~aru."

Kiku smiled shyly. Alfred then ruined the moment by laughing loudly. "Okay you two, get out for a minute so I can get dressed!"

The two of them wandered out of the room, leaning against the wall outside, facing each other. Yao absently undid the tie holding his long hair in place and retied it, glancing over at Kiku thoughtfully. "So, where are you from~aru?"

The boy glanced up, seemingly startled by the question. "O-oh, it doesn't really matter, does it?"

Yao frowned, hesitantly reaching forward to rest a hand on the servant's shoulder. He flinched away from the contact for a heartbeat, then settled down again. "I-I'm just a servant, right?"

"Of course it matters! I… want to know more about you~aru."

"Oh." The word was little more than a whisper. "I'm from Siarus."

Yao nodded. "How about I tell you a secret?"

Kiku tilted his head to the side curiously. "What sort of secret?"

Yao tsked cheerily. "Ah ah ah! You have to promise not to tell~aru!"

The boy slid over to stand beside the bodyguard, eyes gleaming oddly in the faint light coming through the window. "I promise, I promise!"

Yao leaned forward to rest his lips against the servant's ear. "I'm not actually from Dangeld~aru." He pulled back, waiting to see Kiku's reaction.

The younger man frowned. "That's it?"

Yao chuckled. "You'll have to figure out the rest on your own~!"

"Ah, you two!" a new voice cut in. "Mind telling me where Prince Alfred is?"

They both jumped, turning around to face the new arrival. Sadiq nodded politely enough, raising an eyebrow. Yao felt himself blushing as he realized that they'd been standing so close together that, had he just leaned forward… He stepped away, muttering an apology to no one in particular as he bowed, Kiku mimicking the gesture beside him. "Oh, yes~aru. He's in his chambers through here."

The Ambassador grinned. "Ah, good. I wanted to talk to him, since rumor has it that King Antonio of Sapin is planning to visit over the next week or so. I want to have some fun while he's here, so I need to get the business stuff out of the way." He waved cheerfully and stepped forward, knocking on the door. Alfred's muffled 'come in' was just audible through the heavy door, and the older man stepped through. Yao turned back to Kiku, only to see the smaller boy frowning uncertainly at the now-closed door.

"Kiku~aru?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking."

"About?"

The manservant's eyes shifted away. "Oh, just… what's it like, being a knight and all?"

Was he blushing? Huh. Yao hummed lightly, gesturing for the boy to sit and flopping down beside him. "Well, I mainly work here as Prince Alfred's bodyguard, but if there's a war I have to fight."

"I hope that doesn't happen…" Yao shot a quick look at the boy. He was looking at the floor, hands twisting uncertainly in his lap.

"I doubt it will~aru. There was a pretty long war between King Arthur and King Francis' families that went on for over a hundred years, but their marriage fixed that. The only other long war was against Fornirdivec, but they just signed a treaty a few months ago. That's why Prince Emil's here, actually. But it was kind of a tragedy, because one of the nobles witnessing the signing was found dead that night. Stabbed in his sleep~aru. They still don't know who did it."

Kiku nodded. "But… Emil's the youngest prince, right? Doesn't he have two older brothers?"

"Prince Mathias and Prince Lukas, right. But—and you can't tell anyone I told you this—the reason Prince Emil was chosen to come here is because…" Yao leaned closer, allowing his tied-back hair to fall between the two of them and the door. "…if the Kings of Fornirdivec try anything, threatening the life of the youngest prince is an effective way of stopping them."

"But he's only a child! I mean-"

Yao quickly pressed a hand over Kiku's mouth. "Sshh! No one can know you know about this! Even I'm not supposed to know!"

The manservant's eyes widened in something akin to fear, and he let out a soft breath as Yao pulled his hand away. "Okay. No one will find out. I promise."

Just then, the door flew open. The two of them pulled away from each other and tried very hard to not look like they were discussing state secrets. Alfred grinned at them. "Come on you two! Let's eat!"

Kiku blushed. "My lord, it's not proper for us to eat with you and Lord Sadiq-"

"No buts! C'mon, that's an order!"

The two shared a helpless glance as the Crown Prince of Dangeld dragged them into the room. He pushed them down into chairs, passing out helpings of the toasted bread and scrambled eggs he was having for breakfast that morning. Yao glanced over at Kiku, who was looking uncomfortably down at his meal. Alfred sat, chuckling loudly as he knocked a bit of toast to the floor. "Oops! Oh well!"

The other three laughed as well, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Sadiq made to stand. "Alfred, as kind as it was for you to offer for me to eat with you, I still need to talk to the Kings, so-"

Alfred waved a hand. "No, stay! I'll just-"

"My lord!" Kiku interrupted, jumping to his feet. He was staring at a rat sitting on the floor, eating the piece of toast the prince had dropped. As the four of them watched, it began to writhe in obvious pain, then fell still. Dead. Kiku's eyes widened, a hand coming up to cover his mouth. "Poison," he gasped.

Yao knelt, carefully spearing the remnants of the toast on his fork. He sniffed it carefully. There was no peculiar scent. That, combined with the reaction, left only one possibility. "Bloodbane. A very painful way to die. Thank the gods none of us ate any. We'd be dead before anyone could get help, unless one of you happens to have the antidote on you." He looked up. "Kiku, could you fetch the Kings for me?"

The manservant nodded and ran from the room, visibly shaking. Yao felt sorry for the boy. He was just a manservant, he couldn't have been expecting this…

Sadiq stood. "Perhaps I should warn Prince Emil about this. After all, if someone made an attempt on Prince Alfred's life…"

Yao nodded. "If you wouldn't mind informing Prince Matthew as well? Don't tell them everything," he added as the Ambassador made to leave. "Just ask them to meet the prince and I here."

The older man nodded and left.

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The royals' reactions were just as Kiku had anticipated. The Kings were shocked, Matthew simply nodded, and Emil… Well. He did an impressive job at containing his glee at the possibility of an assassin after the Crown Prince. Vengeful little brat. Not that Kiku could blame him. Being forced to work for some strange King away from your home and family and everyone you know just in case your parents decide to try anything… It would be enough to make anyone angry.

Kiku forced a shaky smile at Yao when the bodyguard glanced at him. Soon… soon he'd have the man wrapped around his finger, and killing the prince would get about fifty times easier. He turned away from the proceedings, frowning.

This was his mission. His alone. Some of the other Royal Assassins would stoop so low as to use lower class assassins to complete an assignment, but not Kiku. No, he did everything on his own. He'd sent out the message to all assassins, especially the other Royal Assassins (except Dangeld's, of course); The Crown Prince of Dangeld is mine. It had been signed simply 'Siarus', but that said very clearly that the Royal Assassin of Siarus had claimed Alfred's life. They knew the rules. Once an assassin, especially a Royal one, had made a claim, you didn't interfere unless that assassin specifically asked for your help. Someone was messing with the rules.

Lower assassins knew better than to fuck with Royal ones; they were the best of the best, and attempting to steal a target from one meant death at best. Often a slow and painful one. And the Royal Assassin of Dangeld wouldn't be trying to kill their own prince. And the other Royal Assassins knew better than to attempt to kill someone he'd made a claim to, right? The last time someone had tried that, Sideldemat had gotten the gift of one near-unrecognizable Assassin's head. He wondered absently if they'd replaced him yet.

So who was trying to steal his kill?

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Emil frowned.

That look in the manservant's eyes… he knew it. The dark glitter of someone thinking of dangerous things. Forbidden things. He'd seen it in his brothers' eyes countless times during the war, but the servant—whose name he still didn't know, annoyingly—was only a few years older than Emil himself, and this wasn't a war. And he didn't look upset at his master's close call. Almost irritated, in fact. So why…?

Unless…

The Royal Assassins, Emil knew, were hilariously insistent on doing things their way, with no interference. And he'd… intercepted a message meant for his family's Assassin a short while before being sent here. The Crown Prince of Dangeld is mine. He hadn't said anything, of course; the prince's death would do nothing but help his family, and possibly get him out of this hellhole and back home. But the message had been from the Royal Assassin of Siarus.

Was it possible that this trembling manservant was the Royal Assassin of the most depraved King in all of Eria? But he had warned the prince of the effect the food had had on the rat, still lying on the floor. If he was trying to kill Alfred, why would he save him?

Emil bit back an amused chuckle. The only reason he could think of was that this was a matter of honor. The Royal Assassin of Siarus, while their face, name, gender and age were unknown, was well known for never accepting help, for completing every mission alone. So if he'd interfered with an assassination plot, assuming the servant was the Royal Assassin…

And bloodbane was a very expensive poison. In order to get it, an assassin would have to have a great deal of money available… say, from a King's coffers.

His glee was hard to contain. Prince Alfred had two Royal Assassins after him, and he didn't even realize it.

So, a bit more Sadiq in this chapter! How'd I do this time? The way I'm rolling with him is I hope to give him a few more lines each time he appears and see how well I do. And Emil's pretty much figured it out already, smartass that he is. And he's not telling anyone in the hopes that Alfred dies. Ah, what'd I tell you? Little bitch.

Anyways, for the contest… if you look closely in this chapter you'll see a couple answers for the 'which characters were mentioned in the prologue' part. As for the country names, here's a hint: they're all anagrams. That's all you're getting. Good luck~!

-Bird