Prisoners of War
(A/N: Sorry about missing an update yesterday. Worked all day and was too busy to have any time to edit. Still not entirely happy with this editing job, but hopefully it's okay. Again, sorry for missing yesterday's update.)
The captured men were transported in prison carriages towards Cumberland. There was a procession of ten overloaded and overcrowded carts, plus those forced to walk on foot. Of course being nobility in this case was good. It meant Hans and Rhun got the 'luxury' of being stuffed like sardines into one of said overfilled carts. And the 'luxury' of getting to watch their men collapse and die of exhaustion on the march instead of being among those who collapsed and died. Hans watched stonily as another Southern Isles soldier collapsed, near death, and was run through by a Cumberland soldier. He couldn't be angry at the man. It had been a mercy kill, as far as the prince was concerned. That soldier wouldn't have survived anyway.
"You need to stop," Rhun murmured.
Hans's jaw twitched. "Stop what?" he asked bitterly.
"Stop torturing yourself and your mind by looking back at the dying," Rhun answered. Hans was silent. Soon he tore his gaze away from the tiny slit he'd been looking through. Silence, now. Of course. Rhun had never been there for him while growing up, unless it was to wound, and so Rhun would not be there for him now.
"You're holding up well," Hans said with a scoff.
"You would think that, wouldn't you…? You haven't even looked at me since we were taken," Rhun replied. Hans stiffened. He didn't want to look at his sibling now either. "I figured. Always you."
"Don't even," Hans hissed sharply, viciously looking at his brother. He started on seeing him. Rudi was drawn, pale, and sickly looking. To say nothing of how utterly miserable and depressed he appeared. Hans actually felt a shiver. "Rudi?" he asked uneasily.
Rhun scoffed. "Long time since you've called me that," he replied. He looked up at the other prisoners. They looked so dead… so broken… In fact, the one he was looking at now was dead and broken. And starting to smell. He tore his eyes from the sight, looking at Hans. "I feel empty… I feel like I'm incomplete… I always feel that way when apart from Runo… Feeling it now more than ever, because this time it isn't only him I'm apart from. It's all of you. On top of it, I'm stuck with the brother I have the most non-existent relationship with of us all."
"That was your fault, not mine," Hans replied, eyes narrowing. "I was willing to try. You were stuck in whatever little world you and Runo concocted for yourselves where nobody else existed or mattered."
"That isn't true!" Rhun shot.
"Maybe you didn't plan for it to be, Rudi, but that's what it was!" Hans snapped. Rhun was silent glaring at him. "Just leave me alone," Hans said, turning away again. Rhun watched him silently. He heard coughing and turned. Men were getting sick. There would be more deaths soon… He wanted to toss out the rotting bodies. Those were the problem. Unfortunately, they were all chained in place firmly. Prayers could be heard being muttered, over bodies and over sick ones. Mourning sobs sounded from men who had lost brothers or friends or family on the march, and who were now stuck next to the corpses of their loved ones. Rhun shifted in the chains, hoping against hope he'd find some wiggle room. Dammit, these bodies needed to go. He let out a shaky breath, leaning back. He really wished he could clean his glasses. It was a nervous habit, he knew, but it helped calm him down. God knew he needed it now.
"One-hundred-seventy even," Hans remarked. Rhun looked exhaustedly over. "One-hundred-seventy men, that I've counted, have fallen. The one-hundred-seventieth just now," Hans said. He leaned back, closing his eyes and drawing in a breath. "Dammit, these shackles are chafing my wrists." Rhun was silent, glancing down. He knew full well that Hans was underplaying it. The sores were bad, and there was a good bit of blood wetting his sibling's hands.
"Stop fidgeting, damn you," Rhun said. "You're only making it worse."
"Why did you come after me?" Hans demanded.
"Moren's orders," Rhun replied.
"Of course," Hans said, rolling his eyes.
"Alright, smart guy. Why the hell did you run willy nilly into the thick of an enemy army with only minimal backup?!" Rhun demanded.
"You didn't have to come after me, Rhun!" Hans shot.
"You're not answering my question!" Rhun snapped.
"A death wish, happy?! I wasn't thinking, okay?! I just did it," Hans said.
"S**t, we should have pulled you out of that battle sooner," Rhun said.
"Oh you are not going to…" Hans said.
"Damn right I'm going to! You were suffering some weird trauma thing, we all saw it, and we didn't yank you out. Our mistake," Rhun said. "And now it got us here. Thanks a lot, little brother! Half of those men you've watched die wouldn't even be dead if you hadn't done what you did!"
"Don't you dare put this on me you son of a bitch!" Hans shouted. The carriage stopped. The two brothers gasped, stiffening. All eyes were on them accusingly.
"Uh oh," Rhun said. They'd been heard.
Frozen
The back was pulled open. There stood the Duke of Cumberland looking angered and less than impressed. He summed up his prisoners. "Whose voices was I hearing? Who was fighting?" he soon asked.
Rhun and Hans were silent, but when all eyes went to them, there really was no use denying it. "Hey, that's what you get for putting two siblings who despise each other together in close proximity," Hans defiantly replied.
"He charged alone through an army for you," the Duke deadpanned, obviously not entirely believing it, but also not rejecting it flat out.
"Our king's orders. I was dead if I left him, dead if I didn't," Rhun replied. "Better to go out looking like a hero than go out a bane to my family. You want to kill him, by all means be my guest. Only eyes on us now are the eyes of prisoners."
"Yes, by all means kill him," Hans said. "He goes out a hero, I'm rid of him and his nagging voice, everyone's happy."
The Duke looked at them ponderously but gave no such order. He summed up the inside of the prison carriage. "Dump the bodies and finish the dying!" he shouted to his men who were in this long caravan. "I won't have disease brought into my kingdom." Hans and Rhun felt their hearts sink. That meant men, even those who might have otherwise survived, would be executed here. The crying and sobbing and begging began, the pleading for the lives of loved ones that were torn out to be put down.
Both princes were silent, mortified. Hans fixed his eyes on the execution in terror. Rhun couldn't look at all, shutting his eyes tight. "Hans, close your eyes," he murmured to his sibling, sensing Hans's freezing. Hans gasped in horror and did so, snapping back to reality and quickly looking away. When the last of the pleading stopped, and all that could be heard was the weeping of the family members, the carts were closed up. Hans dared open his eyes. Well, it wasn't so overcrowded in here anymore… He felt sick to his stomach and nearly gagged, but he swallowed it back and looked upwards, choosing to try and tune out everything that was happening… And the accusing gazes that were on him and his brother, and the curses, and whatever else was falling on them. The captives needed a scapegoat. So be it. It wasn't like he wasn't used to being a scapegoat. Rhun wasn't, at least not as much, but Rhun was also lost in his own little world, so this probably wasn't even affecting him that much. When he heard his brother sniff, though, it struck him how wrong he was. He glanced over at his sibling, whose eyes were tightly shut, and tensed up. He looked down and away ashamedly. No more words were exchanged the rest of the trip.
Frozen
The captives who survived the journey were lined up now, in front of all the people. They were being separated into groups. One group would remain in Cumberland and go to the dungeons and whatnot. The other group would be stripped and sold into slavery. "This is insanity," Hans hissed to Rhun.
"Shut. Up," Rhun replied.
"Hey, I…" Hans began.
"Don't. Draw. Attention to yourself," Rhun said. Hans looked confused. Rhun, catching the confusion, sighed. "God you're naïve. Look at the eyes watching us, Hans… It's apparent they'd very much like it if you or I ended up in the slave group." Hans stiffened and looked around. He started. Sure enough a good many eyes were on them as the people cheered the Duke's victory. "The ones to be sold will remain here and be put up for auction. The others will be brought to the dungeons."
"What are we, in the Middle Ages?" Hans asked, a note of panic in his voice.
"No, and the common people don't even really know what goes on here, but the Duke has many foreign patrons, and many… unorthodox noble ones who aren't above involving themselves in the illegal slave trade," Rhun replied.
"Do I want to know what kind of slave trade we're talking?" Hans deadpanned.
"Depends on the master," Rhun answered. "Now seriously. Shut up." Hans fell silent. The Duke of Cumberland was nearing. Rhun's jaw twitched and he shifted uncomfortably. He had half a mind to move in front of his brother, but then that would draw attention to Hans and let the Duke know that he wanted his sibling close. As long as he and Hans were together, they stood a good chance of escaping; or at least staying alive. As long as they were going to argue and not get along, they could at least twist and exaggerate it to their benefit. The Duke believed they hated each other. He wasn't all that far off. Both he and Hans had deduced, by now, that the man would be more likely to keep them together if he believed their being stuck in the same cell would be a torment in itself. As long as no defensive action was taken, as long as he didn't give away the fact he actually gave a damn about the pest, as little of a damn as it was—liar—they were fine. "Be wary of tests," he muttered to his sibling.
"I know," Hans replied. Good. Hans suspected the Duke would try to figure them out too.
Frozen
The Duke of Cumberland neared and Hans subtly stepped away from Rhun, noting he'd been gravitating too close to his brother's side to be safe. Time to stay as far away from one another as possible. It wasn't like it was going to be too hard. Rhun, of the same mind, put distance between them as well, as much as he could. The Duke paused in front of them, eyeing the siblings who were glaring heatedly at each other while staying away from one another's sides. "About to get into a confrontation, boys?" he asked.
"No comment," Rhun replied.
"Hmm… You won't need to worry about confrontation any time soon. Or ever again, for that matter," the man said. He looked to Hans. "You there, boy. You're well built. You would make a fine laborer."
"He's also very beautiful. He'd make a fine prostitute or male courtesan too," Rhun added with a dark chuckle.
The Duke looked at Rhun in surprise. "You bastard!" Hans shot sharply.
"Good luck, baby brother," Rhun cooed, giving his brother a cruel look.
"And what if I decided to take you instead?" the Duke asked.
"I'm not the virgin," Rhun replied, smirking bitterly. "You could take me in his place, but you wouldn't get as much for me. I'm older so wouldn't be as much use as a laborer or lover, I'm not quite as good looking so wouldn't be the preferred courtesan, and I'm tainted so really not as 'desirable'. Of course, either way I get away from him. It's not like I have the kind of treasure he has to protect anymore, and it's more likely a man will be used for labor than for anything else, so bring it on."
"Why do you always make cracks about my virginity?" Hans demanded angrily. "I'm not the only one of us!"
"You're making the argument for my taking your brother away more tempting," the Duke warned.
"What did you think I was trying to do? Save him? Some reverse psychology mumbo jumbo. Don't make me laugh," Rhun deadpanned. "But, if reverse psychology will work on you, then please, I'm begging you, don't take my brother." The Duke looked less than impressed and moved passed them with a scoff, to more than a little booing.
Frozen
"Wow. You couldn't have sounded more indifferent and smart mouthed if you'd tried," Hans dryly remarked.
"Thank you," Rhun replied in a mutter, smirking.
"It should be me thanking you," Hans replied. The Duke had certainly been seriously considering selecting him to be among the men who would be sold, until Rhun stepped in.
"You're welcome, in that case," Rhun said. "But don't be sure we're clear yet. He will come back and take a few more. It is a cruel game he plays. Make you feel safe, make you feel you escaped… And then rip that hope from you." Hans started, looking worried again.
Sure enough, about three minutes later the Duke came back their way, pointing out more young soldiers as he went, each one looking more devastated than the last. He paused again at Rhun and Hans. "It occurs to me I could sell you both into slavery," he said. Rhun looked visibly uneasy now, so it seemed it was his time to shine, Hans decided.
"You could, but then where would all the fun be for you and your torturers on the off-chance we're playing you like a fool and actually give a damn about one another?" he asked.
The Duke looked at Hans in disbelief. "You wicked boy," he remarked finally. Nonetheless, he went onwards without choosing either of them.
"Clever but risky. Too risky," Rhun warned worriedly.
"No. Tempting but only tempting enough that he'll keep us around," Hans corrected. "Maybe more tests than we would have originally had, but nothing we won't be able to handle. If we'd been chosen to go into the slave line, there's no telling whether we would have stayed together or not." At least together they could maybe have a chance to get away. And if nothing else, they could keep one another's morale up, or try to. Well, that or end up killing each other. Rhun nodded his agreement to that.
Frozen
The lines had been separated now. The men the Duke of Cumberland was keeping for prisoners of war or ransom were herded like animals down into his dungeons. Rhun and Hans made it a point, this time, to keep away from one another. If the Duke caught them trying to stick together, he'd get suspicious. They were turned to face him in a line. The Duke appraised them all. "Strip off your uniforms, all of you," he commanded. "Say for the princes. Let it be known to all that they were the ones who failed you, and they are the ones to unleash any frustrations on. The men gave looks to Hans and Rhun, both who had tensed up with eyes wide. Soon the soldiers shed their armor and dress uniforms down to their underclothes. "Look, princes, at the wretches you are the rulers of now."
"Sooner the rulers of a band of wretches than a band of murderers," Rhun answered coldly.
"You dare call us murderers?" the Duke asked. "War is death, friend."
"I call you and your muscle the murderers, not your men. Your men, like ours, were just obeying orders," Rhun replied. He yelped as the Duke pistol whipped him.
Hans tensed up but quickly hid any reaction, easily - perhaps too easily, he was disturbed to note - he put on a mask of satisfaction, smirking wickedly. "Now do it again," the youngest prince said. The Duke shot him a look. Hans's smirk fell and he tensed up. "Never mind," he said quickly.
"If you're so thirty for your brother's blood, take it and strike him yourself. Go on," the Duke said.
Hans was silent. Rhun gave him a subtle look and nodded. Hans took the pistol and approached his brother. He couldn't afford hesitation now. Get it done, like ripping off a bandage. This was just a test, like everything else. He had planted enough doubt that the Duke wouldn't want Rhun dead. It was one blow. One blow, test was passed, he didn't have to do it again. Pull it off quickly and get it over with. Rhun stood again. Hans struck him violently with the pistol before he could second guess himself. Rhun cried out in pain, falling to the ground. Hans almost gave away a sign that part of him regretted it. Almost, but not quite. He was used to masks… Masks… Always, always masks. He was sick of masks… But right now, masks meant the difference between life and death. Besides, he couldn't deny some disturbing part of him took a sort of delighted satisfaction in injuring the sibling that had injured him so often. For good measure, Hans suddenly dropped and struck Rhun again. Rhun started, taken aback, before quickly catching on and inwardly cursing. Time to prepare to enter fight mode. The Duke acted, snatching the pistol away when Hans appeared to be going for a third strike. Hans started as the pistol was taken and inwardly thanked the Duke. He had been getting caught up in revenge for a moment there.
"Perhaps I should have put you two to slavery after all," the Duke said. Hans rose once more. Rhun was panting for breath. Suddenly he moved, tripping Hans and quickly leaping on him, delivering a vicious blow to his face, then his side, again and again. "Get them apart!" the Duke ordered. Immediately his men moved, pulling the brothers away from one another. Hans looked shocked, but at the same time he understood the reason for the sudden action on his brother's part. They'd both kind of had this coming. "Throw them in the same cell," the Duke commanded. "And be sure they don't kill one another. They will be their own torturers, it seems." Inwardly the two princes were relieved. It meant they were spared some brutality at least… Hopefully… Or not. He may keep on with his original torture schemes and expect them to torture one another on top of it as the garnish, so to speak. Immediately the two princes were roughly dragged deep into the dungeon. No doubt probably to be thrown in the darkest and most uncomfortable one. Probably the most isolated too.
Frozen
Their guess had been right. They were given the most isolated cell, and darkest. And dankest. They could hear the screams from the torture chambers below. Every man who was dragged down they would see and hear pleading for their princes to help them. It wasn't long before Hans had huddled on the bench, burying his face in his knees and trying to tune it out. Rhun was like a statue, looking blankly ahead and feeling nothing. Nothing but helpless and angry and sad and terrified. He looked over at his sibling. Soon enough they would be being forced to watch their men suffering. Hans's head had finally raised now. The prince was looking at something in his hand as the screams echoed. "What is that?" Rhun soon asked.
Hans paused and closed his hand around it, looking up. Finally he opened his hand again. "Something Elsa gave me," he answered. "A pendant."
Rhun, curious, moved over to look at it. His eyes widened, his breath catching. "Hans… my god it's beautiful. She gave you that?" he asked.
Hans smiled gently, for a moment feeling at peace. The smile fell, though, once more. "She did," he confirmed. "The night before we left Arendelle to sail to the Isles in order to prepare for war… She told me she had no man to give it to. Say for me. She gave it to me not as a lover, which was what it was intended for, but as a friend and confidant."
"Hans, no woman gifts something that beautiful and precious to a mere friend and confidant," Rhun stated.
"Well she did," Hans stubbornly replied. Rhun looked at him silently. He wondered if his brother actually truly believed that. He didn't think he did, but Hans was certainly telling himself as much. He didn't bother arguing it. There would be no point. He returned to his side of the cell.
Frozen
It was hours later. They weren't sure how many. Nor were they sure if it was still dark or light. You couldn't tell in this cell. They heard the click of their 'door' being unlocked. Rhun awoke from his catnap while Hans gave up trying to sleep as a lost cause, and instead focused on this. They sat up quickly. The Duke of Cumberland was entering at the side of another, obviously the torturer who seemed to be the sort that took delight in his job. Four men were at their backs. Both princes stiffened. "Seize them," the Duke ordered. Immediately the two heirs were grabbed and wrestled up.
"What's the meaning of this?!" Run demanded.
"It's your turns for interrogation," the Duke replied. Both stiffened, paling. "No better source to get information from than the crown itself."
"Bite me!" Hans snapped. "You'll get nothing from either of us."
"At least nothing you wanted to know," Rhun dryly said. Hans gave him a look that screamed, 'really'. Rhun shrugged. He'd been through 'intensive interrogation' once before. Well, a mild intensive interrogation pushing moderate. The only information pried from him then had been his first sexual exploit, the secrets he'd kept from his parents, and the location of one of his more... embarrassing birthmarks. Surprisingly, sharing that information actually helped things a bit. The ones carrying it out were inexperienced and flustered at some of the scandalous things he'd confessed to. They'd eventually just given up and left him to be devoured by animals. Clearly, that hadn't worked so well for them. This interrogation, he knew, wasn't going to be done by amateurs. He wondered if embarrassing secrets would still make them awkward enough that they'd give up. He'd try it, but he wasn't holding out hope. Time to throw Hans under the train, so to speak.
"We'll soon see just how much we get from you," the Duke of Cumberland answered.
Frozen
Shortly after, the Duke was regretting every second of this. He had, indeed, learned nothing he wanted to know, but enough that his men were thoroughly weirded out and uneasy, practically screaming at him to cut them loose. Of course he didn't, really they hadn't even started the torture before the two young princes were spilling their guts, about each other, but still. "Hans sent a pornographic photo to his bisexual friend!" Rhun shot.
"I didn't do it! It was Franz!" Hans freaked. "And it wasn't even pornographic! Besides, that's not even anything compared to your little stunt, 'bro'! He and his twin decided to play a prank and slept with each other's wives!"
"Nothing happened, damn you!" Rhun freaked. "There was no sex, no inappropriate touching, no… okay, there was kissing and mild caressing, but nothing inappropriate!" Hey, a dye job for Duach, and raised shoes and stuffed sleeves for him, made him and his Runo look like they were twins, so why couldn't they have a little fun with it? The triplets had plenty.
"Enough!" the Duke finally yelled. "What is wrong with you two?!" They sulked silently, backs turned on one another.
"Alright. Enough of this game. Time to get serious. Strip them to their undergarments!" the Duke's torturer, even more unimpressed than the Duke, darkly ordered. The brothers started as they were roughly grabbed and forced to their knees, quickly and efficiently stripped. Okay, this just got serious. No more family issues. Now was the time to brace themselves.
"I assume you're going for a whipping? You can't get more creative than that?" Hans bit.
"A mere whipping? Hmm. I was thinking more a flogging, but then that can wait for a later time. Right now I have something else in mind," the torturer said, going to a forge that was in the room. From the flames he pulled out an iron-like object so hot that metal was almost liquefying. Hans and Rhun's eyes widened slowly in horror. "I'm going to play a game. Test if you two are really as hateful of each other as you pretend to be." Neither spoke. It wouldn't be wise to at this point. He looked towards them and approached, the metal brightly shining. Immediately Rhun closed his eyes. Hans, noticing this, got a bad feeling and followed suite. It wasn't unlikely that thing could blind them, after all. That was probably what had worried Rhun. "Blinding doesn't come until later, your highnesses," the man said, darkly chuckling. Meanwhile, the Duke of Cumberland stepped back to observe.
Rhun suddenly screamed in pain. Hans's eyes flew open and he looked sharply over. The man had pressed the iron against his brother's inner thigh! He tore it away, and with it went flesh. He immediately applied it again to Rhun's navel. Hans looked shocked and horrified. Again blackened skin ripped off. The Duke of Cumberland wandered over to the forge and held his sword in the flames, seemingly ignoring the proceedings. The torturer held the iron towards Hans, who nearly gagged as the scent of burning flesh hit him. "Shall I stop?" he asked the youngest prince.
Hans was silent. "Get the back of his neck next," he finally dared say. "He's sensitive there."
"Now where are you sensitive?" the Duke questioned, withdrawing his now red hot blade from the fire. Immediately he spun and thrust it into Hans's shoulder. Hans cried out in agony. The blade withdrew, cauterizing the wound as it left. "You know, in the medieval ages knights would sharpen their blades by superheating them and plunging them into the body of a slave to be cooled by the slave's blood. Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant process to go through. I think I should like to try it. Reheat the sword," the Duke ordered his torturer. The torturer smirked, bowed, and took the Duke's sword, heating it in the forge again. Hans and Rhun looked up fearfully. "Don't worry. It won't kill. I won't allow it to. I want you both alive... But my will it hurt." The sword was brought back. The Duke took it, looking it over, then turned to the brothers. "Which one, which one?" he asked.
The Duke of Cumberland approached Hans. Rhun looked up in pain. He seriously considered, for a moment, begging the man to choose him, but this was just a test. It was… it was just a test… Hans looked fearfully at the blade, eyes wide. It was just a test, dammit, Rhun shouted at himself, biting his tongue savagely. "Do it!" Hans suddenly shouted. "Come on!" The Duke glared icily at him. "Either or! Bring it on!" The Duke didn't move. "Coward!" Hans shot, lunging at him, though the men holding him down kept him back. The Duke scowled and prepared to impale the young prince.
"Father, no!" a young voice suddenly shouted from the doorway.
Frozen
The Duke paused, looking sharply over with eyes narrowed. Hans and Rhun followed his gaze. Hans's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "Oh my god!" Rhun exclaimed in disbelief. "Damn you, Hans!" That boy. It was the one his brother had spared! They could have killed the Duke of Cumberland's son! It might have stopped any of this from even happening! Or not. Depending on the Duke's relationship to his child.
Hans, meanwhile, was gaping at the boy in disbelief. The kid couldn't be more than fifteen! In fact, seeing him now off of the battlefield... the child looked no more than thirteen. And sounded more like a preteen child, whose voice was only just starting to try and break, than a sixteen year old youth. "No? What do you mean, 'no'?" the Duke darkly questioned his son.
"He-he is the one who spared my life, father," the boy shakily said, looking at Hans. "I would be dead if not for him."
The Duke of Cumberland blinked blankly and turned attention back to Hans. Hans looked up at him in disbelief. "Hmm… You would have done better to finish my son off," he said. Nonetheless, he didn't drive the sword into Hans. Instead he whirled on Rhun and thrust the blade into him. Rhun shrieked in agony, tossing his head back in anguish. Hans had to savagely bite his tongue from screaming his sibling's name. He wouldn't die, the Duke said he wouldn't die. Dammit, Rhun wouldn't die, he couldn't! The Duke pulled the blade from Rhun's body. Rhun gave a strangled gasp and collapsed to the ground, shuddering. "The cauterization of the wound really does spare lives, it seems." The Duke muttered. "Take him and nurse him back," he ordered his men. "Return his brother to their cell."
Immediately Rhun was dragged off. Hans was inwardly marvelling at how he'd managed to keep on the calm and indifferent mask so well. Inside he was panicking, freaking out, pleading for the sake of his sibling, and various other things he couldn't even pinpoint for himself anymore. He didn't want to resist, when they dragged him away, but that would imply brokenness. He struggled viciously, scowling. He was wrestled passed the boy, who watched him in amazement, and soon enough he was cast roughly back into his cell with a cry of pain. The doors were slammed and he was in darkness again… And so alone… He closed his eyes tightly and scrambled to his bench, reaching under the makeshift pillow and seizing the pendant. He closed his eyes, holding it tightly and close, and curled up to wait for his brother's return… Hope for his brother's return… He looked upwards. This was only the beginning, he realized. This wasn't even torture like what the man planned. This was a game, and from here on it would only get worse.
