Andromeda, unfortunately no, the Bottomless Canyon will be the chapter following this one, as Corvo will run into a little hiccup in this chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter 11 – Consequences

The next morning Corvo awoke in his room with knocks on the door. Had he been found out about the night before? He cautiously opened the door to see Elise and Corrin, "Is something the matter?" Corvo asked, sleep still taking a hold of his mind. "Well, I was going to take Corrin and you to… apologize for what happened yesterday." Elise said with a sad face, "I'm sure you guys will be fine, though! Father will probably forgive you and this can be put behind us." Elise said, putting on a happy face, but Corvo saw her eyes. She was unsure. "I'll get ready." Corvo said closing the door. Corvo got dressed in his normal attire, bringing his gear with him. There was no telling what the King had to offer as 'forgiveness.'

Corvo, Corrin, and Elise stood in front of the doors to the Throne Room. Elise turned to face her brother and his retainer, "All right, let's go in there. I'll help as much as possible." She looked at Corrin "This is our father we're talking about, he has to forgive you!" Corvo let out a cough. Elise looked at him, "And you're one of his bodyguards, you'll probably be fine!" she said with a half-hearted smile"

Corvo shrugged and they all turned to face the door. The short princess spoke, "Father! We have something we would like to talk to you about!" There was an unnerving silence as they awaited their response. Suddenly the silence was torn as the King's hardy laugh filled the room in front of them. "Perhaps he's busy." Corvo said, Elise responded "Yes, he may be with someone. We can come back later."

"Hmph? Who's there?" The King addressed the people behind the door. A weary look was on Elise' face, "Sorry to bother you, Father." Corrin spoke as well, "Yes, we can come back later if you'd like."

"What do you two want?" Garon asked impatiently,

"We're here to apologize, Father!"

"Yes, both my retainer and I are here to apologize for questioning you."

More silence. "You may enter."

The royals and the retainer walked in and approached the King's throne. He reeked of black magic, but Corvo just could not tell what kind. It was like he was… not human. More like the Outsider. The three looked around the room and saw that no one was there. Who was the King laughing with?

The silence was broken again by the King's rough voice, "Corrin, you disobeyed a direct order from me, and you failed to keep your bodyguard from interfering in affairs that do not concern him." He shot a look at Corvo, prompting the Royal Protector to step forward and speak, "My actions are not his fault. I was interfering in matters that do not concern me, I realize that. Please accept my sincerest apology, your Grace." He said, bowing his head. The King showed no notion of acknowledging this apology and looked at Corrin again.

"Corrin, due to your actions yesterday, you should be put to death."

"Father, no please!" Elise pleaded with their father.

"Silence!" He said erupting at Elise, "Had you not been my son, you would be. However, seeing as how you are, I will give you some leeway." Corrin and Garon looked at Corvo, the prince asked "What of Corvo? Will you grant him the same mercy?" The King looked at Corvo and passed his judgement,

"No." Both Elise and Corrin began pleading to the King, but he and Corvo were locked in a silent debate, their eyes clashing. The King shouted, glaring at his children, "I said silence!" Guards came from behind Corvo and grabbed his arms. "Throw him in the cells." He directed his guards, then looked at his son "Corrin, you are to be sent on a mission to an abandoned fort and observe it. I wish to see if it is serviceable. Once you finish you are to report back to me, do you understand?"

"I understand, Father but please, give Corvo a second chance!" Corrin pleaded, but the King was unwavering,

"He is to be executed after you return from your mission, you will learn by example, my son. Should you question me again, you will be joining him in the afterlife."

Corvo and Corrin made eye contact. The Royal Protector nodded, letting him know he will be fine. Corrin looked back at the King and then at the ground,

"…I understand." The King waved his hand and the guards carried Corvo away towards the holding cells while Corrin received further orders from the King about his mission of redemption.

As Corvo was dragged to the dungeons, he began thinking of ways he was going to get out of here. The guards did a quick pat down of him and emptied his pockets. They found Corvo's sword and crossbow. His mask and firearm were still in his room. The assassin would go and retrieve them when he escaped this dungeon, which was located two floors below the ground. The first floor that they passed, Corvo saw that it was a checkpoint where they keep all the prisoner's belongings and the guards kept watch to ensure no prisoners were out and about and no unauthorized personnel were in the area. The stairs that led down were a spiraling. The next floor held the dirty and dank cells soaking in the darkness. The dungeon was a long hallway, with caged rooms on each side. Only the front of the hallway was lit by a single torch. The two cells closest to the torch had light in them, however those after had nothing. Corvo was dragged across the cold, stone floor to the fifth cell on the right side. The guards said nothing as they walked away and disappeared up the stairs.

Corvo looked at his surroundings. His cell had a wooden bucket - a make-shift toilet - and chains, probably used if he was to cause trouble. The gate on the cell was metal, with a large lock on the door. No way he could pick that. Corvo shook the bars in front of him, the cage did not budge. It was well-grounded, Windblast would not work. He would not sit here an await his execution, he had done that before, and it was more and more painful each day. The only difference now is that he was not being tortured everyday, but Corvo was sure that was on the King's short list of enjoyment and pass-times. How is he going to get out of here? Brute force might work to break open the gate. Corvo went to the back wall of his cell and sprinted at it with all his might into his shoulder. The metal sung loudly as the silence in the hallway was interrupted. Corvo fell to the floor and saw that the bars had not moved, but there was dirt falling from the ceiling. The cage had shifted, and would eventually be weakened enough for him to get out. Corvo repeated his actions. Each loud slam against the metal cage was one step closer to freedom. Increased strength given by the Mark helped in this situation.

He stopped when he heard footsteps approaching his cell. Corvo figured the noise would attract a few guards. He scurried to the back of the cell and sat down. The person whom the footsteps belonged to approached the cell holding a torch, but it was not a guard, it was Xander.

The high prince and the Royal Protector stared at each other for a while until the latter spoke, "Come to pass judgement, High Prince? Or have you come to let me know that you'll reason with the King?" Corvo asked. Xander replied,

"Actually, yes. I do want to speak to Father. I have seen you fight and believe that it would be a foolish thing to let your talents go to waste. As such, I will tell my Father and so will Leo, Camilla and Elise."

Corvo got to his feet and dusted his clothes off, "All right. And if he still doesn't want me around? Elise already tried to intervene, he wasn't listening. What makes you think his mind would change if you told him?" Corvo asked. Xander sighed,

"I will see what I can do."

"You're not going to let me out and allow me to escape like you did those other prisoners?"

"Let's just see if I can talk to him. If I can't, then by all means, I'm sure you can get out on your own. I saw you using magic, no doubt you have a trick up your sleeve." He began walking away, leaving Corvo in the dark once more. Corvo did not want to stay put, but decided he could trust Xander… at least for the time being. Corvo decided to sit down and consider his options.

It was either he allowed the siblings to talk to the King and he might be allowed to live, or he could escape now and be free for sure. Corvo began to measure the probability of the first option. The Royal Protector saw how Garon addressed his children. They were nothing more than extra soldiers as far as he was concerned. The man was a tyrant. Corvo saw the state of the fishing town he was in not too long ago. The people who were not of high class were frail and ill. Furthermore, Garon was willing to kill two unarmed prisoners who were beaten and - as far as Corvo was concerned – innocent. There was something wrong with the King. Laughing at nothing when no other person is in the room. For now, Corvo had Iago as the prime suspect. Or at least he would be if he did not feel the King's presence. It felt demonic.

Pleadings and begging would not work, the King's decision was final. Corvo's best bet was to get out of the castle and observe Corrin from afar from here on out. Once he returned, Corvo would talk to him and perhaps let him know the whole story. About his true mission.

With that, Corvo made his decision and began walking to the cell's bars. He shook the cell once and dirt fell, so the shoving was working, so the Royal Protector figured one or two more shoves would be enough. Corvo walked to the back of the cell and blinked towards the cage, kicking it with all his force! The cage fell and made a loud noise as it crashed against the stone-cobbled floor. Huh, never used that before. That kick was powerful, he looked at his left hand must have been the Blink combined with it. Corvo thought.

No doubt the guards heard the noise and were on their way down. Corvo looked around in the barren hallway, there was nothing to hide behind. Torch light was approaching down the stairs, the light getting brighter and brighter each step. Corvo was going to have to fight head on. He began running to the stairs and once a guard turned the corner and saw Corvo running at him, he attempted to unsheathe his sword but Corvo had already jumped and used both of his legs to send the guard back onto the stairs. He dropped his torch and his sword fell back into it's sheathe. He was about to call for help but Corvo kicked him in the stomach while he was on the floor and knocked the wind out of him, then Corvo used his hands to cover his mouth and nose, eventually forcing his consciousness to wither away. Corvo picked up the guard and placed him in his cell. No point in leaving him on the floor. The other guards might see. "Anything down there?" A guard from upstairs called down, Corvo kept quiet as the guard grew weary. "Hey! You all right down there?" He cursed as he began making his way down the stairs. Corvo hid in the corner of the hallway, to the right of the staircase, hopefully he would not look in his direction as he walked by. Once again torchlight filled the spiralling stairway as the guard approached the floor. "Hello?" he called, slowly walking out into the room. He began looking around the room, Corvo was going to be spotted so he crept up behind him and wrapped his arms around his neck, trapping him in a chokehold and eventually leading him into unconsciousness.

He dropped the guard and made his way up the stairs, using Dark Vision to illuminate his way and see if there were any guards on the floor he approached. There were none. Corvo began searching for his confiscated weapons. There was a room to his right, so he opened it and began looking around. They weren't in here. Corvo looked across the room and saw a room directly across this one. He opened it and began looking. There they were! Sitting in a dusty box with the words "Weapons" etched into it. Inside the box were other weapons, luckily his weapons were at the top. Were there other prisoners here? They were probably executed on the spot anyway.

Corvo began making his way to the main level, now all he had to do was make it to his room and, if possible find Corrin. Once he reached the top, he retraced his steps and found himself in the throne room, now empty. No guards. Nothing.

He ran to the end of the room, opening the large doors and stepping through, looking down the hallway to his right as he did. If he was seen by anyone other than the royal children, he was going to have to silence them. Corvo opted to non-lethal methods as these men were just doing their jobs, no reason to spill their blood.

Corvo reached the end of the hall and had reached the main foyer. As he peered around the corner, he saw Corrin and his retainers getting ready to leave for the mission. The royal siblings were saying their good-byes, So they're not going with him, interesting. The King must be planning something. Corvo was going to have to be quick if he was going to catch up to them, but he still needed his gear. Corvo Blinked across the hall, hiding behind pillars so that no one would see him. In a few flashes, he was by the staircase once more. He began making his way to his room on the sixth floor.

Once he had reached the floor, he opened the door, revealing the hallway he was acquainted with this morning. Reaching his room, third on the right, he grasped the cold metal handle and pushed it open. Everything was in the same spot as this morning, perhaps they were waiting until he was dead to retrieve his possessions. Corvo opened the wardrobe and hidden behind the less than appealing clothes that the Royals had so generously given him, were his mask and pistol. The Royal Protector picked them both up, putting the mask on his face, raising his hood, and putting his pistol in the inside of his coat. Peering out his window, he saw that Corrin and his retainers were already well on their way, disappearing behind the gates of the Castle, and began making their way up to the City. There was no way Corvo was going to catch up to them. Not at that speed. Maybe if he could climb up to the ground level of the city.

That plan might be better. Then he could reach Corrin and his company. Besides, he had no way of getting the gates to stay open while he stole a horse. He would have to go through the gates or climb to get out of this place, unless he wanted to start a region-wide search for him. He did not want that. Not again anyway.

The Royal Protector had no idea of knowing where they were going other than that it was to a fort. He would need to 'ask' a guard. Or… just legitimately ask a royal sibling, he could trust them.

He exited the room and made his way back to the lobby, Blinking to make the trip faster. The assassin reached the foyer again and saw that the Royal siblings were conversing about whether Corrin would be all right. Corvo wanted to walk up to them but he saw that there was a guard on the side of the room watching them. Corvo Blinked a few pillars over so that he was behind the guard. He moved one more pillar over so that the Royals would see him.

Corvo removed his mask and began waving at them trying to get their attention. Leo saw him but had to do a double take when he realized who it was. The prince was about to walk over but he realized the guard was still there. Leo walked over to the guard and told him that they wanted some time alone. The guard nodded and said "Yes milord." And exited the room. Once he did, the other royal siblings asked him what had happened and why he told the guard to leave. Leo pointed to the corner and the siblings saw Corvo. Elise gasped as she thought she would never see him alive again. Corvo walked to them and spoke, "I need to find out where Corrin is going. I know it's a fort, but where it is remains a mystery." Xander spoke,

"It's a fort near the Bottomless Canyon on the border of Hoshido," he took a step towards Corvo, "How on earth did you get out so quickly?" The Royal Protector avoided the question,

"What is the fastest way to get to the Fort."

"Right, of course. Once you get out of the city, ride to the head North until you reach a small outpost of soldiers, from there start heading West. There will be paths and signs at crossroads."

"I'd better get going then." Corvo began walking to the exit. Camilla spoke up, suspicious

"Why do you still want to protect Corrin? The King was going to have you killed, yet you still want to be his retainer." The assassin turned back and answered,

"I believe Corrin will be important to the fate of this Kingdom and perhaps even the world. My reasoning, it will just leave you with more questions than answers. That I can guarantee." Corvo donned his mask and just before he pushed open the door, Leo said,

"We don't like what Father is doing, the man he sent Corrin with is a criminal he thinks to be reformed." Corvo snapped around,

"And you let this happen?" Corvo replied, slight anger in his voice. Xander stepped forward,

"Like Leo said, we don't like what Father is doing. We might go ourselves to ensure everything goes smoothly."

"Understood, I'm going now. I shouldn't be here, anyhow."

Corvo opened the door when a small voice called to him,

"Corvo, we're glad you're okay!" Elise said, smiling with her siblings. Behind the mask, Corvo smiled, nodding as he closed the door behind him.

Corvo looked up the wall. It was going to be a long climb.