POV: Hubert
A fabric of absolute black ripples under galloping hooves. Brittle winds run their phantasmal fingers through white wings, transforming feathers to quivering teeth, ready to fall at the slightest provocation.
From the pegasus's lips come a cry that sounds all too human. It is screaming.
We are falling. Down, down, into the abyss of the sky. The pegasus's skin tears as tongues of fire pushes out of its body. Even as I am being burned alive with the animal, I do not feel hot at all.
Rather, these flames are cold.
Cold like the ice growing in my blood.
"Hubert!"
Why is it so cold?
"Hubert, please open your eyes!"
A dim spark of light spears through the suffocating darkness. Like a hurricane dispersing at the end of the story, my world opens, slowly and painfully.
Oh Hubert, what did you eat last night? The course of these infernal nightmares smell strongly of fish tainted by silver. Why, do you recall that one time when that idiot Ferdinand persuaded you to consume wild strawberries? You were rendered immobile for days!
Get up, Hubert. Father's hand is not kind. Ferdinand won't bail you out this time…
Ferdinand…?
No, these are not his hands. Whoever these belong to, they cradle my head, leeching my weight to steady their trembling.
So gentle. Mother? Sister?
"Goddess, please don't let him die."
"Lady Edelgard?" My voice comes out as a cat's mew.
"Hubert!"
Nothing but relief colors my spoken name. My master buries her nose into the crook of my neck. Her breath is warm. Uneven.
No, this is wrong! The future Emperor must not commit such egregious acts of intimacy to her servant! Spurred by duty, I bolt up—and immediately crumple, clutching my poor, pounding head.
Once my nausea subsides, I take in my surroundings. A mist of dust confines visibility to what is shown by the torches' light. Often the flames crackle, spraying monstrous shadows onto these slimy stone walls. I stretch my arm and feel the rough edges of metal bars. When my gaze finally settles to Lady Edelgard, all remaining lethargy evaporates from my mind.
"You're hurt."
A particularly nasty bruise mars her keen forehead, pushing down the muscle of one eyelid. Specks of dried blood cake her nostrils, her temples, beneath her fingernails. In the darkness of this confined space, her beautiful brown hair takes the color of mud.
An iron collar hangs around her slim neck.
My chest vibrates as I speak. "Who did this to you?"
"I'm scared," she whispers.
"Where is your father?"
"I-I don't know. After you left, I went to meet with Uncle—no. T-That wasn't Uncle. It wasn't Uncle…"
She is trembling like an infant bud. The urge to squeeze her hands overwhelm me, yet I manage to control myself. Imperial traditions deem such intimacy as taboo, sinful, worthy of hanging.
"So! These brats are awake!"
The torches burn green, announcing the presence of a woman—if you can call her human—with spine-like tails protruding from pallid skin. Her body is roughly clad, leaving much exposed to the roaming eyes.
"You barely have any meat on your bones," she says to me. "Bo-ring. What was Thales thinking, bringing a starving rat to our laboratory?"
"Rats are liable to spread information like they do plagues, Kronya."
Kronya cringes as though that voice possessed the power to slap her. The following silence is so heavy that I can hear footfalls physically trampling over shadows. A man towers over me—much too tall to be a human—with eyes as white as marble. At once, I know that he is the leader. The sheer oppressiveness emanating from his mountainous shoulders is charged with barely capped violence.
"What did you do to Uncle?" Lady Edelgard squeaks.
The boss slowly lowers his milky gaze to Lady Edelgard, who cowers behind me. He appraises her like a snake surveying its prey.
"Who you call Uncle is dead. I am Thales, the leader of the Agarthans."
Agarthans?
Thales then fixes his attention to me. His colorless lips twist.
"Are you close to your father, Hubert?"
Before my very eyes, his appearance changes: blood resurging to pallid skin; white hair coloring to brown. He kneels down, giving me Lord Arundel's chillingly false smile, and yanks my collar so I meet his cold violet eyes.
"You are the reason why Edelgard is down here."
"Hubert did nothing wrong!" she shrieks.
"It seems that you do not know your servant as well as you think you do."
Another being appears, one with a bloated head reminiscent of a mutated wasp nest. Daggling from his fist is—
"Ferdinand!" I gasp.
The cage door opens, and Ferdinand is tossed inside. Like us, he has an iron collar around his neck.
"Solon's back! So what Crest does that one have?" says Kronya.
"The von Aegir rat possesses the Minor Crest of Cichol. We will get promising results from him."
Kronya runs a long tongue over her lips, savoring a taste that has yet to exist. "Test this one next!"
Thales steps in. "The von Vestra boy lacks a Crest. From our previous trials, the Crestless specimen do not survive past the initial experiment."
"Then why is he here?"
"As collateral."
With a wave of Thale's hand, the torches blaze to life, illuminating the full breadth of this dungeon. Cages line the walls. Confined inside are Lady Edelgard's siblings: some alive, some unmoving, some trapped in the realm that exists between. In one cage sits a large, odious stain. Another, a pilaf of rusted bones tossed in singed brown hair.
"Their deaths are on your hands," Thales says to me. "You and the Prime Minister's son."
That, and Ferdinand snaps out of his stupor. "D-Do not bring my father into your sordid affairs!"
"Oh? Your dear father masterminded this entire scheme. Little does he know that his beloved son walked right into a mire of politics."
"Silence! My father is a righteous man—"
Solon bashes his cane against Ferdinand's skull.
A scream rips across the dungeon, originating from deep within the shadows.
"That's fourth brother," Edelgard whispers.
"Check the specimen!" Thales barks.
Once all three beings leave the dungeon, Lady Edelgard turns to me.
"You will never betray me." Her statement is formed as a question.
I almost scream out my response. "No! How do you even arrive to that conclusion? I will rather be gorged to death than betray you!"
I mean every word. In response, Lady Edelgard begins to cry. I feel disgusting.
"Hubert played no part in this," Ferdinand says. His smile is on the verge of collapse, yet the layers of his chin manages to hold his facial muscles in place. "Whatever plot these dastards are conducting, my father will enact swift judgement. He will rescue us. This I vow on my noble title!"
If this is any other occasion, I would've happily singed his stupid orange head. However, under current circumstances, his usual boastings offer a strange, enticing comfort.
Lady Edelgard collapses into his arms. Despite all his shortcomings, Ferdinand von Aegir possesses a power that I will never rival: he can be counted on to provide emotional support.
"What happened to you?" I say.
"I woke up before you. They took me to their experiment room. It was like a t-t-torture chamber in there."
A sob escapes Lady Edelgard's throat. She peels off the helm of her robe, revealing a map of bright red welts across skin. Fury swells in my bosom. How could I be so ignorant of her wounds? How could I be so selfish, thinking only of myself while she was suffering in silence?
"They wanted to do something with my Minor Crest of Seiros," she mutters. "There were so many needles… a-and blood…"
Those three beings return. Kronya is slurping her red-tinged fingers. What looks like the slimy pink tips of entrails dangle from her carnivorous teeth.
"Subject 04 is a failure," Solon says. "Get Subject 05!"
"NO!" screams the fifth eldest brother.
The three of us can only watch, paralyzed, as Solon drags Her Majesty's sibling away by the iron collar. The screaming continues even when they are out of sight. Suddenly, something explodes, followed by sounds of squelching and heavy, wet matter splatting onto a hard surface.
No more screaming.
"Subject 05 displayed incompatibility to blood transfusions," Thales says. "Relieve Subject 09."
The life flees from Lady Edelgard's eyes. I shield her… and flinch under the smiling mask of Lord Arundel. All my willpower reduced to ash at a mere glance. How shameful of me. For Thales to know my weakness, much less exploit it to his own advantage.
"Be a good dog, Hubert," he says in Lord Arunde's drawl.
My response is automatic. "Yes, sir."
"Hubert!"
Lady Edelgard! She needs me!
"Hubert."
N-No. Lord Arundel is… His hand is not kind. He will… I won't…
Damn it, damn it!
"Leave Hubert and Edelgard alone! Villains!" Ferdinand roars.
Solon raises his cane. "Impudent vermin!"
Thale's command stops the beating. He is smiling down on Ferdinand. There is nothing kind about that smile.
"Subject 10. Bring him down."
Grin dripping with sadism, Solon hauls Ferdinand out by the hair. The idiot keeps fighting, pudgy fists flying, stubby legs kicking up dust.
At that moment, I realize, in fright, that this may be the last that I ever see of Ferdinand.
But it was due to his foolishness that Lady Edelgard is spared one session of torture. That's what he gets for playing hero.
My main priority is ensuring my master's safety. I owe nothing to Ferdinand von Aegir. If his death brings about Lady Edelgard's survival, then so be it.
I should be relieved. So why do I feel like vomiting my soul out?