As she stepped into the next room, taking a breath of fresh air for the first time in what felt like days, Priscilla saw Gunnar heading towards the ladder, head hung low and shoulders slumped. Outside the battle could still be heard raging on, and Priscilla wondered how long it would be before Gunnar found his brother and told him about all that had happened between them and Vincent Chaldeon.

"Gunnar," she found herself calling out, her heart frantic, feeling desperate to make this all just go away before it got worse. "Gunnar, wait." He stopped and turned to her at the sound of her voice, his lips turned downward into a curious frown, but he said nothing. Coal stopped as well, taking a step to the side as Priscilla approached. "Will Herleif tell Erik about the armor once he knows?"

Gunnar glanced at Coal, then back to her and shrugged. "I would suppose so. Erik is the leader of this raid, and it would be Herleif's duty to inform him. Besides, my brother would not take kindly to the notion of Erik throwing us into a battle all for a treasure that is not there."

"Could you convince your brother not to tell him?" Priscilla asked.

Gunnar gave a small laugh, then frowned again when he realized she was being serious. "Why would I do that?"

Just hearing that question made Priscilla absolutely sure that this matter had to be dealt with here and now. No one else could be involved. "You cannot tell Herleif about the armor," she said, telling him flat out what had to be done. The alternative just wasn't something she thought she could live with. "You cannot tell any of the Jarls. Especially not Erik. He can never know."

Gunnar's frown deepened, his shoulders becoming tense. "What are you on about, woman? Of course I need to tell them. Erik started this whole raid for that armor."

Priscilla nodded, feeling the weight in the pit of her stomach growing heavier. "I know. But that is why you can never tell him. He came to Ashfeld to take the armor as his prize, but we came to him because we need help saving our home." She stepped up right in front of Gunnar, looking up as he towered above her. Coal stood behind, just to her right, and she could feel his eyes on her back. Knowing that he was there to witness this made the guilt she carried all the more noticeable. "If he learns that the armor was never in the vault then there is no telling what he might do. He may just kill everyone at Mount Ignis, or decide to go and raid somewhere else all together." She took a breath, knowing that her next point could be a very real and unsettling possibility, but decided to try and use it to her advantage anyway. Why Gunnar might care was something she had tried not to dwell on too much for other reasons all together. "He might blame us for this, and have us all killed as punishment. Or enslaved even!"

That seemed to give Gunnar pause. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then simply closed his lips into a tight line and stared at her for a long moment. Priscilla felt her face go hot under his blue-eyed gaze, and again tried not to think about the meaning behind that look. It would just make things harder in the end.

"He will take the Walled City, and he will open the vault." Gunnar said to her in a low, concerned voice. "What happens when he opens it and the armor is not there? What will you do then? You came to us offering up this prize. We trusted you."

She shrugged. "I shared only what I knew. Everything was chaos when the north fell to the Pyre, and some of the last news I received before fleeing across the sea was that Vincent abandoned his post with the Apollyon's armor in his possession. I am as surprised as you are by this, but we cannot just give Erik a reason to call off the raid or go back on his word now." It was a poor excuse, but right then she was desperate enough to say anything to get him to listen.

Gunnar shook his head, eyes narrowing at her. "It won't be that simple. Erik would never forgive a slight against him such as this. He would find away to punish you. All of you. Even if it means killing every last man, woman and child of Ashfeld housed within those walls."

That was most certainly the worst outcome possible in terms of what they had hoped to accomplish, and it made Priscilla wonder why they had ever thought to trust a bastard like Erik Golden-Shield in the first place. In many ways, dealing with him was just as bad as dealing with the disillusioned lords and ladies of the court at Beaufort who would always steer any situation towards their own benefit. But right now she had to focus on the task at hand, and make sure her mission never came to meet such a grim fate. Stepping in closer, she slowly raised one hand and placed it against Gunnar's cheek, feeling the curling softness of his beard even through her glove. "Please Gunnar. You have helped me more than I would have ever thought possible. Do not abandon me now."

He tensed under her touch, seemingly trapped between wanting to pull away or lean into her embrace. When he spoke, his voice was small and strained, as if he were in pain. "You want me to lie? To my brother?"

Priscilla took in a breath, her reply as soft and pleading as it needed to be. "I want you to do what you believe is right."

Those words hurt her as she said them, more than she would have thought possible, but not nearly as much as the silence that followed after. He looked at her, long and hard, his eyes opened to her beneath that horned helmet, while her own were shadowed and hidden from him beneath her dark iron mask. It wasn't fair, and even as he looked up to Coal for guidance she gently nudged him with her hand to bring him back to her. This could only be between them, and it had to end in her favor. One way, or another.

He was so close, she could feel the warmth of his body coming off him. He was so close, and it would be so easy to make sure no one ever knew the truth.

Gunnar closed his eyes and dipped his head. He slowly lifted his hand to the necklace resting upon his chest, the little piece of metal fashioned into the hammer of his thunder god, and gave it a squeeze. "Odin forgive me," he muttered under his breath, letting go of the amulet and reached up with his hand to press her smaller one tighter against his cheek. His eyes opened, and he looked at her with a little smile, but underneath it she could see how sad he was. She saw it because she knew she had caused it. "I will help you." he said.

Priscilla felt her throat go tight, and for a moment she thought she might actually cry from the guilt overwhelming her. "Thank you." she answered, the words such a struggle to get out that they could barely even be heard over the fighting outside. She didn't know what else she could say, didn't know what else she could do to make up for what she had just done. "Thank you."

He squeezed her hand before letting it go, taking a backwards step away from her towards the ladder. "War breeds dark deeds. I have cut down plenty of warriors in the past, but never sought to put others before my own glory. If this is about saving people, then we will do what we must. I only hope that it will be worth it in the end." He gave her another smile, but didn't seem to be able to put anymore feeling behind it than before. "We make sure your people are safe from the Pyre, and then we tell my brother and deal with Erik after. The Allfather has always been good to me. With any luck we will keep his favor through all of this. I shudder to think of what will happen if we don't." Then made his way down the ladder, stepping down onto the rungs and slipping out of sight.

Priscilla let out a shuddering breath once he was gone, her body going slack as if she might fall to her knees. It had taken everything she'd had to keep herself strong in that moment, but it had been worth it just to let Gunnar walk away. And still she could not shake the guilt of what she had just done.

Coal's footsteps padded against the floor as he stepped up to her, and for a moment it seemed as if he didn't know what to say. "Priscilla, that was..." he started at last, but even then he couldn't help but be stunned at the lengths she would go to see their mission complete. "That was something." She turned to look at him, and he simply stared back. "Are you good?" he asked softly.

"Of course," she lied. No hesitation, just like she had been trained. "Always."

Coal stared at her for another moment, then gave a small nod of his head before following Gunnar down the ladder and out of sight, leaving her alone in an empty room and a pile of bodies left in their wake.

Priscilla gritted her teeth, willing herself not to cry. "Dammit," she hissed, feeling the hot swell of tears sting her eyes. "Dammit all." Her fists shook as she clenched them, one held firmly at her side, still warm from touching Gunnar's cheek, the other still tightly gripping the small knife she held hidden behind her back.