Methinks this story is finally starting to come to an end. School's out, so this end may come sooner rather than later, but I can't really say for sure.

Review! :D

Time was starting to become fluid for him. Each day was roughly the same, though visits decreased in frequency. Originally, many angry people had come to see him and hurl abuse. One tried to kill him, a gleaming dagger smiling at him before the arms pushed through the bars and held him tightly, a face distorted by rage and loss spitting obscenities at him. Only the quick action of the sentries prevented him from losing more than the skin on his neck.

After that, the visits were supervised.

Maybe a week after that, he only had two visitors that came with any sort of frequency; Natalya, and his brother.

Ludwig's visits were sporadic, dropping by to stand or pace outside Gilbert's confinement. He never spoke, just stood with his hands clasped behind his back and casting looks of intense scrutiny over the albino, who fidgeted nervously under his gaze. He felt like a puzzle his brother was trying to figure out; Where have has he gone wrong with me? Because, really, it was Ludwig who'd done most of the raising and held most of the responsibility in that family. With their mother long gone and their father decaying in his grave, it was the younger brother who'd navigated them both through the trials and tribulations of the rough sea of life in high court.

The few times he could meet those gleaming, cold-cut sapphires, he always had to glance away. The first visit, he'd tried joking and pestering his brother, attempting to elicit a reaction from him, but his words were left dangling weakly in the air. Is he thinking of how much of a disgrace I am? How I've undone all his work? Gilbert never wanted to know.

He had to measure time by Natalya's visits; his fingernails weren't anywhere near hard enough to mark the walls with tallies, and the stone he'd used had long broken in half. She assured him that she'd visit at least once a week, and she made good on that promise.

It was during one of her visits that the subject of escape came up. Natalya phrased it bluntly, sitting on a crate she'd managed to persuade a guard to bring down.

"Are you ever going to get out of here?"

He blinked at her lazily. "Sure I am. When my term ends."

She made a noise of exasperation, setting her chin on her hand. "I mean, prematurely."

Gilbert startled slightly. "You mean escape?" To be completely honest, the thought had never occurred to him. He deserved what was coming, he couldn't hold his emotions back, and therefore the prisons were the place for him. He shook his head, realizing Natalya was still waiting for a reply. "No, never."

"You're really trying to convince me you don't want to get out of here?" Natalya raised an eyebrow.

The albino made a sort of non-committal noise. After studying his face for a moment, she decided he was telling the truth. "So you're really going to see this all the way through? Well, I'll admire you for that."

Gilbert cracked a smile. "As opposed to hating me unconditionally."

Natalya tossed her hair with a fake flounce. "That's too much effort." Her smile faded slightly as something crossed her mind. "You've heard about the current state of relations between our nation and the North?"

"How would I have?" The albino spread his arms in an expansive gesture. "You may not have noticed, but I'm trapped down here. Everything you say is all news to me."

The woman sighed, exasperated. "Well, they're blaming us for an assassination attempt made on their leader. King Arthur's denying it, but who really knows what goes on in that devious mind of his? Of course he's denying it. We may go to war soon."

"War?" Gilbert echoed. "That's not good."

Natalya shrugged. "I'm looking forwards to it. You know I like that kind of thing," she added defensively as Gilbert's jaw dropped. "The chaos it causes in court, not to mention the openings-"

"But you can't just want thousands of innocent people to die!" he exploded. "It'll wreak havoc on the economy! Surely even you can't feed off of that much chaos-"

"You're not one to talk," snapped the blonde. "You were the one who decided to poison a woman, then try and rape her-"

Gilbert sprang up from his spot and started crossing his cell in huge strides, determined not to look her in the eye. "Why do we always come to verbal blows like this? Hardly any of our conversations end nicely."

"You started it," muttered Natalya promptly. They both stared at each other for a split second, and then burst out into laughter.

"We're weird," pointed out Gilbert with no small amount of amusement.

"Of course, otherwise we wouldn't be able to stand each other."

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm coming back again next week, so make your conclusions from that." She swept her skirts primly around her feet as she stood, gave him a nod, and strode away. From force of habit, Gilbert listened to her steps as she retreated. It was sixteen steps from here to the door, and he anticipated hearing the creak as it swung open.

It opened at twelve. He heard Natalya pause briefly, mumble a cursory greeting, and then proceed.

Footsteps approached him, firmer and more purposeful than the ones belonging to his friend.

"Goddamnit," ground the albino through his teeth. He knew who was coming, and he also knew he might not be able to help what he said if she really intended to visit him.

Elizaveta, returned to haunt him once more.