Hi y'all! I'm super glad to be back with a POV none of you want to see! The good news is Romano's installment is next AND it's half done! So that's exciting!

And more exciting news! We get our Big Bad this chapter! Did anyone guess who is was... or that there was one?

Regards- Enjoy!

There was no sound in the silver mines save for dripping water and the muffled noises of someone, or rather, someones, kissing.

"Mmmh, Mmmmf... Felic-" Ludwig panted between breaths. Involuntarily, his hips bucked up to grind against Feliciano's own. The prince's response was an enthusiastic moan, which was not helping Ludwig's resolve. "Feliciano... please... stop..."

Feliciano continued kissing, trying to ignore any protests to the contrary. He had wanted this for so long! He could ignore reality for another five seconds. But apparently, Ludwig couldn't.

"No" He said firmly, pushing Feliciano off his lap. The boy sure looked light be if he sat on one's legs long enough, they would lose all feeling. "Now is not the time or place for this kind of behavior. We have to concentrate on getting out"

Feliciano pouted. "Why? I'm having fun"

Ludwig sent him a look before shaking his head in exasperation. "I have no idea how stable these mines are. If I was planning on making love to you, it would be in a situation in which we weren't facing certain death"

"But Francis says that takes the excitement out of it" Feliciano whined.

Ludwig cradled his head in his hands, a little exasperated, a little frustrated from his lack of sexual release. "Please don't tell me he suggested having sex in a life threatening situation." Feliciano said nothing, which was the best response Ludwig could hope for. He stood and pulled the prince to his feet. "Let's just find an exit"

"You could knock the door in!" Feliciano said excitedly, grossly over exaggerating Ludwig's strength.

It was a good suggestion. Ludwig was strong, much stronger than many of the noble men that he knew, but the door was still solid metal. It just wouldn't do. He contemplated the problem. His eyes strayed from the metal door to the walls, fixating on a slight leak in the ceiling, then finally to a stray barrel laying in the corner.

Hmm... that could work.

Ludwig turned to the excited boy at this side, who was jumping up and down ever so slightly. "I have an idea" He started. "But you'll have to trust me"

"I trust you!" Feliciano said without a second thought.

"Okay." Ludwig muttered, his face flushed with the fact the crown prince trusted him so completely. "Here's the plan. I'm going to try to maximize the water flow from that leak; chances are there's a lot of water somewhere, just waiting to fill this place up. You can help me by doing the same thing I do to the other walls. Can you do that?"

Feliciano nodded. "I sure can!"

Ludwig nodded back, and then they started. It was easy to find a rock strong enough to hurl at the ceiling without shattering on impact, and slowly but surely the leak widened. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

So he turned to the walls. A touch revealed them to be moist, and Ludwig began chipping at them, one at a time. Out of the corner of his eye, Ludwig could see Feliciano attempting to copy him at the wall adjacent to the door. He was making very little progress, but at least it kept him busy.

Time passed at a glacier's pace. Slowly the cavern filled scraping rock and the occasional "ouch!" from Feliciano's direction. They making progress. Ludwig had just struck water, however, when Feliciano gave an outrageous cry, even more projected than usual.

"Gahh! Ludwig, Ludwig! The wall's caved in!"

Ludwig turned just in time to see Feliciano directly in the path of the crumbling rocks. He ran to his side and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the danger he was all so eager to put himself in. When the smoke cleared, Feliciano was plastered to his side, looking terrified. Ludwig carefully pried them apart and went to examine the damage.

The wall was gone, and thank God there was no water behind it. However, the opening revealed a small room and a hunched over figure wearing dirty rags. Ludwig didn't think much of it until Feliciano gasped, scrambling up next to him. "Papa?"

The figure turned. And Ludwig nearly fainted.

It was King Romulus. His face was dirtied and scarred, and he looked like he had gotten very little food over the years he had been gone; yet he still looked exactly like the paintings depicted him.

The king didn't reply, just simply staring at them both. Finally, he spoke. "Who are you people?"

That took Ludwig by surprise. He had completely forgot that the king had never met him nor Feliciano. With how glorified he was at the castle, Ludwig felt like he knew the man personally. He had spent hours talking to people who remembered his rule, learning about the king and what an amazing person he was. He had grown up learning how great the kingdom of Italy was made because of its king.

Feliciano, though, was taking it worse than he was. He was shaking, with a horrified look on his face. Ludwig tried to put himself in his shoes- just now meeting the father you've dreamed of knowing. And him not knowing you exist.

He stepped forward, trying to distract Feliciano from a total meltdown. "My name is Ludwig. I am the prince's tutor. And this is Feliciano, your son and the prince of Italy."

King Romulus looked between them, before standing up on shaky legs. "My son...? You're so grown up! When I left, you weren't even born." There were happy tears in his eyes when he ran forward, grabbing Feliciano in a hug, as if to make up for all those lost years. The prince hugged back, desperate for the attention he had always craved.

Meanwhile, Ludwig stood off to the side, feeling rather out of place. He was almost grateful when he felt water begin to pool around his ankles- the leaks were much wider now, and had started to fill up the cave.

"Okay!" He broke in, breaking apart the father and son hug. "I, uh, don't know how to say this. But we're own our way to escaping, and I figure it would be right to take the king along with us. Feliciano, can we all fit in the barrel?"

"We can!" He cheered. "But it might be a little tight with all your big muscles~"

The king grinned. "You certainly do have big muscles. Only the best for my son, I understand"

Ludwig's face heated. "Wha-"

Romulus grasped his arm, still grinning madly. "These walls aren't too thick my boy. Now everyone in the barrel! It's been seventeen years since I've seen sunlight, and that can't be good for anybody!"

[=]

Ludwig's plan was to wait until the room filled, then float to safely through the open mineshaft at the top of their little prison.

However, the king decided that waiting was to take too long. As soon as the barrel lifted off the floor, he paddled them all the far wall with the stream of water and punched it with surprising strength. The wall caved in after two punches and the barrel was caught in a flood of water that sent them screaming toward freedom.

Gasping and sputtering, Ludwig crawled out the barrel, pulling Feliciano behind him to make sure he was alright. Romulus stood above them, already out and cackling madly.

"That was the best fun I've had in years!" He exclaimed, stretching his arms to the sky and popping his joints with a sickening crack. "I'm all for doing it again. Who's with me?"

"I'm sorry, Papa" Feliciano said, coughing up the little water that found its way into his lungs. Eventually he could breath without gasping. "But we have to get back straight away. Everyone needs to know you're alive, Arthur is still on the lose, and the castle is surely desperate to find me!"

"Actually..." Ludwig added, somewhat sheepishly. "I highly doubt anyone is looking for you."

Feliciano turned to him, looking inquisitive. King Romulus stood behind, inspecting the mine shaft and not paying any attention to them whatsoever. "Why wouldn't anyone be looking for me?"

Time to come clean. Ludwig cleared his throat. "When you gone, I arranged to have Romano pose as you so that I would have time to find out what really happened-"

"You had Romano pretend to be me?!" Feliciano exclaimed. "But Ludwig! That's high treason. If he gets caught, he'll die!"

"That's why we have to get back as soon as possible"

Feliciano steeled his back and stood up with purpose. "Then let's go" He shot a look at this father, who seemed preoccupied. "Papa, we're leaving!"

King Romulus turned reluctantly. "Oh, you were serious. Can't you just leave me here? I'd rather not have to deal with putting your mother on trial so soon."

Ludwig's mind reeled. "Wait, wait, wait- what about putting the queen on trial? You mean she was the one who did this?"

"You didn't know?" The king asked, shocked. "I thought that's how you've found me!"

Ludwig was floored. For once in his life, he didn't have to perfect solution for the situation. And he could only imagine what Feliciano felt like. Finding his father only to learn that his mother was the one who put him through all of that in the first place. It would be perfectly understandable for him to want to break down and change their plans.

"That's great, papa, but Romano is in danger!" Feliciano yelled, tugging on his arm. "We have to go right this second!"

Ludwig turned to him. "You don't want to go confront the queen? Maybe cry a little?"

"We don't have time!"

"But-"

"Ludwig!"

He stopped talking. It wasn't like Feliciano to have his priorities straight. But he guessed now was as good as time as ever to mature a little. "Fine. The road to the castle is right down this way, through the woods. If we stick together we should be fine"

[=]

The castle had been decorated extravagantly for the occasion. Arthur was only a little surprised at the Queen's sadistic nature. She seemed to want to go all out for the execution.

He wandered through the hoards of people setting up a feast, disturbingly near where the chopping block was situated. There were almost too many people out in the court yard. He had to find the queen, and quick.

"Your Majesty!" He called when he spotted her. Queen Katerina stood amongst the spectators, greeting them with a dazzling smile. She turned at his voice. When she saw him however, her smile fell.

"Oh Arthur," She said. "Whatever could it be now?"

Arthur steadied his nerves. "I must speak with you. Alone"

The queen eyed her subjects that were now watching with interest. "Be gone" She said, and soon everyone in the vicinity had left. She sneered once they were alone. "I take it you have a good reason to order me around in front of my people?"

"I need to know why you had me kidnap Feliciano."

A beat passed in silence. Suddenly, the queen burst into a fit of laughter. She chucked and chortled, her face almost turning blue. Arthur edged slightly away from her.

It took a while for her to catch her breath, and when she did she looked noticeably lighter. Like the idea of her son's peril was entertaining. "You really haven't figured it out, have you?"

"In all honesty" Arthur said. "You really haven't given any clear motives or reasoning-"

"That was a rhetorical question." Queen Katerina snapped. "But since you seem so eager to know, I'll tell you. Because I'm... nice." She waved her hand and a servant girl came running over, with two chairs for the queen and her guest.

Once they were both comfortably seated, the queen began. "When I married King Romulus, I was poor. Poorer than dirt! My whole life revolved around how little I had- how little power I had, especially. I was all too eager to marry a king and become the ruler of somewhere. Little did I know, that power in this kingdom is passed down to the men of the family"

The queen stopped, letting her words sink in. "So I made a plan. King Romulus was going to have a little accident and never be seen again. Unfortunately, something terrible happened... I got pregnant. When my two little angels of boys were born, I was disgusted. All my work to gain power and both would just take it away! As a solution, I the first given to a horrible woman who I knew well, a dress maker. Giving two away would be too suspicious, so I waited my time. When he was old enough to marry, then I would do away with him."

"And that's where I come in" Arthur muttered, disgusted. "You hired me to do away with Feliciano after enough time had passed"

"You have to understand!" The queen exclaimed. "It's hard being a women on the throne. There was so many ways for me to go back to where I came from. This was the best solution. And when the pauper came and fooled us all... it was a ghost from the past. I thought for sure Madame Albetta would of done away with him by now"

Arthur looked up sharply. "Wait, you mean to tell me that the imposter was your son? The one you gave away?"

The Queen grinned wolfishly. "And your resume said you were smart. Now, guards" She said, snapping her fingers in a demanding gesture. "Please take Mr. Arthur to his own special holding cell. It won't due to have lose ends around, as I have learned. Tomorrow there will be two executions to enjoy"

Arthur was grabbed roughly by his shoulders and pulled to his feet, kicking and punching all the while. "How dare you! After all I did for you! You- wankers let me down this instance!" Slowly but surely, he was dragged away into the bitter darkness of the dungeons.

Not sure if anyone noticed, but the Queen is really into locking her problems away instead of killing them outright. Romano, Romulus, Feliciano, Arthur... I honestly think it would serve her better to just kill them!

Aha, thank you for reading ^,^