Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron or its original Japanese version Golion. Both are the property of their original creators and/or importers/dubbers. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.
The Sindariin
Chapter Twenty-Four:
Ryou could not believe the announcement when it first went out over the Empire's public media and news waves. True, he himself did not speak the Galran language and the bulletins had to be translated for him by members of his little militia whom did have some sort of grasp of their meaning and so the news was always subject to some conjecture. However, the latest news wave that was currently giving the young rebel leader so much concern was one that he seriously doubted any of their translators would miss. It was to… severe.
Ryou read over two separate translations of the Imperial announcement by two separate members of his team. He glanced from the grubby hand-written papers to a stolen datapad what was currently displaying the original bulletin and from his own rudimentary knowledge of the language his men's translations seemed to be right. There was no mistaking it; Fala was pregnant.
The young rebel leaned against the wire framed back of his chair with a sigh of uneasy apprehension mixed with just the slightest bit of relief. Uneasy over this latest turn of events and what the new development would mean for their plans, his own, the Golion teams, and the Alliance's as well. Apprehension over what might result from this turn of events. How would Sincline deal with Fala's condition? Would Amue's cousin be alright? What would the Golion team do when they heard the news? Would they step up their plans… rush and make a mistake? What would Kogane do…? It was a bit of a 'public secret' that the Golion Chief was head-over-heals for the Altean princess. They could never be together because of the way the laws on Altea were set-up, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't fly off the handle after learning that his dearest love was now pregnant with his worst enemy's child.
For the first time in a long time, Shirogane Ryou was apprehensive (maybe even reluctant) to send an intel-update to his allies off world.
But with all his worry and doubt, he still managed to see one glorious sparkling silver lining to this dark and unfortunate cloud. Ryou could almost whoop and skip from joy and relief that it hadn't been Amue. That his beautiful Heraclesian warrior-princess had not been the one cursed with Sincline's vile offspring. If it had to happen to someone, he was glad that it wasn't the woman that he loved. Yes, it was selfish. Yes, it was unfair and uncaring towards his allies. Yes, it would break Kogane's heart, Kogane whom had been such a good friend to his dearly departed elder brother. But it hadn't been his woman and for that Ryou was thankful. (Not that the Heraclesian princess was actually 'his' woman. Ahem. She hadn't exactly reciprocated his feelings when he had confessed them… But then again, they had been pressed for time…)
'I know.' That had been it. Just two simple words made up the whole of her response to his brief but heart-felt confession. Well, at least he knew that she knew how he felt. Not that silly little romantic trifles like that really mattered in the grand scheme of things. Whether or not Amue returned his affection did not effect their war with Galra. Neither would it effect his performance in the field. He had not started his little group of rag-tag freedom fighters to impress her, he had done it because he hated Galra, because he held the Empire responsible for his brother's death; in a nutshell, he wanted revenge. Meeting a pretty face along the way was just an added bonus.
And that said pretty face would be expecting a report from him eventually. As apprehensive as he was about sending this message, this was news that needed to be sent. Something this big should not be concealed from his allies, and especially not her family (distantly related though they were). Ryou picked up a blank autoreader to record his message.
No sooner had he done this, however, than he tossed the item back onto the desk unused.
He stood and grabbed an old rag that might have been a cloak of some sort it was faded in some places, torn in others, patched in yet others. The perfect 'beggars' cloak. He wrapped it about himself and pulled the hood up over his head letting it droop down to conceal the upper part of his face and exited his room. Navigating the cavern network that formed their little 'rebel lair' he found an exit shaft that opened up near the dead woods between the castle and Nargothrond. It was the closes exit to the castle that they had, that they dared have.
He was not going to be a 'hero'. He was not going with thoughts of rescue in his head, nor of assassination or anything quite so dramatic. He highly doubted that he, a human, by himself, with no back-up and no real plan could ever get to Sincline to kill him or get Fala out and away from the castle before they were caught and he killed and she returned to her husband. In fact, he highly doubted he would be able to even get to Fala at all. But that was what he planned to try and do anyway. He knew he couldn't rescue her, but he wanted to confirm. Amue would need to know that the truth came from her cousin's own lips. That was why Ryou was braving death and danger to speak to the Empress. To get the true truth, not the PR truth that Sincline gave the media, but Fala's own words. Not for himself but for Amue.
…
Sincline suppressed the urge to growl when his 'loving' wife swaggered into the throne room. She sauntered along the red carpet; her hips swaying in what would have been a provocative way were it not for the superior smirk on her otherwise beautiful face. She had been behaving this way ever since he had confessed his fears over damaging his child by hurting her and true to her words that night, she was milking it for all it was worth. She had decided that nothing could touch her, that she was suddenly invincible. She no longer feared him and for some reason, she walked the halls of Demon castle with an air of confident superiority that he had not observed in her back when she lived on Altea. There she had been kind and sweet, here she was imperious and cold but with a self-important pride he hadn't thought was possible for her.
She was finally acting like a true Empress of Galra.
But for some reason, Sincline found that this new behavior of her's bothered him. He had never wanted his wife to fear him, but now that she didn't he found that he was dissatisfied and disappointed. He had wanted her to feel comfortable and at home in his castle, as his Empress. But while she was acting the part of a proud queen, her husband greatly doubted that it was out of any real comfort with her situation or appreciation for the power and status she had. No, this new behavior of her's was born out of spite for him and that was what bothered Sincline and left him feeling hollow and dissatisfied.
Her breasts bounced under the plain powder blue material of her dress as she climbed the stairs to sit on her golden chair next to him. She flashed him a self-satisfied smirk and the Emperor suppressed the urge to cringe. Instead he motioned for the petitioner whom had been speaking prior to his wife's interruption to continue.
Sincline only half listened to man speaking, the rest of his attention focused on the spiteful Altean beauty that sat beside him. She was always mad at him, it seemed. Or if she weren't angry with him, she was piss-scared of him instead. But no matter what it was, it was always a negative or scornful feeling she felt towards him. His wife never looked at him with warmth, or affection, or admiration, or tenderness, or any sort of 'caring' type of emotion. Hell, she rarely ever even looked at him with kindness! If she had been a slave under his father's rule she would have be beaten to death a dozen times over by now. But this wasn't his father's regime, it was his and she wasn't a slave, she was his wife –his Empress. And she hated him.
'You're a weak pathetic fool.' His father's words echoed through the Emperor's mind and Sincline shifted uncomfortably on the Golden Throne.
Not for the first time he wondered if the late Daibazaal had been right. Was he a pathetic and foolish weakling? His father had never let silly little things like feelings stand in his way and look what he had achieved in his last days of life. He had managed to defeat Golion where Sincline had failed repeatedly. He had managed to capture the princess; he had been the one to re-conquer Altea. His father had done all the work and Sincline had killed him and taken all the glory.
The Emperor was suddenly aware that the man trailed off. He looked down at the petitioner whom fidgeted uncomfortably beneath the Emperor's gaze.
"If… if this is a bad time for Your Eminence I can… I can always reschedule with your office." He offered nervously, bobbing his baled head up and down in several apologetic bows, the blue of his scales reflecting the lights in a way that might have been pretty in a different setting. For all their many faults, the Galran people were a rather beautiful species in their own way.
Sincline raised an eyebrow at him. Was he so focused on Fala that he had managed to look distracted? Damn it all! She hadn't even said anything and he was already annoyed with her for making him look like a doe-eyed fool. He suppressed a second growl, opting instead to snap at the innocent petitioner.
"You're dismissed."
The man hurried out.
Sincline stood and glared down at his wife.
"Something the matter?" She asked, looking up at him with her innocent big blue eyes. Her round, perfect sky-blue eyes that were so much like his mother's… "And here I came to keep you company through it. Well, I guess there's no point in my being here now."
She also stood.
"And where do you think you're going?" He demanded.
She merely shrugged, the action momentarily drawing his attention to her breast, unbound beneath her dress. "Oh, I donno… There's not many places I can go. Just stroll around the castle I suppose, like a pet kept in its cage. Unless…" She trailed off.
"Unless, what?" He asked, already knowing he wasn't going to approve of whatever it was she wanted this time.
"Unless you allow me to go outside. You know, out of the castle." She batted her lovely long eyelashes.
"No."
Fala sighed. "You're probably right. After all, my title may be 'Empress' but you and I both know that I'm just a slave. What use does a slave have for getting to know the land or the people she belongs to?"
Sincline felt the corner of his eye twitch ever so slightly. Fala was not a slave, he never thought of her as one, not even during the time when he had been drugging her to sleep with him. He may have been dominating her and playing the roles of Master and slave in the bedroom, but she was not a slave! His mother had been a slave, his wife would not be.
"If only I could believe your interest in Galra was genuine, I would be more than happy to take you out." He replied coolly.
"What should it matter my intentions?" She shot back with a plastic smile. "You'd never let me out unattended anyway."
"Mm, you're quite right about that. Can't have my Empress traipsing about the place without a full escort, especially not when she's pregnant with my heir. But tell me, Fala, if you have no ulterior motive in wanting to go out, what would you care that you had an escort or not?"
Here she laughed a silky velvet coated laugh that would have been beautiful had it been from true humor. "Oh, Sincline, I'm not going to try and run away from you. As much as I'd like to, where would I go? What place could possibly be safe from you now that you have my own planet under your control? No. I'd like nothing more than to leave you, but that was not what I had in mind. I wanted to get to know your people. Walk among them like I used to walk among my own on Altea."
"I don't believe you and I'm afraid you'd stick out like a sore thumb." He grinned in amusement, true amusement. He had started this conversation expecting her to pull her normal bitchy tricks but the idea of Fala walking around Nargothrond or another city attempting to mingle with the commoners was highly amusing. "A human dressed as a noble woman… everyone would think you were a slave who stole her mistress' clothes. I suppose there might be someone who might actually recognize you as the Empress, but either way, you're not going out without a full escort."
"Ah, so I am going out then?"
The Emperor quickly backpedaled. "I never said that."
"But you did say I'm not going out 'without a full escort', that would imply that you are going to allow me to go out."
"No it doesn't."
"Yes it does."
"Don't put words in my mouth. I know what I said."
"You're impossible!"
"So are you."
"Sometimes you remind me of a younger evil Raible." The Empress grumbled. "You're so pushy and stubborn and hate letting me go outside. You and he would have been the best of friends had you lived on Altea instead of here."
"I highly doubt that." Sincline crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't quite sure if he liked being compared to Altea's strategist or not. On the one hand, Raible the Strategist was very close to Fala and she usually thought very highly of him. Being compared to a man his wife thought highly of was rather nice. However, the way in which she was comparing them did not sound all that appealing at all. She seemed to be implying that they only shared negative traits in common and that bothered him a little.
"Hm, yeah, I suppose all your friends here are young rich, murdering, sons of bitches like yourself."
"I don't have 'friends', only 'subordinates'." The Emperor corrected her. And then her word choice sunk in. "Wait a moment, did you just curse?"
"You bring out the worst in me." She shot back. And then his words sank in. "Wait a minuet, what do you mean you don't have friends? Everyone has friends!"
He did not reply. It should have been obvious to her why the prince, now Emperor, of Galra did not have 'friends'. A 'friend' was a person whom you viewed as a peer, an equal. Since the Emperor had no equal he likewise had no friends. It was a mark of his high status. Why was she looking at him like he'd just told her his mother had hated him (again)?
"Sincline…" She said crossing the small distance between them and reaching her hand up to stroke his cheek. The motion was gentle, almost loving, but when she spoke again her tone felt scathing. "That explains so much!"
"What?" He raised one chalk white eyebrow in confusion.
…
The castle's sewage drained into a sizeable bog of refuse behind its south wall. The western edge of this bog drained into a small river called the Branduil, which flowed southwest before joining the Teglin, which was also called the Great River. However, this was not the way through which Ryou approached the castle. No, that was his planned escape rout. The Teglin flowed strait through the slums of Nargothrond where his freedom fighters had a safe house. At present Ryou approached Demon Castle from the north-east heading for a service access door used by technicians and their 'assistance' (slaves). The young rebel leader hoped to pass himself off as one of these assistance to gain access to the castle. He figured that if he could pass for a convincing Beastman he would make a pretty damn good slave too!
As it turned out, he didn't even have to put on an act. He reached the door just as a Galran tech was exiting with a pair of slaves. As Ryou drew nearer one of the slaves fumbled the tools she was carrying and they all went clattering to the ground. Both Ryou and the girl froze in momentary fear, the girl in terror of a reprimand for her clumsiness, Ryou in apprehension that he would be found out before he ever even got in the castle. Surely the Galran tech would notices that he left with two slaves but now seemed to have three. As it happened he did not notice. Instead he barked a colorful reprimand at the girl making sure to tell her that the only thing saving her from a 'good' beating was that he needed her to complete his work. He then jabbed a gnarled finger at Ryou and ordered him to help her pick up the tools.
He was delayed by actually accompanying the tech and his slaves to accomplish their task of repairing an external barometer. But after that was done he was let into the castle along with the other slaves and no one batted a scaly eyelid at him.
Ryou slipped away the first chance he got.
He had spent long hours studying the schematics and floor plans of Demon Castle with Amue, so much so that the maps were seemingly burned into the back of his mind forever. So while the twisting cavernous corridors were new and unfamiliar to his eyes, the young rebel had no trouble navigating them as if he were a regular visitor.
He assumed that Fala would be on one of the upper floors, the young rebel highly doubted that Sincline would give her free-reign of the castle. She had an uncanny knack for escaping and was always highly motivated to get away from him. The vile Emperor would most likely keep her locked in his harem or possibly even as far up as the royal residential wing. This presented the next hurtle for Ryou to concur. Getting up to the harem would be difficult but doable, getting up to the royal sweets would be damn-near impossible. While Ryou had familiarized himself with Imperial strategy, battle psychology, tactics, a small smattering of culture and schematics of starships, military outposts, factories and Demon Castle; he had not, however, studied the living habits or protocols of those living in the castle. He had no idea how he would get up to the royal suits covertly.
He supposed his best strategy would be to once again play the servant again and say he was running an errand for the Empress or something along those lines. Of course, knowing Sincline, he probably wouldn't allow Fala to have any male servants or slaves; jealous and possessive as he was. A human male running an errand for the Empress might look suspicious. But then again, nothing ventured, nothing gained as the old saying went. He was a man of action and not prone to giving up just because a plan had a few risks in it. He was already here and that was risky in and of itself. Might as well go the whole way.
Ryou turned down a corridor that, according to the schematics he'd studied back at base, would lead him to a service lift used by servants and slaves.
The lift seemed to be a large freight elevator, the normal polished brass or silvered-steel handlebars that decorated the public lifts of Demon castle were replaced with a single steel bar just above what would have been normal waist height for a Galran man. The lift walls were padded, presumably to protect whatever heavy, bulky or just oddly shaped cargo they might move through here. He keyed the lift to take him to Sincline's harem. The lift gave a lurch before evening out to a steady but shaky ascension. The lift gave a second lurch when it abruptly stopped at his chosen floor and the young rebel had to grip madly at the sidebar to maintain his balance.
He stepped out from the lift happy to be out in the open once again. Ryou never would have though he'd be happy to be exposed while within the walls of Demon Castle, but if it was a choice between the open corridor and the lurching, rickety service elevator, Ryou was going to go with the open corridor. That elevator just did not feel safe. He supposed the Galra didn't much care to maintain their servants lifts. Who cares if a few puny humans plummeted to a firy death? Slaves, just like lift-cars, could be replaced.
The young rebel marched purposefully down the hall as if he were on an important errand for his master. If a Galran passed him, he avoided eye contact and tried his best to look demure and submissive. If a Galran stopped him, he said he was on an important mission for his master and that his master would be angry if he was delayed. Overall, his presence did not go unnoticed, but he did go unheeded and that was just fine.
Ryou entered the harem through a servants' door and was greeted by a rising wave of screams and yelps of shock accented by the rustle of fabric and and jingle of metal cause by the many scrambling of many bare feet with silver and gold anklets and other such jewelry and baubles. One shrill female voice was even so bold as to exclaim "a man!" while another shushed her with the warning of "Sincline will be so furious if he finds out!"
"Uh… hi." The young rebel ventured apologetically. "If you could all just calm down. I'm, uh… If you could all just calm down, please. I'm looking for… ladies, please; I don't want to bring the guards down on me! I'M LOOKING FOR FALA!" He finally roared over their incessant noise.
The rustle and clamor subsided slightly. The one whom had shushed her companion earlier quieted the others down. She then focused her attention on the mysterious intruder.
"The Empress?" She asked. "Why're you looking here?"
"Why not?" Ryou shot back. So, she wasn't in the harem. That meant that he must be keeping her up in the residential wing. Damn it! That was going to be hard to get to.
"He doesn't keep her here." The woman said shortly.
"Where is she then?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
"Up in the tower, where he lives." She answered. "Now, you'll answer me some questions. First, what are you doing here? If the guards find a man in here we'll all be killed. Sincline doesn't like other people touching his things. Secondly, who are you?"
"I already told you: I'm looking for Princess Fala of Altea. I'm Shirogane Ryou, leader of the rebellion and friend of the Golion team."
"Golion!" Another female voice exclaimed. A thin waif-like woman slipped out from behind the others and looked at him with impassioned eyes but an unreadable expression. She had the olive skin and dark curly hair of the people who lived along the Mediterranean on Earth. Ryou had never actually been to that area before Galra's conquest of the planet, but he had seen pictures and seeing this girl made him suddenly very home-sick. Then she snarled at him, "What has Golion ever done for us!"
"What?" Ryou blinked, aghast.
"Quiet, Cal." The firs woman hissed.
But Cal didn't quiet down. "All that time we heard of the great and powerful Golion from Altea, saving all those other planets under Galra's thumb, it was a great ray of hope for all of us. Then I find out that the Golion pilots aren't Altean at all, they're from Earth, just like me! They're from Earth and they have this great weapon that could liberate other planets from Galran rule but they never once tried to go back and save Earth! They never once tried to free their home! Instead they risk their lives for complete strangers while their brothers and sisters of Earth suffer under Galra's thumb!"
"Stop it, Cal." The woman said again.
And Cal did stop this time. She stopped her rant about Golion and crossed the room to where there was a an intercom fixed to the wall.
"What are you doing!" Both Ryou and the woman gasped in unison.
Cal pressed the intercom button and screamed in to the microphone, "Yeeeeaaaah! Guards! Guards, there's a man in here! Help! Help!"
The woman rushed forward and smacked her across the face before pushing her away form the intercom. "You little idiot!" She roared. "Now we're all dead for your spite!"
Ryou, for his part was already making his escape. He dashed out of the harem through the same servants' door through which he had come and made a b-line for the service lift. The guards, of course, figured that this would be his preferred escape rout and headed him off, taking an alternate passage that hadn't been on the rebel's schematics of the castle and blocking his path. The young rebel leader suddenly found himself trapped in the corridor with guards in front of him, guards behind him and walls on either side. He supposed he could make a dash into one of the rooms that lead off the hall, but then he'd just be trapped in a room instead of a corridor. Ryou bit the inside of his cheek and contemplated the age of dilemma of the rock and the hard-place.
"I surrender!" He threw his arms up in defeat. If he couldn't escape right now, he could at least stave off his own death long enough to formulate a new escape plan.
"Place your hands on the back of your head and get down on the ground." A gruff female voice commanded. So, Sincline's harem guards were female, of course they were female. Ryou did as he was told and laid flat on his belly with his hands on his head and his legs parted slightly.
Ryou could almost feel their guns fixed on him as he heard booted feet draw nearer to his prone form. A comm. clicked and the same gruff female voice said, "This is First Lieutenant Arna. We have apprehended an intruder on the harem floor. Looks like he might be with the rebels. Request Captain Nera's presence at interrogation."
…
Ryou was surprised when they were joined in the castle dungeons by not only another female Galran wearing the two silver stripes of a Captain, presumably Captain Nera; but also by Sincline himself.
"Sincline!" Ryou snarles.
While at the same time all the guards went to their knees with a soft murmur of, "Your Eminence."
The Emperor waved for them to stand without so much as looking at the women, his attention was fixed on Ryou.
"Well, well, well…" He grinned a maliciously gleeful smile that showed his intimidating sharp fangs. (Ryou was not impressed.) "Little Shirogane-chan… Don't tell me you came looking for revenge for your brother. I would have though that the leader of the rebellion was smarter than that."
"Leader?" First Lieutenant Arna exclaimed.
"Yes. Nera, please recommend Arna to the selection board for promotion." The Emperor said as a passing though. He then focused his attention back on the prisoner. "So, Ryou, you are neither suicidal nor a fool –although, I do question those assessments sometimes. But you never do anything without good reason, so, I find myself wondering: What would prompt you to sneak into my harem in the middle of my castle? I imagine you must be starved for a female attention now that your Heraclesian-whore is gone, but I know you have other women in that pathetic little rout of yours. So what would bring you here…?"
"Amue is not a whore!" Ryou snapped at him and spat at the tyrannical half-breed's feet.
"Oh, how cute." Sincline allowed himself another smile. He then continued, "My next though then is that you had planned to lay there in wait for me, to kill me. All the women there hate me and would probably be happy to help you out in an assassination plot. And with me gone that would create a power-vacuum that would tear my Empire apart. You could destroy Galra with a single flick of the wrist and no help from Golion. Shirogane Ryou, hero of the galaxy. But you see, before I came here, Nera and I stopped over at my harem to question the girls myself and they had the most interesting to say. Do you know what they told me, Ryou?"
He did not respond.
"They said you had come looking for Fala." Sincline continued, not at all perturbed by the rebel's silence. "Now, why would you be doing that, I wonder…? To 'rescue' her? To 'kidnap' her and my unborn child? Oh, yes, she is pregnant, Ryou. I wonder… does Kogane know? Oh! I would love to be in the room when he finds out! Just to see his face! I wonder what he would say..?"
Ryou glared at the villain for long moments before saying, "I want Fala to tell me its true."
"You impudent rat!" First Lieutenant Arna smacked him across the face. "You dare make demands on His Eminence. As if he would expose his ardan to-"
"Arna, go bring Fala down here." Sincline ordered.
"Wah-what?" The woman stuttered.
"Do as you're told." Captain Nera snapped at her.
Arna left.
"Nera, retract that recommendation for the promotion of First Lieutenant Arna." Sincline said as a passing thought after she had left.
The three of then, Emperor, Captain and prisoner passed long moments in awkward silence. Ryou had the irrational urge to strike up a conversation with his captors if for no other reason than to fill the empty silence.
Arna eventually returned with the Empress whom, upon seeing him, exclaimed, "Ryou!" and rushed to his side.
"Oh my God! Are you alright?" She asked. "They haven't hurt you, have they? What are you doing here? Did something happen to Amue? Did something happen to Kogane? The team? Oh God! What is it?"
"Uh… everyone's fine, to the best of my knowledge." He said once she had quieted down. "I actually came her for you. Is it true? Are you…?" He tailed off.
Fala's eyes fell downcast. He hadn't finished the question but then again he didn't have to. She knew what he was referring to. "Yes. Its true. Has Kogane heard? Is that why you're here? Why hasn't he come himself?"
"Oh, yes, why hasn't he come to rescue his beloved princess?" Sincline cut in. "I'm also very interested in the answer to that question. Could it be that he's moved on to another princess, a more… experienced princess." He flashed another one of those malicious smiles of his.
"You bastard!" Ryou tried to launch himself at the heterogynous hybrid but his restraints only allowed him the smallest of movements. Sincline merely laughed as the Earth-born freedom fighter pulled at his chains in a vain attempt to get to the Emperor.
Their attention was brought back to Fala, however, when the Empress asked in a tiny voice just above a whisper, "So, he doesn't know then? None of them know?" Before waiting for a response Fala seized Ryou by the shoulders. "You can't tell him!" She said, she hadn't used his name, but everyone knew to whom she was referring. "You can't! It would just destroy him! He can't know… he can't…"
"Hm, yes… it would destroy him, wouldn't it…" Sincline pondered allowed, a thought occurring to him.
"Arna, take the prisoner out drop him off at an area of his choosing."
"What?" First Lieutenant Arna blinked.
"What?" Fala looked up in amazement.
"Why?" Ryou asked, eyes narrowing.
"Why, so you can get the message out to your friends on Heracles, of course." Sincline said as if this should have been obvious. "As my lovely wife said: the news would just destroy Kogane Akira."
"Sincline…" Fala stood.
"You should be happy my dear, I'm sparing his life."
Fala closed her mouth, whatever she was going to say stayed unsaid.
"Your Eminence," Nera ventured uneasily, "I'm not sure this is a wise decision. He is the leader of the on-planet rebellion; it would be better to kill him here and now. Then their little band would dissolve."
"Nera, you're opinion is noted. Arna, if you please."
First Lieutenant Arna unfastened Ryou's bonds from the wall and refastened them behind his back before leading him out of the room.
…
(A/N1: Oh, look, plot! We haven't seen that in a while.)
(A/N2: Sincline is an idiot.)
(A/N3: I am currently going through a rather difficult move out of state at the moment and haven't really had time to write much. Sorry for taking so long with this latest update, but be warned, the next one might take even longer. Sorry about that, but life happens, ya know.)